ABS Failure

[celticus]

Has anyone had problems with their ABS? mine just quit working. I ride an 07 R1200R but there are lots more GS owners out there who might be able to help me.
My Brake Failure light stays on solid and the ABS unit is not working.
I have tested and replaced the bulb.
I flushed the brake fluid and it did not fix the brake failure light problem.
Also just for the heck of it I disconnected the battery to see if I could reset something but to no avail.
Thinking back I HAVE let my 3.5 year old battery go WAY dead (6 or 8 volts ) several times. It still starts the bike without any hint of hesitation but I have heard that a somewhat weak battery can cause ABS problems.
I have a good meter does anyone have a suggestion for a starting /load test?
Both brakes work fine. Non ABS
I checked the voltage at the battery and the results were.
Key off 12.55 v
Minimum voltage during starting 10.5 (this is as best as I can tell) my Fluke meter does min and max voltages but I couldn’t figure it out.
Voltage while running 14.22.
I have a GPS and Radar detector that both start up when the key is turned on. I have had this setup for a while and it seemed to work but now maybe it's not. I'll try to mess with that situation. I barely trust CANBUS
Thanks Mark

[amos]

Yes my abs pump went out within the last month. The light would come on, and I would shut off bike and it would go away. Finally the light would not go offf, I had the battery checked and it was okay . Finally went to the dealer for diagnosis and repair,ABS pump replaced it used to cost over $2000 dealer said BMW lowered the price of pump,imagine that. Total cost was $1335 labor and parts.

[celticus]

Thanks, Where on the bike is the ABS located?

Mark

[flatland964]

I had similar problems with the ABS self-test, and it turned out to the battery being on its way out, even though it still had the juice to start the engine.

See also this thread: http://www.bmwmoa.org/forum/showthread.php?t=46163

I also am pretty sure I remember reading somewhere (although I can't find it now) that there is a minimum voltage the battery has to maintain even during the starting process for the ABS test to succeed. A weakened battery may start the bike, but not maintain the voltage.

[eepeqez]

Could you test this by starting the bike with jumper leads from a larger battery (car or truck) to see if the larger battery is sufficient for the self test to decide all is well?

[Wallowa]

Originally Posted by amos

Yes my abs pump went out within the last month. The light would come on, and I would shut off bike and it would go away. Finally the light would not go offf, I had the battery checked and it was okay . Finally went to the dealer for diagnosis and repair,ABS pump replaced it used to cost over $2000 dealer said BMW lowered the price of pump,imagine that. Total cost was $1335 labor and parts.

Amos,

Can you clarify...the ABS pumps to my limited knowledge were not on '07 GSAs but perhaps they were retained on the "R"...mine does not have one..I think '06 was the last year with pumps on GSs.

[cheetahman]

I have an 02 GS. I change the brake fluid every year as recommended by my service tech. He says it's way less costly than a new pump. These bikes seem to have this weakness. I have heard about the $1400.00 pump replacement several times.

[amos]

I do not know if it a pump or module , I just know I thought it was the battery and tested everything hoping it was no joy just went to the dealer and bent over. The unit is behind and under the tank took them 2.4 hrs to replace and bleed brake system.

[celticus]

I believe the pumps were on the older bikes and that mine has a module sorry for mis-speaking.
I have wondered about the "jumping the bike off with a larger battery" thing.

Mark

[reubenRN]

I bought a 2007 R1200GS and the ABS was not working. ABS failed the self-test, brakes were working, but were not linked. It turned out to be the brush holders on the ABS electrical motor were too tight. Free fix!

I took the ABS unit off, then the electrical motor off, opened the electrical motor up, with a small screwdriver I pried open the brush holders so the brushes can move freely (the brushes were stuck) and put everything back together. The tricky part is to re-mount the electrical motor to the abs unit. I used heavy duty zipties. Lots of them. Brake flush front and rear. Six (6) thousand miles later ABS works great. Brakes are linked now!

There is a pdf tutorial on the web with pics. I can't find the link right now, but I can search further if you're interested.

Adrian

[celticus]

Thanks, I AM interested and would appreciate the link.

Mark

[lhendrik]

So, a few of these ABS failures end up fixed by some relatively inexpensive means, like those mentioned above, but most of the time the entire ABS module ends up needing replacement. (like on my K12GT). Good to know the price is down from the $1800-$2200 it used to be for the part alone, plus installation - to a more reasonable $1000+

Hope yours is self fixable.

[SDVET]

My ABS quit on my 07 RT. Light stays on, but the brakes will work. One way to test is lock up the rear wheel. If you can skid the rear wheel, the ABS pump is not working, and you can stop looking for light bulbs and low batteries.

All the dealers say is not flushing the brake fluid causes the failures, but most of the ones I have read about are brush failures, which have no contact with brake fluid. Brushes are common problems on DC motors, and there are some places I have read about that are repairing these pump motors.

I got some help from my dealer on my replacement, and they would not give me the old pump to investigate, so I really don't know what was wrong with mine.

I look at it like this, its a motorcycle, fix it, ride it, and enjoy it.

[flemsmith]

I'll keep watching this thread to see if there's a link for the DC motor brush analysis/repair. Mine's an 05, and I've just been living with the red light intemittently. Haven't had occasion to slam on the brakes and skid the rear tire. yet.

roy

[def]

Originally Posted by eepeqez

Could you test this by starting the bike with jumper leads from a larger battery (car or truck) to see if the larger battery is sufficient for the self test to decide all is well?

Yes. The donor vehicle should not be running when doing this.