Air adjustable shock not working

[Chikez]

Ok, I have a 2010 RTs with 8000 miles. I had elka shocks installed on the front, now the rear air shock is not adjusting, Dropped it off at the dealer with an estimate of $109 to diagnose the problem. Ugh! The fee is in addition to what needs to be fixed, unless the broken item is under warranty. It was purchased in April of 2010. Now it is wait and see.

Karen

[GeoffCee]

Ok, I have a 2010 RTs with 8000 miles. I had elka shocks installed on the front, now the rear air shock is not adjusting.

I'm wondering if your RT has lost the bolt which connects the air suspension sensor arm to the frame. The only reason I ask is my 2011 RT had this happen soon after I took delivery and "not adjusting" was exactly what my RT was doing.

The photo is one I took when I had my problem with the air suspension sensor linkage. The arm hanging down should have a bolt connecting it with the white-bushed mounting point (below-left). To the left of the picture is the (deflated) bag of the air suspension system and to the right is the rear shock. Obviously, it costs only a few cents for a new bolt, from memory I think it was an M6 thread. This assumes this is your Spyder's problem also but the cause may something else entirely.

Missing ACS bolt.jpg

[TuckMiddle]

Ok, I have a 2010 RTs with 8000 miles. I had elka shocks installed on the front, now the rear air shock is not adjusting, Dropped it off at the dealer with an estimate of $109 to diagnose the problem. Ugh! The fee is in addition to what needs to be fixed, unless the broken item is under warranty. It was purchased in April of 2010. Now it is wait and see.

Karen

I had ELKA's put on and the same thing happened. I hate to admit it, but I never connected the two until just now. Elkas raise the front a couple inches, might cause this in some bikes. The dealer ended up re-programming with the BUDS. Yes, the system is controlled by the programming - amazing use of technology for no reason. Anyway, after doing the "updating, which took a while with 3 guys, it still didn't work. Quick call to whom ever the shop manager talked to at BRP and he walked over to the bike, took the key out and placed it "more than 30 feet away" for 40 minutes. Started the bike and it worked. No idea what happened, except 40 minutes is how long the throttle is held by the electrical system after you shut down. Maybe just having any electrical activity at all on the bike didn't let it work. Over my head.

Good luck with it.

Tuck

[NancysToy]

The air suspension does not work unless the Spyder is running and in gear.

[TuckMiddle]

The air suspension does not work unless the Spyder is running and in gear.

Yes sir. it quit pumping up. They fiddled around with it and even pumped it up with an air pump to 50. Start it up, put in gear and it immediately deflated. Next day they did all that stuff with Buds, it did nothing when first started and put in gear. That's when they called and the BRP guy said to take the key out and away for 40 minutes. Started it up, put in gear and it's been fine ever since. Amazing.
Tuck

[taggtr]

For some reason every time I have some work done to my RT at the dealership the auto air suspension doesn't work when I get it back. It seems that something gets disconnected when being serviced or something and the computer thingy for the suspension has to be reset every time. Takes service dept about 3 minutes to fix. Yay!

[Chikez]

Well, I took the RT in on Tuesday to have them look at the problem. I had the appointment for Thursday, but only had time to get it to the dealer on Tuesday. I called on Friday and the guy tells me there are three bikes ahead of me and they have not looked at it yet. I asked how that could be since I had a contract and an appointment for Thursday. I made the appointment the week before. The reply was, "OH, I will move you up the list." I told them I hoped so since this is the third time in the shop in 30 days. Now I will wait until Monday to hear if they have solved the problem. Once it is fixed I need to juggle my schedule to be able to pick up the RT. I miss my ryde.

[Dizneyman]

The suspension is leveled base on a arm that is free floating and works like a level as I understand it. If the Elkas raise the front that much, I would think the system needs to be re-calibrated

[NancysToy]

The suspension is leveled base on a arm that is free floating and works like a level as I understand it. If the Elkas raise the front that much, I would think the system needs to be re-calibrated

The ACS sensor arm is attached to the frame and linked to the swingarm. It senses the distance between the end of its lever and the swingarm (ride height), not level. The arm is not free-floating. If you raise the front of the Spyder, and wish to maintain the same attitude (rake) you would have to raise the rear to compensate. This should be done by the setting, not by recalibration. The suspension can be damaged if the calibration is changed and it is run too high.

[Chikez]

Well, here is the final determination after the dealer worked with Perry and Can Am. The problem is the instrument guage/cluster. They pulled a guage from a new 2011 that was in the warehouse and the rear shock adjusts fine. The dealer called Can Am and they have 35 back ordered ahead of me. "I think there is a problem here with guages!" Here is the "rest of the story". I called the dealership on April 10th saying the shock would not work. They told me they could not look at the spyder before Thursday the 19th. I was able to get the spyder to them on Tuesday, April 17th. Here is the twist. My warranty ended on April 15th two days before the ticket was opened at the dealer. The guage cluster is $1,000.00. I have called Can Am and asked for an extension since the dealer could not get me in when I called. My dealer has also asked for an extension on the warranty, confirming that I had called the week before. I really hope Can Am does the right thing and accepts this as a warranty repair. My tech stated that with a back order of 35 clusters and the fact that the 2010 part is not even listed anymore the 2011 cluster has superceeded the 2010 that Can Am must have recognized there is a problem with the cluster. I just got the brake recall and they are also correcting that problem.
Please keep your fingers crossed for me. I have 8,000 miles in two years, a service contract with the dealer on this $28,000 spyder and I think Can Am should cover this problem.

[Chikez]

Can Am did a GOOD WILL extension on my warranty and has agreed to cover the cost of the new guage cluster. the new unit will be a 2011 model as that has replaced the 2010 part. The dealer is also doing the recall on the brakes. The only cost I have is the $50 charge for the diagnostic time. The part will be in by next week.

Karen