Spyder is Misbehaving - won't start

[Smylinacha]

Thing has ridden fine until today - didn't do any long rides till today. Took it out and she had a problem starting his morning - hubby thought it was me so I got off the bike and he sat on it - started right up. I did a little under 200 on her today. It got worse as we stopped for breaks. I would turn it on, hit the mode button and go to fire her up and nothing - wouldn't start at all. Hubby tried it - same thing but after a while it would start up so he knows it's not me. when we start it, parking break is on, and it was in first and we'd pull in the clutch - then we tried it in neutral and same thing. On our final stop at a Dunkin Donuts on our way home we couldn't get it to start at all. I had no warning lights riding throughout the day - we were on country roads, doing anywhere between 45-65 and it seemed to ride fine - just afraid to turn the damn thing off! cuz I didn't wanna get stranded.

Then we get home and the dash is all screwy - hubby can't change it w/ the "set" button - it won't swap from mileage to KM, won't do much of anything. He thinks it's something w/ the ecm and if you unplug the battery (like in his Harley) and plug it back in an hour later it should reset itself - well it hasn't.

He can start it but it takes a while - anyone have a clue?

I'm afraid to go anywhere on my own w/ it for fear of getting stuck.

 

[Lamonster]

Real sorry to hear that. : Even if we did know for sure what it was you would still need to take it back to the dealer. :'(
Sounds a little like Deb's problem.

 

[Smylinacha]

Dealer is closed tomorrow and it's gonna rain anyway so I'll call first thing Monday morning. I tried searching for similar but cannot see anything come up - what is deb's problem - where can I find her post?

 

[Lamonster]

You got to read the whole thing.
http://www.spyderlovers.com/smf/index.php?topic=1380.0

 

[Smylinacha]

I ended up finding it and read the whole thing - sounds like an instrument/computer cluster problem? I haven't had any light go on at all though - nothing out of the ordinary. Hubby put the risers on my bike the other night - and although I didn't ride it that night - was raining - it started right up. Could it be a coincedence? Just very strange - he's got the battery unplugged now. Definitely taking it to the dealer this week once I call him. I'm bummed because I wanted to ride it to work and stop putting gas in my gas guzzling car! I got around 40 miles per gallon w/ it today! Sure beats the 12 I get in my car LOL!

 

[Lamonster]

On stuff like that the first thing I look at is the ground. If you have a bad ground anywhere it could cause it to act up. I'm thinking it may be more than that though. :dontknow:

 

[Smylinacha]

Well hubby is good at pulling apart and putting things back together so this puzzles him. He can take an airplane apart and put it back together LOL! So tomorrow it's gonna rain and I'm sure he'll be tinkering w/ it in the garage - so I'll see what happens I guess. Just bummed - new vehicles aren't supposed to start messing up That quick! :edit: :edit:

 

[Smylinacha]

OK, was just on the phone w/ Roaddog2. Now this has only happened since I put my risers on - he said it could possible be an "antenna" not reading the key in the iginition cuz it's higher. He said he heard talk of that before. Maybe that's all it is- who knows. He's gonna come over tomorrow w/ the service manual. We usually do a great job at fixing things ourselves - I'd hate to bring it to the dealer and have it sit there waiting for a part to be delivered if it's a simple fix - just that the Spyder is "so new" and it's not easy to tell what is wrong. So we'll take a look ourselves first, see what's up and if we're still clueless, back to the dealer it goes.

So anyone wanna place bets on what's wrong w/ it? Winner gets to ride his/her Spyder to CT and I'll take them out for dinner and drinks! :bigthumbsup: ;D

 

[dltang]

OK, was just on the phone w/ Roaddog2. Now this has only happened since I put my risers on - he said it could possible be an "antenna" not reading the key in the iginition cuz it's higher. He said he heard talk of that before. Maybe that's all it is- who knows. He's gonna come over tomorrow w/ the service manual. We usually do a great job at fixing things ourselves - I'd hate to bring it to the dealer and have it sit there waiting for a part to be delivered if it's a simple fix - just that the Spyder is "so new" and it's not easy to tell what is wrong. So we'll take a look ourselves first, see what's up and if we're still clueless, back to the dealer it goes.

So anyone wanna place bets on what's wrong w/ it? Winner gets to ride his/her Spyder to CT and I'll take them out for dinner and drinks! :bigthumbsup: ;D

Too bad it wasn't as simple as my problem. I have no idea of what could be your problem so I can't place my bet. But I have to ask, if I ever get over to CT can I still go for dinner and drinks. LOL (I'm cheap, I don't drink)

 

[Smylinacha]

Too bad it wasn't as simple as my problem. I have no idea of what could be your problem so I can't place my bet. But I have to ask, if I ever get over to CT can I still go for dinner and drinks. LOL (I'm cheap, I don't drink)

You got it! Dinner on me! ;D

I was looking thru some posts on the Can-Am talk forum and someone did mention the antenna thing and someone else mentioned a mode button being stuck - so once my battery on this puter dies for the night, I'll go down and check the mode thingy.

