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ECM Electronic Control Module gone bad at 18000 miles

S

Spydey Girl

New member
I have a 2012 RSS SE 5, I received a check transmission reading come on and ook it into the dealership and was told the ecm was bad. but the bike seem to be running great. I was told that two cylinders were not firing. Does this sound correct to anybody. I have 18000 miles on y Spyder. IS this normal?
 
If the two cylinders are not firing, how can it be running great.....Go to a different dealer......quick.nojoke
 
That is my concern. It changed gears smoothly and there was no skipping or running rough, it cranked up normally and I didn't sense anything out of the ordinary. IF two cylinders weren't firing wouldn't run rough if it ran at all. I thought if the ECM went out it would shut down the bike.
 
OMG

Big Arm said:
If the two cylinders are not firing, how can it be running great.....Go to a different dealer......quick.nojoke
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:agree::agree::agree::agree::agree: ......I find this this ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING .........This sounds like a classic case of " treat a woman as if she is a MORON " " She will believe ANYTHING ".......Big Arm is correct, if the plugs aren't firing the engine can't be running...PERIOD. I don't know if you bought from this STEALER but if you did they are treating you like DIRT......You need to pull up the codes and get back to us on this and someone here can probably help.......As long as you haven't gone into LIMP MODE it's not serious.........JMHO....Mike :bbq:
 
When my ECM failed on my '11RS i lost 1 cyl. it ran (like a 2cycle lawn mower!)i got home and had it trailered to dealer and had it replaced under BEST warrenty.
 
Spydey Girl said:
I have a 2012 RSS SE 5, I received a check transmission reading come on and ook it into the dealership and was told the ecm was bad. but the bike seem to be running great. I was told that two cylinders were not firing. Does this sound correct to anybody. I have 18000 miles on y Spyder. IS this normal?
Click to expand...

Spideygirl,

your machine only HAS two cylinders. If two cylinders are not firing, it ain't running. Get away from that shop as fast as you can and never return for ANYTHING.
 
Spydey Girl said:
I have a 2012 RSS SE 5, I received a check transmission reading come on and ook it into the dealership and was told the ecm was bad. but the bike seem to be running great. I was told that two cylinders were not firing. Does this sound correct to anybody. I have 18000 miles on y Spyder. IS this normal?
Click to expand...

It hasn't happened to me personally, but a lot of folks here will swear by low oil level being the primary cause of most glitches with the SE5 transmission. Perhaps that would be the first thing to check and cross off the list.

The second thing would be to search for a new dealer. That was one of the most dishonest or incompetent things I've ever heard a dealer say.
 
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Wow...!!

Really:yikes: right to the ECM..?? You need to get her back and find another dealer. That warning has many origins of which the ECM is the last and least common. As mentioned oil, gear positioning sensor, linkage, actuator etc are the places to start. If you let the computers reset and the warning goes away there may not be a problem. If it comes back then after oil I would look to the gear positioning sensor and the paddle shifter. I have seen this happen with several SE models where they were shifting to softly and by making the shifts more positive they had no more issues. Seems on a soft shift or hesitant tap the computer thinks you missed a gear or are between gears. :thumbup:
 
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kep-up said:
Spideygirl,

your machine only HAS two cylinders. If two cylinders are not firing, it ain't running. Get away from that shop as fast as you can and never return for ANYTHING.
Click to expand...

BTW, my 2011 RSS SE5 was sending me trans codes for quite some time. It wasn't shifting. Monkeyed with the oil level issue, didn't help. Ignored the message and simply shifted again until the message disappeared until it got so bad I could hardly get to shift into reverse or even change gears at all. Then I replaced the paddle switch assemblly. All better now.
 
ECM failures are actually VERY rare yet its the item many unknowing dealers or mechanics jump to first. Likely because they know the least about it.

There is a great deal of diagnostic work that needs to be done before one can determine a ECM is bad. Your dealer is lying to you in order to attempt to STEAL from you. Its that simple. You need to get your bike and leave.

In the unlikely event they have actually done the needed diagnostics and you just misunderstood what they were telling you, please get the diagnostic codes they pulled and the reason they think the ECM is bad. There are a number of experienced BRP techs here on the board that can help you.
 
jcthorne said:
ECM failures are actually VERY rare yet its the item many unknowing dealers or mechanics jump to first. Likely because they know the least about it.

