Parking brake light comes on & brakes lock up - UPDATE!

[HayRog]

Parking brake light comes on & brakes lock up - UPDATE!

Anyone have this happen without depressing the park switch??

We did recently, in Idaho and while on the road!

Pulled up to a gas pump and stopped normally with the foot brake, went to apply parking brake, but didn't need to - it applied itself and the "park light" was on! Hmmmmm...

Gassed up anyway and pressed the parking switch to the release brake - NOPE - the light and brakes stayed ON!
Frantically pressed the brake switch numerous times, all to no avail.

Soooo - I was stuck at the gas pump, so I turned off ignition - now what?
In the time it took me to realize that I had no clue of what to do (maybe 15 minutes), the brakes released, but the red blinking light stayed on?

Rode away OK, but with the brake light still on, stopping every couple of miles to see if I was burning up brake pads. :sour:

But one cannot ride all day like that, huh?
SPYDERCODES to the rescue - Rexburg Powersports in ID only 2 miles away - yay!

Made a phone call and was told to "ride on over and we'll check the bike out" - cool!

Young Tech, Austin, plugged in the laptop and saw (to the best of my memory) two events stored as faults -

1) Brake activation;
2) Brake release.
He had no explanation as to why, but he cleared the codes. NO CHARGE - big props to Austin and Rexburg Powersports in Idaho. :bowdown:

Took me the rest of the day to accept that the brakes were now good. We were into our 3rd week on the road and didn't need that hanging over our heads!!

Any thoughts guys?

 

[Chupaca]

Nice....

Good to hear a story with a happy and speedy ending. Glad Rogers app came in handy and all ended well. hyea:hyea:

 

[Chasinsparks]

Me too

Me too I had this happen to me at the gas station, I finally got it to release and drove home with the brake light flashing. Parked the bike and it the brake would engage but the beeping would not stop, it beeped for 30 mins or so. Then stopped, started the bike disengaged the brake and off we went that was about a month ago and have not had another issue.

I do find it quite odd we had the same thing happen, I have a 2016 RT I only have a little over 700 miles on it, I think this happened about with about 400 miles on the clock.

---- anyone have this happen without depressing the park switch ??

We did recently in Idaho while on the road. !!

Pulled up to gas pump and stopped normally with foot brake, went to apply parking brake but didn't need to -- it applied itself and "park light" was on !! Hmmmmm

Gassed up anyway and pressed parking switch to release brake --- NOPE -- light and brakes stay ON !!
Frantically pressed brake switch numerous times to no avail.

Soooo --- stuck at gas pump so turned off ignition -- now what ?
In the time it took me to realize I had no clue what to do (maybe 15 minutes), the brakes released but the red blinking light stayed on ?

Rode away OK but with brake light still on, stopping every couple of miles to see if i was burning up brake pads :sour:

But one cannot ride all day like that huh ?
SPYDERCODES to the rescue -- Rexburg Powersports in ID only 2 miles away -- yay !!

Made a phone call and was told to "ride on over and we'll check the bike out" -- cool

Young Tech, Austin, plugged in the laptop and saw (to the best of my memory) two events stored as faults --

1) Brake activation
2) Brake release
He had no explanation as to why but he cleared the codes. NO CHARGE - big props to Austin and Rexburg Powersports in Idaho :bowdown:

Took me the rest of the day to accept that the brakes were now good . We were into our 3rd week on the road and didn't need that hanging over our heads !!

Any thoughts guys ?

 

[tehrlich]

I had this very thing happen to me 6-8 months ago on my 2015 RT. It went away, but then returned and I could not get it to resolve.

Dealer had to replace my switch, and it has not happened since.

New switch feels like it engages a lot better. I think my original slowly weakened over time and was shorted out. Or, possibly dirty.

 

[HayRog]

I had this very thing happen to me 6-8 months ago on my 2015 RT. It went away, but then returned and I could not get it to resolve.

Dealer had to replace my switch, and it has not happened since.

New switch feels like it engages a lot better. I think my original slowly weakened over time and was shorted out. Or, possibly dirty.

