Brake Failure light came on today

[oodude]

2007 12RT. 3300 miles (yeah, you read that right - I travel too much for a living and don't get to ride).

 

Out for a ride, came to a stop, brake failure light comes on. Brakes seem to work just fine. "Rebooted" bike. Light was off. Later on ride it came on again - brakes seem just fine.

 

What would you do?

[JayW]

Start by looking for obvious causes like loose hardware, a damaged ABS wire, something interfering with the sensor pickup or low brake fluid. If you cannot easily identify the problem take it back to the dealer for help right away. The bike is still under warranty, right?

 

Keep us posted. Good luck.

 

Jay

[T__]

oodude, depending on what brake failure light & what it was doing I would start with the tail light bulb.. If the tail light bulb burns out the ABS computer sees that as a potential safety issue so will turn the dash warning light on then bring the brake light bulb on at reduced brightness to act as the tail light..

 

You usually can’t tell by looking in the rear light (brake light half lit looks just like tail light) but have to actually pull the bulb & look at the filaments inside it..

 

Twisty

 

[Hall Vince]

The 2007 RT has a pair of single filament bulbs 21w. The system run these at a lower voltage for tail lights then pumps them up to 12v when brake light is needed, If you have one of the rear bulbs gone, you can tell my looking, tho there should also be the warning on the dash indicating a blown bulb.

 

How do I know...

Aside from RTM,

I'm still wondering if my auxilary LED brake light will work if I wire it into the +ve of the tail/barke light bulb. LED's need the full 12v as I understand it so in my mind I think it'll work. Only one way to prove it tho.

hth

\v/

[T__]

NobbyV4, yep, you are correct.. I had just come over form the oilhead forum & while my finger came over obviously my mind didn’t.. For some reason I thought 1150RT not 1200 RT..

 

On your LED question.. Might work,, about all you can do is try.. Couple of possible got-ya’s.. First is not all LED’s will respond to the voltage change some will be about as bright at 8 volts as at 12/14 volts.. The other is the possibility the added load will fool you ZFE intio thinking you have bulb problems & light you bulb failure light..

 

Twisty

 

[Bernie]

Have your dealer check the error codes. You have most likely have a bad ABS Pump/Controller, just like I have. Your bike should be under warranty, mine is not. Get your dealer to replace the unit. I have been waiting for a response from BMW for over 4 weeks. They can not even reply to a e-mail or phone call to there licensed dealers.

I think this is what is now called customer service nowadays.

[oodude]

Thanks all. Looks like I need to take it to dealer to have it checked. The problem is intermittent. A reboot seems to fix it, for awhile, then it comes back on again.

 

 

[Grumpy-ol-Fart]

Did you look at the wire routing on the left front fork leg that I described to you in the PM? What you're describing is exactly what happened to me.

[oodude]

Did you look at the wire routing on the left front fork leg that I described to you in the PM? What you're describing is exactly what happened to me.

 

Sure did. Don't see any touching or any wearing.

 

[John Bentall]

Did you look at the wire routing on the left front fork leg that I described to you in the PM? What you're describing is exactly what happened to me.

 

Sure did. Don't see any touching or any wearing.

 

If the front brake wire or ABS sensor goes, then the speedometer stops working as it's also triggered from there.

[Grumpy-ol-Fart]

Wrongo.

 

My brakes began to do the same thing described in this post. Every time I'd get on the bike, it went through the same start up routine, and as soon as I began to roll away, the brake light went out. Within 5-10 miles, the brake failure light would come on, in fact while stopping on sand I found the ABS really wasn't working. I hadn't purchased the GS-911 yet, so decided to inspect for the obvious. On the left front fork leg, the brake line and the wheel speed sensor are clipped together with small black formed plastic clips. On my bike, the speed sensor wire rolled around the brake line to face forward. The wire was resting ever so lightly against the brake disc. I pulled the wire away from the brake and inspected it. I found that it appears to be a shielded wire and that the insulation had been worn off in a small area. I applied some liquid wire insulation to the wound, and routed the wire along the back side of the brake line and that keeps it well away from the brake disc now. My brake failure light, and subsequent ABS failure were due to the wire being partially grounded and sending a bogus signal to the ECU. As soon as I performed the described repair, the problem never reoccurred. Once I got the GS-911, I read the fault history and sure enough there was an ABS signal fault. I erased it and 3500 miles later nary a problem.