There is a great deal of diagnostic work that needs to be done before one can determine a ECM is bad. Your dealer is lying to you in order to attempt to STEAL from you.
Click to expand...

It may be a little harsh to say they're trying to steal. I spent a great part of my career as technical service representative for a major European auto company. I found many instances of technicians that didn't have proper training looking at a fault code (DTC) and then going for the easiest component to replace. It's a problem. So many so-called technicians have little education or understanding of the systems they're working on. In my 35 years of automotive experience I found the best shops invest in training, the worst employ back-yard parts changers.
 
Koop said:
It may be a little harsh to say they're trying to steal. I spent a great part of my career as technical service representative for a major European auto company. I found many instances of technicians that didn't have proper training looking at a fault code (DTC) and then going for the easiest component to replace. It's a problem. So many so-called technicians have little education or understanding of the systems they're working on. In my 35 years of automotive experience I found the best shops invest in training, the worst employ back-yard parts changers.
Click to expand...

If they told her two cylinders were not firing when the engine only HAS two cylinders, they were trying to steal from her. That's as flagrant as telling someone they need to change the air in their tires.
 
hey there my ECM went out after i changed the spark plugs and wires, it turns out when you do that you have to disconnect the negative battery cable then work on the bike. Changing out an ECM is very easy though! remove the left front panel and get under the dash and you will see it it plugs in and out very simple. By the way my bike was able to start and run on ONE cylinder only. The dealer wanted $1700 dollars to change it out, i found the ECM on Amazon and bought for $500 and changed it myself, i have never returned to that dealer by the way, i do most of my own work now.
 
soloflyr said:
hey there my ECM went out after i changed the spark plugs and wires, it turns out when you do that you have to disconnect the negative battery cable then work on the bike. Changing out an ECM is very easy though! remove the left front panel and get under the dash and you will see it it plugs in and out very simple. By the way my bike was able to start and run on ONE cylinder only. The dealer wanted $1700 dollars to change it out, i found the ECM on Amazon and bought for $500 and changed it myself, i have never returned to that dealer by the way, i do most of my own work now.
Click to expand...

I have changed a number of spark plug wire sets and I've had hundreds of customers do the same. I'm not saying don't remove the negative cable from your battery. It never hurts. But you're the first person I've heard say a spark plug and wire change was the reason for an ECM failure. The ignition system (at least the wires and plugs) have no affect on the battery or ECM when the system is shut off. I suspect it may have been something else which occurred during the spark plug and wire change that created this problem.
 
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That's actually funny in a not-funny way. You should ask the dealer which two cylinders are not firing, and have them physically show you on a twin engine, that only has two cylinders :)
ECM almost never fails unless it's burned out, but for that you need to either reverse the polarity (connect positive cable to the negative battery terminal and negative cable to positive terminal) or be next to an atomic bomb explosion - it will fry the electronics with an EMP pulse.

Out of all the possible simple issues your dealer chose the two impossible ones :)
Like everyone says here - don't ever go to that dealer again.
 
Don'tPanic said:
That's actually funny in a not-funny way. You should ask the dealer which two cylinders are not firing, and have them physically show you on a twin engine, that only has two cylinders :)
ECM almost never fails unless it's burned out, but for that you need to either reverse the polarity (connect positive cable to the negative battery terminal and negative cable to positive terminal) or be next to an atomic bomb explosion - it will fry the electronics with an EMP pulse.

Out of all the possible simple issues your dealer chose the two impossible ones :)
Like everyone says here - don't ever go to that dealer again.
Click to expand...

I know of one that did fail ….. some of the Prongs inside the plug connector, corroded, which rendered the ECM as - not functioning ….. Mike :ohyea:
 
Hey Ron as a matter of fact i purchased the plugs and wires from you, that is why i was perplexed. i ran on the number one cylinder till i took it into the dealer, when they told me $1700 dollars i was soo pissed i took my bike and left. I thought to myself with all the diagnostic equipment they have this is the best that they can come up with? By the way my bike is now throwing a VSS fault code and limp home mode when i take it out. I have not changed anything or done anything to it as of late of than change the brakes front and back. do you have idea what could cause this? Thanks in advance
 
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