Weird Spyder AM

[Camdenlake]

So decided to take spyder and spyder1 this am for service calls. All suited up garage door open and...... No start. Cranks over like theres no tomorrow but nothing. Just a little burp when i first cranked it. Took about 8 cycles of cranking before she came to like. Like it was out of gas but it had 3/4. Any thoughts? Started it a couple more times in the garage no problem. On service call #3 no problem so far. It only sat since returing from picking up trailer friday night. It was getting me thinking bad thoughts about spyder again . But then the fun began and the trailer is awesome for service calls.

[harrypottar]

Do you use a battery tender?, sounds like your battery had drained just a little.

I always have ALL my toys on battery tenders when in the garage. I also have those solar panels that you put on your dash of the car and keeps the car batteries topped up.

highly recommend a battery tender and getting in the habit of plugging it in every time.

harry

[Bob Denman]

Ummmm... will it crank over if the kill switch has been... switched?
Did you twist the loud grip a bit while cranking it??
Was there any smoke from the exhaust once the fires got lit? (unburnt fuel...)

[NancysToy]

Sounds like it's flooded, although there are plenty of other possibilities. If it does it again, don't just keep cranking. First crack your throttle a bit when cranking, to see if it will fire in a try or two. If that doesn't work, open the throttle all the way (to prevent starting) and crank it through real good to clear the cylinders. Then try again. If it still doesn't go, repeat the procedure.

If this happens again, especially if it happens often, you will need a good tech. If it is ignition problems, they often don't show on BUDS. Could be plugs, plug wires, coil, ECM, or throttle body problems...among others. Let's hope it was a one-time thing.

[napper39]

check relays and fusess,push them in if there loose it will do just what you said,the relays vibrate loose then all kinds of crazy things happen.check them every 500 miles i know found loose battery wire and relays loose,.and the battery tender is a good thing.thats all i got.

[Bob Denman]

Let's hope it was a one-time thing.

[Camdenlake]

Thanks guys finally got back to a computer. Great day of service calls on the spyder.

Yep it lives on a good quality tender always. All my toys do. Only time things seem to need a battery is when i buy them !!

Nope no smoke no rich smell once started.

Plugs and wires are new from Ron had bad wires from new so i know what thats like

Edit - Thanks for the vote of confidence bob yep first thing i did was check the kill and cycle it a few times.


I did try the a touch of throttle initally no change

Cranked a bit more and then tried hold wide open as i know in cars that turns off the injectors

Then just went back to normal

Tried a couple more times then you could feel it trying to catch then presto fired right up and been fine since.

It really felt like lack of fuel. I assume these are electric pump being injected?? Havent gotten that deep yet .

I hope its not somthing that reoccours. There were no indicators on the cluster at all indicating bad things all normal.

We will see tomorrow am after it sits over night.....

Too be continued.........

[NancysToy]

......To be continued.........

Let's hope not!

[Farmboy]

Spyder is like me this morning... do not want to go to work

Some of my customers on my route, I would rather take an beating than have to go see them

[Camdenlake]

Well spyder is doing some werid crap again. Kinda like before the TB packed up last time. I am not sure i want to put up with this. I just want to ride. Love the spyder and how it rides and all that but these issues are killing me. I can have a break down when i am working for sure and dont want one when i finally get a day off. I am going to talk to my dealer and see what he will do. I am thinking goldwing? Dont need the 3wheels just nice. What todo.....


Josh

[donec]

I would be thinking dirt in fuel line or a bad tank of gas. When you last filled up was there anything different?

[Camdenlake]

I would be thinking dirt in fuel line or a bad tank of gas. When you last filled up was there anything different?

Nope same place i fill up all my toys and work stuff. It has been over a couple tanks of fuel. It is also intermitant and thats whats killing me with it. Just cant depend on it.

[SilverSurfer]

I cannot agree more with Nancy's Toy and HarryPottar's observations on battery charge and flooding. Here's my experience, which should sound familiar to CamdenLake

About three weeks ago I allowed my RT-S to sit out under its cover for 10 days without starting in the mid-upper 90 degree heat. Super hot weather is just as hard on batteries as super cold weather. So ...

I go out to crank her up and know the battery is down to about 65%. She cranks nice but won't start. One could smell the fuel as it cranked. Would not start. I think the original poster mentioned something about turning the throttle grip wide open. No, that won't work. The Spyder throttle control is electronic. It does not kick in until the vehicle is started. A temperature sensor opens the throttle automatically when the ignition is turned on. The throttle grip trick only works on throttles with mechanical linkage to the throttle body.

All cranking the Spyder with a low battery (below 80% or so) does ... is run a high potential of flooding it. Once flooded, the Spyder is quite difficult to 'unflood'. After my efforts to start the Spyder were fruitless, I left it overnight on a tender. It took all night and half the next morning to get the battery to a full charge. So then I go to start it ... which was still difficult (because it was still flooded from the previous day). Finally, it caught ... the engine ... barely getting going with a puff puff puff bladda bladda bladda and a knocking sound. If one tried to rev it it would die. Ultimately, I started it again, and just let it run until completely warmed up ... Gradually, the excess fuel dumped through the system, everything smoothed out and all was fine.

