‘04 R1150RS all lights coming on and staying on

2004 R1150RS, a barn find sort of. When the bike was last ridden the ABS system was inoperable and the bike sat for a number of years. With a known good battery installed, when the key is turned on all lights on the bike—head, tail, brake, turn signals, and dash—light up and remain on. Activating a turn signal causes the signal to flash normally, but as soon as the signal is canceled the TS remains solidly lit up. There are no aftermarket TS enhancements installed. Also, I am unable to kill any light except taillight by pulling fuses. Hi/Low beam function normally, horn works, but brake light stays on.

My GS911 can find and communicate with the ABS controller, but cannot find or communicate with the ECU. I’m wondering if this is a bad ECU or a bad switch. Anyone see such an issue?

Thx,
DeVern

It's a sticking contact on the load relief relay. Common issue on higher mileage machines.
Swap it with the horn relay (same part)
Get a new relay next time you are near a dealer.

Edit: to temporarily remedy the sticking contact you can tap the relay with a screwdriver handle although the issue with most likely happen again.

GSAddict said:

It's a sticking contact on the load relief relay. Common issue on higher mileage machines.
Swap it with the horn relay (same part)
Get a new relay next time you are near a dealer.

Edit: to temporarily remedy the sticking contact you can tap the relay with a screwdriver handle although the issue with most likely happen again.

Click to expand...

Thanks, I have tap-danced on the relays and swapped relays but see no change. The one thing that remains constant through the relay swaps is the behavior of relay #7 in the diagram below:



That diagram is from an 1100RS, but I believe the #7 relay has the same function on the 1150RS: it’s the Motronic. This relay clicks loudly when the switch is turned on, then after a couple of seconds gives another click, this one softer. Both can be discerned by touch.

To me, this coupled with the inability of my GS911 to find the ECU module points toward a failed ECU. Yes? No?

Thanks,
DeVern

GTRider said:

Thanks, I have tap-danced on the relays and swapped relays but see no change. The one thing that remains constant through the relay swaps is the behavior of relay #7 in the diagram below:

View attachment 79921

That diagram is from an 1100RS, but I believe the #7 relay has the same function on the 1150RS: it’s the Motronic. This relay clicks loudly when the switch is turned on, then after a couple of seconds gives another click, this one softer. Both can be discerned by touch.

To me, this coupled with the inability of my GS911 to find the ECU module points toward a failed ECU. Yes? No?

Thanks,
DeVern

Click to expand...

Very rare for an ECU to fail.

You swapped relay 6? If removed completely do all the lights go out?

GSAddict said:

Very rare for an ECU to fail.

You swapped relay 6? If removed completely do all the lights go out?

Click to expand...

Yes, and if removed no change in lights. I have also unplugged the connectors for each of the handle bar switches- all the lights come on but can no longer be controlled (TS, Hi/Low, etc). Another symptom I ran across today is that the 4way flashers, once turned on, cannot be turned off except by disconnecting the battery. I have peeled open the sheathing on the HB switch looms and while the sheathing was failed in places, I found no broken or shorted wires.

Tonight I’m going through the (Clymer) wiring diagrams to see if there’s any possibility, tho remote, of a bad ignition switch causing this. And, to see how much trouble it is to lift the fuse box and check the wiring underneath there.

Also, I need to try to find a correct diagram for the fuse box—the one above does not exactly match the 1150RS.

Best,
DeVern

GTRider said:

Yes, and if removed no change in lights. I have also unplugged the connectors for each of the handle bar switches- all the lights come on but can no longer be controlled (TS, Hi/Low, etc). Another symptom I ran across today is that the 4way flashers, once turned on, cannot be turned off except by disconnecting the battery. I have peeled open the sheathing on the HB switch looms and while the sheathing was failed in places, I found no broken or shorted wires.

Tonight I’m going through the (Clymer) wiring diagrams to see if there’s any possibility, tho remote, of a bad ignition switch causing this. And, to see how much trouble it is to lift the fuse box and check the wiring underneath there.

Also, I need to try to find a correct diagram for the fuse box—the one above does not exactly match the 1150RS.

Best,
DeVern

Click to expand...

It's easier to drop the bottom of the fuse box/inner fender. The top will not clear the frame.

I would check and upplug the connector to the motronic, check for corrosion and clean the contacts. I would also have the neg terminal of battery removed just so you don’t sap anything.

jagarra said:

I would check and upplug the connector to the motronic, check for corrosion and clean the contacts. I would also have the neg terminal of battery removed just so you don’t sap anything.

Click to expand...

Yes, the motronic has been removed, contacts cleaned, and reinstalled with battery disconnected. Everything was spotlessly clean inside the connector; no dirt or corrosion at all. I have also pulled and cleaned the connector for the ABS unit.

