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[Manzanita]

So I have a 2014 Zero S that is at the dealer for repair. The bike is still intermittently shutting down while riding (including at full speed on the freeway!). So after a month they finally get back to me and say that the motherboard needs to be replaced because the dealer and Zero cannot communicate with the bike. Replacement with labor is $1000. BUT--they are not saying that this will fix the problem of my intermittent issues. They simply need to replace the MBB to communicate with the bike remotely, it seems. But I was able to download logs onto my smartphone via bluetooth when I had the bike at home.... so when they say they cannot communicate with the bike, do they mean with a physical connector? And so the bluetooth connection cannot do the same thing?

Also, the motherboard is $445 for the part, but they are charging three hours labor (3x $140) to replace it. It's just sitting under the seat, right?

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance for your support,

-Alan

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

It's true that the bluetooth connection offers a limited subset of what the serial and CAN consoles over the OBD-II port offer. But this is a good thing because Bluetooth isn't secure, so restricting it to safe operations is sensible.

It's unfortunate that replacing an MBB costs so much, and that it's a pre-requisite for further troubleshooting (hopefully the full logs were already downloaded and transmitted for posterity). MBB replacements also have an annoying risk that they must be pre-configured for your bike at the factory, or else won't work right. I think Zero made this far less likely to fail a while ago, but the pre-configuration still represents a labor cost and delay that I'm not aware of applying to ECUs from other manufacturers.

One part of MBB replacement labor is that the board must be unbolted from the mounting plate inside the bike, which itself must be removed and this is really difficult.

Ref. https://zeromanual.com/wiki/SDS_Platform/Board_Mounting_Plate

[Manzanita]

Brian, thank you for the reply, it was helpful. I am just going to approve the work and pray!

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[Manzanita]

Okay, so I paid $1049 to get the main controller replaced ($450 part plus $500 labor). I bring the bike home and a few weeks later gear up to go to work on it.... and it dies about 500 feet from my house. Then I turn around and it dies again. Then it dies in my driveway. It dies 3 times in 1000 feet and they can't reproduce the problem. So I take it back to them, and they said the original problem was with the ignition switch. So they replace that (I wanted to buy the part but they agreed to do the installation for free after I argued that I should not have to pay for the diagnosis after paying $1000 and not getting 500 feet), and just got it back this afternoon.

Guess what... the onboard charger is no longer working! It was working when I brought it to them. It was working after they replaced the main controller.... but after they replaced the ignition switch it is dead. I unhooked the output connector and verified that there is no voltage coming out. That was my third onboard charger. I bought it used for $440 in August, and literally the bike has been in the shop since then (and dead for the previous year because of the charger failure). I used that charger twice! Granted it was used, but the guy who sold it to me on this forum said he had rarely used it since he has a charge tank. Is there a compatibility problem between the newer rev B onboard chargers and my 2014 Zero?  It should work right? It was from a 2017 or 2018 Zero, I believe.

I'm sure you all think I can just take the bike back to the dealer, but I installed the charger myself and given the fight I had to put up to not pay for the ignition switch diagnosis (after paying $1000) the chances of this service department accepting responsibility for killing my charger is zero. In fact, they went from fighting me about paying $160 for diagnosis (telling me the bike now had a different problem) to installing the ignition switch for free... maybe because they knew my charger died while they were working on it??? I don't know. It's also a little suspicious that they didn't charge the bike for me, which is what normally has happened when I bring my bike in.

So now I've paid over $1500, I have barely had a chance to ride it in the past 18 months, and now need to pay at least $400 dollars more to install another onboard charger...

Unbelievable.

[Crissa]

That seems frustrating!  I know those charge controllers have been giving them fits.

I don't know of any incompatibilities.

-Crissa

[DonTom]

Since you live in Woodland, I am curious where your closest Zero dealer would be. Would it be Elk Grove Power Sports?

-Don-  Auburn, CA

[Manzanita]

yes, that is correct. I may take it to Concord now. you have any experience with either? Suggestions? Thanks!

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[DonTom]

yes, that is correct. I may take it to Concord now. you have any experience with either? Suggestions? Thanks!

I have a little experience with Elk Grove Power Sports. I purchased my 2017 SR with Power tank there and had them do the first FW update. Other than that, I have only purchased a few things, such as a couple of my  Delta-Q quick chargers.

If I have ever been in Contra Costa Powersports, it would be  so many years that it would be before Zero existed.

-Don-  Auburn, CA

[motorrad36]

Very sorry to hear that, I’ve so far had good results from them. However, my DS has been there for like two weeks now...

[DonTom]

Very sorry to hear that, I’ve so far had good results from them. However, my DS has been there for like two weeks now...

Yeah, it seems to me that EGPS should have a lot of experience with Zeros. I think they do many Zeros for city governments and such. I remember seeing many Zeros in their shop next door.

BTW, where are you located? Maybe we can all get together for an electric ride to wherever. I have ridden my SR to EGPS and back a few times. But there are some really great riding areas around here, especially  if you have decent range to head out towards Sugar Pine Lake via Foresthill  and down the hill to Colfax. But it's snowing like crazy in that area right now and will take weeks to dry out in all that shade from the tall trees.

-Don-  Auburn, CA

[Manzanita]

So the onboard charger can charge regardless of the position of the ignition switch...

I'm just wondering if there is any possible way they could have discconected or changed wiring in a manner that would disable the onboard charger... it doesn't seem like it.

When you apply AC power to the charger, the output voltage will go to 117V regardless of anything on the communication bus? Or does it require signaling from the bike to power on?

If I disconnect the data connector from the charger and plug in AC, will the charger give me output voltage (like it was off the bike)?

[Crissa]

Well, it is possible they accidentally unplugged the charger, but I can't imagine anything that couldn't be plugged together.

I would force them to fix it, since it broke in their care.  They have a duty of care to your device, and you don't have to prove how they broke it, just that it wasn't functioning when they gave it back to you.

-Crissa