Check engine light - what to check?

[Kandiman]

Hi Everyone!

I have a 2011 Spyder RT. Just got it out of storage - an attached garage, so it was semi-heated. Rode it twice for short rides and now my check engine light has come on.

First thing I checked is the oil and it was way down so I topped it up, rode a bit, but the check engine light has not gone away.
He still starts fine and seems to be running fine. Is there a way to make the light reset/go away? I'm not super mechanically minded, but I did figure out how to check the oil properly by reading the manual.

Are there other fluids or things I need to check. I tried looking in the manual, but it only says what to do for specific codes.

I'm very thankful for this forum because from reading other posts, I can confidently say there are no other codes on the check engine light (someone else had posted instructions about hitting the mode, set, and cancel signal buttons).

Any suggestions on what to check before I try to take it to the only shop in town who will charge $300 and hour and likely can't look at it until June?
How do I know if I can I continue riding with the check engine light on?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Gwolf]

There should be a list of possible things that cause a check engine light in the manual for your year model. If you don't have one, the list is things that set off a check engine light are fairly standard for most all of them. Somebody with a different year model would have a list of things to check.

Can't remember it all, but there are some things that do set off a check engine light. One is a loose or damaged gas cap. Another is the oxygen sensor, another could be the air flow rate sensor, plugged up cat converter could do it, bad, carbon-ed, or miss gaped plugs. Don't remember it all, but there is a list you can work from. Basically, any out of adjustment, plugged up, or damaged sensor, or electrical component. Check the air filter too. If it is plugged up, that could do it. Sometimes a check engine light comes on and there is no apparent reason. If you can't find anything wrong, try re-setting it.

Some of the people who work on them every day would have a better list than I gave you. The check engine is like a general problem in something on the engine. It can also be a number of things or more, rather than being just one thing.

 

[Peter Aawen]

@Kandiman, try typing 'check engine light' into the Search field (up toward the Top Right of the page); tick the 'Search Titles Only' box; submit the search; and then spend some time reading some of the numerous threads that have already been posted on this subject. There's even one of those threads already linked for you in the 'Similar Threads' box down toward the bottom of the page, but there's heaps more!

It ALWAYS pays to try Searching BEFORE starting a new thread, cos there's not really too much about Spyders that hasn't already been at least touched upon in the 15+ years or so that this Forum has been around.

 

[Mikey]

By any chance did you check for codes?

 

[Kandiman]

There should be a list of possible things that cause a check engine light in the manual for your year model. If you don't have one, the list is things that set off a check engine light are fairly standard for most all of them. Somebody with a different year model would have a list of things to check.

Can't remember it all, but there are some things that do set off a check engine light. One is a loose or damaged gas cap. Another is the oxygen sensor, another could be the air flow rate sensor, plugged up cat converter could do it, bad, carbon-ed, or miss gaped plugs. Don't remember it all, but there is a list you can work from. Basically, any out of adjustment, plugged up, or damaged sensor, or electrical component. Check the air filter too. If it is plugged up, that could do it. Sometimes a check engine light comes on and there is no apparent reason. If you can't find anything wrong, try re-setting it.

Some of the people who work on them every day would have a better list than I gave you. The check engine is like a general problem in something on the engine. It can also be a number of things or more, rather than being just one thing.

It's exactly that kind of list I was hoping to find. I do have the manual, but it only lists about 5 items with the check engine indicator, and all seem to have an extra message or code, which mine does not.

If anyone has a list from their manual, I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[Bfromla]

Do yourself a favor - deep cycle, fully charge & load test the battery; check that you've got clean, tight, terminal connections; add star washers to the terminals if not already there, **(battery post|star washer|bike terminals)** will help (not guaranteed, but they do help!) Just by ryding & storing on battery tenders, your battery may not get topped off.

The Check Engine light is a catch-all for many things, most will self-clear a couple of miles after being corrected, but some will require BUDS - they're the re-occurring persistent problems that take patience. If your Spyder has been sitting for winter, it will need fresh gas, preferably ethanol free 91-93 octane. Also, check the fins & sensors on the wheels for cobwebs, sticks, dried mud, etc.

 

[Kandiman]

Do yourself a favor - deep cycle, fully charge & load test the battery; check that you've got clean, tight, terminal connections; add star washers to the terminals if not already there, **(battery post|star washer|bike terminals)** will help (not guaranteed, but they do help!) Just by ryding & storing on battery tenders, your battery may not get topped off.

The Check Engine light is a catch-all for many things, most will self-clear a couple of miles after being corrected, but some will require BUDS - they're the re-occurring persistent problems that take patience. If your Spyder has been sitting for winter, it will need fresh gas, preferably ethanol free 91-93 octane. Also, check the fins & sensors on the wheels for cobwebs, sticks, dried mud, etc.

I appreciate the tips here, but the battery is one thing I'm fairly confident is NOT the issue. I had to have the bike towed in the fall of 2024 and the battery was replaced with a new one at the dealer. I make the assumption that they would have cleaned and checked terminals there at that time. When the battery was the issue before, he just would not start at all and this time he's turning on and running.

I parked the bike with a full tank of the better gas (I always give him the good stuff) and I did add fuel stabilizer. I am a good lesson learner and had an issue with bad gas a couple of years ago with my 2 wheeler, so I won't make that mistake again.

I've searched even more threads than I did before I started this one and made a list of other stuff to check. Thanks!

