2014 Spyder RT fuel gauge has failed for THIRD time in 29k miles!

[nazdackster]

My analog fuel gauge / temp gauge has failed for the 3rd time in 29k miles. Failure is usually the same, the low fuel light will come on, failed gauge will drift to zero in steps over maybe 3 sec, temp gauge will remain wherever it was when gas gauge failed. Just happened again tonight after being perfect for 2.8 years. 1st failed at 11k, replaced, didn't last 3 months, replaced under part warranty, now this one failed. Last one did seem to be more linear, which made me think there was an engineering change.

1) is this common? I'm not finding too much here about it.
2) digital cluster appears to be OK, checked all traces under a microscope, beautiful.
3) can someone with a service manual tell me where these gauges get their ground?
4) how hard is it to change sender myself?
5) has anyone ever found root cause for these failures?
6) any other suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[Peter Aawen]

There is a fair bit here on fuel gauges already - Type 'fuel gauge' into the Search field up towards the top right & just below the Lamonster Garage Logo/link; tick the box that says 'Search Titles Only'; submit the Search; and then use the thread titles to help you select which threads amongst the maybe 4 pages of results look most applicable to you.

As for your questions:

1. The analogue fuel gauges on these things are notoriously crap, and as mentioned above, there's a LOT here about them/their issues;
2. the digital gauges tend to work much better & are generally more reliable & accurate;
3. no idea where the gauges specifically get their ground, but the main battery to frame ground behind the battery is often behind many electrical issues;
4. it's a right pain to get at the sender cos it's actually situated inside the fuel tank, which is bloody hard to get out far enough to allow access to the sender/fuel pump, but it's only really due to time & effort taken to remove everything in the way, then move the tank out far enough - the sender/pump unit itself isn't too hard to change once you can get to it;
5. it appears the root cause of these gauge issues is exactly the same reason that new Spyders still run crappy & oddly sized tires - cos BRP knows there's an issue with crappy analogue gauges impacting many owners/operators but still don't feel that either warrants then doing/providing anything better in response to their customers' complaints; and
6. many of us (maybe even most, especially those of us still running older Spyders) just ignore &/or have removed the fuel gauge entirely (because unplugging both analogue fuel & temp gauges activates the digital gauges instead! ) &/or revert to what we've done on pretty much every bike we've owned/ridden over the last 50 or more years, simply relying on re-setting a trip meter every time we fill up and knowing how far we can usually go on a tank full of gas.

:thumbup:

 

[DickB]

My 2014 RSS manual shows that the sending unit is not grounded. There are two signal wires that run straight to the cluster. I believe the cluster is grounded through the wiring harness at #4 in the drawing.

PDF shop manuals are relatively inexpensive. I wouldn't work on a Spyder without one.

https://brpmanuals.com/product-category/rykers-spyders/

 

[Mikey]

If the 14's are like the 12's just unhook both and let them go digital, they're more accurate and you can get madeleines to fill the holes or use the space for something else. But anyways before I started to try to dig out sender units, I would unhook both gauges and let it go digital and see if it really is the sender! :dontknow:

 

[ris]

I have an one that I bought for my 2015 RTSE6 . It turned out to be the dash not the gauge. Contact me if you are interested.

 

[Snowbelt Spyder]

Naz...I think it would be a better idea if you got your own manual. 25 bucks.

https://canammanuals.com/product/20...air-and-maintenance-manual-master-collection/

Once you do, you'll see that the cluster runs everything regarding those gauges. There is no separate gauge ground.

Not sure what you mean when you say that you checked all traces under a microscope. Are you talking about the printed circuit board itself? Fine, but that says nothing about the electronic components for the gauge circuit.

What you CAN do, however, is put it all back together, but disconnect both of the analog gauges, which will then activate the digital Fuel and Coolant gauges on the center LCD display. Two little vertical bar graphs appear. However, it switches sides. Fuel on the right, temperature on the left. Ride around like that for awhile. If they are reading and behaving correctly, then that eliminates the sender(s) as the problem. And besides, the fuel sender is typically ok anyway, and is an integral part of the fuel pump assembly. You'd have to change the entire unit.

I know that you want things to work the way that they are supposed to work. We all do. But in this case, the digital displays are more accurate and not prone to failure. Abandoning the analog gauges for the digital gauges eliminates your problem forever, and allows you to use those two holes for something more useful. My two cents. Good Luck.

 

[Mikey]

:agree: X2 Think I've heard that before.:thumbup:

 

[nazdackster]

Hi Doug... yes, I had read that it can be bad connections in the dash, so when it happened last time I inspected traces and they all looked really good. Did the disconnect idea and it was the sender, and doing this does restore the temp, if not fuel. Rode with trip meter a long time until we got it fixed first time. I'll disconnect again. It sounds like there is no huge uproar about senders / pumps, but the first one did have a gap between wiper and sensor. It did not look robust. I didn't see 2nd one.

Thanks to you and everyone else for the ideas and comments!

I hope I'm not double posting, trying again...

 

[Mikey]

Getting to the senders are a real pain, that's why some of us have tried to give you ideas to try to pinpoint the problem as best you can. The real odd thing in your case is that it has happened as many times as it has, that leads a person to think, why is this happening to your bike and not some others? Anyway, good luck with this gremlin, hope you find him soon and get back to us when you do and tell us what his name is!!opcorn: