EWS error on 2007 RT - problem in wiring harness?

[MarkD]

The morning I was taking my RT to the dealer for service I turned the key and got the dreaded EWS message. I turned the key off and tried it again and the EWS message came on again. Tried it a third time and No EWS, the bike started and off I went to the dealer. The technician performed the service on the bike and also looking into the EWS message I had told him about. He found that when he turned the bars all the way to the right and turned the key on that he could sometimes get the EWS message to come on. He was also able to get the EWS message with the bars turned all the way to the left only it wasn't as frequent as when the bars were to the right. With the bars centered, he never got the EWS message.

His feeling was that there is a problem somewhere in the wiring harness that was causing the problem. He did a little investigating but didn't find any issues.

I rode the bike home with no problems but was able to reproduce the problem a couple times when I turned the bars all the way to the right. 

 

I plan to take the plastics off to expose as much wiring as possible and try to isolate the problem but I expect it will be like looking for a needle in a haystack!

 

Has anyone experienced a problem like this like before that might have some suggestions to locate the problem?

 

[dirtrider]

26 minutes ago, MarkD said:

The morning I was taking my RT to the dealer for service I turned the key and got the dreaded EWS message. I turned the key off and tried it again and the EWS message came on again. Tried it a third time and No EWS, the bike started and off I went to the dealer. The technician performed the service on the bike and also looking into the EWS message I had told him about. He found that when he turned the bars all the way to the right and turned the key on that he could sometimes get the EWS message to come on. He was also able to get the EWS message with the bars turned all the way to the left only it wasn't as frequent as when the bars were to the right. With the bars centered, he never got the EWS message.

His feeling was that there is a problem somewhere in the wiring harness that was causing the problem. He did a little investigating but didn't find any issues.

I rode the bike home with no problems but was able to reproduce the problem a couple times when I turned the bars all the way to the right. 

 

I plan to take the plastics off to expose as much wiring as possible and try to isolate the problem but I expect it will be like looking for a needle in a haystack!

 

Has anyone experienced a problem like this like before that might have some suggestions to locate the problem?

 

 

Afternoon Mark

 

Without looking the bike over in person about all we can do is guess based on past history.

 

As a rule it is the antenna ring plug area where the problem happens, or the harness pig tail  wire  (at/near )  the antenna ring that is starting to have an intermittent open. (failing antenna ring connection)

 

Personally I would just replace the antenna ring as that is the best starting point. If that cures it then you are golden, if it doesn't then you will have to dig in deep & try to find a wire issue on the other chassis side of the pigtail plug.

 

You don't have anything mounted on the handlebars that can interfere with the key pellet to antenna ring signal do you?

 

Another place to look is that  you don't have another key on your key ring containing a pellet that is dangling down so interfering  with your main key's signal? 

 

You might want to carry a spare (new) antenna ring until you get it repaired as you can just unplug the original antenna ring (just leave it  in place) then plug your spare in, then put a spare key in the antenna ring (taping it in works good) that allows you to start the bike.

 

 

 

 

[Dann]

It could also be the ring antenna of the ignition that is defective.

This is a known issue on the 07.

Mine was replaced at 11,00 km

 

YMMV

[MarkD]

Thanks for your quick response.  I have had the bike for 10 years and I don;t recall having this issue previously. Also, other than service nothing has changed on the bike in a few years.

There is nothing mounted on the handlebars and the bike key is the only thing on the key ring I'm using. The bike does have the riser blocks that bring the bars up and back an inch and that appears to cause the wires to tighten a bit when the bars are turned all the way to the right. I might try removing the risers and see if it helps. 

 

Is the antenna ring something I can replace myself or is that something a dealer has to do?

 

One other interesting note...I turned the bars all the way to the right and held them there, and then cycle the key on and off. About 50% of the time I got the EWS message without allowing the bars to move at all. So it doesn't appear to be a problem caused by the movement of the bars or the movement of the wiring.

 

[MarkD]

39 minutes ago, Dann said:

It could also be the ring antenna of the ignition that is defective.

