Ground Spider failure (S4)

HaulinAshe said:

Q. How do I know (for certain) if I have a ground spider failure?
A. You don't, but here's some definite symptoms associated with failure of Ground Spider-S4, that 's located in the left side of the engine compartment, tucked behind the coolant rail...

* Bike will not start. Starter does not turn over, click or otherwise show any sign of life.

* When the ignition is initially switched ON; the tach and speedo hands sweep and return to zero as normal.

* With the ignition in the ON position; glovebox will not open, no power to the horn, windshield motor does not move, the turn signal indicators are lit solid, the fuel gauge blinks then pauses, Hi-beam indicator is ON solid.

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If you go from the S1 spider to the battery neg term, you can do an ohm, or voltage drop test to see if the S4 spider and the main harness is OK.

Then if thats OK you can go from the S8 to the battery neg term and do the same. This will check the S6, and or the front harness.

Add 'no headlight and no brake lights' to the S4 symptom list.

Folks: I am a lurker here because the AE model has shure struck my fancy. My Buell Uly has left me stranded alongside the road several times and on a three day trip with friends last weekend it just konked out but restrated. Now my questions are has Yamaha fixed this spider connector problem? Have the Canadians forced a recall? Is NHTSA involved in the US? Also has anyone come up with a very easy work around? I am just so sick and tired of working on a 21st century bike to keep it running. I am not purchasing an FJR till this problem is fixed, I have to many sleepless nights on the road becuse of concerns about if my bike will get me home or not. Also looking at the Wee and Vee Stroms, they seem to be bulletproof. I do not have a great deal of time to lurk on this board, I am way to busy on the Buell forum, keeping my Uly running. thanks

pso said:

Folks: I am a lurker here because the AE model has shure struck my fancy. My Buell Uly has left me stranded alongside the road several times and on a three day trip with friends last weekend it just konked out but restrated. Now my questions are has Yamaha fixed this spider connector problem? Have the Canadians forced a recall? Is NHTSA involved in the US? Also has anyone come up with a very easy work around? I am just so sick and tired of working on a 21st century bike to keep it running. I am not purchasing an FJR till this problem is fixed, I have to many sleepless nights on the road becuse of concerns about if my bike will get me home or not. Also looking at the Wee and Vee Stroms, they seem to be bulletproof. I do not have a great deal of time to lurk on this board, I am way to busy on the Buell forum, keeping my Uly running. thanks

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You'll probably be waiting a long time for Yamaha to fix this issue, but look in the vendor area for cheap and easy fixes that our very own forum members have devoloped to eliminate spider concerns.

pso said:

... my questions are: has Yamaha fixed this spider connector problem?

Click to expand...

No.

pso said:

Have the Canadians forced a recall? Is NHTSA involved in the US?

Click to expand...

No, No.

pso said:

Also has anyone come up with a very easy work around?

Click to expand...

Yes. There are several ways that have been come up with to prevent this problem from occurring. Do a search on ground spiders.

pso said:

I am just so sick and tired of working on a 21st century bike to keep it running. I am not purchasing an FJR till this problem is fixed, I have to many sleepless nights on the road because of concerns about if my bike will get me home or not.

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Wow, losing sleep over reliability? :huh:

I guess that if I were you I would not buy an FJR. In fact, I would not buy any motorcycle. There will always be a risk of any motorcycle not getting you home, especially if you are unwilling, or unable, to perform preventive and/or (potentially roadside) corrective maintenance . No motorcycle is as reliable as a modern day automobile. One of those may suit your reliability concerns better.

Fred W said:

pso said:

... my questions are: has Yamaha fixed this spider connector problem?

Click to expand...

No.

pso said:

Have the Canadians forced a recall? Is NHTSA involved in the US?

Click to expand...

No, No.

pso said:

Also has anyone come up with a very easy work around?

Click to expand...

