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ABS light flashing after starting the engine


aeroden

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Good day guys. VFR newbie here. Just got my 2010 VFR1200F (manual) two days ago, and noticed that ABS flashes for 10 seconds after starting the engine, i.e. 

  • I turn the ignition - ABS light comes on
  • I push the start button, engine starts, and half a second after ABS starts flashing for 10 seconds
  • After ten seconds the ABS lights normally
  • After I start moving, past 10km/h or so, it disappears and continues to behave by the book.

 

I've documented it in the below video. Any ideas?

The bike has Two Brothers exhaust, K&N filter, and Power Commander, all tuned on dyno by the previous owners.

 

Thank you!

 

 

 

 

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You can download the service manual for free here.  On a 6th gen ABS, normal behavior is for the light to come on with the ignition and then go out once moving as you mention - no blinking.  I've always understood that an ABS fault is indicated by it being on while moving.   I'd think it would be the same on your bike but maybe not.  Either the service manual or a dealer should be able to explain if the blinking is abnormal. 

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Yeah, that's what owner manual says as well - on with the ignition, off when moving. No blinking is mentioned. The previous owner said it was always like that and "normal for VFRs".

Had a look at the service manual regarding the ABS (thanks for the link), and I may have to run the ABS diagnostics. Do you know whether I have to use SCS connector, or can get away with just a plain wire?

 

Lets see what others say. Though I doubt Honda would made it this way without a word in an owners manual.

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18 hours ago, aeroden said:

Do you know whether I have to use SCS connector, or can get away with just a plain wire?

 

 

 Strange issue

You can use just a simple wire

short the two cables brown and green  , of the four pins red connector near the battery plus /fuses box in the pictures

IMG_0003.JPG

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Good day guys. VFR newbie here. Just got my 2010 VFR1200F (manual) two days ago, and noticed that ABS flashes for 10 seconds after starting the engine, i.e. 
  • I turn the ignition - ABS light comes on
  • I push the start button, engine starts, and half a second after ABS starts flashing for 10 seconds
  • After ten seconds the ABS lights normally
  • After I start moving, past 10km/h or so, it disappears and continues to behave by the book.
 
I've documented it in the below video. Any ideas?
The bike has Two Brothers exhaust, K&N filter, and Power Commander, all tuned on dyno by the previous owners.
 
Thank you!
 
 
 
 
I have a 10 as well. No blinking on start up.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

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Mine's done that for quite some time. I had the dealer check it out when it was in for the driveshaft recall and he found no codes stored. I asked if I should be concerned, and he said not as long as it goes off after hitting about 3 MPH.

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On October 5, 2017 at 8:23 PM, aeroden said:

Yeah, that's what owner manual says as well - on with the ignition, off when moving. No blinking is mentioned. The previous owner said it was always like that and "normal for VFRs".

Had a look at the service manual regarding the ABS (thanks for the link), and I may have to run the ABS diagnostics. Do you know whether I have to use SCS connector, or can get away with just a plain wire?

 

Lets see what others say. Though I doubt Honda would made it this way without a word in an owners manual.

The blinking you see is caused because you have stored ABS error codes.  The ABS light blinks at startup to show you have codes stored.  The ABS control unit only stores six codes, so the fact you see 18 blinks means you have several codes stored.  On startup the blinking should eventually stop followed by a solid ABS light.  Then the ABS light should turn off after the bike gets to about 6mph.  As long as the blinking does not come on during riding, and the bike operates fine, you are ok.

 

To clear the codes so they don't blink on start up you need the SCS "tool"' or simply jumper the brown and green wires on the red diagnostic connector next to the battery, then follow the procedure on page 19-12 of the manual.  This will clear the codes and stop the ABS light from blinking on startup.  If you get another code later and want to determine what it is, you'll need to follow the procedure on page 19-11 and refer to the chart on page 19-13 to establish the code and related issue.

 

BTW, if you need photos of the relevant manual pages just ask and I'll post them.

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Thanks everyone for the information. You certainly made me breath easier.

