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“Lost Communication with ECM/ECU” - could this be a sign the battery is going?

G

greer

Well-known member
I rode over to the Spyderpops gathering in Arkansas this past weekend. About 400 miles into the trip Thursday the “Lost communication with ECU” message came up on the screen. This happened as I was going down the road and the message was gone the instant I noticed it. The bike never skipped a beat then, over the weekend, or on the ride home yesterday.
The bike’s been sitting since last night and I’ve just now done the basic battery test with our voltmeter:
Key off 13.21​
Key on 12.6​
While cranking 11.4​
At idle 14.24​
3500 RPM 14.26​

The reading while cranking tells the tale?

Sarah
 
greer said:
I rode over to the Spyderpops gathering in Arkansas this past weekend. About 400 miles into the trip Thursday the “Lost communication with ECU” message came up on the screen. This happened as I was going down the road and the message was gone the instant I noticed it. The bike never skipped a beat then, over the weekend, or on the ride home yesterday.
The bike’s been sitting since last night and I’ve just now done the basic battery test with our voltmeter:
Key off 13.21​
Key on 12.6​
While cranking 11.4​
At idle 14.24​
3500 RPM 14.26​

The reading while cranking tells the tale?

Sarah
Click to expand...

It might not be the only problem, but in my experience with quite a few Spyders now (all owned/operated by various other people), that'll do it pretty much every time! 😣

Do you still have the 'cheaper, less capable, lower CCA' OEM battery that BRP started palming off on new buyers starting around 2020?? If you do, &/or it's not a Yuasa or quality A/mkt alternative with at least 350 CCA & 21 A/hrs capacity, then it sounds very much like it's time to replace the battery! Only if you do replace the battery, don't just go in, buy one off the shelf, and throw it in - make sure that it has been initialised properly and then charged with a quality charger for at least 8 hours BEFORE installation!! Even if the battery retailer/dealer says they've done that, if they put a battery straight in and say you're good to go, don't believe them - trust if you want, but at least, verify! A battery that's been given a quick charge once, probably when they first got it/put it on the shelf maybe 6+ months ago, isn't necessarily in all that good nick, and it likely needs at least a proper 8+ hour charge, which your alternator cannot do while you're riding home! 😖

Failure to do that initialisation and proper charge thing will likely mean that you'll be once again looking for a new battery within a couple of years, or sooner! But if you do the initialisation and proper charge thing first, before installation, then look after your battery properly from there on in, and there's a good chance your new battery will still be going strong 5 or more years down track! (y)

Just Sayin' ;)
 
Sarah,

I bought a battery load tester a few years ago and it helps with questions like yours. Stop by your Harbor Freight store and pick one up and then make sure your battery is charged good and then test it!

It was one of the first things I did when getting the new RT home.

Maybe a new lithium battery?
 
Thanks everybody. We're supposed to be getting a Harbor Freight in Glasgow soon, in the meantime I can check and see if anybody is making a run to Bowling Green or if one of our buddies has a battery load tester on hand. It would be more thorough than the 5-step voltmeter test?

I am unsure about the lithium batteries. They seem to provide crazy high CCA but extremely low Amp Hours compared to Yuasa battery specs. The OEM battery in my bike is a Leoch MX20-3-P with 310 CCA and 20Ah. There's not a smidgen of extra room in the battery box, so no option for the YTX24HL. In the Yuasa line there's the GYZ20HL factory activated battery with 320 CCA and 20 Amp Hours, or the YTX20HL-BS with 310 CCA and 18 Amp Hours. I'd like to go with the higher grade GYZ but I'm leery of getting one that's been sitting on a shelf. If I go with a YTX I can guarantee I'll prep and charge it properly so that I'll get the most out of it. Which would you choose? Or something else? Thanks again.

Sarah

IMG_2520.jpeg
 
If I have the time I go with the YTX20HL-BS battery and put it on my trickle/maintainer charger for 3 to 5 days after filling it. That gives me the longest lasting battery. This summer my wife was heading out to meet up with two other ladies for a long trip. Got a call that the Spyder would not start. Battery was at 9 volts, had to run to a Battery + store and pick up a new battery. Rushed to install so she could hit the road.
Hated that I could not properly prepare the battery
 
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