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Got something strange going on here

Lamonster

Lamonster

SpyderLovers Founder
Well as some of you have read I have had some electrical gremlins plaguing me here lately. I'm not sure how long it's been going on for sure but it is getting worst.

Today I was going to ride the Spyder to church but when I went to start it it acted like I had a dead battery. My lights came on but I had no gauge at all. I through a charger on it and headed to church. When I got back the batteries showed a full charge but I still didn't have a cluster gauge.

So I pull the Headlamp Relay and still nothing. Then I pull the Main Relay and I still have nothing. Next I pull the Fan Relay and my gauges come back and the Spyder starts. So now I'm really cornfused.:dontknow:

I call my buddy Magic Man up and we go through a few things it could be. I put all the relays back in and the Spyder seems fine. I check the voltage and it checks out fine too and it is charging.

So I decide to run to the auto parts store and pick up some new relays to keep with me. They only had two so I bought those.

Everything still seems fine so I head out for a little ride. I get about 20 miles down the road and the "push M button" is scrolling on my gauge. Now the bike is running fine and I'm tooling down the road. This happened to me the day before too so I have no idea what's going on now.

I get spooked and turned around and decided to fine what the problem is. I call Evan again and he walks me through checking to see if I have a draw or if my batteries are acting up.

First thing I do is pull the positive battery cable and check to see if there is a amp draw on the battery with nothing on. I did it with a amp meter and with a test light. I trusted my test light more than my amp meter but the meter said I had a .04 draw on it. Not enough to drain the batteries down over night.

I start unhooking all my add on's. First the Corbin heated seat as that would have the most draw. Nothing, still had a draw. Then my GPS, XM, LED's, water temp gauge, and then my spare fuse box. Nothing, still had a draw.

So now all my stuff is unhooked. I start pulling relays and fuses. I pulled all the relays and that didn't help. I started going through the fuses and when I pulled the F7 fuse my draw quit.:thumbup:

So this fuse is a 10 amp fuse for the DESS, Licence Plate Light, Position Lights, Tail Lights and Service Connector (not switched).

So I call Evan back again and he says the DESS (Digitally Encoded Security System) will have some draw on it but not enough to take down the batteries and it shouldn't cause the gauge to go blank.

So now I have the battery at full charge and it's reading 12.6 volts and that is within spec. It's not hooked up to anything right now so I'll check the voltage again in the morning. If it's good my battery is most likely fine. Then I'll hook it up again and leave F7 out and check the following morning. If it's still good I'll put the fuse back in and check it again.

I guess I could just have a bad gauge or maybe the relay was giving me fits. At this point I have no idea but I need to get this nailed down before I head out west, that's for sure. :(
 
I popped that fuse three times and each time it freaked me out cause it left me with no taillight, brake light, license plate light and the the running lights on the front fender. At night, its easy to see the fenders are out, just not so much in the day time.

The day that I finally went ahead and replaced my fender lights was when I noticed the right side light had a ton of moisture in it and the connectors were covered in that lovely green corrosion powder. Hard to believe that moisture made it through that bomb proof connector, but it did.

After swapping it all out, I have traveled many miles without an issue.
This probably has nothing to do with your "current" issue, but since I have an intimate relationship with that fuse... I figured I would share.
 
Good luck...my 'old' bmw convertible has a slow draw that nobody can figure out...it's minimal, but in the winter, 2-3 weeks with no charger and it's dead!

I had a great stereo installed at Tweeter some years ago...all super high-end...nothing looks wrong with any of it after getting it check numerous times...extra fuses and all...

Bottom line: The more mods you install/play with the electrical system, the more likelihood that you are going to have problems...it's inevitable...we are all dabbling here and there with the Spyders and hopefully most everything is harmless...it's just tough when you come across a problem and it's hard to trace...argh!

Hope you get a handle on it...
 
I now have the F7 fuse back in. The batteries are showing 12.7 volts sitting there. At idle I'm putting out 13.7 volts so the charging system seems to be working fine. My guess at this point is bad relay even though it looks fine. :dontknow:

picture.php
 
I would have to stare at the wiring diagrams for a while, but I know diodes are bad about leaking electricity. If you have alot of LEDs on that fuse it may be the problem.
 
AMTJIM said:
I would have to stare at the wiring diagrams for a while, but I know diodes are bad about leaking electricity. If you have alot of LEDs on that fuse it may be the problem.
Click to expand...

I don't have anything on that fuse other than what the factory put on there. Right now the batteries are holding their own. The gauge thing is what has me stumped. :dontknow:
 
Weren't there a few people on here that had the "M" or "S" mode buttons go bad on the dash? They were stuck or shorted...blanked out the gages. I think a new cluster was the only way to fix it.
 
AMTJIM said:
Weren't there a few people on here that had the "M" or "S" mode buttons go bad on the dash? They were stuck or shorted...blanked out the gages. I think a new cluster was the only way to fix it.
Click to expand...

Sure seems to be a likely cause for gauges to go blank and scroll messages.

I wonder if they had a battery drain also. Wouldn't the key have to be on for a stuck switch in the gauge area cause a 40 milliamp drain?

Thinking as I type here.......If your ignition switch had a loose connection or was shorting, that may cause a drain when the bike should be off, and a momentary loss of power (while running) may cause a message to scroll as if you just turned the key on.
 
Last edited:
Okay, I changed out two of the relays and went for a ride. I got a few miles down the road and I watched my gauge go blank and boot back up. The motor was still running but after a mile or so the check engine light came on.

I pulled in the shop and took this video.


After that I looked at the book again and saw that there is a 5 amp fuse for the gauge itself. I pulled the fuse and it looked fine but I changed it out anyway. I went to start it and the gauge lit but I was in limp mode and the Spyder wouldn't start. I swapped out the #2 main relay and everything looked fine. I went for another little ride hitting every pothole I could fine and trying to make it fail again. A 40 mile round trip and all is well so far. I'm pretty sure it is a relay issue. I'm going to pick up a few more spares just in case and see if she fails again. Right now I can't say I fixed anything, only time will tell.
 
This spyder is one goofy machine...I wonder if I have a more extreme version of this problem and if that's what sends me into random limp modes. I was so mad at my last one, I was switching the key on and off while going down the road and all the problems went away except for DPS...which went away while looking over the service manual DVD.
 
Have they replaced the gear position sensor on any of your repair trips?

.

AMTJIM said:
This spyder is one goofy machine...I wonder if I have a more extreme version of this problem and if that's what sends me into random limp modes. I was so mad at my last one, I was switching the key on and off while going down the road and all the problems went away except for DPS...which went away while looking over the service manual DVD.
Click to expand...
 
Have them replace the gear position sensor. Mine didn't show the "E" until the third set of problems. That's the only reason I finally connected the two.

.

AMTJIM said:
No, the only thing ever replaced was the VOM. I have never had the "E" symbol either.
Click to expand...
 
cluster blank

Mine did that same thing and got to where it would not crank intermittenly. The problem with mine was main relay #2.
 
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