This is a known issue on the 07.

Mine was replaced at 11,00 km

 

YMMV

I'm not ruling that out. The technician said that was his first thought also however he said the fact that it only happened randomly and only when the bars were turned all the way seemed to indicate that the problem is in the wire harness.

[dirtrider]

7 minutes ago, MarkD said:

Thanks for your quick response.  I have had the bike for 10 years and I don;t recall having this issue previously. Also, other than service nothing has changed on the bike in a few years.

There is nothing mounted on the handlebars and the bike key is the only thing on the key ring I'm using. The bike does have the riser blocks that bring the bars up and back an inch and that appears to cause the wires to tighten a bit when the bars are turned all the way to the right. I might try removing the risers and see if it helps. 

 

Is the antenna ring something I can replace myself or is that something a dealer has to do?

 

One other interesting note...I turned the bars all the way to the right and held them there, and then cycle the key on and off. About 50% of the time I got the EWS message without allowing the bars to move at all. So it doesn't appear to be a problem caused by the movement of the bars or the movement of the wiring.

 

 

Evening Mark

 

You can do it yourself but it is a PAIN in the a$$, you need to remove the upper triple tree then drill out the security screws.

 

Adding bar risers shouldn't effect the antenna ring wire as that is on the triple tree not the bars.

 

Could be the harness pigtail from chassis harness to the antenna ring but more likely in the plug area than the actual pig tail.  

 

 

 

 

[MarkD]

4 minutes ago, dirtrider said:

 

Evening Mark

 

You can do it yourself but it is a PAIN in the a$$, you need to remove the upper triple tree then drill out the security screws.

 

 

Since the bike was a few years old I wonder if the original antenna ring was replaced under warranty? If it has been replaced, they probably put new security screws in place?

[dirtrider]

10 minutes ago, MarkD said:

Since the bike was a few years old I wonder if the original antenna ring was replaced under warranty? If it has been replaced, they probably put new security screws in place?

 

Evening Mark

 

They are supposed to install new security screws per BMW mandate, BUT, if the tec was friendly with the original owner then there is a slight chance he did the owner a favor & installed conventional screws.

[MarkD]

I did some more searching and I saw a post that said that the Torx Star 5 Point, Security Tamper Proof driver bits can be used to remove the security screws.

Might you know if this is the case? If so, it might be a good $11 investment.

 

https://www.amazon.com/RAM-PRO-Point-Security-Tamper-Driver/dp/B01IUCONNY/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1526226343&sr=8-2-spons&keywords=5 point torx bit set&psc=1&tag=advridercom-20

[dirtrider]

29 minutes ago, MarkD said:

I did some more searching and I saw a post that said that the Torx Star 5 Point, Security Tamper Proof driver bits can be used to remove the security screws.

Might you know if this is the case? If so, it might be a good $11 investment.

 

https://www.amazon.com/RAM-PRO-Point-Security-Tamper-Driver/dp/B01IUCONNY/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1526226343&sr=8-2-spons&keywords=5 point torx bit set&psc=1&tag=advridercom-20

 

Evening Mark

 

I don't think that will work as the security screws that BMW uses are not tamper proof torx screws but are the one-way-drive-only type (the screw heads are star like looking & the drive tool can only lock in & drive them 'in' with nothing to grab on to  in the reverse 'out' direction)

 

Here is a picture of the drive tool___   

[MarkD]

20 minutes ago, dirtrider said:

 

Evening Mark

 

I don't think that will work as the security screws that BMW uses are not tamper proof torx screws but are the one-way-drive-only type (the screw heads are star like looking & the drive tool can only lock in & drive them 'in' with nothing to grab on to  in the reverse 'out' direction)   

Thanks, after I wrote the post I crawled under the bike and was able to see that it wasn't a torx screw.  Bummer 

[MarkD]

DR,

If I get a spare ring antenna, plug it in and tape a spare key in it, will that allow me to determine if the current ring antenna is my problem?

