Bitten by the spider

[YummYam]

Got the nose plastic off today with help from LKLD, thanks Rob and to Brodie for the how to post.

Straightaway found the S6 spider near the glovebox to be partially discoloured and corroded, the cap slightly melted inside, so obviously problems there. Evidently this would account for LHS switch block probs which I was experiencing.

S7 and 8 under the headlights looked good and clean and tomorrow the tank and left side panel come off to check S1, 3 and 4.

Going to check ALL connectors and grease them up as recommended by forum guys. Good common sense advice, thanks to all.

Also paying close attention to coupler 3 near the S6 spider.

 

[Queensland Ken]

Also paying close attention to coupler 3 near the S6 spider.

Very good thinking !!!

Remember that you can solder a pig tail onto the S6 bridging piece and take it back to the battery, anything better than the stock wiring.

A forum member also bridged out the neutral wire in that cowling connector #3, can splice a wire across the connector.

 

[YummYam]

Also paying close attention to coupler 3 near the S6 spider.

Very good thinking !!!

Remember that you can solder a pig tail onto the S6 bridging piece and take it back to the battery, anything better than the stock wiring.

A forum member also bridged out the neutral wire in that cowling connector #3, can splice a wire across the connector.

Yes I have read your post re your cure for Batman's probs and was going to follow it exactly. Good, common sense answer. But as I have a Brodie harness on the way I will wait for it to arrive!

Saw the post re bypassing that neutral in #3 also, this coming together of information is a real buzz!!

 

[Donal]

Got the nose plastic off today with help from LKLD, thanks Rob and to Brodie for the how to post. Straightaway found the S6 spider near the glovebox to be partially discoloured and corroded, the cap slightly melted inside, so obviously problems there. Evidently this would account for LHS switch block probs which I was experiencing. S7 and 8 under the headlights looked good and clean and tomorrow the tank and left side panel come off to check S1, 3 and 4. Going to check ALL connectors and grease them up as recommended by forum guys. Good common sense advice, thanks to all. Also paying close attention to coupler 3 near the S6 spider.

My preference is to use ACF-50 because it penetrates easily and is very easy to apply, oh! and it works very well. I have treated all the connectors on my bike as a form of preventive maintenance.

 

[YummYam]

Got some dielectric grease at my local auto store and something called 'bulb grease', apparently conductive and used to stop bulbs corroding into their sockets believe or not!

Was going to use this on spider connectors when installing the new harness but NOT on all other connectors where dielectric will be used.

Seems to make sense but welcome any advice to the contrary.

Donal.....not sure yet where to get ACF-50 here over here. Will do a search.

Just found it on Amazon!

 

[YummYam]

Well all the other ground spiders and coupler 3 looked good so when the harness arrives I'll just grease them up and plug it in.

Seems like it was just S6 that spiked.

Even so, spent the afternoon locating and greasing as many connectors as I could find and seperate.

Thinking of upgrading the headlights and doing a coolant flush while she's naked!

 

[Harald]

Glad you found the burnt spider and got 'er fixed. When my S7 failed, I also took the time to inspect and apply dielectric grease to all kinds of connections on my 07. I think it's been about 6 years of heavy use on the bike in lots of rain with no new problems.

You mention upgrading headlights. I just had my right low beam go out with some really nice aftermarket bulbs in them for the past 4 years. The stock bulbs seem to last a long time, but they Osram Night Breaker bulbs throw more usable light down the road so the shorter life is worth it to me. BTW, the original Osram Night Breaker bulbs only lasted 9 months and 1 year respectively, but the replacements were labeled PLUS for longer life and my experience confirmed over 4 times the life. We'll see how long the left one still burns, but I ordered another set from www.powerbulbs.com to be prepared for what I predict to be at most another 3 months before it goes.

For some great reading on aftermarket bulbs, check out: https://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/bulbs.html .

 

[SSHANK42]

Got my bite last weekend. Lost headlights and at same time the hazard lights and indicators on dash came on. Mine was the Spider under what would be the passenger side headlight. So for S6,7,8 I cut the connector off, soldered wires together and applied heat shrink. And how do I get me one of those fancy ground spider pics added to my name?

 

[YummYam]

Glad you found the burnt spider and got 'er fixed. When my S7 failed, I also took the time to inspect and apply dielectric grease to all kinds of connections on my 07. I think it's been about 6 years of heavy use on the bike in lots of rain with no new problems.
You mention upgrading headlights. I just had my right low beam go out with some really nice aftermarket bulbs in them for the past 4 years. The stock bulbs seem to last a long time, but they Osram Night Breaker bulbs throw more usable light down the road so the shorter life is worth it to me. BTW, the original Osram Night Breaker bulbs only lasted 9 months and 1 year respectively, but the replacements were labeled PLUS for longer life and my experience confirmed over 4 times the life. We'll see how long the left one still burns, but I ordered another set from www.powerbulbs.com

to be prepared for what I predict to be at most another 3 months before it goes.
For some great reading on aftermarket bulbs, check out: https://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/bulbs.

