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Brake Failure..

PostPosted: Fri Nov 08, 2013 10:55 am
by IAMBOB
Iight...

Put new shoes on the bike and the morning after until now the brake failure light is on. It will clear first thing like normal but comes back on and stays on within 2 miles of the start of the ride.

I did notice my front pads are somewhat worn (new pads on order) but not sure if that would throw a light.

Did remove the front wheel sensor, and the wire from the clip but the wire is back in the clip AND added a ziptie to the fork a little above the clip.

Not sure of the front, but know for sure the rear ABS is off.. AFTER I tested it on a dirt road THEN I thought "Hey, maybe not a great idea!"

Thinking aabout it I haven't chexked the fluid levels..

Re: Brake Failure..

PostPosted: Fri Nov 08, 2013 4:21 pm
by Aether
If everything else checks out normal, but your ABS isn't kicking in as they normally would, you may be another lucky winner in the ABS module failure sweepstakes. Diagonstics will show a low voltage reading due to the crappy brushes in the unit's motor getting hung up. If that's the case, a rebuild using better brushes by ModuleMaster is better than a $2k factory replacement as BMW has made no changes to fix the issue. I learned all about this last month.... :evil:

Re: Brake Failure..

PostPosted: Wed Nov 13, 2013 7:31 pm
by Wild Pig
I had the ABS pump on the GS go south a few months ago. GS911 diagnosed the bad pump voltage problem from the motors going bad. Once it went, it stayed went. No off and on, and I'd only get a few feet before the light came back after resetting it with the 911. I'd check your sensors first, especially since you were tinkering around in that area. Check your switches and your tail light bulb also. Anton does a great write up on his site.

The good news is that if it is the pump, an outfit out in Idaho rebuilds them for a fraction of the price. The bad news is you have to rip the old one out and send it, then reinstall. The good news is I'm just about to do that so you can learn from my mistakes.

Re: Brake Failure..

PostPosted: Wed Nov 13, 2013 7:35 pm
by IAMBOB
So find a 911 and it will take away the guess work?

Re: Brake Failure..

PostPosted: Wed Nov 13, 2013 8:20 pm
by Aether
Wild Pig wrote:The good news is that if it is the pump, an outfit out in Idaho rebuilds them for a fraction of the price. The bad news is you have to rip the old one out and send it, then reinstall. The good news is I'm just about to do that so you can learn from my mistakes.


Yep, the outfit in Ohio is ModuleMaster who I mentioned in my post above.

Re: Brake Failure..

PostPosted: Thu Nov 14, 2013 4:55 pm
by Wild Pig
IAMBOB wrote:So find a 911 and it will take away the guess work?


That's the easiest, other than making sure your sensors and cables are OK.

Re: Brake Failure..

PostPosted: Thu Nov 14, 2013 5:25 pm
by IAMBOB
I went to the DOT site today and reported the failure.. I think an ABS failure is significant and ahould be grounds for a recall..

Re: Brake Failure..

PostPosted: Fri Nov 15, 2013 10:45 am
by jpsmith
Bob, After I sold my 08 R1200RT and it went up the road with David to Kittery, Maine; the fuel gauge failed...covered; the Clutch lining came apart....not covered ($$$$$); and the ABS Module died.... covered. All at around 10,000 mi. So ABS Failures are nothing new. Maybe BMW will cover it.....maybe they won't. Hey, you can dream. Jim

PS, I still have your TB Sync Gauge.

Re: Brake Failure..

PostPosted: Sat Nov 16, 2013 8:38 am
by IAMBOB
Wild Pig wrote:I had the ABS pump on the GS go south a few months ago. GS911 diagnosed the bad pump voltage problem from the motors going bad. Once it went, it stayed went. No off and on, and I'd only get a few feet before the light came back after resetting it with the 911. I'd check your sensors first, especially since you were tinkering around in that area. Check your switches and your tail light bulb also. Anton does a great write up on his site.

The good news is that if it is the pump, an outfit out in Idaho rebuilds them for a fraction of the price. The bad news is you have to rip the old one out and send it, then reinstall. The good news is I'm just about to do that so you can learn from my mistakes.

Well, put a GS911 on it yesterday, lot of old errors that al said "Not present now" High Beam fault that had been fixed, battery faults, replaced the battery awhile ago..

Did see a front wheel sensor fault..

So today the bike sits in the garage, and I will be taking it apart. Front and back wheel will come off so I can check both sensors and ensure the wires are run right, replace front brake pads, bleed brakes, new alternator belt.. then have new brake mounting bolts from motolights, and new stock bolts so I can get rid of the base sticker plate.. AND I'm experimenting with new LED lights for my motolights.. have a 24 led array in one now, don't like it have a single CREE LED MR16 bulb to try... THEN I get to troubleshoot my GIVI topcase and see why my top case brake lights don't work....

Re: Brake Failure..

PostPosted: Sun Nov 17, 2013 9:57 pm
by Wild Pig
IAMBOB wrote:Did see a front wheel sensor fault..


That looks like your animal. ABS Pump failures usually read as low voltage across the motors. Perhaps you bumped your front sensor a bit harder than you thought.

Re: Brake Failure..

PostPosted: Sun Nov 17, 2013 10:15 pm
by IAMBOB
Took both wheels off.. checked both sensors, re-routed the front wire (NOT easy to do with the wheel on), new front pads, bled both front and back... new alternator belt.. new LED bulbs for the motolights.. think that was it.. oh new Motolight bolts as the heads were stripped out..

Hardest was getting the alternator belt on, but I cut the old one off so I was pretry committed to figuring that one out.