Help Troubleshooting problem with starter/battery?

[lgreenemeier]

Hi all,
I'm not able to get my 2010 Spyder RT to start. I turn the key, and the dash lights up. But when I push the ignition button, everything goes dark. The battery is on a trickle charger and is testing fine. I've checked the fuses and don't see any problems there. The bike is basically dead. Can anyone help? Any ideas what the problem might be? Thanks!

 

[Bfromla]

Load testing fine or just testing on a volt meter? Additionally; age of battery? Good, clean, & tight connections, preferably with star washers

fitted between the Copper terminals & Leads on the battery (may drop a few).
Everything goes dark sound like a load issue - kill switch in the right position, cycle & flip few times back & forth just cuz :thumbup: good luck

 

[Peteoz]

As Bfromia says, “testing fine” is the key here, and your first concern. Is it testing fine “under load”, or are you simply reading the voltage showing on your “trickle charger” (which I hope is actually a battery tender rather than an actual trickle charger…..they do two different things ). It certainly shows symptoms of a bad battery. Get the battery tested under load before anything else.

Pete

 

[Mikey]

Like the last two have said, I hope you have had your battery LOAD TESTED, it's a free service at most auto supply shops now!! And don't forget the star washers when you put in your new battery!! Good Luck!

 

[lgreenemeier]

Thanks everyone! And, yes, it's a battery tender. pps: I'll report back after I've done some more probing. Appreciate the help.

 

[Mikey]

opcorn:

 

[lgreenemeier]

Hi all,
Sorry it took me so long to give an update. Long story short, the bike is running again and I've been able to take a couple of nice fall rides over the past week or so. How exactly I got the bike running is less clear. I took the battery out, and it tested fine (static test). I drove over to my local mechanic but he couldn't load test the battery (although over the phone he'd said he could). What followed was a series of stops at AutoZone and a couple of Indian dealers in Westchester, where I tried to find someone who could either load test the battery or sell me something I could use to do it myself. I also looked for star washers at AutoZone but couldn't find any. It was late in the day on a Saturday when I got home. I was pretty much out of options for the day, so I decided I would put the battery back in the bike and try jump starting it. If that didn't work, I was going to buy a load tester online so I could do it myself. Before connecting the jumper cables, I turned the key just to see what would happen. The bike came to life! It started right up, and I haven't had any problems in the past week or so since. The only thing I can think of was that taking the battery out somehow reset the bike's electrical system and took care of whatever problem it was having. :dontknow: I'd still like to add star washers but don't know where to get them. The ones I found online don't look like the ones in the picture above.
Thanks again to everyone in this thread for the help. :clap:
Larry

 

[Bfromla]

:congrats::2thumbs:Washers available just about any place sells hardware or same batteries , & do come inner splines or outer. (sorry didn’t state that before)does sound like was loose connection -happens all too often & easily missed until issues develop. Thanks for update :riding::riding:

 

[Mikey]

Next time you have the covers off check both ends of you ground wire to make sure the bike side of that cable is tight!!:2thumbs:

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

The bike came to life! It started right up, and I haven't had any problems in the past week or so since. The only thing I can think of was that taking the battery out somehow reset the bike's electrical system and took care of whatever problem it was having. :dontknow:

More than likely undoing the cable connections to remove the battery, and redoing them when you put it back in, broke through the corrosion that was preventing good contact between the cable and battery post. Or did you clean all the terminals when you reinstalled the battery? If so, that was what fixed things.

 

[BajaRon]

Bad connections. The first thing I check. It doesn't take much with the Spyder. Which is very voltage sensitive. Glad you found the cure!