Considering what @Darrenk and @Marsman99 said, I guess that's not real issue, for now.

The light indeed becomes steady eventually and comes off once I accelerate (and does not come back).

 

Oddly enough, yesterday evening the issue was gone! It was present yesterday morning, when the bike was cold, was present when I drove to work and shot the video with the engine being hot, and was present then I started bike again in the evening on my way home. However I stopped to fill gas, shut the engine off, rolled the bike 5 meters backwards, filled the fuel, and the issue was no more! 3 engine starts since then, and nothing so far!

 

I'll keep watching it. Thanks again for the thorough info.

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On 10/8/2017 at 4:48 AM, Auspanglish said:

Oh, I read somewhere wheeling the bike backwards a certain distance cleared some ECU memory or something on the 1200... Maybe you just helped confirm that.

Has it done it again since?

It did actually, the next day. I think it happened after I was pressing front brake level during ignition. If I remember correctly, the manual says that in certain situations break level is used to trigger showing of the ABS codes. I'll try to roll it back again to shut it up and reproduce with break level. I'll keep you posted - it starts to be interesting.

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Well, I think I found the cause - in my case, it's a voltage drop that causes ABS to flash.

 

My front break switch failed (I consider I was lucky that I was not rear-ended) and while replacing it I spent quite some time with lights on. At a certain point I noticed that ABS light started flashing, constantly and endlessly (engine stopped). In the beginning it thought it was related to my fiddling with the switch (I red somewhere on vfrworld that ABS system monitors both sensors, speedo, breaking fluid pressure, AND braking light switches), so I tried to "reset" it by rolling bike back and forth with switch on and off, but it did not help.

 

So, without a thorough thought I decided to connect my battery tender, that also shows current battery voltage. The voltage was quite low - 10.x volt. Once it climbed, ABS light stopped flashing. I've made couple of experiments, draining battery a bit and charging it back and found that once the battery voltage drops below 10.5v or so, ABS starts flashing. I think it quite explains my original situation - after engine cranking, the battery gets drained and voltage drops, and this triggers ABS flashing. Those couple of times I had it "fixed" is probably just a coincidence of engine firing quick enough to prevent battery voltage dropping beyond the tipping point.

 

Thank you guys for providing hints that it's battery related. That has really helped to diagnose it.

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I think you are on to something Aeroden.  Indeed, ABS error code 61 is Power Ciruit/Under Voltage.  The tests described in the manual to debug this code aren't meant to determine a low battery, more a check for an open in the power circuit. And the test involves determining if there is voltage present, not the voltage level per se.  However, the manual states perform ABS tests with a fully charged battery and no battery charger connected.  So, while the manual does not specifically account for a low battery voltage condition triggering the ABS error code, it appears you have discovered that it does.  Learn something new every day, thanks.

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  • 5 months later...
On 06/10/2017 at 11:06 AM, Cogswell said:

You can download the service manual for free here.  On a 6th gen ABS, normal behavior is for the light to come on with the ignition and then go out once moving as you mention - no blinking.  I've always understood that an ABS fault is indicated by it being on while moving.   I'd think it would be the same on your bike but maybe not.  Either the service manual or a dealer should be able to explain if the blinking is abnormal. 

Hi guys, im riding VFR 1200 DCT also having the same issues like blinking ABS indicator..

This time i could start my bike but i cant engage to change gears. Please see the attached video for reference. 2 long blinks and 4 short blinks.

Able to help guys. Thanks alot.

20180406_062139.mp4

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
On 4/10/2018 at 6:55 AM, veeefour said:

Blinking ABS indicator means low voltage problem - usually a weak battery that needs to be replaced.

 

 

This sounds to be inline with my blinking ABS light, which I really only noticed last week, but hasn't affected the bike once moving.

 

Unfortunately I don't get to ride my bike often, and being left outside in the colder winter days (rain/snow, but covered!) I usually find I have to run a battery tender every 3-4 weeks. Even then, I don't have the ability to run it for more than 8hrs (crappy 'estate' living), so I don't get a proper charge out of it, just enough to keep it going.

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