Got the Dreaded ABS Red Brake Failure Light 2007 R1200RT

[12886]

Please read this thread". http://www.bmwmoa.org/forum/showthread.php?t=60685


Tyler at module master actually takes them apart and fixes them unless you got an extra 3 grand to spend!!!

[rickyD]

Just throwing this out there. I've had the experience of a weak battery doing funny things to the brake failure light on my '06 RT. Now, since there is an electric motor in these things, which I didn't know, is it remotely possible for a weak battery to affect the operation of that motor?

[WestHautianPlen]

Just throwing this out there. I've had the experience of a weak battery doing funny things to the brake failure light on my '06 RT. Now, since there is an electric motor in these things, which I didn't know, is it remotely possible for a weak battery to affect the operation of that motor?

Currently I am not seeing any other low battery voltage symptons.
The OEM Battery was replaced about a year ago with an Odyssey, but I will check the voltage and plug in the Battery Tender.

I read on about a Chrome Head needing a fault reset do to a spill where the bike was on its side, still running and in gear.

What are the chances of fault code needing to be reset do to spining the rear tire in the grass, I did get a yellow flashing light?

I guess I will schedule a service.

[deilenberger]

Currently I am not seeing any other low battery voltage symptons.
The OEM Battery was replaced about a year ago with an Odyssey, but I will check the voltage and plug in the Battery Tender.

I read on about a Chrome Head needing a fault reset do to a spill where the bike was on its side, still running and in gear.

What are the chances of fault code needing to be reset do to spining the rear tire in the grass, I did get a yellow flashing light?

I guess I will schedule a service.

The yellow flashing light was your ASC triggering and limiting the RPM due to the slippage. Absolutely normal and what it should do.

A Chrome head is several generations of brakes earlier then the '07 R1200xx bikes.

Question - why are you using the rear pedal at all? Especially to lockup? The linked brake system is very efficient at proportioning the brake force front/rear by just using the front lever. I only use the rear brake on my R12R for parking lot speed turns to settle things a bit. If I use both front/rear at the same time, I usually feel the pedal buzz telling me that the system is triggering the rear ABS due to over powering the rear brake. Just curious..

And getting the stored codes read from the ABS module may take you a long way toward a solution.

[WestHautianPlen]

The yellow flashing light was your ASC triggering and limiting the RPM due to the slippage. Absolutely normal and what it should do.

A Chrome head is several generations of brakes earlier then the '07 R1200xx bikes.

Question - why are you using the rear pedal at all? Especially to lockup? The linked brake system is very efficient at proportioning the brake force front/rear by just using the front lever. I only use the rear brake on my R12R for parking lot speed turns to settle things a bit. If I use both front/rear at the same time, I usually feel the pedal buzz telling me that the system is triggering the rear ABS due to over powering the rear brake. Just curious..

And getting the stored codes read from the ABS module may take you a long way toward a solution.

Don,
I like you use the rear brake only at slow speeds, turning, or on surfaces where the front tire could loose traction. I still cover the rear break pedal out of habit when braking and I too have felt the buzz in the rear pedal when I use it. This time I was trying to trigger the ABS, but felt no buzz.
I will schedule an appointment with a BMW shop.

Thanks again for your thoughts.

[planepaul1949]

Here's a possibility - It's my belief that the brake light triggers the ABS system (certainly true on my '05). Prolonged brake light triggering will initiate a fault indication.

Check the brake light switch adjustment to make sure there is at least a minimum of lever / pedal travel before the light activates. My pedal has a "hair trigger", so if I rest my toe on the pedal it is easy to active the switch and get a fault. This could be a simple fix. Cross your fingers, and good luck

Paul
'05 R1200RT

[kthutchinson]

Here's a possibility - It's my belief that the brake light triggers the ABS system (certainly true on my '05). Prolonged brake light triggering will initiate a fault indication.

Check the brake light switch adjustment to make sure there is at least a minimum of lever / pedal travel before the light activates. My pedal has a "hair trigger", so if I rest my toe on the pedal it is easy to active the switch and get a fault. This could be a simple fix. Cross your fingers, and good luck

Paul
'05 R1200RT

Paul,

'07 and later RTs don't have brake light switches. The ABS module signals the ZFE over the CANbus that the brakes are applied, and the ZFE illuminates the brake lights.

[WestHautianPlen]

Received the diagnosis today from Sportland on the ABS issue associated with my 07 R12100RT with only 21K miles.

It was a bad news day.

ABS has bad pump.
But I also asked them to look at the oil pan because it looked like it was leaking a little oil and I was smelling oil burning when I would stop at traffic lights.
They also informed me I have a bad rear motor seal leaking oil and is soaking my clutch.
Total Estimated repair cost $3383.00

Nothing you havenÔÇÖt read in these post before, but!!!!!!
This is very frustrating, and I know from reading this forum many of you have experienced the same. It looks like I will be riding without ABS for a while.

