Help!!! Injector pipes

I've snapped off the pipe/nipple connection to the black plastic injector moulding on the right hand side of the bike. Only £22 to replace . . . BUT, the replacement comes as a whole unit for both sides of the bike with all joints heat shrunk. It's a tank off, sub-frame off, battery and airbox out job - full weekend for me, 5 hours labour at my BMW dealers. I'm grounded until it's fixed (no Princetown trip) unless . . .

Has anybody ever tried to join two pieces of hard plastic injector pipe with some sort of sleeve and combination of glue and/or shrink wrapping/sealing?

Any useful suggestions gratefully received. Anybody wishing to guffaw, sneer and offer totally unhelpful comments will also be tolerated if they're funny, but along the way some helpful advice and experience would be appreciated.

BTW, accident/mishap occured when wrench slipped during fitting of Hepco & Becker engine bars. Why do these things have to be such an absolute b*****d to fit? Took me 5 hours in total because the set I got could only be made to fit with 6 pairs of hands and generous flexing/bending of the ill-fitting bars. As I was on my own this proved very difficult. WARNING: do not fit H&B bars on your own. 2nd WARNING: don't damage the injector unit on your bike whilst fitting. In fact, I damaged the unit whilst undoing the existing bolts which had all been loctited in and required huge leverage to shift!

Anyway . . . enough. If anybody can rescue me I might yet make it to Devon for a gloriously sunny weekend (injector unit arrives tomorrow morning). Otherwise, I'm in my garage! Of course, you might be able to help but don't want to because you'd rather I stay in my garage !!! If only, "Challenge Annika" was still around.

Simon E.

Hard lines Simon

If you can not make Princetown over the weekend and want another pair of hands to assist in replacing the pipe work I might be about on Sunday.

If you need a hand let me know via the BB and e-mail me directions, Tele numbers etc.

Post picture and I'll see if local techo at RAF base can help, I know.... should have thought of that for the WP bracket!

Chris

Cheers Chris:
I'll post picture tonight when I'm home from the office. I think I'm clutching at straws here . . . but I'm sure some such "fix" should be possible.
If I can find a ribbed plastic inner sleeve so that I can join two bits of pipe together and heat shrink the pipe around the sleeve, it could work, although I don't know how to "heat shrink" the pipe.
Simon

Meanwhile . . . here's a diagram.

Simon

Can you not effect a temporary fix by:

obtaining some rubber petrol pipe (same I/D as outer of plastic pipe)

several small 'jubilee' clips of an appropriate size

then use the bits as an outer sleeve over your broken pipe. Two (or more) jubilee clips each side of the fracture should keep the whole thing together. Use plenty of vaseline/KY jelly when you assemble.

Best of luck

Greg

will a fuel quick release coupling work - its the same pipe and I fitted them in 10 mins last week, Brackens certainly have them in stock

In the attached photo, the pipe in question can be seen in the top left coming out of the black plastic injector assembly at about 45 degrees. It has snapped off at this point. There's a 90-degree bend in the pipe before it disappears under the air intake.

Simon

I've had another look at your problem. Can you get the broken nipple out of the plastic pipe? If you soak the pipe in boiling water does it soften enough to prize out the nipple.

I guess that you have little to lose by trying. If you get it out, can you then dismantle the new unit the same way and use the new nipple with your old pipe?

Greg

Greg Masters said:

Simon

Can you not effect a temporary fix by:

obtaining some rubber petrol pipe (same I/D as outer of plastic pipe)

several small 'jubilee' clips of an appropriate size

then use the bits as an outer sleeve over your broken pipe. Two (or more) jubilee clips each side of the fracture should keep the whole thing together. Use plenty of vaseline/KY jelly when you assemble.

Click to expand...

Thought of that Greg and it's certainly worth a try but I'm worried about the pressure in the injection system and whether jubilee clips will hold it. Anything's worth a try . . . the manual reckons that taking the air box out to replace the whole injector assembly is a rear subframe and transmission off job. Bloody hell!!!

Here, or am I being a GS "numpty" now.

Greg Masters said:

Simon

I've had another look at your problem. Can you get the broken nipple out of the plastic pipe? If you soak the pipe in boiling water does it soften enough to prize out the nipple.

