Display stuck off

[rb.]

Today I tried to ride my decoy and it wouldn’t get out of the parking lot. Rode it a few days ago and everything seemed normal. Charged up normal. When I turned it on before my ride everything booted up normal. Then as soon as I was switching it into eco mode to take off, the screen went black and never turned back on. Took out the battery and motor and all connections seemed to be intact, dry, and clean. The light on the power switch is on, but nothing else seems to work. Will dive in a little further tonight, but was hoping someone on here would have some suggestions?

Thanks,

 

[rb.]

Took everything apart and could not detect any source of error. My friend also has a decoy 29 so hopefully I can borrow his and swap parts out 1 at a time to figure out what is wrong. Hoping the display cable went bad or something, but we shall see. Thank god I have a normal (2020 Enduro) bike to ride in case this isn’t a quick fix.

 

[Sapientiea]

Did you try connecting it with the shimano-app via blue tooth? I am actually not sure if the bike should work without the display. Never tried that. Might try today if nobody has an answer

 

[-Sven-]

Took everything apart and could not detect any source of error. My friend also has a decoy 29 so hopefully I can borrow his and swap parts out 1 at a time to figure out what is wrong. Hoping the display cable went bad or something, but we shall see. Thank god I have a normal (2020 Enduro) bike to ride in case this isn’t a quick fix.

View attachment 35562

View attachment 35563

View attachment 35564

Hi RB, sorry to read about your issue with the display is this a common issue? I'd like to thank you however for the great images they really help a Decoy newbie with understanding the both cable routing and engine removal. One question are you running a light as i notice the Red and Black cable?
Thanks Again

Sven ?

 

[R120]

Are you sure that the cable wasn't just loose into the display/motor? Need a positive click when you push it in - sometimes not done when first assembled

 

[rb.]

Without a Bluetooth connection, I do not think it is possible to connect to the shimano app. To be fair I did not try, but assumed if the display is off, the Bluetooth is also off. Will try again once I get the bike back together.

No light being used on my bike.

yes, connections are clean and “snap” into place securely. No change in function.

 

[rb.]

Got another decoy. By the end of the day I will have either diagnosed the problem, or will have 2 broken decoys in my garage. Wish me luck.

 

[rb.]

Hi RB, sorry to read about your issue with the display is this a common issue? I'd like to thank you however for the great images they really help a Decoy newbie with understanding the both cable routing and engine removal. One question are you running a light as i notice the Red and Black cable?
Thanks Again

Sven ?

This is the one you were talking about? Is this supposed to be for a light? Wasn’t connected to anything so it’s coming out.

 

[rb.]

I absolutely hate how there is no room to plug in these connections due to the frame overlapping the motor. Two other bikes I’ve seen with shimano motors have a plastic cover that removes so you can actually work on your bike.

pro tip: to be able to do this with the least cussing possible, remove the battery and cable routing to give yourself more slack to plug it in before the motor is dropped into the frame.
Also flip the bike upside down so you aren’t fighting gravity with the heavy motor.

 

[-Sven-]

This is the one you were talking about? Is this supposed to be for a light? Wasn’t connected to anything so it’s coming out.

View attachment 35628

Yes as far as I know that cable is used to connect power to the Lupine SL front light that you buy from YT.

 

[-Sven-]

I absolutely hate how there is no room to plug in these connections due to the frame overlapping the motor. Two other bikes I’ve seen with shimano motors have a plastic cover that removes so you can actually work on your bike.

pro tip: to be able to do this with the least cussing possible, remove the battery and cable routing to give yourself more slack to plug it in before the motor is dropped into the frame.
Also flip the bike upside down so you aren’t fighting gravity with the heavy motor.

View attachment 35629

Brilliant RB thank you for the ProTips its greatly received?

 

[rb.]

Update:
swapped displays, swapped batteries, swapped full motors. My bike will not turn on still. While I have it off I may try my parts on his bike just to verify before I start ripping out all the cables.

 

[rb.]

Update.
All the parts I’ve taken off my bike, work on his bike. Not that that solves my problems, but we are narrowing down the options.

 

[TransAmMan]

Keep the updates coming .. this is like reality TV for us bike Nerds

Hoping you discover the issue soon

** have to ask .. what is the plug in the bottom of the steer tube of the decoy above ? (underneath photo). Is it one of the old style through headset/stem tightening bolts ? Good to keep mud out.

 

[rb.]

Found the culprit. Swapped on my friends shimano di2 cable that connects the display and everything is up and running again. Just to verify, I tried my cable on his bike and he also got the black screen of death. Should be able to find one online and have my bike back together by mid week.

I don’t know how or why this failed though. Visually there is no damage. Any electrical savy guys know some possible causes of failure and how it could go from working to broken seemingly randomly?

 

[rb.]

Keep the updates coming .. this is like reality TV for us bike Nerds

Hoping you discover the issue soon

** have to ask .. what is the plug in the bottom of the steer tube of the decoy above ? (underneath photo). Is it one of the old style through headset/stem tightening bolts ? Good to keep mud out.

It’s a specialized swat steerer tool that I had to ghetto rig up a different bolt and washers to work with the longer decoy head tube.