Thanks,
DeVern

Fusebox - I really don't recall if the RS and the RT use the same setup inside, but here's mine -
View attachment R1150RT Fusebox.doc

Pauls1150 said:

Fusebox - I really don't recall if the RS and the RT use the same setup inside, but here's mine -
View attachment 79926

Click to expand...

Thank you, that matches exactly! And now I may be getting somewhere. Tracing the relays, when I pulled out what was in the turn signal section out popped a Signal Minder, I assume by Kisan—it looks like the BMW unit they show on their website. I suspect this unit is toast but since it is proving extremely difficult to remove I’m going to wait until the owner stops by tomorrow and get him involved in removal. The installation video at Kisan shows Scotchlock connectors being used and that right there raises huge red flags for me.

Thanks for the graphic, it really helped.

DeVern

GTRider said:

Thank you, that matches exactly! And now I may be getting somewhere. Tracing the relays, when I pulled out what was in the turn signal section out popped a Signal Minder, I assume by Kisan—it looks like the BMW unit they show on their website. I suspect this unit is toast but since it is proving extremely difficult to remove I’m going to wait until the owner stops by tomorrow and get him involved in removal. The installation video at Kisan shows Scotchlock connectors being used and that right there raises huge red flags for me.

Thanks for the graphic, it really helped.

DeVern

Click to expand...

So much for " There are no aftermarket TS enhancements installed"

GSAddict said:

So much for " There are no aftermarket TS enhancements installed"

Click to expand...

LOL, Yeah, that one got by me!
But, even with that pulled there are still some suspect things going on. GS911 is still not seeing the ECU, but does see the ABS controller.

BMW is sure proud of that relay! EME has one for half the BMW price, but that!s still $200. Ouch! Doesn’t look like a Bosch unit either, so finding a VW or other cross is not likely. I hate unicorn parts...

DeVern

PM'd you

Just realized I hadn't closed the loop on this one. GSAddict called it right--the issue with not only the lights but other problems on the bike were due to the failed turn signal relay, an aftermarket Kisan unit. A known good relay was sourced from an R1100RS carcass belonging to another friend, and it turned out the relay on that bike had been replaced once and had the correct part# for the 1150RS. With an OEM relay in place, all light functions returned to normal when the bike was switched on. In addition, the ABS pump whirred it's little song of initialization! This bike had been parked years ago because the ABS warning lights had been flashing and the ABS unit would never reset when the bike was started underway, as it's supposed to. I had connected to the bike with my new red GS-911 and tried to read codes on both the ABS module and the ECU, with the GS-911 connected to my home wireless network and using my iPad to run the GS-911 app and store or print outputs. I could "see" the ABS unit but could not actually do anything with it other than get a report on it's version, and the ECU consistently failed to show up in the GS-911--"module not found", etc.

With the TS relay replaced, the ABS unit now responded to the GS-911 but reported no error codes found. The ECU was still a no-show, however, so as a test of my GS-911 setup I connected to my '04 K1200GT, a bike on which I had consistently used my previous GS-911s. It reported "No ECU found." So, I opened a trouble ticket with HexCode and sent them autoscans from the 1150RS and the K1200GT, both of which use the MA2.4 ECU. A couple of days later I received this response from HexCode:

"Thank you for bringing this to our attention, we've identified a problem with the MA2.4 controller from our side and are busy addressing this in our beta version. Once all is confirmed working perfectly, we'll release this update.

In the interim, a workaround to get into the engine controller would be to connect via USB (as with your yellow device) and use the Windows based PC app."

Of course, using the USB cable and PC I was able to connect to the ECU on both bikes and cleared codes on the 1150RS in preparation for the next step, getting the bike running. Another reason the bike had been parked years ago was a persistent fuel leak through the wall of the tank itself. Sealants had been tried on the inside of the tank but to no avail, and I had noticed after replacing the TS relay that the ABS unit initialized but there was no activity on the fuel pump, which was then bench-tested and found bad. While the bike sat the owner had acquired from FleaBay a color-matched replacement fuel tank and a good used pump with plate. The replacement tank and pump were installed, bike fired up, and a one-block test ride had the ABS pump reset and all the ABS lights extinguished. The brake lines were replaced with Spiegler stainless lines and the weak-coffee-colored brake fluid purged and bled, then the bike was washed and turned back over to the owner, who is happy to have a running bike and busy shopping for a few farkles he wants to add. Only 33k miles on the bike so it should have a lot of life left, and hopefully the owner will comply with the instructions to put 500-1000 miles on the bike while ocassionally engaging the ABS to work the system, then return for another fluid purge and bleed.

Sorry about the length on this, but I do like to see threads properly closed in the forums. And thank you again to GSAddict for correctly pointing to the failed TS relay, which appears to have been the root of the light and ABS issues on this bike.

Best,
DeVern