Defender died……Battery, stator, starter, oh my…..

[Smittydog27]

Issues are being resolved now, but here is a story for ya.

Defender purchased in April timeframe, has 383 miles on it.  My wife and I went up on my property to ride around on a Sunday evening.  On about the third stop, I attempted to start up the buggy again and nothing….display shows PPS error.  Crap.  So had to walk a mile down hill in open front flip flops (broke my rule of boots when riding).  Got my other buggy to rescue my wife.  Came home to finish off my beers, researched code. Hmmmm, check for loose battery connection.  Woke up at midnight, decided it wouldn’t be prudent to wake up the wife for my need to get the buggy rolling again.  So, day came and I rode up hill and opened up the battery compartment and dang, loose terminals.  Tightened up connections, used my Schumacher Red Power jump pack to start buggy.  Yep, started right up and brought it home to charge it.  Next day the batter is fully charged.  Tuesday, rode up on hill and no issues.

Wednesday rolls around and took a work associate up for a ride around and after about an hour the buggy just dies while riding down a hill.  Same code…PPS error and the battery terminals are tight.  After walking home up and down hill, I got my starter pack again and went to buggy.  Won’t start the buggy this time…Double crap.  Swapped out new battery with 10 yr old Odyssey AGM battery and it starts.  Brought buggy home, took battery to dealership (couldn’t take buggy due to my truck being used by wife for week).  Battery charged and tested to confirm it is bad.  

When using the old battery, I put the display on ‘battery’ to determine if it was charging…no dice.  Seems the stator not charging the battery.

Brought buggy to dealership on Saturday to verify (and for them to troubleshoot) electrical system.  Yes, they determined the stator was junk (visibly burnt and smelled) so they ordered a stator.  Stator came in a few days later.  After they put in the stator, the starter wouldn’t turn over the engine.  Quit working…Hmmm.  Worked when I brought it in.

They ordered a new starter but Can Am didn’t bless it yet.  Shop bench tested and yes, it’s bad.  Shop took it apart.  It seem the glue came off the starter housing and the magnet jammed the windings/motor.  Can Am ok’d the replacement.  Shop put in the new starter and everything back together, still won’t start.  Really?!?!!!.

I was at shop at every stated milestone above and the tech explained what he was doing (he was also in contact with Can Am support).  Now, I wasn’t upset or micro managing, I just wanted to see why I have a 27K (paid cash) boat anchor that only has 383 miles on it.  When I came to shop, I brought pizza and breakfast-every one appreciates a thank you like that.  

Ok…It’s Saturday now an the new starter won’t turn.  More calls to tech line and….bingo.  Seems the tech used his normal approach to sealing the case-used Locktite SI 5910.  Note:( almost all other motorcycle companies use their version of this, i.e. Yamabond, Hondabond)     Well, Can Am doesn’t.  They use a gasket.  So by not using the factory gasket, the tolerance was too tight and the case-when using sealant, will bind the stator shaft.  

So….gasket is on order, have to wait a few more days for the repair.  Unreal how this all went down but thankful it should be over sometime this week.  Tech offered to make a gasket but I wanted it back to factory specs.  I mean I made it this far, what another day or two.  Been three weeks by the way.  Just wanted to share with the community, just in case you have similar issues.

[Andystoy19]

Hope they finally fix it, sounds like the battery may have caused a cascade of issues that took out the stator. Have them check the voltage regulator to make sure it is within spec. If it failed high it may have caused the battery issue and took out the stator, not sure why the starter went out? Good write up.🙂

[Smittydog27]

Voltage regulator tested good….glue failed in starter.  Guess the stator was junk from get go.  Figure the battery failed due to not charging