'04 '05 ABS Motor Fuse

[Donal]

Brilliant news david :clapping: you make it all sound so casual and easy

"The installation was mostly a piece of cake. Unfasten two nuts that hold the complete assembly in place and disconnect the electrical and hydraulic connections, pull it out without drama, pop in the replacement assembly, reconnect everything, bleed the system, do the hydraulic unit test, bleed once again, do a test ride, done".

Considering lots of peeps have difficulty just bleeding their brakes that was a very cool, masterpiece of understatement :yahoo:

Just looking forward to the final instalment with the gory details of the post mortem on the failed unit.

Don

 

[daviddowns2000]

Whew! Glad it has a happy outcome :yahoo: You did a great job of troubleshooting. This thread should be a helpful guide for any else that is having brake system symptoms like yours. It's great that you found a good used hydraulic block.

In retrospect, it is probably the case that if test #2 fails in the absence of any other diagnostic indicators, you have all the information you need...the hydraulic unit is likely bad, especially in the case of failure of only front or only rear. Other than ABS not functioning when you apply the brake, at least in my case, failure of the pedal to return with force in test #2 was the only indicator of failure within the hydraulic unit itself. A bad failsafe relay might generate the same symptoms so it might be worth troubleshooting it first (there is an error code for loss of connection to the failsafe relay, not sure if a bad solenoid would elicit that code, easy enough to test the functions of the relay on the bench) but anything else is probably a waste of time if you are having ABS failure in the absence of any warning light or error code on a Gen 1.

If you want to mess with it, PM me your address and I'll send it to you. However, it would be great if someone could try to break free the blockage with back pressure/vacuum, solvent or things like that before doing a necropsy. In my case, percussion didn't do the trick.

I'm hoping the salvage unit lasts a good long time. I worry a little that the Yamaha Customer Relations rep claimed that 6 years/25K miles was a reasonable life expectancy for the hydraulic unit and that was the age of the salvaged part. I serviced the brake fluid as specified but that didn't prevent the failure. Keeping a bike outdoors in South Florida may exacerbate all kinds of things like this. I was disappointed in Yamaha's lack of support but it is clear that they view this essentially as a wear item. I hoped that if enough people with the failure reported it to the NHTSA, Yamaha might at least be forced to address it officially, especially since at least one crash was associated with it.

 

[ionbeam]

...If you want to mess with it, PM me your address and I'll send it to you. However, it would be great if someone could try to break free the blockage with back pressure/vacuum, solvent or things like that before doing a necropsy. In my case, percussion didn't do the trick.

I'm hoping the salvage unit lasts a good long time...I was disappointed in Yamaha's lack of support but it is clear that they view this essentially as a wear item. I hoped that if enough people with the failure reported it to the NHTSA, Yamaha might at least be forced to address it officially, especially since at least one crash was associated with it.

I'm hoping the salvage unit lasts longer than your FJR too.

My engine was destroyed by a CCT that no longer tensioned the chain. I was a leader in this deficient part therefore there was no history of problems or failures so Yamaha declined to do anything to help me, even after my dealer pressured Yamaha on my behalf.

I'll send you a PM later today. In order to do a good post mortem failure analysis I need everything intact and preserved in the exact state in which it is failed. I do a lot of root cause failure analysis as part of my job. The outcome of the analysis should show the exact cause(s) of the failure which should also point to both prevention and possibly a way to remediate the problem without having to remove the hydraulic block.

 

[Constant Mesh]

Glad my dealer convinced me not to order an ABS all those years ago.

Yet there must be lots of ABS cars on the road which have never had their brake fluid changed and their ABS systems still work fine.

 

[Fred W]

Glad my dealer convinced me not to order an ABS all those years ago.

Why? When the ABS is working it is a great feature. And when it isn't working, well you have the same brakes as what you have.

So other than being initially cheaper, I don't see an advantage there.

Yet there must be lots of ABS cars on the road which have never had their brake fluid changed and their ABS systems still work fine.

There aren't all that many reports of failed ABS on FJRs. But I agree that owners of cars seem able to get away with total disregard of brake maintenance and they still work. Perhaps a poll is in order to see if there are any commonalities between those that have failed. Is it lack of maintenance? Maybe life in a humid environment (like the Southeast or Northwet?