My guess is if I try a new ring antenna with a spare key and I still have the intermittent EWS message then I know that my current ring antenna isn't the problem. 

[dirtrider]

11 hours ago, MarkD said:

DR,

If I get a spare ring antenna, plug it in and tape a spare key in it, will that allow me to determine if the current ring antenna is my problem?

My guess is if I try a new ring antenna with a spare key and I still have the intermittent EWS message then I know that my current ring antenna isn't the problem. 

 

Morning Mark

 

Correct, a plug-in antenna ring with a GOOD/Correct key in it should start every time with no EWS message.

 

That should eliminate the original antenna ring as the problem,  BUT keep in mind that will also move/disturb the wire harness pig tail & move the wires at the  plug  so it could fool you into thinking 'antenna ring' when it is/was just an intermittent  harness problem.

 

You have to start with something & a new antenna ring is usually the starting point.

 

Personally, I would just install the new antenna ring  then see what that does, if the problem goes away then great, if the intermittent re-appears then you have a KNOWN GOOD antenna ring to work from.

 

 

[MarkD]

29 minutes ago, dirtrider said:

 

Morning Mark

 

Correct, a plug-in antenna ring with a GOOD/Correct key in it should start every time with no EWS message.

 

That should eliminate the original antenna ring as the problem,  BUT keep in mind that will also move/disturb the wire harness pig tail & move the wires at the  plug  so it could fool you into thinking 'antenna ring' when it is/was just an intermittent  harness problem.

 

You have to start with something & a new antenna ring is usually the starting point.

 

Personally, I would just install the new antenna ring  then see what that does, if the problem goes away then great, if the intermittent re-appears then you have a KNOWN GOOD antenna ring to work from.

 

 

Thank you for all your help!  I'm going to order a new antenna ring first thing this morning. 

Is it possible to order a antenna ring pigtail section of the the wiring harness without purchasing the whole wiring harness?

[dirtrider]

20 minutes ago, MarkD said:

Thank you for all your help!  I'm going to order a new antenna ring first thing this morning. 

Is it possible to order a antenna ring pigtail section of the the wiring harness without purchasing the whole wiring harness?

 

Morning Mark

 

Not that I know of, BMW might have a generic pigtail with proper connector in the system for something else but that would take a very knowledgeable BMW parts  counter person to define & find.

 

Then it would still require splicing on to your main harness & that would be a difficult splice as two of the wires going to the antenna ring are shielded  (if it comes to that then you would be better off just identifying where your current intermittent open is then repairing that small section).

[MarkD]

The new antenna ring arrived today. I plugged the new antenna ring in and placed the spare key though it. I turned the key on and off 50 times while moving the bars to various positions and I got NO EWS messages. 

I'm hoping that was the problem. I'm now going to tape the new ring and spare key to the wiring harness until I can get scheduled to have the antenna ring installed.

 

Thanks for all your help! 

 

Mark

[dirtrider]

1 hour ago, MarkD said:

The new antenna ring arrived today. I plugged the new antenna ring in and placed the spare key though it. I turned the key on and off 50 times while moving the bars to various positions and I got NO EWS messages. 

I'm hoping that was the problem. I'm now going to tape the new ring and spare key to the wiring harness until I can get scheduled to have the antenna ring installed.

 

Thanks for all your help! 

 

Mark

 

 

Afternoon Mark

 

Sounds like you might have found the smoking gun. Keep us updated on if the new antenna is the full answer.

 

 

[MarkD]

After verifying that the new antenna ring fixed the problem I made an appointment and had installed. No EWS messages since!

Thanks dirtrider and everyone else who  responded. Your advice was awesome. I really appreciate it!

 

-Mark

[dirtrider]

48 minutes ago, MarkD said:

After verifying that the new antenna ring fixed the problem I made an appointment and had installed. No EWS messages since!

Thanks dirtrider and everyone else who  responded. Your advice was awesome. I really appreciate it!

 

-Mark

 

Morning Mark

 

Thanks for the follow up.