 

However, through all this, the speedometer never faltered…explain that one if you can.

 

[curlesw]

Wrongo.

 

My brakes began to do the same thing described in this post. Every time I'd get on the bike, it went through the same start up routine, and as soon as I began to roll away, the brake light went out. Within 5-10 miles, the brake failure light would come on, in fact while stopping on sand I found the ABS really wasn't working. I hadn't purchased the GS-911 yet, so decided to inspect for the obvious. On the left front fork leg, the brake line and the wheel speed sensor are clipped together with small black formed plastic clips. On my bike, the speed sensor wire rolled around the brake line to face forward. The wire was resting ever so lightly against the brake disc. I pulled the wire away from the brake and inspected it. I found that it appears to be a shielded wire and that the insulation had been worn off in a small area. I applied some liquid wire insulation to the wound, and routed the wire along the back side of the brake line and that keeps it well away from the brake disc now. My brake failure light, and subsequent ABS failure were due to the wire being partially grounded and sending a bogus signal to the ECU. As soon as I performed the described repair, the problem never reoccurred. Once I got the GS-911, I read the fault history and sure enough there was an ABS signal fault. I erased it and 3500 miles later nary a problem.

 

However, through all this, the speedometer never faltered…explain that one if you can.

 

Another score for the archives! I had this problem occur twice this week during my commute. Search the archives, came across this thread, same problem and fix, done.

 

Thanks, this board is a great resource.

 

v/r

Wayne C.

2005 RT

[SWB]

Wrongo.

 

My brakes began to do the same thing described in this post. Every time I'd get on the bike, it went through the same start up routine, and as soon as I began to roll away, the brake light went out. Within 5-10 miles, the brake failure light would come on, in fact while stopping on sand I found the ABS really wasn't working. I hadn't purchased the GS-911 yet, so decided to inspect for the obvious. On the left front fork leg, the brake line and the wheel speed sensor are clipped together with small black formed plastic clips. On my bike, the speed sensor wire rolled around the brake line to face forward. The wire was resting ever so lightly against the brake disc. I pulled the wire away from the brake and inspected it. I found that it appears to be a shielded wire and that the insulation had been worn off in a small area. I applied some liquid wire insulation to the wound, and routed the wire along the back side of the brake line and that keeps it well away from the brake disc now. My brake failure light, and subsequent ABS failure were due to the wire being partially grounded and sending a bogus signal to the ECU. As soon as I performed the described repair, the problem never reoccurred. Once I got the GS-911, I read the fault history and sure enough there was an ABS signal fault. I erased it and 3500 miles later nary a problem.

 

However, through all this, the speedometer never faltered…explain that one if you can.

 

Another score for the archives! I had this problem occur twice this week during my commute. Search the archives, came across this thread, same problem and fix, done.

 

Thanks, this board is a great resource.

 

v/r

Wayne C.

2005 RT

 

+1 yep, the generous folks on this board, the technical savy, documentation, and just "community" fun are great.

 

Perhaps for another thread: Can you age 50 something-and-old and older gals and guys like me remember the world without the internet. Would it have even been possible to have anything like the resources available on BMWST.com? The only comparison I can think of (i.e. prior to some of the early dial in BBS's - bulletin board systems) was perhaps some of the monthly dirt bike mags which would have an "experts Q&A" corner.

 

The WWW is amazing, and what the individual brains and initiative of folks have done to create this site - makes 'em heros.