 

[Constant Mesh]

The answer about cars may be that the ABS system is occasionally activated on many/most cars. I don't recall ever activating the ABS on my cars on wet/dry pavement. But I recall many instances when I was braking to enter a gravel parking area where the pedal pulsated when I transitioned into the gravel. I've also experienced a few instances of ABS activation on a icy/slushy winter road at very low speeds.

The ABS may be a hindrance for the above situations.

 

[wmadoty]

I have seen several automotive ABS units fail a few short weeks after brake maintenance. One of the guys I used to work with told me it was because the technician was pushing old dirty fluid from the calipers back into the unit when running the pistons back into the calipers. Kind of made sense to me, so I always run the pistons back in with the bleeder screw open. Sometimes, I have even been know to carefully clamp the hose off with a pair of vice grips before running that piston back in.

Think about it? What is floating around inside the caliper from the break system. Granted not a lot of road grime will get through the seal, but you still have water the fluid absorbed. Rust if the caliper was iron, corrosion if it was not. Tiny pieces of rubber from the o-ring(s), and deteriation of brake hoses.

It does not take much to plug some of the ports on an ABS metering block. Does not take much to make a valve leak.

 

[Donal]

It's been a little while, any update on this?

Don

 

[daviddowns2000]

It's been a little while, any update on this?

Don

I was wondering the same thing. I sent the failed unit to Ionbeam at the end of January. He acknowledged receipt, but I haven't seen or heard anything further.

 

[Fred W]

It's been a little while, any update on this?

Don

I was wondering the same thing. I sent the failed unit to Ionbeam at the end of January. He acknowledged receipt, but I haven't seen or heard anything further.

I know that Professor ionbeam has been extremely busy of late with his new position of employment.

 

[Donal]

Thanks Fred, not trying to hassle anyone - just wondering

Don

 

[Fred W]

I'll send him an email. He lives pretty close to me. If he thinks it may be a while before he gets a chance to do the autopsy, I'll see if he'll give it to me to get things moving.

 

[RadioHowie]

I'll send him an email. He lives pretty close to me. If he thinks it may be a while before he gets a chance to do the autopsy, I'll see if he'll give it to me to get things moving.

Fred,

If the Professor DOES send it to you, just remember, "lefty loosey, righty tighty!"

 

[wheatonFJR]

bump...

 

[SkooterG]

Unfortunately work has kept our ionbeam a bit busy these days. When he was out here about a month ago I was able to speak to him briefly about the ABS pump. Of course I didn't understand 90% of what he was talking about, but I did get the gist that it is a very difficult procedure to disassemble the ABS pump and that the chance of being able to repair it was currently looking like slim to none.

 

[wheatonFJR]

That's great news about work being busy...hopefully that will mean many ionbeam trips in the future.

I was just curious about if any results are forthcoming...it looks like Fred's gonna have to step up to the plate.

 

[Fred W]

I don't think the idea was necessarily to try and resuscitate the old stuck ABS pump(s). Just to get a lookie loo at what the heck is happening with these. If I ever hear back from ionbeam I'll let you all know. As of right now my emails have gone unanswered.

 

[wheatonFJR]

I don't think the idea was necessarily to try and resuscitate the old stuck ABS pump(s). Just to get a lookie loo at what the heck is happening with these.

That's what I thought as well. But it seems Professor is deep in his laboratory and can't come out to socialize...which is a good thing if he is able to get some riding in now and then.

...As of right now my emails have gone unanswered.

Just asking, is that unusual?

 

[daviddowns2000]

I don't think the idea was necessarily to try and resuscitate the old stuck ABS pump(s). Just to get a lookie loo at what the heck is happening with these.

That's what I thought as well. But it seems Professor is deep in his laboratory and can't come out to socialize...which is a good thing if he is able to get some riding in now and then.

...As of right now my emails have gone unanswered.

Just asking, is that unusual?

I sent him two PM's, no response. Member info says he was last active on June 12 (today) and his last post was on June 9, so he appears to still be alive, which is encouraging.

 

[Fred W]

He's around. Just busy.