Rear Tail Light Cluster Fault

cjseach

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Hello Everyone,
I'm new so please be gentle. I have a 2008 F650, i have recently taken her out of hibernation and she seems to be running ok, apart from every now and again after activating the brake, the Lamp warning is coming on the display and the rear tail light cluster is not working. Both running lights and brake lights. If i turn the ignition on and off it clears the fault and carries on fine but then 25 miles or so later it returns.
Any suggestions would be helpful.
Thank you
Chris
 
Welcome!

Not sure of your mechanical / electricky experience so forgive me should i be stating the obvious...

For all the LEDs to be out at once i'd suggest it may be a loose connection - they last a pretty long time. Double check the connections - if a seal has gone on one of them there could be corrosion inside. Failing that then try putting some power across the unit to see if it ever works. As i recall the plug is on the top of the unit.

On an aside you have to lose half of the LEDs before it becomes an MoT failure.

Worst case scenario -

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-F800G...71?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item257c85493b

Or i think Motorworks are breaking a couple of F8GS's (link at top of page)

Give us a list of your troubleshooting checks so far and people will normally be able to them.

Good luck,

S
 
Thankyou,
I have limited ability but am always willing to try/ learn. Just had a look at connection under seat/above light and it seems to be ok. Have ridden for an hour and the fault occurred 3 times. Each time by turning the ignition off and on the fault cleared. It appears to happen when both brakes are applied but it could be either one. I'm guessing during my last ride i applied the brakes 100's of times but the fault only appeared 3 times.
Any other suggestions or hints on where t look.
Chris
 
abs control unit ??? Riding and pressing the brakes hundreds of times ... I wonder if the abs kicked in 3 times on that ride.......
Don't mind me I talk shit a lot...
 
Hello,
No its not the ABS, sorry i will be more precise, on the ride which lasted 55 minutes and took in 39 miles i pressed the rear brake pedal and front brake lever somewhere between 50 and 150 times. The ABS did not trigger.
Think i'll just book it in to a mechanic and have them take a look.
 
Both brakes sit on the same 'circuit' so it should happen with both front and rear however the intermittent nature of the fault is curious...

The lamp fault code will only come up when you try the brakes as it is only then the ZFE realises there's no connection - it's not like on their cars that automatically check all the lights at start up, thus it can be cleared each time.

I figure there are three options -

1. Light cluster has gone (i think quite unlikely but easy to check)
2. Connection somewhere between ZFE and light cluster (a loose or corroded plug)
3. ZFE problems (BMW only. Very expensive bit of kit)

Did you try putting some power across the light cluster to see if the LEDs illuminate at all? If you unplug the wires at the top there should be two pins exposed. If you get a 9v battery and some wire you can test the unit to rule out it's failure. If it lights this would point to connection issues further down the circuit so it's back to the wiring loom.

The wires from the brake light cluster go back to the ZFE (can't remember what it stands for but it's basically a computer into which all the circuits feed and it controls everything. Which, with all due respect Tosh, is why i don't think it'll be ABS as the ZFE can read both systems separately...)

According to Haynes the control / feed / +ve from the ZFE to the brake light is No.36 and there are only two wires fed into the brake light cluster so i'm assuming the ZFE varies the power levels in order to change light intensity between rear red and braking.

The problem is i'm not sure of the effect of unplugging the loom to the ZFE to check the integrity of the circuit... anyone out there done this? My concern is that causes some sort of reset requiring an otherwise unnecessary visit to the dealer...

Anyway good luck with it all and let us know how it works out.

S
 
Hello,
Yes the light cluster is working fine, so i guess a connection somewhere, but trying to find it maybe the issue.
Chris
 
Sounds like the canbus is switching down that circuit. My guess is a bad connection somewhere, possibly an earth. The canbus operates like a fuse. It's detecting a problem and 'blowing' a fuse. Except there are no fuses, so it shuts that circuit down, and they don't work again until you reset.

I think you need to check and clean every connection in that circuit.
 
Hi there

Give me a shout at the weekend or send me a PM with your phone number on and pop round so we can hook it up to the GS911 and find out exactly what the problem is if it has registered in the fault memory.

Mark
 
i think its all sorted now,
Looks like the battery terminal was loose, have now tightened and things seem ok.
Thanks
Chris
 
Hello,
I have to go to dealers to get a warranty item changed next week so will get them to clear the faults.
Thanks everyone for the help.
Chris
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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