The MOST unreliable POS I have ever owned

[Blue Star]

You guys may be right. I am over it now and its up to BRP to make it correct. Goes in the shop on Tuesday and I have a limit on the time I have for it to be corrected. I feel that with the number of times it has been in, they have used up almost all of the time to correct it. But, lets give them the benefit and one more try.

Don't know how to explain without a long story, sorry. When I was a kid my Dad had a Chrysler that whenever it rained the car would drive fine until he stopped the motor. Then he would have to wait about two hours (or more) for it to start. The dealership had several techs look into it, but could not find it. Got to the point that the dealership stopped charging him for the parts/labor. Then one time they had a newly hired tech look at it, and he found it. Turned out it had a small crack in the coil. When it got hot the crack would open, the water got in, and the coil would not work. All the other techs worked on the car in normal conditions. The new guy thought outside the box, and replicated the situation. After running the car thru a car wash several times, he got the car wet enough (like when it rained) to have the coil not work. Car ran like a champ after that. Maybe what your techs think is the cause, is being caused by something else like a cracked wire.

[dave01]

Not trying to talk you into anything Dave, just saying we are pulling for you. No one will accuse you of giving up too soon. You've been taking it on the chin with a vehicle that is supposed to bring you satisfaction of ownership.

Maybe this cheerleader will help! Better than a gremlin at least!

Thanks Ron, giving them another shot at it next week. If nothing, it will be a low mileage seller. Lol

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[dave01]

Don't know how to explain without a long story, sorry. When I was a kid my Dad had a Chrysler that whenever it rained the car would drive fine until he stopped the motor. Then he would have to wait about two hours (or more) for it to start. The dealership had several techs look into it, but could not find it. Got to the point that the dealership stopped charging him for the parts/labor. Then one time they had a newly hired tech look at it, and he found it. Turned out it had a small crack in the coil. When it got hot the crack would open, the water got in, and the coil would not work. All the other techs worked on the car in normal conditions. The new guy thought outside the box, and replicated the situation. After running the car thru a car wash several times, he got the car wet enough (like when it rained) to have the coil not work. Car ran like a champ after that. Maybe what your techs think is the cause, is being caused by something else like a cracked wire.

Lol, just had a vision of my tech riding the spyder thru the local car wash over and over again. This has brought a smile and made my night. Thanks.

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[rollingstone]

Dave, I know how you feel. I bought my RT two months ago and after ONE day it was sent back to the dealer with a check engine alert. That one turned out to be "instrument panel interruption" and the dealer tightened all connections behind the panel. I didn't know how to check for codes until recently and I have had a few such alerts since then but they reset by turning it off and restarting about 5 minutes later.

Today I was going to go out and the dreaded "check engine" alarm came on as soon as I started it up. This time I checked for codes and it was P1614; bad throttle body. I'm now waiting for a truck to take it back to the dealer again for the second time in two months but the dealer told me that they were "booked solid" for the next two weeks and he doesn't know when they'll be able to get to it! Here in Australia the dealer network is pretty sparse so it's not easy to just go to another dealer. I can't go back to two wheels because of specialist medical orders so I'm stuck and if this continues I may just have to give up riding altogether.

I hope this isn't seen as hijacking your thread, I just wanted to say that I understand and commiserate with you.

Robert

[dave01]

Dave, I know how you feel. I bought my RT two months ago and after ONE day it was sent back to the dealer with a check engine alert. That one turned out to be "instrument panel interruption" and the dealer tightened all connections behind the panel. I didn't know how to check for codes until recently and I have had a few such alerts since then but they reset by turning it off and restarting about 5 minutes later.

Today I was going to go out and the dreaded "check engine" alarm came on as soon as I started it up. This time I checked for codes and it was P1614; bad throttle body. I'm now waiting for a truck to take it back to the dealer again for the second time in two months but the dealer told me that they were "booked solid" for the next two weeks and he doesn't know when they'll be able to get to it! Here in Australia the dealer network is pretty sparse so it's not easy to just go to another dealer. I can't go back to two wheels because of specialist medical orders so I'm stuck and if this continues I may just have to give up riding altogether.

I hope this isn't seen as hijacking your thread, I just wanted to say that I understand and commiserate with you.

Robert

No problem Robert. Good luck on the repairs. For the most part, the spyders have been reliable for many riders. Tons of trouble-free miles for a lot of riders. Mine just has gremlins, demons, or whatever you want to call them.

[tobor9]

Mr Orange' idea is good but be careful ! this type for trouble shooting is risky and can cause fires!! I was a telephone tech and saw cable techs use "Breakdown sets" to find high resistance faults and burn up x-boxes and splice cases.Make sure BRP approves doing this as they may have to replace harness or the hole trike!

[Arr MiHardies]

Don't know how to explain without a long story, sorry. When I was a kid my Dad had a Chrysler that whenever it rained the car would drive fine until he stopped the motor. Then he would have to wait about two hours (or more) for it to start. The dealership had several techs look into it, but could not find it. Got to the point that the dealership stopped charging him for the parts/labor. Then one time they had a newly hired tech look at it, and he found it. Turned out it had a small crack in the coil. When it got hot the crack would open, the water got in, and the coil would not work. All the other techs worked on the car in normal conditions. The new guy thought outside the box, and replicated the situation. After running the car thru a car wash several times, he got the car wet enough (like when it rained) to have the coil not work. Car ran like a champ after that. Maybe what your techs think is the cause, is being caused by something else like a cracked wire.

