Low speed power steering failures

[musicarcade]

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!ray:

 

[Rockytime]

Low speed power steering failure

Did it display any codes? Did your steering go out of whack?
>SNIP<
. I'd hope it went away but I am not taking any chances for it to happen again. Thanks to this forum, reading about everyone else, made me think that I should call the dealer and bring it in.

I have only had my RT-S just over three weeks. It goes to the dealer Friday (700+miles) for its first check up. Thanks for all the posts. Mine is the only Spyder I have ridden so I have nothing to compare my steering with. However, it does seem somewhat stiff in the turns but handles very nicely on the straight way. RPM Motor Sports in Denver seems to be a long standing and reputable dealer and have treated me well. I'll see how they are at service.
Les

 

[capt.jim]

I had a loose ground once that caused the DPS to turn off and kick in again randomly. I had loosened the ground under the seat and didn't have it all the way tight again. After someone here mentioned check all grounds I retightened and it has been fine since.

I had my steering stick at 10,000 miles and then get very twitchy, pulled both fuses and rode home, loosened and retightened the ground under the seat, as i read it worked on another spyder, that was a year ago and haven't had a problem since, no updates done either, too scared," if it ain't broke don't fix it".

 

[SpyderWolf]

Sorry for the slow response...

They called Friday while I was in class and left a voicemail saying they found nothing wrong and to come pick it up. When I went in that afternoon, I talked with Chris and he said they found no codes or recalls and the test ride checked out OK.

There's only 5 turns between the dealer and my apartment and the DPS failed somewhere after the second turn.

I recall several people, including Chris, telling me some DPS problems were related to a bad ground. I had been having a "low battery" warning at idle for a few months and had been ignoring it. I read several threads here about how the stock battery was crap and wasn't designed to be laid on its side. I had planned to buy a replacement, but didn't have the money.

Thinking about the two issues, I put two and two together and hoped they added up to four. I got out the toolkit and tore off all the plastic. I then proceeded to disconnect, clean, and reconnect every connector and screw that I could find in the electrical system.

Since I had the afternoon off, I decided to go to St. Augustine, Florida for the weekend. I'm happy to say the DPS worked the entire time and I didn't see any low battery warnings.

Only time will tell if this is a permanent fix.

Glad to hear it is working for now, and keeping my fingers crossed that it stays that way for you.

 

[ArmyJoe]

One week and no power steering failures so far. It's nice to be able to ride it hard enough to see the VSS kick in. I was riding the inside line on an interstate cloverleaf at 45 MPH today and was hanging off like a sidecar monkey.:2thumbs:

 

[SpyderWolf]

One week and no power steering failures so far. It's nice to be able to ride it hard enough to see the VSS kick in. I was riding the inside line on an interstate cloverleaf at 45 MPH today and was hanging off like a sidecar monkey.:2thumbs:

Glad to hear things are still working well for you. :congrats: on being able to steer your Spyder now. :thumbup:

 

[ArmyJoe]

Glad to hear things are still working well for you. :congrats: on being able to steer your Spyder now. :thumbup:

Thanks. Too bad I can't get BRP to compensate me for pain, suffering, and mental anguish. :joke:

 

[SpyderWolf]

Thanks. Too bad I can't get BRP to compensate me for pain, suffering, and mental anguish. :joke:

One bonus is that they helped make you stronger.

 

[ArmyJoe]

If I may - why not just disable the DPS? Seems like an unnecessary and troublesome spyder accessory.

Riding with and without the DPS is like night and day.

Let's say you're driving through a parking lot and someone backs up in front of you or a kid runs out between the cars. Would you like to just barely miss someone or just barely hit someone?

 

[ArmyJoe]

I guess that was what I wanted to know, I was curious on what the effects of disabling were. Have you actually tried this? I am guessing the servo would also need to be removed?

No, just pull a fuse to disable the DPS manually. See posts 47 and 49 in this thread.

 

[SpyderWolf]

If you pull the fuse does the servo add some resistance or is that not the case?

I can tell you when I test rode his Spyder without the power steering it was a totally different experience, and one I was not expecting and did not like since being used to ryding mine. You could still perform evasive maneuvers, but without anywhere near the response time you could with mine. It would also be a great workout tool, as you couldn't help but get stronger as you continued to muscle it around.

I don't know if the servo was adding resistance, but the steering was extremely tight.

 

[SpyderWolf]

I guess I am curious as I used the caster figures from the CA when I built mine. The Stealth is running 14 degrees and the V3 10 which is the same as the CA.
The Stealth does provide pretty fair feedback which I like as it helps prevent the lawn dart effect. The V3 on the other hand handles real light and I normally drive one handed as it steers like it weighs half of what the ST does. This is why I wonder if this DPS is really needed or if it's just something one gets used to and doesn't want to do without.
It seems to be somewhat troublesome and from what I have read perhaps more dangerous than doing without.
At least that's an outsiders view.

Good points, and questions.

It could very well be that I am just used to mine steering so quickly and smoothly. I have read of others on here who have ridden many miles without power steering and it didn't seem to bother them too much. So, it very well could be a preference thing. Truth be told, if I hadn't had my Spyder and GIJoe's was the first one I ever got on I would not have known any better and figured that was they way they were supposed to steer.

The good news is we are in the middle of ryding season, and the reports of steering issues appear to have fallen off dramatically. Hopefully the new part number DPS units are the real solution to the earlier issues, and eventually the steering problems will go completely away. One can always hope.