 

[Knizar]

I appreciate the tips here, but the battery is one thing I'm fairly confident is NOT the issue. I had to have the bike towed in the fall of 2024 and the battery was replaced with a new one at the dealer. I make the assumption that they would have cleaned and checked terminals there at that time. When the battery was the issue before, he just would not start at all and this time he's turning on and running.

I parked the bike with a full tank of the better gas (I always give him the good stuff) and I did add fuel stabilizer. I am a good lesson learner and had an issue with bad gas a couple of years ago with my 2 wheeler, so I won't make that mistake again.

I've searched even more threads than I did before I started this one and made a list of other stuff to check. Thanks!

Never "ASSUME" that the dealer did what it was suppose to do if you still have a problem!
They may have replaced it with a cheap replacement battery!

MHO, Good Luck, Bill

 

[DickB]

Go to 3:20 in this video:

 

[Peter Aawen]

I appreciate the tips here, but the battery is one thing I'm fairly confident is NOT the issue. I had to have the bike towed in the fall of 2024 and the battery was replaced with a new one at the dealer. I make the assumption that they would have cleaned and checked terminals there at that time. When the battery was the issue before, he just would not start at all and this time he's turning on and running.

I parked the bike with a full tank of the better gas (I always give him the good stuff) and I did add fuel stabilizer. I am a good lesson learner and had an issue with bad gas a couple of years ago with my 2 wheeler, so I won't make that mistake again.

I've searched even more threads than I did before I started this one and made a list of other stuff to check. Thanks!

I too think that bit on your behalf could well be a mistake! And IMHO, this bit makes that first bit being a 'mistake' far more likely than otherwise!!

Did the dealer install one of the cheap arsed OEM POS batteries? Did they fully charge whatever that 'new battery' was before installing it (ie giving it at least 8 hours of proper charging) or just pull it off the shelf & throw it in? Has that new battery (that may be a POS 'less than adequate' battery anyway, then not ever have been properly prepared &/or charged before installation) been left on a tender pretty much ever since, or was it on a good quality battery tender/maintainer??

That old saying, "you can put lipstick on a pig..." comes to mind here, and unless you KNOW the dealer did otherwise, assuming anything else juuust might be a mistake!

So just like others have suggested, it sounds to me very much like your best bet right now (which is also an essential first step to properly diagnosing anything else) is to clean & tighten the battery terminals on your 'new battery', put it on a proper 'charger' for at least 8 hours, and maybe even load test it to make sure that it doesn't ever drop below 12v under starting loads, cos while anything less than 12v might be OK for other vehicles, many have found that it is simply inadequate for our power hungry Spyders!

This really sounds like you now might have a 'better' battery than before, but whatever you've got in there is still not fully up to providing the 'at least 350CCA & 21 A/hr capacity' that our Spyders need/demand - and if it's the cheap arsed 300CCA POS battery that BRP is now using as their OEM offering, AND it wasn't prepared and charged properly before installation, then even if it's not the ONLY thing behind your ongoing CEL issues, it's almost certainly at least a contributor, and that needs to be checked and remedied before you can really do any 'more helpful' diagnosis of anything?!

Just Sayin'

 

[Kandiman]

So, I did check my paperwork and the dealer did all the checks and installed an appropriate, fully charged Spyder battery. I do have confidence in the dealer doing the job right, but I do check the paperwork and ask LOTS of questions and get confirmation at the time, but then promptly forget the specific details because it's been "dealt with"

Fortunately I had a little talk with him while we were out riding today and I told him I can't help him if he doesn't tell me where it hurts... so, he did finally give me a code P0174, so now I'm searching what on earth that means and what I might be able do about it.

 

[Peter Aawen]

So, I did check my paperwork and the dealer did all the checks and installed an appropriate, fully charged Spyder battery. I do have confidence in the dealer doing the job right, but I do check the paperwork and ask LOTS of questions and get confirmation at the time, but then promptly forget the specific details because it's been "dealt with"

Fortunately I had a little talk with him while we were out riding today and I told him I can't help him if he doesn't tell me where it hurts... so, he did finally give me a code P0174, so now I'm searching what on earth that means and what I might be able do about it.

I can't help with the code, but if the dealer installed one of the current crop of BRP Factory spec batteries, it could still be the battery!!

Spyders NEED a battery with at least 350 CCA & at least 21 A/hr capacity; but IIRC, the current BRP Issue jobbies are spec'ed at only 300 CCA and less than 21 A/hrs, so they'll only ever work if EVERYTHING is spot on and fully charged; and even then, the factory batteries are renowned for not lasting well anyway!!

Still, regardless of what battery is in there, have you had the latest battery load tested and checked to maintain at least 12v under starting loads - anything less than 12v might be OK for a less power hungry vehicle, but our Spyders are extremely power hungry, and many owners have discovered to their cost that a battery showing anything less than 12v under starting load won't do the job for too long, if at all! And even if the battery ISN'T the major cause of anything you're experiencing right now, unless it's in top nick, then it's very hard to actually identify and sort out anything else that might be wrong!

 

[Peter Aawen]

Looked up the code, and it says:

P0174 - Module: ECM

System too lean Bank 2.
Injection and fuel supply system.
Check injector & fuel supply system.

However, that code is one that does frequently appear either individually or as one of a cascade of errors (often teamed with VSS or DPS failure messages) when/if the battery is poorly charged, weak, &/or otherwise not up to the task of properly starting everything that needs starting onour power hungry Spyders...

Just Sayin'

 

[Mikey]

Peter, you know you can lead a horse to water. He knows what he's doing! And he trusts his dealer!

 

[DickB]

Peter, you know you can lead a horse to water. He knows what he's doing! And he trusts his dealer!