Yes. There are several ways that have been come up with to prevent this problem from occurring. Do a search on ground spiders.

pso said:

I am just so sick and tired of working on a 21st century bike to keep it running. I am not purchasing an FJR till this problem is fixed, I have to many sleepless nights on the road because of concerns about if my bike will get me home or not.

Click to expand...

Wow, losing sleep over reliability? :huh:

I guess that if I were you I would not buy an FJR. In fact, I would not buy any motorcycle. There will always be a risk of any motorcycle not getting you home, especially if you are unwilling, or unable, to perform preventive and/or (potentially roadside) corrective maintenance . No motorcycle is as reliable as a modern day automobile. One of those may suit your reliability concerns better.

Click to expand...

Stranded alongside the road 2 times ($300 towing fee), third time able to limp home and fourth time just stopped in middle of nowhere, but got it restartedall at less than 25k miles. Reminds me of the lucas electronics on my MG however I could fix that. I can also fix the rear left side bearing that eats up the swing arm, the broken belts that are gaurnteed for life, the melted connectors, just not the random electical problems with this bike that crop up from nowhere with no warning.

pso said:

Stranded alongside the road 2 times ($300 towing fee), third time able to limp home and fourth time just stopped in middle of nowhere, but got it restartedall at less than 25k miles. Reminds me of the lucas electronics on my MG however I could fix that. I can also fix the rear left side bearing that eats up the swing arm, the broken belts that are gaurnteed for life, the melted connectors, just not the random electical problems with this bike that crop up from nowhere with no warning.

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All of these on the Hardly Buell? Yeah, you can do a lot better in reliability than that...

And yes, an FJR is much more reliable than a Buell.

pso said:

? Also has anyone come up with a very easy work around? I am just so sick and tired of working on a 21st century bike to keep it running. I am not purchasing an FJR till this problem is fixed, I have to many sleepless nights on the road becuse of concerns about if my bike will get me home or not.

Click to expand...

Right there with ya. I am fed up being stranded. If/when i pick up a Gen II I will install one of the wiring 'fix' solutions offered. It will be the first thing I do just in case. I have had enough of electrical starting issues.

S76 said:

Well,
Not long ago I suggested you all get some of these:

And fix the thing before it breaks.

Here, this should cheer you up while you wait for your harness.

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Better. Ceramic wire nuts.

Will take the heat, won't rust, fill with dialectric or silicone first, then screw on.

I got a phone call from Yamaha (Customer Service) concerning a letter I had wrote about my recent symptoms associated to the S4 spider grounding problem. In my letter, I related my problems to what others have also experienced, and that these symptoms were connected to this grounding problem. Immediately the rep went on the defensive, stating that Yamaha has no reference of this problem, and that I should stay off these types of forums, filling my head with speculation. He then told me that my issues are more connected to either a TPS sensor problem or fuel line problem... I responded by asking how either of these problems could make my gauges intermittently swing wildly? I then got... "I'm not going to diagnose the problem with your bike on the phone, so I want you to take it to your dealer for a proper diagnosis." I applaud that they do have an actual interest in my problem, but at the same time, denial of it being any sort of a grounding issue... <_< More to come later.

[SIZE=24pt]Attention all 2007 spider bite victims![/SIZE]

I just searched this morning for electrical failure reports on 2007 Yamaha FJR1300 motorcycles at www.safercar.gov and I only found the report I made on my bike. There were a few reports by 2006 owners, but either some of you 2007 owners aren't filing reports or my search skills are lacking. Take a few moments are file a report so that Yamaha will be forced to fix this serious safety problem for all the Gen II owners out there.

I have just picked up my bike after Snake River Yamaha completed the S4 spider repair. My Y.E.S. policy covered the replacement harness. The new replacement harness has an O.E.M part #. Yamaha felt that this part could possible fail again in the future and at that time my Y.E.S. policy would probably be expired, so they instructed Snake River to remove the conector from the new harness and solder the wires together. Then shrink wrap the end results.