Sooo -- not just me then but not a common occurrence.
The tech at the dealership did take the switch out of the cluster and look at it. It was dusty but all the contacts looked ok and there was no loss of grease/dialectric stuff or any corrosion.
Guess I wait till it happens again. :dontknow:
Maybe walk away and have a coffee and let it "think about itself"
.

 

[DonTheDude]

Happening to me intermittently

This has been happening to me for about a month. My dealer hasn't been able to repeat the failure to release. I'm about ready to force him to replace every component in the electric parking brake system.

 

[DonTheDude]

Tell them you will sue them

Sooo -- not just me then but not a common occurrence.
The tech at the dealership did take the switch out of the cluster and look at it. It was dusty but all the contacts looked ok and there was no loss of grease/dialectric stuff or any corrosion.
Guess I wait till it happens again. :dontknow:
Maybe walk away and have a coffee and let it "think about itself"
.

I believe the carrot works better than the stick but sometimes you gotta make a threat. Tell the dealer you are going to sue him and put him out of business if your Spyder locks up on you while your on the road. Tell them you will sue Can Am and put them out of the Spyder business (sorry Spyder lovers) if they don't fix the problem and you are in an accident. Maybe that will get someone to do something.

I'm concerned someone is going to get hurt if the brake locks up going down the interstate. Can Am needs to address this since multiple Spyders are having this issue.

 

[Jetfixer]

According to the owners manual, the parking brake cannot be activated if the vehicle speed is above 6 mph. This would include having a faulty switch.

 

[Gunner3773]

---- anyone have this happen without depressing the park switch ??

We did recently in Idaho while on the road. !!

Pulled up to gas pump and stopped normally with foot brake, went to apply parking brake but didn't need to -- it applied itself and "park light" was on !! Hmmmmm

Gassed up anyway and pressed parking switch to release brake --- NOPE -- light and brakes stay ON !!
Frantically pressed brake switch numerous times to no avail.

Soooo --- stuck at gas pump so turned off ignition -- now what ?
In the time it took me to realize I had no clue what to do (maybe 15 minutes), the brakes released but the red blinking light stayed on ?

Rode away OK but with brake light still on, stopping every couple of miles to see if i was burning up brake pads :sour:

But one cannot ride all day like that huh ?
SPYDERCODES to the rescue -- Rexburg Powersports in ID only 2 miles away -- yay !!

Made a phone call and was told to "ride on over and we'll check the bike out" -- cool

Young Tech, Austin, plugged in the laptop and saw (to the best of my memory) two events stored as faults --

1) Brake activation
2) Brake release
He had no explanation as to why but he cleared the codes. NO CHARGE - big props to Austin and Rexburg Powersports in Idaho :bowdown:

Took me the rest of the day to accept that the brakes were now good . We were into our 3rd week on the road and didn't need that hanging over our heads !!

Any thoughts guys ?

I mentioned this before, I was having the intermittent parking brake lock up and then it completely locked up. I manually released the cable and took it to the dealer. They could not replicate the problem at the dealer but knew that I obviously was having issues. They replaced the parking brake switch and since that replacement, I have not had any further parking brake issues. I have seen others write how their parking brake issues went away with a new switch.

Gunner

 

[Fatcycledaddy]

According to the owners manual, the parking brake cannot be activated if the vehicle speed is above 6 mph. This would include having a faulty switch.

I have accidentally bumped mine while driving about 25 and it did not engage.
So if it is a faulty switch and it does kick in while driving, the safety of not engaging above 6 MPH would keep it from engaging. Might come to a sudden stop when you are slowing down for an exit ramp and get below 6 MPH though.

"Tell them you will sue Can Am and put them out of the Spyder business (sorry Spyder lovers) if they don't fix the problem and you are in an accident. Maybe that will get someone to do something."

Yep, this would get a laugh out of them alright, but I bet it wouldn't get anymore help for your situation. Multi Billion dollar company with a fleet of attorneys on staff I am sure shakes in their boots with these kind of threats.

 

[DonTheDude]

Brake switch

I'm taking mine in again today. I'll mention replacing the brake switch. That was my first suspicion a month ago. I'm doubtful though, because when it does lockup, I can use the switch, and the parking light changes from solid to flashing. The system is detecting the press of the switch. Plus, it never fails to engage the brake. Seems like it would if it was the switch.

