Battery Terminal

[PCBeachBum]

For about a month now my Spyder would go into limp mode and I would get the usual scrolls across the dash board. Shutting it down and waiting a few minutes, I would restart it and it would be fine. Friday night, I noticed the battery light would come on and go off after hitting a bump in the road.

Saturday I took off the 2 of the left side panels to check the battery. The negative side was tight and checking the positive cable that to was tight but, the whole connection looked like it was off and not straight, like the negative side. I'm suspecting that the terminal is cracked inside and am wondering if this has ever happened to others. I've never heard of this before and know there is a first time for everything. I'm just wondering what would cause this. :dontknow:

I have never touched the battery before or had a need to. The last time I saw the battery before this was when I had the 02 sensor mod and plugs changed about 2 years ago and just replaced them with Iridium plugs. Long before the plug change it was at the dealer for the 2nd generation DPS.

I've never heard of this before and know there is a first time for everything. I'm just wondering what would cause this. I just read a post about weather change and it has been going from warm during the day to cold at night. I would expect nuts and bolts to come loose but the whole battery terminal. :shocked:

It still runs but its not going anywhere til I get a new battery in it. I can see myself pushing it home and the bad thing is? There are no hills here to coast down.

 

[NancysToy]

I have never heard of it happening on a Spyder, but I have seen it on other batteries, so it is certainly possible. It is not a common occurance. Sometimes the breakage is near the terminals, and sometimes it is in the connections between cells.

If I were you, I would check the other end of the ground cable, at the frame ground at the negative jumper terminal. If the jumper terminal is loose, it can cause the symptoms you mentioned. If it is tight, buy a new battery.

 

[PCBeachBum]

Scotty,

Thanks for the information. After posting this, I was able to get a hold friend that is a tech and works out of his trailer and he said the same thing to check the negative cable at the frame. He is on his way back from TN and said he would check his inventory for a battery when he gets home. He said he does have one for a Spyder, if that is the problem and be over in the morning. I just hope the sun is up because with him, you never know.

He is a tech that no matter what time it is will come out and get you running again, if possible. If not, he will load up the bike and take it home and work on it and get it back to you within days.

I told him you remind me of the doctors who used to make house calls and now, you can't get them out of bed or off the golf course.

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

HILLS

Look on the brite side , if there are no downhills there are no uphills :thumbup:

 

[pro10is]

Remove all the battery wires and attach a DC volt meter to the battery terminals. Using pliers gently and carefully wiggle the terminals one at a time (when doing this on the positive side be very careful not to short the connection to any ground via the pliers, or not to ever short the terminals to each other). If the voltage intermittently goes to 0 you probably have a defective terminal.

 

[Cliff-Co.]

R. T. Spyder light's problem

I have never heard of it happening on a Spyder, but I have seen it on other batteries, so it is certainly possible. It is not a common occurance. Sometimes the breakage is near the terminals, and sometimes it is in the connections between cells.

If I were you, I would check the other end of the ground cable, at the frame ground at the negative jumper terminal. If the jumper terminal is loose, it can cause the symptoms you mentioned. If it is tight, buy a new battery.

hello scotty, are ya out there ??? hee-hee, any advice, will be helpful, about a spyder, head-light problem, a friend of mine has??? the problem is the headlight's runn'n down the road, (stand'n still no problem) the headlight's jump to hi-beam, then to low beam, to off, (no codes) , & dealer has changed fuses, switches,relay's, it still has same-o problem, butt the head-light's haven't been changed, & I'm a wonder'n, if'n when they hit a bump, the filiment in the heaflight's are badd???, I had that happen yrs. ago with the old sealed beam??? any body else got this problem??? :yikes:

 

[NancysToy]

hello scotty, are ya out there ??? hee-hee, any advice, will be helpful, about a spyder, head-light problem, a friend of mine has??? the problem is the headlight's runn'n down the road, (stand'n still no problem) the headlight's jump to hi-beam, then to low beam, to off, (no codes) , & dealer has changed fuses, switches,relay's, it still has same-o problem, butt the head-light's haven't been changed, & I'm a wonder'n, if'n when they hit a bump, the filiment in the heaflight's are badd???, I had that happen yrs. ago with the old sealed beam??? any body else got this problem??? :yikes:

This probably should have been a new thread. Sorry to add to the hijack.

There probably is no problem at all with the headlights. The Spyder has projection lenses, which cast a narrow beam. As the Spyder bounces, as motorcycles and all lightweight vehicles do going down the road, the bright part of the beam shines in and out of other people's sight, giving the appearance that the headlights are flickering or being flashed. The best way to deal with this is to adjust the headlights...usually a bit lower, and/or to run with high beams during the daytime. The "flashing" is less noticeable at night.

Spyder headlights in North America are different from typical two-filament or dual bulb systems. There is just one filament. On low beam, internal shutters are activated, and they cover the upper part of the lenses, blocking the light that shines high. I suppose these shutters could be getting intermittent power, and flashing the lights, but they can be heard moving, especially at low speeds, so it should be fairly easy to tell. If this is the case, the dealer should look for a loose connection or a bad switch.

 

[PCBeachBum]

I have never heard of it happening on a Spyder, but I have seen it on other batteries, so it is certainly possible. It is not a common occurance. Sometimes the breakage is near the terminals, and sometimes it is in the connections between cells.

If I were you, I would check the other end of the ground cable, at the frame ground at the negative jumper terminal. If the jumper terminal is loose, it can cause the symptoms you mentioned. If it is tight, buy a new battery.

Scotty,

I checked the negative ground cable at the frame and it was tight. My friend didn't have a battery to fit. He had the 1.8 amp and the Spyder takes a 2.1 amp. I bought a new battery and installed it.

Thanks all for the information and BlueKnight911, we do have a few man made hills, they are known as bridges. :thumbup:

 

[NancysToy]

Scotty,

I checked the negative ground cable at the frame and it was tight. My friend didn't have a battery to fit. He had the 1.8 amp and the Spyder takes a 2.1 amp. I bought a new battery and installed it.

Thanks all for the information and BlueKnight911, we do have a few man made hills, they are known as bridges. :thumbup:

Glad to hear you got things going. It always pays to check the connections first, but sometimes a new battery is in order.

 

[Cliff-Co.]

spyder headlights

This probably should have been a new thread. Sorry to add to the hijack.

There probably is no problem at all with the headlights. The Spyder has projection lenses, which cast a narrow beam. As the Spyder bounces, as motorcycles and all lightweight vehicles do going down the road, the bright part of the beam shines in and out of other people's sight, giving the appearance that the headlights are flickering or being flashed. The best way to deal with this is to adjust the headlights...usually a bit lower, and/or to run with high beams during the daytime. The "flashing" is less noticeable at night.

Spyder headlights in North America are different from typical two-filament or dual bulb systems. There is just one filament. On low beam, internal shutters are activated, and they cover the upper part of the lenses, blocking the light that shines high. I suppose these shutters could be getting intermittent power, and flashing the lights, but they can be heard moving, especially at low speeds, so it should be fairly easy to tell. If this is the case, the dealer should look for a loose connection or a bad switch.

Thank's for the info!!!!