• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

  • Beginning April 1st, and running through April 30th, there is a new 2024 BMW MOA Election discussion area within The Club section of the forum. Within this forum area is also a sticky post that provides the ground rules for participating in the Election forum area. Also, the candidates statements are provided. Please read before joining the conversation, because the rules are very specific to maintain civility.

    The Election forum is here: Election Forum

"BRAKE FAILURE" Light

skidgillen

skidgillen

New member
The "brake failure" light came on thursday night on my ride home from work in the rain. This is the light on the right, not the ABS light on the left (triangle with a "!" in the middle of it.) Owners manual doesn't say anything except to take to a dealer for service. My bike is a 02 R1150R w/ABS. The brakes work fine. Both servos are working, and so is the ABS, because I can't get it to skid on the wet pavement. The fluid levels appear to be fine as well. A member of our club says it might be my battery. My battery isn't the greatest, and it barely cranks over the bike at temps below 45 F. It's five years old, and was thinking of replacing it with an Odyssey battery. I'm going to disconnect and reconnect the battery, charge it up, and see if the code clears the next time I ride. Anyone else have a similar experience?
 
Not the bulb. Still thinking the battery. 13.9 volts when idling. Hit the kill switch, and leave the ignition on, and the battery drops to 11.7 volts in a very few seconds.
 
Still thinking the battery. 13.9 volts when idling. Hit the kill switch, and leave the ignition on, and the battery drops to 11.7 volts in a very few seconds.
Click to expand...

That's what I'm thinking!
 
forshoes said:
Check the rear bulb.
Click to expand...

just went through this one... the "hazard" or "warning" indicator goes on and stays on when one of the two filaments in the dual filament tail light pops. Even though the brake light continues to work... (just not as brightly as it used to) Replacing the bulb fixes it straight away.

Can't help you with servo light though. Were I to guess, I'd be on the battery band wagon. Or possibly the charging circuit is not working right.
 
I replaced the bulb, and the light didn't clear. Convinced it is the battery. Put a charge on it for two hours last night, and checked the voltage. It was at 13.7 last night and now it is at 12.4 after just sitting there. Thats a 10% self discharge! Next question is that when I disconnect the battery and put in a full charged new battery and ride it will it reset or do I need to have a dealer clear the fault code?
 
skidgillen said:
I replaced the bulb, and the light didn't clear. Convinced it is the battery. Put a charge on it for two hours last night, and checked the voltage. It was at 13.7 last night and now it is at 12.4 after just sitting there. Thats a 10% self discharge! Next question is that when I disconnect the battery and put in a full charged new battery and ride it will it reset or do I need to have a dealer clear the fault code?
Click to expand...

For what the dealer will charge you, you can probably buy a GS 911 and clear the fault code yourself. http://www.gs911usa.com/
 
New battery did the trick! Replaced it with an Odyssey PC680. No more light, and the engine cranks over noticebly faster. Thanks all.:D
 
skidgillen said:
I replaced the bulb, and the light didn't clear. Convinced it is the battery. Put a charge on it for two hours last night, and checked the voltage. It was at 13.7 last night and now it is at 12.4 after just sitting there. Thats a 10% self discharge!
Click to expand...

That's not a good test. When you charge it, there is a surface charge on it which will discharge overnight. Voltage when sitting is not a good test anyway. The real test is a load test which is what the ABS checks when you start the bike. I think you found out what the answer is with your good Odyssey battery.
 
"BRAKE FAILURE" Light is back!

"BRAKE FAILURE" Light is back! Thinking it has something to do with moisture, as the bike was wet from sitting at work in the rain. The first time the light came on, I was riding home from work in the rain. I don't have the rear pillion seat on right now as I am patiently waiting for Rick Mayer to ship my new custom seats and backrest to me. The fuse box appears to be tight and dry under the rider seat, so I'm not seeing anything obvious right now. Probable cause number two is the rear organic brake pads are very close to being out of spec and the computer might be able to read something wrong with it somehow. Probably going to have to bite the bullet and have it serviced by a dealer.:cry
 
Does it self-correct when it dries out? Keep investigating that bulb issue. I had an issue last year, similar to yours with the indicator light in the dash. What confused me was that when the rear running light bulb is blown (or not connected) the bike switches power to the break light. So, I thought my light was OK, since I saw the rear end illuminated, when really I had an intermittent loose wire on the running light bulb, and power kept getting switched to the break light, also causing the dash indicator to come on. I cleaned up the spade connectors and shrink wrapped them, since then I have had no problems.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Blueman
Would Like Advice on iABS System Malfunction
Replies
4
Views
2K
gsaddict
gsaddict
L
ABS failure on R1200GS
Replies
5
Views
1K
Omega Man
Omega Man
A
2004 R1150RT: iABS issues, Bubbles in the Funnel tool...
Replies
6
Views
2K
adriancw
A
P
ABS fluid change went awry
Replies
18
Views
2K
RPGR90s
RPGR90s
H
Odd front brake behavior 2014 GSA
Replies
2
Views
616
pglaves
pglaves
Back
Top