 

[rb.]

On the bright side I have become extremely good at working on the internals of this e-bike. Time to go ride a bike I know won’t have electrical issues while I wait for my parts.

 

[TransAmMan]

Congrats !! Nice work !!

And love the Enduro too ... would be at the top of my list for Analog bike purchases

 

[Sapientiea]

Super that you found the problem. The cables from the DI2 are very thin, so you might have stretched it accidentally without realising it. If you have a multi meter you can check if the wires are broken. Should be only two wires I believe.

What is the length of that cable? I was already planing to buy a spare!

 

[rb.]

Super that you found the problem. The cables from the DI2 are very thin, so you might have stretched it accidentally without realising it. If you have a multi meter you can check if the wires are broken. Should be only two wires I believe.

What is the length of that cable? I was already planing to buy a spare!

900mm.
But I ordered a 1000mm one because there wasn’t much slack in the 900, also that is what was in stock on amazon prime.

 

[TransAmMan]

How long are the 3 cables ? Are they all 900mm?

Just wondering as having spares seems like a good idea

 

[rb.]

How long are the 3 cables ? Are they all 900mm?

Just wondering as having spares seems like a good idea

Thumb switch one is short. Speed sensor is med. Display is long. I’d buy a long spare one, and it will work plenty fine for the other two. Just loop it and secure with some electrical tape or a small zip tie.

 

[-Sven-]

Congrats RB ? on solving the issue. And thank you for an informative thread

 

[RocketMagnet]

The E-Tube app would have helped and probably narrowed this down to the cable or display before you even started IMO.
Ultimately power up the bike and see what devices show up in E-Tube (Motor/Display/Switch) would have been extremely useful in trouble shooting and personally it would have been the first tool I reached for if the bike turned on but I got no display.

After checking the Display to motor cable was seated properly I'd have ran a spare cable externally from the display to the motor. Sorry I could have suggested this and saved you some time but just seen this now... either way it's nice to understand how it all goes together and helps in the future and at least you got there..

 

[-Sven-]

The E-Tube app would have helped and probably narrowed this down to the cable or display before you even started IMO.
Ultimately power up the bike and see what devices show up in E-Tube (Motor/Display/Switch) would have been extremely useful in trouble shooting and personally it would have been the first tool I reached for if the bike turned on but I got no display.

After checking the Display to motor cable was seated properly I'd have ran a spare cable externally from the display to the motor. Sorry I could have suggested this and saved you some time but just seen this now... either way it's nice to understand how it all goes together and helps in the future and at least you got there..

Good suggestion but I'm sure the Bluetooth connection has to done via the display? And he wasn't getting current to it. I'm asking as that's my assumption ? I could be wrong ?

 

[RocketMagnet]

The LCD screen in the display could just be dead but it's still actually working... and yes the BT connection is Via the Display and it needs power. So the App can tell you if the Display is getting power, if it turns on you know battery to motor power is ok... so you know to check power from the motor to the display so the connections then rule out the cable externally before you go dropping motors out...

As here he had access to another bike.. get them close and connect the display cable from one bike to the other?

 

[rb.]

The E-Tube app would have helped and probably narrowed this down to the cable or display before you even started IMO.
Ultimately power up the bike and see what devices show up in E-Tube (Motor/Display/Switch) would have been extremely useful in trouble shooting and personally it would have been the first tool I reached for if the bike turned on but I got no display.

After checking the Display to motor cable was seated properly I'd have ran a spare cable externally from the display to the motor. Sorry I could have suggested this and saved you some time but just seen this now... either way it's nice to understand how it all goes together and helps in the future and at least you got there..

Hindsight is always 20/20.
I tried the shimano e-tube app and not get anything to connect when the bike was on.

Visually the display cable did not looked damaged, and both connections points were clean and secure, so I did not try the cable right away because I assumed it would be fine. Also it’s not possible to connect anything to the motor without dropping it out of the bike.

I sent out an email to YT warranty to see if they will replace the faulty cable. (I ordered one online as well since I want to get the bike up and running ASAP). But since this was not a result of a crash or general wear and tear, I would image this falls under warranty. Bike has never seen water either, I live in California where it doesn’t rain most the year unfortunately.

 

[rb.]

Got my cable from Amazon yesterday. And today the warranty replacement cable came from YT.
I know other people in other parts of the world have struggled with YT service, but they have been nothing but great for me on all 3 occasions I needed something.

 

[seamarsh]

Sweet write up! This should be a Sticky. Feel like i should buy a cable just to have a spare on hand to swap out if needed.... I will say hard to feel sorry for you with a sweet KTM 2 stroke staring at me..brraaapp!

 

[rb.]

Sweet write up! This should be a Sticky. Feel like i should buy a cable just to have a spare on hand to swap out if needed.... I will say hard to feel sorry for you with a sweet KTM 2 stroke staring at me..brraaapp!

Lol, yep. I am very fortunate I have a nice lineup of bikes. And it wasn’t really a bad experience because I had a friends decoy to help narrow down what was broken. Without his bike, it would have been much more difficult.