All this because I let the battery get a little low. Keep your battery on a tender and try not to let it go below 80%. Otherwise the electronic fuel system will dump too much fuel into the throttle body / injectors, there will be insufficient spark to kick the engine, and you will flood out. I have had the Spyder on a tender ever since this incident and had no further problems.

[Camdenlake]

I cannot agree more with Nancy's Toy and HarryPottar's observations on battery charge and flooding. Here's my experience, which should sound familiar to CamdenLake

About three weeks ago I allowed my RT-S to sit out under its cover for 10 days without starting in the mid-upper 90 degree heat. Super hot weather is just as hard on batteries as super cold weather. So ...

I go out to crank her up and know the battery is down to about 65%. She cranks nice but won't start. One could smell the fuel as it cranked. Would not start. I think the original poster mentioned something about turning the throttle grip wide open. No, that won't work. The Spyder throttle control is electronic. It does not kick in until the vehicle is started. A temperature sensor opens the throttle automatically when the ignition is turned on. The throttle grip trick only works on throttles with mechanical linkage to the throttle body.

All cranking the Spyder with a low battery (below 80% or so) does ... is run a high potential of flooding it. Once flooded, the Spyder is quite difficult to 'unflood'. After my efforts to start the Spyder were fruitless, I left it overnight on a tender. It took all night and half the next morning to get the battery to a full charge. So then I go to start it ... which was still difficult (because it was still flooded from the previous day). Finally, it caught ... the engine ... barely getting going with a puff puff puff bladda bladda bladda and a knocking sound. If one tried to rev it it would die. Ultimately, I started it again, and just let it run until completely warmed up ... Gradually, the excess fuel dumped through the system, everything smoothed out and all was fine.

All this because I let the battery get a little low. Keep your battery on a tender and try not to let it go below 80%. Otherwise the electronic fuel system will dump too much fuel into the throttle body / injectors, there will be insufficient spark to kick the engine, and you will flood out. I have had the Spyder on a tender ever since this incident and had no further problems.

They are definatly battery sensitive. I always have mine a good quality unit always in my heated soon to be ac'd garage .

I have also had more thoughts about spyder. I really like the ryde. So it is staying lots of warranty dealer will be informed they will be picking it up with any future issues . I am going to get another of the bike i had before to off set the potential down time and off set of the miles. So i am searching for a low miles 2009 newer FJR.

[NancysToy]

I cannot agree more with Nancy's Toy and HarryPottar's observations on battery charge and flooding. Here's my experience, which should sound familiar to CamdenLake

About three weeks ago I allowed my RT-S to sit out under its cover for 10 days without starting in the mid-upper 90 degree heat. Super hot weather is just as hard on batteries as super cold weather. So ...

I go out to crank her up and know the battery is down to about 65%. She cranks nice but won't start. One could smell the fuel as it cranked. Would not start. I think the original poster mentioned something about turning the throttle grip wide open. No, that won't work. The Spyder throttle control is electronic. It does not kick in until the vehicle is started. A temperature sensor opens the throttle automatically when the ignition is turned on. The throttle grip trick only works on throttles with mechanical linkage to the throttle body.

All cranking the Spyder with a low battery (below 80% or so) does ... is run a high potential of flooding it. Once flooded, the Spyder is quite difficult to 'unflood'. After my efforts to start the Spyder were fruitless, I left it overnight on a tender. It took all night and half the next morning to get the battery to a full charge. So then I go to start it ... which was still difficult (because it was still flooded from the previous day). Finally, it caught ... the engine ... barely getting going with a puff puff puff bladda bladda bladda and a knocking sound. If one tried to rev it it would die. Ultimately, I started it again, and just let it run until completely warmed up ... Gradually, the excess fuel dumped through the system, everything smoothed out and all was fine.

All this because I let the battery get a little low. Keep your battery on a tender and try not to let it go below 80%. Otherwise the electronic fuel system will dump too much fuel into the throttle body / injectors, there will be insufficient spark to kick the engine, and you will flood out. I have had the Spyder on a tender ever since this incident and had no further problems.

Actually, the WOT trick does seem to work on an RT. In theory, that is not possible, but in practice, it is effective. My guess is that during cranking the throttle plate responds as if it were running. I had to take advantage of it many times on my 2010, and it does manage to clear the cylinders but not fire. One of the tech gurus at Wausau shared the tip with me, saying "The engineers say this doesn't work, but we've had good success with it." Another Spyder mystery, I guess.

[harrypottar]

This may not be the issue but this is from personal expearance.

Battery tenders can go bad. I have at least 10 of them on various stuff. I was trying to start my wife's scooter at the beginning of this season. Cut long story short, the battery tender on her unit appeared to be working, but was failing to cut off, it cooked her battery dry. New battery and tender for her scoot.

If you have another tender swap it an see if it makes a different, properly not the tender it's rare that they go bad, but they can.

Also put some sea foam in the tank give it a good run, flush it through the fuel system.

Harry