FJRF009.3 "Spider failures other than S4" Research

The announcement of a safety recall on 06-09 FJR’s to address the spider issue was great news. But as details on the repair came to light, my joy was tempered a little. Although I've been spider bit, the Yamaha recall repair doesn't address the failure I had in spider S7 that caused my headlights to fail while riding home in the dark. Clearly having your headlights fail while riding on a dark, twisty, rural road is a safety concern!

So I propose that this thread be used to track spider failures other than the much more common S4 failures which is being addressed by the recall. Maybe I'm just an anomaly with my S7 failure, but we won't know unless we track the issue.

A little background:
I reported my failure HERE (https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?showtopic=124616&st=0) on my 2007 FJR1300A. Despite having YES, I decided to fix the problem myself to avoid having my bike sit at the dealer for days or weeks (and I do this kind of stuff for a living ). What I found was that my S7 spider (located by the left headlight) had a meltdown that caused the headlights to lose their ground:



I suspect that part of the reason for my failure is due to my riding profile. My 07 isn't even 4 years old and I have 52,000 miles on it (no comments from you Scooter - I know I'm a slacker ). I ride all year and we do get a lot of rainy days here in the Seattle/Tacoma area. And even when it's not raining, the roads are wet and the cars are kicking up dirty water that's being deposited all over the bike. The S7 spider doesn't have nearly the current load that S4 does, but dirty connections add resistance that clearly will heat up over time in a self-perpetuating deteriorating cycle.

I plan on refiling a NTHSA safety report with safercar.gov because my original defect report is surely being lumped together with all other S4 related defect reports. I also urge anyone with a spider failure other than S4 to file a defect report at
Safercar.gov . Make sure to clearly state that the failed grounding connector is not the one being addressed by NHTSA Campaign Number: 11V-338.

I personally don't anticipate any future failures because my S7 is removed and all other spiders are swimming in dielectric grease. But there's lots of other FJR's out there and I would hate to see someone ride off a cliff when their headlights fail while on a night ride.

Added on edit:
I know this can be tough for some of you but please try to keep on the topic of spider failures other than S4. If excessive "stray" posting occurs, I'll request that admin edit/purge extraneous material.

road runner said:

To my knowledge there have only been 3 spiders that fail. S4 maybe 95%, S6 maybe 4%, and 1 person had S7 or S8 fail. S4 has the highest current going threw it. S6 has the second highest, and S7 S8 are 3rd and 4th. No reports of the S5 failing, and it lives in the same place as the S4 except on the right side, so it should get just as wet as S4. The only difference is the current. It has low 5 volt sensor grounds going threw it. The S6 lives in the left fairing behind the glove box so I don't think it sees to much water, yet it fails and the S5 doesn't. So yes I agree that water and corrosion are not good for any connector, but I don't think it becomes a problem with the spiders for a long time unless the connector is overloaded from the start.

Click to expand...

I have seen a few of the other S? connectors reported as failing, dunno if those people will step up and post here. In the mean time I have put road runners post in your thread because he is in a position to monitor this.

:waaa: I'm feeling very lonely here in the S7/S8 failure club! I know of at least one other failure with a forum member and hope to hear from him soon. That way we can cry in our beer together, just the 2 of us outcast FJR owners.

I did file a new and improved defect report with the NHTSA. I classified it as Exterior Lighting component failure and was sure to clarify that this failure is unrelated to the S4 recall. My report is ODI # 10413801 if anyone wants to view it.

Hi,

I'm in the UK. Last week my 09 FJR3100A went in to the local dealer for the recall ground spider harness. Up until this was replaced, I'd had no issues.

Last night, I finished work, and went to start the bike. It was in the basement of my building, all warm and dry since the morning. All usual ignition lights and sounds, but when I pressed the starter, I suffered the symptoms detailed in earlier threads:

- both indicator dash lights lit

- full beam dash light lit

- minimal if any power screen

- no head lights

- all 4 indicators lit

I restarted the bike several times to see if anything changed. Even disconnected and reconnected the battery. No change.

The bike would still run, and hasn't stalled on me.