I asked why such a short life span on the ABS Modulator Warren said BMW blames it on stale brake fluid, in my case Twin City performed the 600mi, 6k, 12k complete services and Indy performed brake recall and brake service in March 2011. So that BMW BS is hard to buy.
The rear oil seal is equally frustrating.

I guess my next question, is this seal thing something I can expect every 20K miles?????

[sloride]

I got the same news today.

Bad pump.

I supose I should consider myself lucky considering your news. That sucks about the seal. I'm at about 25000 mi

[marchyman]

I asked why such a short life span on the ABS Modulator Warren said BMW blames it on stale brake fluid, in my case Twin City performed the 600mi, 6k, 12k complete services and Indy performed brake recall and brake service in March 2011. So that BMW BS is hard to buy.

Brake system bleeds are measured in years, not miles; every two years for current bikes, I believe. It is not a standard service item in that it is always billed separately when done by a dealer. Because of that it's easy to point the finger back at you if bleeds weren't done on schedule. The finger may be pointed even when the issue is electrical as mentioned earlier in this thread.

Good luck getting your ride back on the road.

[Woodbutcher]

Brake bleeding/fluid replacement on the hexheads is once a year per the chart I have. On a 6k and 12k interval service you just check fluid. If those are in conjunction with the annual service then the brakes should have been done. Just depends on what service was done at those intervals. The mileage only or mileage plus annual.

So if they did the brakes at those two times and the brake service from 2011, you are still short two brake fluid replacements for a 5 year old bike. Brake fluid pulls moisture out of the air and that's what causes problems. In a very dry climate you might be able to go longer, but the moisture builds up is time dependent, not miles.

Thanks for pointing out that old fluid can cause these ABS problems.

[deilenberger]

While old brake fluid certainly can cause problems - the bike in question probably experienced two brake line recalls.. which include flushing/bleeding the brake system as part of the recall service.

Thing is - it sounds as if this is an electrical problem, and brake fluid - even ancient brake fluid - isn't going to cause an electrical problem.

BMW likes to find ways to blame the owner, it's sort of tradition with them. If you have a good dealership relationship, where the dealer believes there is a chance you'll be buying a new bike someplace down the road, and you've had the dealer do the servicing, the dealer can go to bat for you with BMW, and frequently will at least get free parts out of BMW, you usually eat the labor. Good-will thing.

As far as the rear seal failure.. there were also some problems with the engine intermediate shaft seal on the back of the engine on some 2006-2007 bikes (mostly 2006 models, but not unknown on later bikes.) The mechanic can't say with certainty what seal is leaking until the bike is disassembled. If it is the intermediate shaft seal, I'd appeal to the dealer to persue a case with BMW that the job be covered based on the failures that were seen with that seal.

Point being - I'd be talking nicely to your dealer at this point. Demanding things won't work, asking some informed questions might. Sometimes a 6-pack of German beer helps (it does for my Porsche..)

[WestHautianPlen]

Don I approached it just like you would, I asked Warren if he would mind contacting BMW to see if they would help out on these issues. He did say it would probably take about ten days for a response.

Back to the ABS failure:
The service manager said they pulled the plastic off to properly assess the issues. I was informed that only 3.4 Volts of the 12+ volts was making it through the electrical system of the ABS modulator. I took this to mean the problem was electrical and associated with the Pump motor. Which indicates to me the pump motors brushes or the commutator is either burned up or damaged, resulting in a higher electrical resistance.
It is just so hard to comprehend that the brake fluid absorbed enough water in 14 months since the last flush with only 3k miles outside on the road and was stored in a conditioned garage the remaining time.
I know moisture lowers the boiling temperature of the brake fluid, but is the moisture enough in the Glycol based fluid of high enough concentration to corrode the internal components of the pump, which appears to be an alloy? I would think that this is the only plausible explanation, when trying to associate the ABS failure with the brake fluid.
Sounds to me with the number of failures to be motors of insufficient capacity for the application.
We have a couple of pickups and vans with ABS that are from 1999 -2002 model years and the ABS's still work. With one pickup having 223K miles and we sure haven't changed the fluid every year.
Again I am just having a hard time understanding that the brake fluid is the culprit resulting in the apparent overloading the motor and burning up the brushes or melting the windings in the pump.

Now the rear seal leak: Just no reason for it period.

Thanks again, for your ears and thoughts, If it wasn't such an enjoyable ride I probably wouldn't be so disgusted.

[deilenberger]

Plen,

Don't know if I mentioned it earlier, there have been some threads somewhere (ADVRider? Or?) where people repaired the ABS units by diassembling the motor, and doing something with the brushes (cleaning them? replacing them? don't remember.) Perhaps some Googling might turn up the answer. I'll try and remember where I saw this, the thread was complete with photos of the units being disassembled.

[dbrick]

If it wasn't such an enjoyable ride I probably wouldn't be so disgusted.

You're not alone, Plen. That is exactly why a) we all still ride these things, and b) we get exercised about failures that shouldn't occur, and the mothership's inability to admit responsibility and rectify obvious errors.