As a computer tech, trying to replicate a situation is critical to troubleshooting it. Surprised no one else tried to replicate it.

[kman]

Could it be the throttle body constantly drawing power?Just throwing this out there since they are a source of failure on some Spyders.

[dave01]

Mr Orange' idea is good but be careful ! this type for trouble shooting is risky and can cause fires!! I was a telephone tech and saw cable techs use "Breakdown sets" to find high resistance faults and burn up x-boxes and splice cases.Make sure BRP approves doing this as they may have to replace harness or the hole trike!

Good call. I refuse to do the tech work on this bike anymore. Its now out of my hands.Lets see what BRP comes up with.

[arntufun]

Dave, I have to say your a better man than I am. Your attitude towards your dealer and BRP is absolutly amazing. No way would I be so kind in the words I type towards either of them if I had your problems.

[dave01]

Dave, I have to say your a better man than I am. Your attitude towards your dealer and BRP is absolutly amazing. No way would I be so kind in the words I type towards either of them if I had your problems.

Thanks for the compliment. I have found you might get better results by giving them a chance. But, when diplomacy fails.........

[motoford]

You mentioned the lighting mods were all removed, did you remove them trying to track down the battery drain problem or was it happening before the mods?

[dave01]

You mentioned the lighting mods were all removed, did you remove them trying to track down the battery drain problem or was it happening before the mods?

I change things on the spyder from time to time. The lighting mods are all fused, separated from any other wiring and fuses pulled when all of this started. The battery drain issue was here before any mods were put on. When I first got the RT, it needed a battery tender if it sat over 5 days.

[r1100rider]

I change things on the spyder from time to time. The lighting mods are all fused, separated from any other wiring and fuses pulled when all of this started. The battery drain issue was here before any mods were put on. When I first got the RT, it needed a battery tender if it sat over 5 days.

I have serviced major applIances for 30 plus years and have had one of these impossible cases from time to time and everyone always thinks they got a lemon and thinks it need some big part but 9 times out of 10 it won't even need a part to fix it will turn out to be something super simple in the end there is always a reason and a simple fix,an owner just doesn't want to be the guy who has the one Problem that no one has seen before

[dave01]

Will continue this thread after BRP checks it out next week.

[Bob Denman]

We're all VERY curious about how this whole saga is going to play out... Good Luck!

[dave01]

We're all VERY curious about how this whole saga is going to play out... Good Luck!

Thanks Bob. I will keep everyone informed. 72 degrees this morning. Would be great riding weather.

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[Schnauzer]

You would think that BRP would be just as curious as the rest of us and bring this RT home and try and find the problem. It appears to be a QC issue, now does it stem from BRP/Dealer. "5 days after purchase. needs Batt..Tender.. WTH, 1st red flag right there. What I don't understand is why the computer/computers keeping whining for 1/2 hr or so after power is turned off.

A battery disconnect would eleviate any draw when off, but would it cause an issue with Nanny Diagnostics or whatever is taking place while it is off.

IMHO, BRP nailed it with the 08/09's, but when they opened the can of worms on the 2010RT, Problems spead like a plague, after they created and updated to 2011 this wonderful info was passed down and you see what happened TB's crashed like no tomorrow and so-on. "Some things are just not meant to be "High-Tech".

GoodLuck. I agrre with many on your "Cool-Headed" approach.I Would;ve lost it when the BT was bought..

[Arachnida]

Have the alternator checked off the spyder. I found problems with a defective diode in alternators on other equipment I have worked on. Good luck

[docdoru]

Have the alternator checked off the spyder. I found problems with a defective diode in alternators on other equipment I have worked on. Good luck

There is no alternator in the Spyder.

[pro10is]

It sounds like you have a significant parasitic drain on your battery. If this were my bike I would connect a multimeter with an ammeter function in series with the positive battery terminal and measure the current drain with the key off. If it's 10-30 milliamps this would be normal. 30-35 milliamps would be the top end and could cause battery problems, and anything over 35 milliamps is not acceptable.

If this were the case I would then watch the ammeter while I pulled the fuses one by one to try to isolate the circuit where the problem was.

[dave01]

Many thanks to all of the suggestions for resolving the issues on my 2010 RTS. Tomorrow, she goes back to the dealer for troubleshooting and repairs. I will have to say that when the spyder was functioning properly, it was a lot of fun to ride and took me many places that my sportbike cant. Stay tuned.....Same Bat time, Same Bat Channel.

[dave01]

Now the waiting starts.....................

spyder.jpg

[Jeriatric]

Now the waiting starts.....................

spyder.jpg

Bet you a cold one they find the problem this time

[dave01]

Bet you a cold one they find the problem this time

They have 1 week till I go on vacation. Never drew a line in the sand before but I have now.