 

[Lamonster]

OK, was just on the phone w/ Roaddog2. Now this has only happened since I put my risers on - he said it could possible be an "antenna" not reading the key in the iginition cuz it's higher. He said he heard talk of that before. Maybe that's all it is- who knows. He's gonna come over tomorrow w/ the service manual. We usually do a great job at fixing things ourselves - I'd hate to bring it to the dealer and have it sit there waiting for a part to be delivered if it's a simple fix - just that the Spyder is "so new" and it's not easy to tell what is wrong. So we'll take a look ourselves first, see what's up and if we're still clueless, back to the dealer it goes.

So anyone wanna place bets on what's wrong w/ it? Winner gets to ride his/her Spyder to CT and I'll take them out for dinner and drinks! :bigthumbsup: ;D

Hope that's all it is. :bigthumbsup:

 

[NancysToy]

Does the dash light up, fuel pump run, or is it just dead? Does the dash go crazy? From what has been reported about the other problems, those all are important troubleshooting keys. Unfortunately, from what has been reported, it is a dealer issue almost any way you cut it. Those reporting key sensing issues had to have the keys and sensors replaced. A computer or chip problem will do the same. Some folks have worked around the mode button thing for a while, by making sure the dash panel button was all the way out (not stuck) and then using only the button on the left handlebar. One even found loose wiring connectors under the dash. Good luck with the troubleshooting, and a timely repair.
-Scotty

 

[Smylinacha]

Dash lights up just fine - goes thru all the normal motions. I think setting the clock and stuff - hubby thought it was screwed up but I told him there's a certain way to do that and it says in the owners manual - so the dash is fine after all. When I put the key in, turn it on it comes up w/ read the safe card, press the mode button. We do that and it goes to the 0 MPH which is what it's supposed to do before I hit the start switch but then when I hit the start switch - NOTHING, NADA, ZIP! But if we take the key in and out and mess w/ it - it will eventually start up like nothing's wrong. No overheating, no weird messages - bike acts just fine once it starts. Did I say it's a blast to ride?! ;D ;D

Well hubby just went to Roaddog's house to get the service manual so I'll report back later if we figure anything out!

You guys are all great on here - lots of good answers, tips, tricks - this place is awesome :bigthumbsup: :doorag:

 

[mike3069]

Just a thought. Make SURE the engine kill switch on right handlebar is ON. Silly little thing that WOULD cause this problem.

 

[NancysToy]

Sounds like the key sensor. Try the spare key, in case it is a bad chip, but others have reported needing to get new keys and sensors. Don't know if you could have knocked anything loose to affect it. The riser may have moved the key away just enough for the sensor to become ineffective.
-Scotty

 

[tatt2r]

is it cranking over ... and just not kicking .... could be water in gas .... the crap there selling us you never know ....

 

[Smylinacha]

Just a thought. Make SURE the engine kill switch on right handlebar is ON. Silly little thing that WOULD cause this problem.

I never turn that off - I always turn it off w/ the key. Well battery was unplugged all night - put it back in - rode it - all is well again - go figure

 

[Smylinacha]

is it cranking over ... and just not kicking .... could be water in gas .... the crap there selling us you never know ....

Yeah and half of them rip ya off too - they do something w/ the meter at some places - says you're paying for so many gallons - I don't tend to believe them.

Spyder is running fine today. We let the battery sit all night, put it back in - we're good so far

 

[Smylinacha]

Sounds like the key sensor. Try the spare key, in case it is a bad chip, but others have reported needing to get new keys and sensors. Don't know if you could have knocked anything loose to affect it. The riser may have moved the key away just enough for the sensor to become ineffective.
-Scotty

Hubby thinks I messed it up on the initial start yesterday. He thinks I held the mode button in too long which in turn messed up all the clocks/mileage reader etc. He took the battery out last night - let it sit all night, put it back in and it ran fine today. Plus Roaddog2 let us borrow his service manual and we got no fault codes which is cool!

Guess I gotta learn about all this computerized stuff on the :spyder:. My Harley was just turn on the iginition and fire her up.

 

[Roaddog2]

Hubby thinks I messed it up on the initial start yesterday. He thinks I held the mode button in too long which in turn messed up all the clocks/mileage reader etc. He took the battery out last night - let it sit all night, put it back in and it ran fine today. Plus Roaddog2 let us borrow his service manual and we got no fault codes which is cool!

Guess I gotta learn about all this computerized stuff on the :spyder:. My Harley was just turn on the iginition and fire her up.

:spyder:now that the :edit:is running again show it who's the :edit:boss and do a big nasty :edit: burnout with it show it who is in charge :bigthumbsup:don't let it :barf: on you again. then of course you can apoligize to after you spanked it but remember your the :edit: boss Lady :joke: