1150 gs brake failure and warning lights on

heavyrelic

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Hi,

After a great day riding round northern France on Sunday (one of wappings day jaunt routes I think:thumb2) parked the bike up on the Chunnel. When I came to turn the ignition on, I got both the brake failure (flashing rapidly) and warning triangle lights on. Could not clear them, so I rode into the petrol station, filled up and tried again. Still the same warnings. Brakes appeared to be working fine, although I did not test the abs by stamping on them...! So I rode the 120 miles home with the lights flashing, brakes seemed fine.

Tried it yesterday, no warning lights, all seems fine..

So far I've checked

Brake fluid front/rear look good
Tail light, both filaments working
Battery, starts urgently not sluggish

Bit stuck now, any ideas?

Cheers,
Kev :thumb
 
i had the same problem with my boxercup bulb looked to be working fine so i checked and cleaned all wiring cleaned bulb holder and put a new bulb in all ok now
 
Make sure the brake lever is not fouling the handgaurd as it needs to be fully off for the system to register that it's there
 
Thanks. Nothing fouling the brake lever. I've swapped the bulb out anyway so we'll see what happens over the next few days.
Cheers! K
 
I've had a similar situation and found that the abs sensor discs on the wheels were in dire need of a clean, full of mud and brake dust. Problem disappeared after cleaning.

I've solved the problem permanently now by removing the servo abs system.
 
Have a.....

similar problem with mine, riding along both lights come on, lower on, top flashing rapidly, residual braking only on rear brake, front works fine. The lights will do one of two things, either stay on or go out after a couple of seconds. If the lights clear on their own all brakes work normally. If on permanantly, ignition off then on clears the fault.

Have done all the normal checks, bulb, connections etc.....:nenau

BMW diagnostics show no errors. Sometimes it will go for days with no problems then it will do it a few times in a day then for days works fine.
 
Servo/ABS problem

Hi! Let me know if you solve this, please. I have a 2003 TwinSpark, Servo/ABS with the same intermittent problem. I have just changed battery, but still this happens. One day it is OK, the next it happens every couple of kilometers, making it impossible to plan any trips or rides with the otherwise excellent machine. Driving me nuts!

Have checked fluids and bulbs. I have installed a HID conversion, but as it is not a cambus bike, this should not matter, I have been told. The bike is always in a Ctech charger when parked.

MB



Mick_rw said:
similar problem with mine, riding along both lights come on, lower on, top flashing rapidly, residual braking only on rear brake, front works fine. The lights will do one of two things, either stay on or go out after a couple of seconds. If the lights clear on their own all brakes work normally. If on permanantly, ignition off then on clears the fault.

Have done all the normal checks, bulb, connections etc.....:nenau

BMW diagnostics show no errors. Sometimes it will go for days with no problems then it will do it a few times in a day then for days works fine.
Click to expand...
 
Having been one of the few here to have had two servos replaced in teh bike, I have seen most of the light combinations.

If you have a servo with iABS - looky here : http://www.largiader.com/abs/absfault.html

If the fault is intermittant or non obvious (low fluid and the like), you need to get the fault code read from ther servo unit. It is likely that there will be a charge for this from your dealer (or steptoe). That way you can determine what is actually wrong.

For both of my servo faults, I had the same errors as seen by Mick_rw. Basically, the electronics in the servo had had it. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. Got fed up and had it all ripped out

Best thing I have ever done. No need to worry about whether I will play braking roulette again. Brakes are just as powerful. If your servo fails, and you can live without ABS, then my personal opinion is rip the thing out and ride it. As things get older, electronics start to age. 1150s are now reaching the age that they will start to exhibit failures just due to age and usage now. Take it back to simple mechanics. :rob

p.s. two dead servos in the garage if anyone wants them.
 
"you can live without ABS"

The point of ABS is to keep you living!
 
