ABS system showing "brake failure" indication

[coolrider]

Starting from last week my 08 GS ABS system started showing "brake failure" indication.
Upon checking with GS911, the fault codes are
#2010-07-25 11:42:26
#GS-911 J2ME V1.37
#R1200GS
#Integral ABS 2 - CAN
24048ower Supply to Pump motor faulty
Status:The fault is not present now.
24049ower Supply to Pump motor faulty
Status:The fault is not present now.

Though the status is not present, but problem always there when I ride.

Anyone had experience with this problem?
I wonder if it's connection related (wiring, connector) or ABS unit itself.

 

[Tonibe63]

My mate had a brake failure warning on his 06 GSA last week. He changed the tail/stop lamp bulb and the warning has gone.

 

[GSmonkey]

Might be that you require a new battery. Is it OK at starting or a bit sluggish?

 

[coolrider]

Might be that you require a new battery. Is it OK at starting or a bit sluggish?

It's ok at starting, but I will check if battery wth similar capacity borrowed from other bike solves the problem.
Does it also have to be an AGM type battery?

 

[coolrider]

It's ok at starting, but I will check if battery wth similar capacity borrowed from other bike solves the problem.
Does it also have to be an AGM type battery?

Other battery doesn't help. It's the bike itself.
As I know, the ABS of latest generation BMW bike is not that sensitive to battery power compared to few years ago model.

 

[cacciatore]

i had this problem

my bike ( a 2005 GS1200) started showing the brake failure light and the speedo stopped working . it came on sometimes , usually after the bike was being ridden for a few minutes. I had the bike fully serviced, had the brakes relined etc and all the fluids changed , the problem remained. I put it into Cotswold BMW last month who diagonsed a faulty ABS pump. These cost £1300 plus labour (£2000)to change . The dealer provided the part on a goodwill basis charging only the labour, they had the part within 24 hours which suggests this is not an unheard of problem. I have since ridden the bike around europe with no problem.

hope this helps

 

[coolrider]

FYI, I finally replaced the ABS unit and the problem's gone. It's not wiring, connector. It's the ABS unit itself and many early 2008 bikes have this problem.

 

[shugie]

FYI, I finally replaced the ABS unit and the problem's gone. It's not wiring, connector. It's the ABS unit itself and many early 2008 bikes have this problem.

I thought that only the first couple of production years had an ABS pump, the newer ones had a different system?

Even with the pump free that's an eye-watering bill for labour. Does it really take that long to change the pump?

 

[coolrider]

I thought that only the first couple of production years had an ABS pump, the newer ones had a different system?

Even with the pump free that's an eye-watering bill for labour. Does it really take that long to change the pump?

BMW moved from servo brake system to non servo in 2007.

My bike is non servo. It took 3 hours for me to replace the ABS unit. Need to remove the fuel tank and a variety of short and long torx bits. It's not that complicated.

 

[Pukmeister]

FYI, I finally replaced the ABS unit and the problem's gone. It's not wiring, connector. It's the ABS unit itself and many early 2008 bikes have this problem.

Thats the first I've heard of this in over 5 years of owning/riding the 1200GS/GSA bikes ?

I know the earlier ServoABS pumps could be problematic, but the later bikes ?

Should I be concerned ??

 

[Ash]

Thats the first I've heard of this in over 5 years of owning/riding the 1200GS/GSA bikes ?

I know the earlier ServoABS pumps could be problematic, but the later bikes ?

Should I be concerned ??

Nah !!!
it's only your brakes
PS
where you not trained to jump ship.

 

[BurtieBoy]

On my 06 GSA the ABS failure light showed and the speedo stopped working when the rear final drive was worn (Knackered) so the tolerances were way out for the sensor.

Final drive fixed under warranty - just paid labour - then you get a two year warranty.

 

[coolrider]

Thats the first I've heard of this in over 5 years of owning/riding the 1200GS/GSA bikes ?

I know the earlier ServoABS pumps could be problematic, but the later bikes ?

Should I be concerned ??

Talking to local BMW community here, I found 4 other bikes having the same symptom. 3 GS and 1 RT. 2 bikes have had the ABS unit replaced and problem is solved. All of them + mine are late 2007 production. They haven't found similar problem on 2008 and later production. My opinion is it's just a batch of fail ABS unit from the factory. In general, if you are concerned, just stay away from late 2007 production and you'll be fine.

