Travelling - ABS light constant flash

Jeff F

Jeff F

Joined
Jan 13, 2005
Messages
1,823
Location
Muskoka, Canada
Bike
2016 Yamaha FJR
I'm on the road headed to CoSTOC from Ontario - for the last day or so my ABS light began to flash constantly after I get up to crusing speed. On start-up the light acts normally, -- constant light then going out after reaching 5 mph (or whatever that speed is).

a question or 3 -

1) What's going on and how do I fix it on the road?
2) Am I doing any harm to the system driving it this way?
3) I assume when the light is flashing I don't have the ABS part of my brakes. Correct?

TIA, Jeff
 
Jeff F said:
I'm on the road headed to CoSTOC from Ontario - for the last day or so my ABS light began to flash constantly after I get up to crusing speed. On start-up the light acts normally, -- constant light then going out after reaching 5 mph (or whatever that speed is).

a question or 3 -

1) What's going on and how do I fix it on the road?
2) Am I doing any harm to the system driving it this way?
3) I assume when the light is flashing I don't have the ABS part of my brakes. Correct?

TIA, Jeff
Click to expand...
1) If you cannot perform an ABS test while on the road, I'd look for metallic crud attached to the wheels' speed sensors or pulser rings. If there's nothing there, look at the wires leading to the speed sensors. It/they may have a crack in the wires.

2) Not that I am aware of; just no ABS at cruising speed.

3) That would be my take on this.

Get to a Honda dealership if you can so that ABS-fault tests can be run.

Best of luck on this,

Marshal
 
Marshal_Mercer said:
1) If you cannot perform an ABS test while on the road, I'd look for metallic crud attached to the wheels' speed sensors or pulser rings. If there's nothing there, look at the wires leading to the speed sensors. It/they may have a crack in the wires.

2) Not that I am aware of; just no ABS at cruising speed.

3) That would be my take on this.

Get to a Honda dealership if you can so that ABS-fault tests can be run.

Best of luck on this,

Marshal
Click to expand...

:plus1:
 
I got stuck in the mud on my ST in Death Valley early this year. After getting it out the ABS light was flashing until I cleaned the mud off of the sensor on the front wheel. I hope your problem is that simple.

:usflag1:
 
I would take some paper and rub it across the sensor between the wheel and the sensor. You might have some crud stuck on the sensor so it isn't picking up the speed of the wheels right.
 
There are ways to retrieve the codes of the ABS flash, but prob not are the road as it requires fuse pulling / testing.

First things to do are check spacing and magnetic junk/crud at sensor as mentioned
 
You can pull the codes from the ABS computer by removing just the seat and the left side cover. Procedure here: CLICKY

Post your error codes when you have them and I'll look them up in the manual for you.

--Mark
 
Jeff F said:
I'm on the road headed to CoSTOC from Ontario - for the last day or so my ABS light began to flash constantly after I get up to crusing speed. On start-up the light acts normally, -- constant light then going out after reaching 5 mph (or whatever that speed is).

a question or 3 -

1) What's going on and how do I fix it on the road?
2) Am I doing any harm to the system driving it this way?
3) I assume when the light is flashing I don't have the ABS part of my brakes. Correct?

TIA, Jeff
Click to expand...

I had a similar problem. Turned out that my front wheel was so loose that the pinch bolts could be turned by hand. Wheel moved so far to the side that the abs sensor no longer registered.
 
OK think I've figured something out - tell me what you think.

1st ...

- Pinch bolts tight - properly torqued in correct sequence when wheel re-mounted - but just re-checked them (scary thought Norm)

- cleaned abs sensor - no excessive gunge in there

- new BT023s in correct size

- all the lines look good

However ...

- after very close inspection, I found a crack in front sensor ring! Its very difficult to see but the ring is cracked all the way thru. All the pieces are there - i.e. no missing teeth or chunks out of the ring but I could see how at highway speeds the ring could move slightly. My travelling solution? - Gorilla glue made for bonding metal, wood, plastic etc - thin stuff that hopefully I got to seep down into the crack.

- during my cleaning process I found noticeable clearance differences (sensor to ring) in the front and back sensors. Much bigger gap in the front than in the rear. What's correct? And if this is the cause of the problem would I not have a flashing light right from the start? - the flashing light doesn't come on until I reach highway speeds. Prior to that the system seems to be acting normally.

I'm resigned to living with a flashing light until I get home - next week and 2000 miles from now.

FWIW I'm taking the flashing ABS light as due notice to work on my abs - is it that obvious? ;-)

TIA advance for all your comments and future thoughts, if any. Its good to have buddies on the road. :yes:
 
Jeff F said:
- during my cleaning process I found noticeable clearance differences (sensor to ring) in the front and back sensors. Much bigger gap in the front than in the rear. What's correct?
Click to expand...

The range is 0.4-1.2 mm. Your bike looks like an '03, which means you should have a tool kit. In a small pocket on the outside of the pouch there's a 0.7 mm feeler gauge for checking the gap.

- after very close inspection, I found a crack in front sensor ring!
...
And if this is the cause of the problem would I not have a flashing light right from the start? - the flashing light doesn't come on until I reach highway speeds.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily. If the ring is damaged, it may keep its shape until you get above some speed above which it deforms and throws weird-looking pulses at the computer.

Have you pulled the codes from the computer yet? My money is on a code 2.

--Mark
 
I thought I'd try to figure out whether the cracked sensor ring was the cause of my abs problems.

So my plan was to glue the sensor ring crack and hope it held long enough to show me that with a good ring in place the system would work as intended. OTOH if I got flashing right away, once speed was reached, I'd know to look for another problem.

I rode most of the day today on all kinds of roads (from the Denver area to Hotchkiss) and the glue on the sensor has held and no flashing light !!!

Too funny - I never expected it to hold very long. When I get home I'll put a new ring on -- in the meantime ...

Gorilla Glue gives you abs
 
Jeff F said:
I thought I'd try to figure out whether the cracked sensor ring was the cause of my abs problems.

So my plan was to glue the sensor ring crack and hope it held long enough to show me that with a good ring in place the system would work as intended. OTOH if I got flashing right away, once speed was reached, I'd know to look for another problem.

I rode most of the day today on all kinds of roads (from the Denver area to Hotchkiss) and the glue on the sensor has held and no flashing light !!!

Too funny - I never expected it to hold very long. When I get home I'll put a new ring on -- in the meantime ...

Gorilla Glue gives you abs
Click to expand...



Glad you found the problem!

:usflag1:
 
wjbertrand said:
Glad you figured it out. :D Wonder if a pebble got caught in there momentarily, causing the crack?
Click to expand...

I was wondering the same - there's no mark on the side of the sensor so the stone must have been just the right size to fit between the ring and the sensor.

Either that or its been cracked for a while - (Until i learned better I used to have a dealer with careless kids in the shop do my tire changes). The crack could have been partial and with vibration over time it worked its way thru(?)

Or, I `spose a stone could have kicked up and cracked the ring - I've been on a lot of gravel lately.

Be interesting to see how long the Gorilla will do the job - I want a sponsorship ;-)
 
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