Have you checked your rear brake light? If the bulb has gone or the connection is dirty/wet/faulty it can cause these symptoms too.
 
"Are you talkin´to me?" ;-D

Yes, I have checked the brake light socket and connectors, and bulb as well as a replacement, just to make sure. Nothing to indicate a problem there.

M


Annette said:
Have you checked your rear brake light? If the bulb has gone or the connection is dirty/wet/faulty it can cause these symptoms too.
Click to expand...
 
brakes

hi,this happend to me on my r1150rs, the fault is the battery not putting out the correct volts ,replaced battery sorted!!!:clap
 
As it appears that the rear lamp can cause a problem check the spade connectors on the back of the tail light assembly, mine were badly corroded. (03 1150GS). Secondly lift off the tank and check the two right connector blocks in the rats nest BMW call a loom. Mine had a lot of corrosion and the rear light wiring goes though them. Late bike have QD fuel lines so tank removal is a two minute job but do it when it's nearly empty. When you feel the weight you'll know why :) To treat the plugs/sockets I used a spray of electrical contact cleaner and a toothbrush.

The no cost servo removal thread on this site works perfectly by the way.

In my case I then threw the benfits of the "no cost" down the drain by replacing the rigid brake pipe system with Hel stainless hoses. :blast

PS C'pn Ken, the OP said his battery was good, spins the engine over fast.
 
My 2002 1150R does the same thing occasionally. If I have to brake very quickly from a slow speed I get the lights flashing and only residual braking at the back wheel. However, if I stop the bike and restart everything is ok again.

Checked wiring, sensors and cleaned everything up. Had stealer look at it and check for fault codes and found nothing wrong. Been doing it for the last 4 years now!
 
I have tried....

everything on my bike, bulb, battery, connectors etc, even replaced the rear break microswitch to no avail, have one more thing to try,. if that fails then it will be goodbye ABS or bike one of the two....:tears

This is my 4th 1150GS and the first bike I have purchased from a private seller and have had nothing but problems with it.....never again.

So far it's had new Hall Sensor, both coils, RH fuel injector, Starter Motor, rear wheel bearing and seal and now ABS. It had only done 16500 miles when I purchased it. I have added 8000 to it and seems it can't handle being out and about in all weathers. It came with full BMW service history and reciepts.

My previous 1150 with iABS did just under 100,000 miles and in that time I only had a Hall Sensor failure...it ran like a dream, wished I had not sold it now.
 
Excellent, constructive plan of attack - thanks! I´ll go through everything per your description and see if this takes care of it. Fingers crossed!

Morten B




Packer said:
As it appears that the rear lamp can cause a problem check the spade connectors on the back of the tail light assembly, mine were badly corroded. (03 1150GS). Secondly lift off the tank and check the two right connector blocks in the rats nest BMW call a loom. Mine had a lot of corrosion and the rear light wiring goes though them. Late bike have QD fuel lines so tank removal is a two minute job but do it when it's nearly empty. When you feel the weight you'll know why :) To treat the plugs/sockets I used a spray of electrical contact cleaner and a toothbrush.

The no cost servo removal thread on this site works perfectly by the way.

In my case I then threw the benfits of the "no cost" down the drain by replacing the rigid brake pipe system with Hel stainless hoses. :blast

PS C'pn Ken, the OP said his battery was good, spins the engine over fast.
Click to expand...
 
Brake problem continues......

OK –*so I have checked and cleaned all connectors, including the taillight assembly. Problem is still here..... after a while ( can be 1 mile or 10) the ABS light blinks and the second red warning light lights up. When this happen –*sometimes I have residual brakes only, or other times, the brakes are 100% normal. If I hit the rear brakes once, the brakes return to normal, but the warning lights stay on.

What the €#"?^** is going on???

One question, though –*I notice that the front pads are dragging pretty heavily. Can this cause the problem? Seems like the problem is more frequent, after the bike has been parked for a few days?

Morten B
 
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