Can't get it up

AustinW

AustinW

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ESA problem......2011 GSA. Currently in Spain (Sierra Nevada mountains not too far from Granada) and FULLY LOADED for two-up camping. I went out on my own briefly today with no luggage and dropped the ESA suspension down to solo riding. Nothing unusual as it changed. But I can't now get the ESA to respond to get it back to two-up.

I can cycle through the comf/norm/sport settings by tapping the button and it seems to change (noises) but holding the button to change pre-load is nothing or nada as I am in Spain. Nada as in the option to go to Luggage/two up/ low off road/ high off road doesn't come up. Nada.

Nothing obvious wrong, no oil leak from either shock, no fault showing on the dash. Battery is a Motobatt 14 fitted about 6months ago. Shocks are Wilbers fitted new at revs racing about 18months ago and have been brilliant changing settings just fine except on very cold days when the bike needs to have no weight on it.

I have disconnected the battery for a few minutes - still nada. I have tried with revs up at 2,000 ish- still nada. I have tried on the centre stand - Nada.

Anything to try. Am I missing the obvious? Dunno.

I don't really fancy the ride home with the bike on low suspension with all the weight on it. It's going to bottom out on the bandas senoras.

Any ideas if there's a BM tech in the area.?
 
The comf /norm/sport is controlling the damping rebound motor at the bottom of the shock.
The motor that drives the Pre-load that you are having problems with is at the top of the shock. follow the cable back from this unit to the connector which is situated under the seat close to the battery and check the connector.
Does the front pre-load motor work when you cycle through the settings, this will give you a clue as to it being an ecu problem or a hardware problem with the pre-load unit.
 
Similar thing happened to my mate's GSA, maybe try a full hard reset, disconnect and reconnect the battery? Otherwise maybe GS911 can reset the preload system? I wouldn't rush out to replace the preload system just yet, partly as it's not a cheap option.
 
It's gone dark here now do will look in the morning. When I press and hold the button I get no response at all, ie the helmet + luggage option doesn't appear nor any of the others.

When I cycle through the damping I get a brief whirring sound from the Front. I haven't heard anything from the back but it seemed to be ok earlier today when I cycled through - I was deffo on comf mode on the motorway and deffo in sport in the mountains.
 
With the bike stationary , on the centre stand , engine off and neutral selected , ignition off ........... try winding the remote preload knob up to maximum.

:hide:hide
 
Rushy said:
With the bike stationary , on the centre stand , engine off and neutral selected , ignition off ........... try winding the remote preload knob up to maximum.

:hide:hide
Click to expand...
Some sort of mechanical over-ride or assistance for the electric motor would be a very useful addition.
 
Bendy toy said:
It might be the switch block microswitch. They don't get much use so could be gunked up.
Click to expand...

Possibly, but the switch works fine to move between the damping modes. It's the press and hold function that's not responding. Still worth a look though.

I left the battery disconnected overnight. Fingers crossed for that fixing it.
 
I think you have done the best thing by leaving the battery disconnected overnight. This is the only way to power down / reset the ZFE ecu.
As the symbols are not showing on the dash and the front pre-load is not responding either it points to a ZFE glitch ( which might well clear itself).
There aught to be an override to power the motor but not sure without research which are the motor and position potentiometer wires.
Pity someone in the area does not have a GS911 as you can run the ESA from one and calibrate the pre-load settings.
 
Still nada. I have it booked into a BMW workshop in Almeria for 9.30 tomorrow for a diagnostic check. If it's not that then the earliest workshop slot is +1week. Ferry back is on Wednesday so plan B may be required.

I have European breakdown and hopefully they will agree to either fly the wife home with some of the luggage or a hire car so she can follow me to the ferry.

Or, we might just have to stay a few more days while it's fixed. Maybe the insurance will pay for some hotels :)
 
AustinW said:
Possibly, but the switch works fine to move between the damping modes. It's the press and hold function that's not responding. Still worth a look though.

I left the battery disconnected overnight. Fingers crossed for that fixing it.
Click to expand...

Sounds like the switch is fine. As others have said check the wiring to the back shock. The connectors are not exactly tucked away from water and such.
 
Connectors looked a bit dusty but otherwise what I could see was clean and bright. I think its software as I don't even get the option to try and change settings. If it was an electrical connector them the software would offer the options but the electric circuit wouldn't be able to deliver. I am hopeful of a quick fix via the BMW diagnostics tomorrow, even if it's just to get the bike into two helmet mode with the advice of "don't touch the button".
 
Oh well, the diagnostics didn't resolve anything with the whole process not helped by the language barrier.

What the guys at the dealership seemed to be saying was that they could get no response from the controller suggesting a fault in the ZFE unit - which I assume is the bit of tech that "listens" for a long press of the switch before telling the ESA motor to turn to X position depending on when I stop pressing the switch. The other bad news was no workshop slots for a minimum of 10 days, probably 15 and before they did anything they also wanted to pull off the ESA unit to test it before replacing the ZFE. Parts could also be several days. As I said the language barrier was significant do lots of pointing and signing and a bit of google translate so the above may not be exactly right. But the short version is no easy fix.

As we didn't fancy hanging around for another 2-3 weeks or being flown back and forth by the breakdown insurance while it's fixed I brought the bike back to the campsite and have boxed up over 25kg of camping stuff and surplus clothes to be picked up by TNT on Monday for delivery home. We now just have a tank bag with slightly heavier stuff (wife's cosmetic stuff mostly it seems - stuff I hadn't seen all trip too) and two very light panniers. A quick test ride tonight and all was well, with plenty ground clearance over "bandar senoras" and for cornering. It will be fine once I get used to the light front end and strange riding position. Just a 1000 miles or so to home.
 
We buy bikes loaded with fancy gizmos and all they do is let us down.
Sorry for your dilemma and I've also been screwed over with the ESA bollox.
When you get back replace the shocks with non esa units.
There's a pair of Wilbers on the for sale section.
 
I found the wires on my 2008 GSA were chafed and corroded on the LHS next to the frame/battery box/airbox, presumably due to BMW fitting the loom a bit tight during production. Damage was to a CAN twisted pair plus the main power feed cable for my rear ESA preload motor which was green with corrosion and required a chop and splice repair.

Perhaps you have a similar issue with yours ?? :nenau
 
Thanks for the suggestions Bendy and Puk I will save solutions for when I get home, and I am confident that will be next Thursday after a test ride today that turned into 120 miles of modest paced fun on the twisty roads of the Sierra Nevada in Spain. All was good with wife and some of the remaining luggage on so I am sure we will easily and safely make it back.
 
At home now after a steady ride through Spain and up from Plymouth and got the GS911 onto it. The bike rode surprisingly well although we had ditched most of the weighty stuff and the undercarriage only touched down a couple of times.

The GS911 says there is a malfunction on the Front ESA sensor. Fault code 41769; symptom no signal or value and from the mileage its logged at ties in with when I tried to adjust the suspension from solo back to two helmets.

I tried a calibration test. The rear cycles through OK - takes about 30seconds and the motor whirrs away nicely. The front through whirrs for about 1 second before the GS911 (laughingly) says "test complete". The values for the front are "0" and "0" for min and max, whereas for the rear its something like "60" and "2000" respectively.

I will give the guys at Revs a ring shortly, but any other thoughts. I guess its tank off to check the wiring and connectors to eliminate the obvious first though.

Edit.....the real timeliest of the switch suggests its working fine.
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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