I took it into the dealer this morning. They immediately called Yamaha Tech Services, who suggested that it was some relay behind the lights. The Mech did ask me if it was out in the rain yesterday, which it was - it is Scotland! I run the bike 8 months of the year in all weathers. The only thing that will stop me is salt on the roads.

I went and collected it tonight.

A different spider. Left hand side down next to the radiator. Mech chopped and soldered to fix the problem. Which "S" it is, I don't know.



Al.

Al B said:

A different spider. Left hand side down next to the radiator. Mech chopped and soldered to fix the problem. Which "S" it is, I don't know.

Al.

Click to expand...

I believe that is S6. Glad to hear you got it fixed and thanks for posting the results.

Post a report with the local equivalent to the NHTSA or Transport Canada - spontaneous loss of lighting is a serious safety issue and needs to be dealt with by the manufacturer.

Not a lot of reports of spider failures since the s4 recall until recently.

I see that member MDisher had either S7 or S8 fail as reported IN THIS POST.

And although it's not been confirmed yet, I suspect that member Daddykevin has a S7 or S8 failure based on his description in THIS THREAD.

Harald said:

Not a lot of reports of spider failures since the s4 recall until recently.

I see that member MDisher had either S7 or S8 fail as reported IN THIS POST.

And although it's not been confirmed yet, I suspect that member Daddykevin has a S7 or S8 failure based on his description in THIS THREAD.

Click to expand...

Harald, I hope to tear into it this week and when I verify which one it is I'll gladly post up and add to the database or what ever is required.

-MD

My spider problems started with S6... While putting in Brodie's harness I noticed S4 had white corrosion forming on it. After the Brodie harness install I've had no further issues. Oh, and I elected NOT to do the S4 recall, but I do have the S4 pigtail.

Remember that the recall was only anounced in the middle of last summer - those downstream, spiders have been seeing more current for a couple of riding weeks - I think we'll see a whole bunch of these coming out of the woodwork with the start of the riding season for most of us. I personally think Kevin's is an S6 problem.

EVERYONE BITTEN MUST FILE A FRESH REPORT.

In the meantime I can't even get my dealer to schedule MY harness change.

OK so you guys tell me.

The Spider that was bad on mine was the one the Brodie Harness was supposed to have the S6 plugged into, so I guess the S6 Spider.

On the left side of the bike, under the nose in front of the glove box. If looking at the bike with the nose off, the one in front lower right.

It looked like this:







I (finally) installed my Brodie harness while I had it all apart, I plugged the S6 connector for the Brodie Harness into S7, cut the end off S7, cut the spider housing off, stripped the ends, twisted them together, soldered them. Then used a Butt connector to connect that to the end of the Brodie harness.

All is currently working.

So Do I need to report this as well? I was told the 'recall' wouldn't have affected any of the 'under the nose' spiders.

2006/60k miles.

FWIW, ALL of my accessories:

- HID Aux Lights

- StarComm

- Heated Grips

- Clear Water Lights

- Battery Tender

- Heated Gear outlet

- Horn(s)

- V1

Are all run directly from the battery via either a barrier strip or FuzeBlock[tm]. Nothing was tapped into ANY of the wires up front, though at one time I did tap off a running light for the V1.

My symptoms again were:

- Lost Headlights

- Dash had Bright indicator on even when the headlight switch was in low beam.

- Turn signals were jacked up. They flashed weirdly. Both Dash turn signal indicators were lit.

- Loss of Windshield up/down.

- Starter would NO engage in neutral, only in gear with the kickstand up and clutch in, and often only after cycling the kickstand.

All of these appear to be remedied by the fix.

-MD

Damn straight you do. Full details, including the fact that this is a similar, but different failure on a recall-done machine - and that you are not the only one.

I wonder if you shouldn't include a link to this thread?

bramfrank said:

Damn straight you do. Full details, including the fact that this is a similar, but different failure on a recall-done machine - and that you are not the only one.

I wonder if you shouldn't include a link to this thread?

Click to expand...

I did, file a complaint that is. But my bike did NOT have the recall done. I had serviced (the two on the left side of the bike under the tank) and they were fine.