I guess that you have little to lose by trying. If you get it out, can you then dismantle the new unit the same way and use the new nipple with your old pipe?

Greg

Click to expand...

Thought of that too but how will I heat shrink the old pipe onto the new nipple? I'm a bit of a dunce here!

Jeff: Trouble with fuel coupling pipes (I think) is that they won't work with these hard plastic pipes will they? They're meant for fuel pipes at 1 bar, not injector pipes at 5 bar. I'd love to e corrected.

Chris the Colonel said:

Here, or am I being a GS "numpty" now.

Click to expand...

Yes, exactly right Chris.

[Keep the suggestions coming guys. I feel a ray of hope. Unfortunately I'm off to a board meeting now and won't be back until 5pm. I look forward to the GSClubUK salvation army mobilising into action].

If there's enough of your nipple showing (Don't get too excited, Daphne!), the jubilee clip should work since there's only a single jubilee clip that holds the pressured rubber fuel line from the tank.

Greg

If you try the rubber pipe fix make sure it is for fuel injected systems. Normal fuel line wont take the high pressure of the injected fuel.

Tap into pipe and into remains of housing 5 or 6mm then drill through centre of corresponding size bolt. "Screw" the lot together and coat joints with ample quantities of gunge from your friendly glue gun.

Chris

I also think that you can remove the broken nipple from the pipe and refit the pipe to a new injector top, use a hair dryer to heat the pipe and fix a jubilee clip for extra security.

The pipes from the tank for QD couplings is the same pipe you are trying to repair - it is a viable alternative

Another way may be to use copper gas pipe from your local calor gas shop to fit into the black pipe and held with jubilee clips or copper brake pipe from a car spares shop - they may even flaire the ends to give more grip to the clips.

All good suggestions guys. I'd thought about the copper or alloy pipe inside the plastic pipe with clips as per car injection systems but wondered about the pressure issue. Getting somebody to crimp/flair the metal pipe would help.
I'm inspired. I'll keep you posted. But alas, I won't even get a chance to do anything until tomorrow evening so if I make Princetown it'll be for a drink on Saturday night!
Simon

Uncle Gerald is back on the road! Hurrah.

Thanks for all your helpful advice. Thanks Keeffff for the generous offer of labour, but there was no way I was going to succumb to a complete stripdown.

Solution:
The new item from BMW (Part no.: 13 53 7 664 857) comes as a complete set of both injector connectors (right and left) and the centre coupling piece plus two other pipes that go who knows where.
So, I had two injector thingies with nipples to experiment with should I screw up, plenty of hard plastic tubing, and (a bonus) inside the ends of the spare tuning were two brass sleeves with flared ends.
I heated the black tubing and cut out the brass sleeves. These would be used for option (2) involving joining the old and new tubes with an inner sleeve. I purchased a short length of car injector hose plus jubilee clips for option (3) as a last resort which would be joining the old and new tubes with an outer sleeve.
Option (1) was simply to remove tubing from new injector moulding (done by immersing whole thing in boiling water until soft and then cutting tubing off (no way can it be pulled off); fitting this new moulding in place of the old broken unit. Then, if I could remove the broken nipple from inside the old tubing I could just heat, push and fit onto new nipple. Couldn't be done so I cut the old pipe just above the broken nipple. All I had to do (he says) was heat the old piece of pipe until it was soft enough to push onto the nipple. Not so easy! It's in an awkward place and impossible to immerse into a cup of water. I tried a hair dryer but couldn't get enough heat into the tube. Eventually used a hot air paint stripper. Ooops! Began to melt the tube. Pushed it on quick. Managed to get it halfway before the melting tube hardened and effectively glued itself to the nipple. Of course, I intended this all along. Now, with a judiciously placed mini jubilee clamp I finished off the job.

I hate bodging things and it's clearly not "as new" but it works as if it is. Still, I've got another plastic injector unit so I can always have another go if I feel it's worth it. Plus, I've saved myself a £320 bill plus the hassle of having to refit the engine bars if I'd succumbed to letting my BMW do the strip down. That's a few beers, then, for all those who offered helpful advice.

Anybody who ever experiences similar problems, you know where to come!

Too late for Princetown but at least I'll make it to Sarrat on Monday.