I've got a 4 week trip planned for out West in Sept. I need to be able to rely on it and get it fixed soon.

 

[HayRog]

Thanks for the above posts...

Home about 3 weeks now and so much to catch up on, I completely forgot I even experienced this issue!!

I'll give my dealer a call and see what they say.

 

[ThreeWheels]

I believe the carrot works better than the stick but sometimes you gotta make a threat. Tell the dealer you are going to sue him and put him out of business if your Spyder locks up on you while your on the road. Tell them you will sue Can Am and put them out of the Spyder business (sorry Spyder lovers) if they don't fix the problem and you are in an accident. Maybe that will get someone to do something.

I'm concerned someone is going to get hurt if the brake locks up going down the interstate. Can Am needs to address this since multiple Spyders are having this issue.

I can understand your frustration, but you're new here and may not know this:
The quality of service you get is DIRECTLY dependent on your dealer, NOT BRP.
And if you want help from BRP, the last, I mean the very LAST thing you want to do is talk about lawyers.

My experience is that BRP is very helpful and will go out of their way to fix your bike, PROVIDED they are approached nicely by a dealer that is respected.

As always, my free unsolicited advice comes with a double your money back guarantee.

 

[SpyderAnn01]

I'm taking mine in again today. I'll mention replacing the brake switch. That was my first suspicion a month ago. I'm doubtful though because when it does lockup, I can use the switch, and the parking light changes from solid to flashing. The system is detecting the press of the switch. Plus, it never fails to engage the brake. Seems like it would if it was the switch.

I've got a 4 week trip planned for out West in Sept. I need to be able to rely on it and get it fixed soon.

Flashing means the brake is engaged, solid means troubles.

 

[Pirate looks at --]

I believe the carrot works better than the stick but sometimes you gotta make a threat. Tell the dealer you are going to sue him and put him out of business if your Spyder locks up on you while your on the road. Tell them you will sue Can Am and put them out of the Spyder business (sorry Spyder lovers) if they don't fix the problem and you are in an accident. Maybe that will get someone to do something.

I'm concerned someone is going to get hurt if the brake locks up going down the interstate. Can Am needs to address this since multiple Spyders are having this issue.

Maybe a weeee bit drastic, don't you think - over a switch? nojoke

 

[DonTheDude]

Ok, I'll stop flaming over my frustration.

Update...

Got in contact with a BRP rep and they came up with a plan. The dealer is working with them. Dropped off the Spyder today. They are going to try the switch. I don't think it is the switch because the parking light changes when you press the switch. The system is detecting the push on the switch. I'll post the result of the change.

 

[DonTheDude]

Flashing means the brake is engaged, solid means troubles.

When it locks up and I finally do get it to release and I drive it, the light is solid for about an hour. Just happened at the gas station. Took about 50 minutes to clear that one.

 

[Spyder33]

Had similar problem with parking brake coming on at random times while stopped, and/or while riding. This followed some work I had done on the bike. I went back and tightened my battery cables with a wrench (not a screwdriver). Solved the problem!

 

[Gunner3773]

I'm taking mine in again today. I'll mention replacing the brake switch. That was my first suspicion a month ago. I'm doubtful though because when it does lockup, I can use the switch, and the parking light changes from solid to flashing. The system is detecting the press of the switch. Plus, it never fails to engage the brake. Seems like it would if it was the switch.

I've got a 4 week trip planned for out West in Sept. I need to be able to rely on it and get it fixed soon.

I doubt BRP is going to give the dealer a hard time about a brake switch replacement. The cost of the switch is $16.00 and a few minutes of labor. Even though I have a new switch replaced under warranty, I have ordered a spare switch to throw in my tool bag should I have troubles while traveling.

Gunner

 

[HayRog]

I doubt BRP is going to give the dealer a hard time about a brake switch replacement. The cost of the switch is $16.00 and a few minutes of labor. Even though I have a new switch replaced under warranty, I have ordered a spare switch to throw in my tool bag should I have troubles while traveling.

Gunner

Good idea - I might do the same. Maybe order two and replace the (suspect) one myself, even though I'm still carrying an extended warranty - quicker.