I had ordered the repair spyder ground harnesses (the 2 for the headlights and the 2 for the fans), from a member of this forum (Road Runner). Before they arrived, I was struck by the dreaded spider failure. The bike was in the shop when the harnesses from Road Runner arrived by USPS. I took them with me when I went to the dealer to check up on the progress to my FJR. My dealer had all fairings off. They had unplugged all connectors, cleaned and regreased them and was in the process of splicing the defective connector when I mentioned that I had just recieved one of the recommended spyder harness repairs from an FJR forum member. The Service Manager asked to see them and once he decided they were indeed very well made, offered to install all 4 of them.

When I signed the completed repair order so I could pick up my bike, my jaw dropped. Total charges was "0"! I knew there would be no charge for the replacement/installation of the O.E.M harness, but I did expect to pay for installing the 4 repair harness that I had purchased from Road Runner.

To say this is service above and beyond, would be understating what Snake River Yamaha did. I was absolutely speechless. They are truly a Class Act!

griffithds said:

When I signed the completed repair order so I could pick up my bike, my jaw dropped. Total charges was "0"! I knew there would be no charge for the replacement/installation of the O.E.M harness, but I did expect to pay for installing the 4 repair harness that I had purchased from Road Runner. To say this is service above and beyond, would be understating what Snake River Yamaha did. I was absolutely speechless. They are truly a Class Act!

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With the fairing off, installing all 4 of road runner's harness probably took less than 10 minutes.

That Yamaha told Snake Rover Yamaha to solder the connections is scary. You don't use solder in wiring harnesses in vehicles because it is brittle and weak.

The fact that Yamaha has told the dealer that the replacement harness can fail also puts them in a very vulnerable position; They have admitted to the dealer (who can be subpoenaed) that they have defective parts in the field - YES notwithstanding.

Had the dealer charged me to install the bypass harnesses I'd have told them to piss off - it took less time to plug those in than it would to remove and solder the 8 spiders on the replacement harness.

It may be time for anyone who has paid for a spider repair to use the information and file a claim to be reimbursed any monies they may have paid with Yamaha .

HaulinAshe said:

Q. How do I know (for certain) if I have a ground spider failure?
A. You don't, but here's some definite symptoms associated with failure of Ground Spider-S4, that 's located in the left side of the engine compartment, tucked behind the coolant rail...

* Bike will not start. Starter does not turn over, click or otherwise show any sign of life.

* When the ignition is initially switched ON; the tach and speedo hands sweep and return to zero as normal.

* With the ignition in the ON position; glovebox will not open, no power to the horn, windshield motor does not move, the turn signal indicators are lit solid, the fuel gauge blinks then pauses, Hi-beam indicator is ON solid.

Click to expand...

Mine did exactly that this afternoon ... then died and stayed dead on the bridge between Sarnia and Port Huron... pushed the bike through customs. It is in the nearest shop and I've told them exactly where to look for the problem... we'll see in the morning what they come up with.

Griff

Make sure you take pictures of the problem before they repair it and before they button it up.

bramfrank said:

Add 'no headlight and no brake lights' to the S4 symptom list.

Click to expand...

In the days leading to the failure (or rather, suspected failure, since it just went into the shop) I noticed:

1) GPS cutting in and out all the time

2) accessory tail lights in the top box were sometimes working, sometimes not, sometimes working incorrectly (wrong signals etc).

I chalked these issues up to a bad power cable on the Garmin, and a bad controller on the LED lights... now I'm not so sure... <_<

Griff

bramfrank said:

Make sure you take pictures of the problem before they repair it and before they button it up.

Click to expand...

I'll be there peering over their shoulder first thing in the morning, will take pictures of the damage, and am documenting everything for the safety folks.

Griff

some clarification on the term "ground spider" would be helpful. I am assuming they are several short wires coming out of the harness into a molex plug with a black that I assume connects all the wires together. If thats the case the one on the left side of the engine compartment on my bike has a big *** hole burned through the black cap. I'm guessing this is s4. Am I on the right track.

never mind, I just found brodies thread on the issue.

Make sure you file a report with the NHTSA . . . .

https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?s...7