Coincidentally I just got a pair of the Osram Night Breakers' after reading about them on the forum. Didn't realise there was a PLUS version though. If they perform as well as you say then I'll look out for them at next replacement time.

 

[audiowize]

Got my bite last weekend. Lost headlights and at same time the hazard lights and indicators on dash came on. Mine was the Spider under what would be the passenger side headlight. So for S6,7,8 I cut the connector off, soldered wires together and applied heat shrink. And how do I get me one of those fancy ground spider pics added to my name?

Whenever I read these threads, I always wonder why this isn't the "go-to" solution. (Maybe soldering all the wires into a bare ring terminal, heat shrinking, and mounting the ring terminal to the frame?)

I 2nd the notion the bulb grease and dielectric grease are not quite what you want. ACF-50, Caig Deoxit, and the electronics cleaner you'll find at rat shack are all made to do the cleaning part.

Personally, I'd use Deoxit D-series first, spraying it on all the contacts with the connectors unplugged. With them well coated, plug and unplug them a few times to burnish the contacts. If you live in a salty area, I would spray things down with Deoxit shield thereafter, to keep the corrosion from returning.

 

[mcatrophy]

Got my bite last weekend. Lost headlights and at same time the hazard lights and indicators on dash came on. Mine was the Spider under what would be the passenger side headlight. So for S6,7,8 I cut the connector off, soldered wires together and applied heat shrink. And how do I get me one of those fancy ground spider pics added to my name?

Not sure what you're referring to, but I can offer this one:

Or a bit smaller:

Or even a little bit bigger.

 

[RossKean]

I think he is talking about this:

Right click on the image, Copy, open your profile and use the image tags to add to your signature.

 

[bramfrank]

REPORT THE PROBLEM TO THE NHTSA

 

[SSHANK42]

Rosskean, I tried your answer but when I click the image link thingy on my signature page it grays the screen out and ask about URL. I paste the copy and it will not let me do anything else.

 

[RossKean]

Rosskean, I tried your answer but when I click the image link thingy on my signature page it grays the screen out and ask about URL. I paste the copy and it will not let me do anything else.

Known problem with Internet Explorer. Try using Chrome

 

[SSHANK42]

Got it. Thanks RossKean

 

[YummYam]

Almost there! Cut S6 off and soldered wires. Got most plastic back on so just need to install additional harness mod and we're good to go.

BTW did a coolant flush, was it ever needed! Old stuff was filthy.

Thanks to all you guys for the help and advice, I couldn't have done it without you.

Steve

Ps Thanks also for the tips on loading the Spider icon. Got it to work eventually on IE using keystrokes, ctrl c, ctrl v.

 

[YummYam]

Glad you found the burnt spider and got 'er fixed. When my S7 failed, I also took the time to inspect and apply dielectric grease to all kinds of connections on my 07. I think it's been about 6 years of heavy use on the bike in lots of rain with no new problems.
You mention upgrading headlights. I just had my right low beam go out with some really nice aftermarket bulbs in them for the past 4 years. The stock bulbs seem to last a long time, but they Osram Night Breaker bulbs throw more usable light down the road so the shorter life is worth it to me. BTW, the original Osram Night Breaker bulbs only lasted 9 months and 1 year respectively, but the replacements were labeled PLUS for longer life and my experience confirmed over 4 times the life. We'll see how long the left one still burns, but I ordered another set from www.powerbulbs.com

to be prepared for what I predict to be at most another 3 months before it goes.
For some great reading on aftermarket bulbs, check out: https://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/bulbs.

Coincidentally I just got a pair of the Osram Night Breakers' after reading about them on the forum. Didn't realise there was a PLUS version though. If they perform as well as you say then I'll look out for them at next replacement time.

A definite improvement in spread and depth of light on the road. A worthwhile upgrade, now let's see how long they last!!

 

[Harald]

Glad you found the burnt spider and got 'er fixed. When my S7 failed, I also took the time to inspect and apply dielectric grease to all kinds of connections on my 07. I think it's been about 6 years of heavy use on the bike in lots of rain with no new problems.

You mention upgrading headlights. I just had my right low beam go out with some really nice aftermarket bulbs in them for the past 4 years. The stock bulbs seem to last a long time, but they Osram Night Breaker bulbs throw more usable light down the road so the shorter life is worth it to me. BTW, the original Osram Night Breaker bulbs only lasted 9 months and 1 year respectively, but the replacements were labeled PLUS for longer life and my experience confirmed over 4 times the life. We'll see how long the left one still burns, but I ordered another set from www.powerbulbs.com

to be prepared for what I predict to be at most another 3 months before it goes.
For some great reading on aftermarket bulbs, check out: https://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/bulbs.

Coincidentally I just got a pair of the Osram Night Breakers' after reading about them on the forum. Didn't realise there was a PLUS version though. If they perform as well as you say then I'll look out for them at next replacement time.

A definite improvement in spread and depth of light on the road. A worthwhile upgrade, now let's see how long they last!!

I should note that the newest Osram Nightbreaker bulbs are called UNLIMITED. Apparently the PLUS version is no longer made. I'm hoping the new name means they will last forever!