Piston failure on ABS pump ... ABS2 R1150Gs

retroman

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Options seem to be

1. Replace ABS pump which costs silly money

2. Remove ABS altogether

3. Put a sticker over the ABS lights and keep on riding - my current option


Is 2 worth doing though?
 
If you feel up to it, you could try fixing it yourself.

This thread is quite comprehensive in how to dismantle and rebuild the modulator.

http://advwisdom.hogranch.com/Wisdom/BMW ABS II D&A.pdf

You might have something stuck, then a dismantle clean and reassembly might cure it.

Failing that there may be a member on this site willing to part with their old modulator stripped from a serviceable system.

If it was me I would try and repair or replace before stripping the system out permanently.

Ian:thumb2
 
Options seem to be

1. Replace ABS pump which costs silly money

2. Remove ABS altogether

3. Put a sticker over the ABS lights and keep on riding - my current option


Is 2 worth doing though?

I had the same problem - a nasty self test kerklank sound instead of the usual healthy one when you pull away. All sorted now though & it was amazing how much crap there was inside there.
 
Replace with a used one. Cheap as chips (unlike the servo/abs modulator) and a very simple job. .
 
Replacement with a secondhand unit would be my next step, but I'm a tight-arsed Yorkshireman so my default position is "can it be fixed for nowt?

I posted a brief explanation of what I did to fix it

HERE
 
Thanks for the input:thumb2

I think I will get a second hand unit and get it swapped when the bike is next serviced. I'm very nervous of working on the live braking system when I'm not really sure what I'm doing.

I will keep the old unit, bench strip it and keep it for when the replacement unit goes.
 
Epilogue ... I took the bike to D&R motorcycles in Hereford ... As recommended by the late Gerry Huxtable. As well as a 54k and annual service they bench stripped the ABS pump which was, as predicted above, full of crud which had caused a piston to jam. The ABS now works perfectly.

Cheers, Gerry.
 
Epilogue ... I took the bike to D&R motorcycles in Hereford ... As recommended by the late Gerry Huxtable. As well as a 54k and annual service they bench stripped the ABS pump which was, as predicted above, full of crud which had caused a piston to jam. The ABS now works perfectly.

Cheers, Gerry.

Was this the servo brakes type of ABS, or the earlier, just ABS system?
My 2003 Adv let me down big style when the servo failed going down a Welsh mountain road, with road works around the corner...I hit the brakes and..........NOTHING, not even as good as my boots on the tyre would have been! I managed to steer round all the obstacles, sending cones and men with shovels flying in all directions. I was recovered home and had the bike taken to an independent, who bypassed the system, so I can use the bike with just squeeze the lever brakes - done something like 50,000 miles like this, they aren't brilliant but get passed the MOT. :cool: IF I could get the system repaired (rather than buy a new servo motor, which is what the BMW garage suggested ;) ) then that would be greatly of interest - I actually was in awe of the brakes when the system was working, two light fingers would haul me down from silly speeds even loaded up. It is the only let down in 100,000 miles and I think the bike is worth spending the money on...thinking about a good spruce up all round, so this would be a bonus.
 
My bike is ABS 2, I was always advised that this was the best of the olihead GS systems as if the ABS failed the conventional brakes would still work.

The pump on mine was full of crud which had caused one of the pistons to jam. It now works perfectly, the reassuring ker-Klunk on take off is back ...
 
I'll be attempting this soon after one of my pistons has failed inside the modulator :eek:

Any tips before I dive in would be more than welcome :beerjug:

p.s. the link to the pdf above in Ian's post seems to no longer be with us, but I think this should be it
 
Out of interest......how did you diagnose the sticking piston ????
 


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