Ground Spiders on Gen2 FJR's

[ice_station_zebra]

Yes, those are S1, 2 &3.

other locations pictured here -> https://www.dropbox.com/s/p6642rdckflz0 ... s.pdf?dl=0

My S4 experience -> https://www.fjrowners.com/forums/9-fjr- ... roost.html

Found and checked #6 and will 7&8 soon. So far so good!

[YummYam]

Also check out the connectors on the rhs behind the turn indicator. Engine died on me while out riding and eventually a hard slap on the plastic there restored life. Subsequently opened and greased all in that area.

[rbentnail]

And there's two important connectors by S6, did you check those?

[morecowbell]

My FJR was the victim of a spider bite on my last ride. 2012 model, 69900 miles on it, based in the SoCal desert, always garaged when not out riding. Coming into Yucca Valley, I noticed that the turn-signal indicators were dimly lit, and the flasher pattern was erratic. The high-beam indicator was on but the headlights were out. The Hellas were on and I couldn't extinguish them. Windshield tilt inop. Horn button didn't sound the horn but flashed the Hellas! That was some seriously strange electrical behavior. At least the engine was running properly! Back home in the garage, I pulled the fairings and tank and started looking for the grounding connectors using the information on this thread. With the 2012 not being covered by the earlier recall, I've never paid any attention at all to the connectors since buying the bike new.

Luckily the first spider I could find was S6, and it had some slight scorching marks on it, but the wiring itself appeared undamaged. I pulled out the spider connector and shot some contact cleaner into the plug and I scrubbed the spider itself and reinserted it into the plug. Turned on the key switch and started the engine...all electrical functions were normal. That was quite a relief. The next step was to order some conductive grease from Amazon and wait for it to arrive. With the grease in hand, I found, cleaned and greased all eight connectors. Besides S6, they all appeared to be clean and bright, even the dreaded S4 connector. I checked the two large connectors near S6, and one pin in each was showing signs of corrosion. I got that cleaned out with contact cleaner and applied some grease. The hardest connectors to find were S7 and S8, which the diagram shows to be *under* each respective headlight. After looking in the wrong areas for a bit, I found S7 *above* the LHS headlight, and S8 was *behind* the RHS headlight. Not a big deal, and I was really happy to have access to those connectors without any further disassembly.

I told my FJR riding buddy, also with a 2012 (60000 miles), about the potential problem. We pulled his fairings and tank the next day and got all eight of his connectors cleaned and greased. They all looked fine. Now that I know 2012s aren't immune from spider issues and I know what to look for, I'll clean and re-grease the connectors every time I have the fairings and tank removed for other maintenance. I'll also get on the NHTSA site and file a report for this bike making note of the year model and ground connector not being covered by the earlier campaign. I sure am glad to have the information available on this forum to avoid a trip to a dealer!

[FJRoss]

Luckily the first spider I could find was S6, and it had some slight scorching marks on it, but the wiring itself appeared undamaged. I pulled out the spider connector and shot some contact cleaner into the plug and I scrubbed the spider itself and reinserted it into the plug. T

Be warned that your restoration of a slightly scorched spider may not be a long-term fix. I did that with the S6 on my 2007. Very lightly toasted and one leg appeared tarnished. Cleaned it all up and it was good for a couple of months before it bit me. I used dielectric grease rather than conductive grease but that might not make a huge difference. The vast majority of the current passes where metal is in physical contact with metal - even conductive grease isn't all that conductive.

[raYzerman]

Excellent job on the cleanup!! We'll get you the mating connector number...... install 6 #18 wire pigtails in it, solder those to a 12 ga (or 10 ga.) wire and take it to a suitable ground screw (or negative battery terminal)...... I'm on the road and don't have that info at my fingertips...... I would do this for S6 for sure, likely for S4 too.

[gixxerjasen]

From my notes from someone else's post that I can't remember to give credit.

The 6-way connector you are looking for is Sumitomo unsealed MT series, 6P090-MT-SPA. The only source I know of is Eastern Beaver.
http://www.easternbeaver.com/Main/Elec_ ... ctors.html

[mcatrophy]

Luckily the first spider I could find was S6, and it had some slight scorching marks on it, but the wiring itself appeared undamaged. I pulled out the spider connector and shot some contact cleaner into the plug and I scrubbed the spider itself and reinserted it into the plug. T

Be warned that your restoration of a slightly scorched spider may not be a long-term fix. I did that with the S6 on my 2007. Very lightly toasted and one leg appeared tarnished. Cleaned it all up and it was good for a couple of months before it bit me. I used dielectric grease rather than conductive grease but that might not make a huge difference. The vast majority of the current passes where metal is in physical contact with metal - even conductive grease isn't all that conductive.

The use of "conductive" as opposed to "dielectric" grease is irrelevant. So-called conductive grease is thousands of times more resistive than the metal of the connector. No useful electricity will flow through it regardless of the resistance of any corrosion.

Use any grease that will repel water and inhibit corrosion.