 

[Congceng]

Talking to local BMW community here, I found 4 other bikes having the same symptom. 3 GS and 1 RT. 2 bikes have had the ABS unit replaced and problem is solved. All of them + mine are late 2007 production. They haven't found similar problem on 2008 and later production. My opinion is it's just a batch of fail ABS unit from the factory. In general, if you are concerned, just stay away from late 2007 production and you'll be fine.

My gs also suffers the same fault codes and it was made in aug,2007!

Can u confirm that you bought a band new abs unit or a used unit for replacement? Did you need to reprogramming the control unit? Someone said that the new unit needs to be reprogram or coding after installation?

Thanks!

 

[coolrider]

My gs also suffers the same fault codes and it was made in aug,2007!

Can u confirm that you bought a band new abs unit or a used unit for replacement? Did you need to reprogramming the control unit? Someone said that the new unit needs to be reprogram or coding after installation?

Thanks!

I bought a used unit from a similar bike year. In my case, it didn't need programming. It was plug and play.
But, I've heard some reports that it doesn't always work that way. May be I was just lucky because I got it from a GS which bike year similar as mine.
R1200RT also has similar ABS unit.
Is it the bike model which needs to be similar or both model and year needs to be similar. I don't really know.
Regarding new ABS unit, a BMW mechanic told me it should be plug and play, but luckily I don't have a chance to do it.
Don't you have an BMW authorized dealer nearby?

 

[dippy]

My mate had a brake failure warning on his 06 GSA last week. He changed the tail/stop lamp bulb and the warning has gone.

Yep, I had same problem, abs failure and speedo not working, Bath road bristol looked at the problem and mentioned that there was many error codes for the rear tail light but none for abs. changed the contacts in the rear light and so far so good

 

[Fanum]

FYI, I finally replaced the ABS unit and the problem's gone. It's not wiring, connector. It's the ABS unit itself and many early 2008 bikes have this problem.

As part of the process, was your battery replaced/fully charged?
What else was done?
What was the history of your particular problem?




I'm not questioning that you changed the abs unit and you've not had the problem since, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the problem WAS the ABS unit.

Without a whole history, it's impossible to say, but your post sounds like a bit of an extreme reaction and probably something that 99% of the reported problems are nothing to do with

Keep it simple and work up from the cheapest/most likely cause......going for an ABS unit change is a bit like going for heart replacement surgery because you have a cold, then reporting that your new heart solved the problem when in fact it was the antibiotics given as part of the process that knocked out the cold , if you see what i mean

 

[flattwin]

I had a similar problem with my 04 bike I thought it was maybe the battery voltage, BMW tested the unit and said I had a high pressure fault on the ABS unit £1600 thank you sir...
The bike had very few miles but no joy from BMW hey did not want to know
So I decided to try and fix it myself found the brake fluid contaminated and very brown even though it had a full service history. I flushed it all out and whot do you know the fault disapeard..

 

[Fanum]

I had a similar problem with my 04 bike I thought it was maybe the battery voltage, BMW tested the unit and said I had a high pressure fault on the ABS unit £1600 thank you sir...
The bike had very few miles but no joy from BMW hey did not want to know
So I decided to try and fix it myself found the brake fluid contaminated and very brown even though it had a full service history. I flushed it all out and whot do you know the fault disapeard..

Exactly what I'm talking about

You DID have a high pressure fault on the ABS unit.....but it wasn't caused by the ABS unit, it was caused by the contaminated fluid, which showed up on the ever-so sophisticated yet dumb system as an ABS unit fault.

Changing the ABS unit in your case would have solved the problem as well, as in doing so, they'd have drained and replaced/bled new fluid through. **KERCHING!!!**

Something like a 911 diagnostic plug is great, but only if it's used with real world common sense and seen as a guide to give a hint as to what the problem is by what fault codes it is reporting, rather than a be-all and end-all 'this is what you need to replace to solve your problem' tool.

 

[alistairl]

Something like a 911 diagnostic plug is great, but only if it's used with real world common sense and seen as a guide to give a hint as to what the problem is by what fault codes it is reporting, rather than a be-all and end-all 'this is what you need to replace to solve your problem' tool.

You mean to say that the 911 diagnostic won't fix the problem for me ? Heh