Gear position sensor behind sprocket

[Sempyder]

So let's talk about the gear position sensor behind the front sprocket. Pretty sure it is called something like that. Is black in color circular has an electrical female plug on it.

Has anyone had this replaced? What causes this to fail? Heat? Dirt? Was this "Checked" because the Check transmission message was running across the screen.

Any information greatly appreciated.

Patrick Sempert,


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[PistonBlown]

My gear sensor has just started playing up. Reporting the wrong gear and then displaying an E instead with both the Neutral and Reverse light alternatively. This is after the Spyder was ridden hard including some dirt roads last weekend so I suspect vibration and dust are responsible. Hopefully get a chance to investigate tomorrow so I'll let you know what I find.

 

[safecracker]

I have had mine replaced. When it went bad it would show an E in gear display. Twice during this time, the bike went into limp mode. This happened 680 miles from home. I rode it for 4 days like that. When we got back from our trip, the dealer got me in right away. Good luck.

 

[Red RT-S]

Gear Position Sensor

Had the same problem with my 2012 RT-S SE5. I was 500 miles from home at the time and the dealer I stopped at diagnosed it as a problem with the ECU and he tried to reflash it. This caused the ECU to freeze and that could only be fixed by replacing the ECU. BRP did a great job of overnighting a new ECU to the dealer and the bike was supposedly repaired the next morning. Less than 100 miles further the problem came back. When I finally got back home I took it to my local dealer and he replaced the gear position sensor. No problems since, and that was 2 years ago. I never went into limp mode and really saw no difference in how the bike ran.

 

[Chupaca]

Bummer...

They apparently do go bad but have never seen an explanation as to why. In most all cases it is not the transmission or it's parts but the sensor that goes bad. If you reboot the computers the limp mode goes away but the gear indicator will continue to flash E and or R but not indicate the gear. Guess they are no longer simple contacts that could be cleaned sanded re installed....:banghead:

 

[billybovine]

Not from personal experience but from reading what others have posted.
The GBPS can come loose and the cap screws need to be tightened up.
Dirt and or water has gotten into it and cleaning fixed it. I have only read from one poster that cleaning fixed it. Most just replace.
When replacing with a new one. It needs to be calibrated. It is not clear if removing and reinstalling the same GBPS would require recalibration.

 

[Deer Slayer]

My gear sensor has just started playing up. Reporting the wrong gear and then displaying an E instead with both the Neutral and Reverse light alternatively. This is after the Spyder was ridden hard including some dirt roads last weekend so I suspect vibration and dust are responsible. Hopefully get a chance to investigate tomorrow so I'll let you know what I find.

+1 what he said. Mine RS-S did it early on. Crappy switch.

 

[Sempyder]

Thanks everyone, do you think if when washing the bike it would extend the life of the switch doing a extra clean on it? Dielectric grease reapplication couldn't do any harm? Seems like close to my oil change my shifting has problems to R then check transmission comes and goes.


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[kiwirs]

My RS did the same for a while then it fixed itself. That was about 5000k ago

 

[ataDude]

Info from a old time member...

... If you do a search on my posts, you'll find a thread about this very issue in 2008. Some info for you:

1. The reported problem at the time was one or more poorly-soldered connections on an internal GPS circuit board;

2. The GPS is a mostly sealed unit. I really don't see how dirt, or cleaning, can affect it unless it is defective in the first place with an opening of some sort. There is a flat-sided shaft from the transmission that is centered in a bushing with a seals in the GPS. I would guess that the GPS' o-ring seals could eventually leak but that was never reported.

Here's that thread.

 

[Kwalsh]

I had to have mine replaced last year, it went into limp mode and flashed thru all the gears and reverse on the dash; dealer replaced it under extended warranty, so I do not know how much or what caused it.

 

[Sempyder]

... If you do a search on my posts, you'll find a thread about this very issue in 2008. Some info for you:

1. The reported problem at the time was one or more poorly-soldered connections on an internal GPS circuit board;

2. The GPS is a mostly sealed unit. I really don't see how dirt, or cleaning, can affect it unless it is defective in the first place with an opening of some sort. There is a flat-sided shaft from the transmission that is centered in a bushing with a seals in the GPS. I would guess that the GPS' o-ring seals could eventually leak but that was never reported.

Here's that thread.

Thanks for the follow up on that thread from 2009, big help for sure. I had a conversation with a platinum BRP tech on this issue and he mentioned everything you hit in your thread. He also noted that you can get to the GPS without removing the sprocket but much easier and faster to remove the sprocket. The BUDS reset must just be a double check to make sure the GPS is correctly set for zero, but if you have it in neutral and disconnect ground you should be good. Once again thanks for the post.

Sempert out,


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[Culpjp]

Thanks for the follow up on that thread from 2009, big help for sure. I had a conversation with a platinum BRP tech on this issue and he mentioned everything you hit in your thread. He also noted that you can get to the GPS without removing the sprocket but much easier and faster to remove the sprocket. The BUDS reset must just be a double check to make sure the GPS is correctly set for zero, but if you have it in neutral and disconnect ground you should be good. Once again thanks for the post.

Sempert out,


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Did you replace yours yourself without resetting it in the computer? Mine is acting up and I want to know if I can replace it without needing to go to the dealer. I've taken the front sprocket off before, so I'm not worried about dealing with that.

 

[Freddy]

I replaced mine quite some time back without any dealer/Buds input. It's been perfect ever since.

 

[Rickylux]

So let's talk about the gear position sensor behind the front sprocket. Pretty sure it is called something like that. Is black in color circular has an electrical female plug on it.

Has any had this replaced? What causes this to fail? Heat? Dirt? Was this "Checked" because the Check transmission message was running across the screen.

Any information greatly appreciated

Patrick Sempert,


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi there, I have the same problem on my Spyder GS SM5 990 2008, and I have found the replacement part, but I also want to change the complete cable connector to the sensor. However, that I cannot find. I want to change it because in some cases old cables can start passing the wrong voltage info, and in the same error from the gear position sensor, it says that is better to change the cable too!

Can enyone indicate a parts supplier please?

 

[Mikey]

That post was started in 2017, if you want to get any feed back to the person you're tagging, maybe a DM straight to the person would work faster! Good luck!!

 

[Peter Aawen]

That post was started in 2017, if you want to get any feed back to the person you're tagging, maybe a DM straight to the person would work faster! Good luck!!

Except we haven't seen @Sempyder here since August 2022...

You might want to check the 'Similar threads' down below the replies here, &/or maybe do a search or two to see if you can bring up anything more recent. Good Luck.