I don't trust any dealer near me to replace my harness. It would have been fine and they would have only installed the 1/2 a Brodie harness anyway and I had one, just hadn't gotten around to putting it in. Brodies harness probably would have prevented this. The Yamaha harness, probably not since they don't tap into this spider I don't *think*.

Any way, it's over with but they really need to come up with a plan to fix this for real. I was hopeful, that maybe I just had a good one, but it appears not.

-MD

So, having filed the complaint and told them that it wasn't S4 and that others are experiencing the problem, have the recall done.

It's be interesting (I was thinking hilarious) if they refused to change the harness, because S4 looks good. Maybe you shouldn't tell them about the S6 failure when you bring it in!!!

You have OEM heated grips?

Negative on getting the recall performed.

There are no dealers near me I trust to do it. They've given me parts in the past but I don't think they'll give me a harness. Now that the Brodie harness is installed I'm going to roll with that. I should have done it a lot earlier, that's on me.

-MD

To all who have been bitten by other than the S4 spider:

I can't stress strongly enough how important it is for you to report the matter of your 'other than S4 spider failure' to the NHTSA. This is no different than the first campaign - losing your lighting at night is not a safe/secure situation - and not only has Yamaha not managed to fix the main harness with their solution, some of the new failures are in the separate nacelle harness (actually there were always a couple of S7/S8 failures, but they were few and far between).

With the higher currents that result from the better connection through the S4, the other Spiders are starting to suffer. I can see another recall coming.

The reporting mechanism is a painless process. If you need a link to the web site, here it is:

 

USA: https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/VehicleComplaint/index.xhtml or call 1-888-327-4236 (8:00AM to 10:00PM Monday-Friday)

Canada: https://wwwapps.tc.g...p.aspx?lang=eng or you can call Transport Canada at 1-800-333-0510

 

Please make certain that you mention that the defect results in the spontaneous loss of headlights, that this is NOT related to problem of the original 'S4' recall and that there are two separate wiring harnesses involved. Linking to this thread is likely not a bad idea.

As an aside, I wonder if any of the bikes outside the S4 recall serial numbers have been acting up?

bramfrank said:

It's be interesting (I was thinking hilarious) if they refused to change the harness, because S4 looks good. Maybe you shouldn't tell them about the S6 failure when you bring it in!!!

Click to expand...

Oh and I have no doubt, had I taken the bike in, with the S6 in the condition it was in here's what would have happened:

Mr Disher, your bike is no longer under warranty, we can provide the recall harness, but that doesn't reach up to S6, so we'll need to order that from Japan. We should have it in 3-12 weeks. The cost for that harness is $XXX.YY, and you shouldn't have all those farkles on the bike, that's what causes this.

Or maybe, just maybe they would have replaced it for free, but I would still get a talking to about the aux lights, StarComm, heated grips (non-Yamaha) and other things and, they still wouldn't have it, and I'd still be ride-less for who knows how long.

No thanks. I did report it though and once it's live (says 72 hours) I'll link it back to this thread.

-MD

Thanks for reporting details on your failure, Mdisher. Seems like the S6 spider is the 2nd most common failure after the recalled S4.

mdisher said:

Negative on getting the recall performed.

There are no dealers near me I trust to do it. -MD

Click to expand...

I hear you there. I was just under my tank to check valve clearances and found that the dealer had neglected to tighten the bolts on the T bar - they were only finger tight! :angry: If it wasn't a warranty or recall item, I would never go to the dealer. Sounds like you are on to something by not even taking recall work to some dealers. :huh:

Another one to report. Mildly toasted S6. Symptoms included high beam indicator coming on and distinctly odd blinker behavior. I only has three fairly brief episodes but decided to dig into it before I was stranded somewhere. As a result, the socket was not badly burned. I'm sure it would get very quickly worse as heat buildup accelerates corrosion resulting in higher resistance and more heat...

I cut off the offending spider, twisted the wires together and soldered it. Hope this is the root cause of the issues I was seeing.

I don't know whether there is any point in me filing a report. I am a Canadian with a US bike. I seriously doubt that either Canadian or US authorities would pay much attention.

Ross