The sorry saga of 1200GS/GSA fuel pump controller failures (410 so far)

Fuel Pump Control.

06, GS1200, two miles from home, Fuel Pump Control packed in.
RAC thought it was coil.
Finally got new part, £85. Ouch! BMW dealer said 07 onward bikes had been re-called? Mines an 06 !:mad:
 
FPC faulty

FPC faulty but not complete failure 02/04/2011
R1200GS 2004 with 26550 on clock
Loss of power then returned, then cleared, then went erractic
Managed to limp home, but was not fun at all, a mixture of running for 300-500m then free wheel with kill switch off, restart & run for another 300-500m. Glad I wasn't miles from home
FPC would give 9v on start up then drop down below 0.5v as load (current/heat) went up.
Have made up jumper lead from old FPC as described in;
http://www.motorcycleinfo.co.uk/index.cfm?fa=contentGeneric.nvxszdkebklxuaer&pageId=428065
Works a treat as a get home :), £80 odd for new FPC :(
The old unit had a lot of alluminium (heat sink) corrosion on the under side (internal) of the heat sink, (?water egress)
 
- When did it happen? 15.00 02/04/11
- Where? Raglan, Monmouthshire 25 miles from home
- rider name? Steve
- bike details (model and year) R1200GS 2004 15,700 miles
- remedy will purchased replacement this week at £82.00, and replaced it myself
- How many days work/holiday did you lose? None, it was Saturday afternoon ride.
- Were there any incidental costs? No just three hours recovering the bike home on a trailer.
 
And anther one!

m j wyatt has sent the following message from the Contact Us page on http://www.motorcycleinfo.co.uk/

"I've just had the THIRD one fail; it had been replaced last September following a breakdown at Dover. This time it failed in Scotland somewhere up the B709 on Sunday 10th April 2011. When I bought my 2004 GS it had a pair of jump wires fitted instead of a controller! - which was then fitted under warranty. Fortunately I kept the wires which got me home in this case. Corrosion and damp were not a problem - it was all dry and clean when I took this last one (painted black - later version presumably). It's time BMW got this sorted properly."
 
Can anyone tell me the symptons if not a direct fail / breakdown! Do these parts fail gradually? My bike stalled today turning right from riding down a hill. Bike just stalled and failed to start straight away. Took a few starts before it fired up! Is this a sign of the controller failing or is it all or nothing when these go?

Thanks
Paul

Mine did the same in Holland:eek: 2 days ago. after three attempts on the button which simply fired her up then it died immediately, I walk away. After taking a deep breath I switched the kill switch off and back on (which had feck all to do with it but made me feel better) she burst into life, and ran as good as ever for the 500 miles home. I was convinced it would not start after the overnight ferry crossing but it's been fine ever since:confused:.
 
...and another:

Jonathan Ivatt has sent the following message from the Contact Us page on http://www.motorcycleinfo.co.uk/:

"When did it happen - 27th April 2011
Where were you - C7 Southease - Sussex
Rider name - Jonathan Ivatt
Bike details R1200GS - 2005 (31st Dec 2005)
Remedy - Recovery - Awaiting replacement part
How many days work/holiday did you lose - 1 Day
Were there any incidental costs - £80.03 from BMW for replacement part."
 
2nd time

When did it happen - 19 May 2011
Where - at home
Rider name - SpyInTheCamp
Bike Details - 08 1200 GS
Remedy - BMW Assist recovered the bike to local dealer
How many days/work/holiday did you lose - None, I managed to work from home, but it was pretty inconvenient
Where there any incidental costs - Bus fares to work and then to the dealer to collect the bike
 
fuel pump controller faliure

Mine failed in may 2011
I was about a mile from home.
Bike is GSA 1200 2010, 5000 MILES.
BMW assist fixed it at the side of the road, He had the part on the van and said "its always this that breaks".!
I was booked on early ferry to channel islands the next morning and was able to go because the man in the van had the part with him. (local dealer closed mondays).
ALL THE BEST.. Craig.:beerjug:
 
Add me to the list.

I bought my 05 R12GS last week of April, put almost 6,000 miles (9,600km) on it in 5 weeks. I am greatfull that I was stranded 20 min from home and not 2 days away.
Just heard back from the dealer, Fuel Pump controller ordered. Learned about this problem via a google search that landed me here.

When did it happen? Jun 17, 2011
Where were you? Massachusetts, USA
- rider name Gail
- bike details (model and year) 05 R1200GS
- remedy: call a tow truck.
- How many days work/holiday did you lose? 0
Riding home from work. Bike died on hwy. Was able to pull over without incident. Called tow truck, delivered bike to the shop, rode away on my K12GT which was at the shop waiting for tires. :thumb
- Were there any incidental costs? Nope, I had towing coverage from my insurance co.

5842695951_1b72347d84_z.jpg
 
Fuel Pump Failure

When did it happen - 24 June 2011
Where - at home
Rider name - nprcarvalho
Bike Details - 06 1200 GS
Remedy - send the bike by truck to BMW Assist
How many days/work/holiday did you lose - I used alternative transport (car) to go to work
Where there any incidental costs - BMW estimate 108€ + VAT + work and the transport by bus to take the bike in Lisbon (+/- 50 km distance)
 
Add me to the list

When did it happen - 15.00 on Saturday 25/6/2011
Where - Near Amiens, France
Rider name - Brenchleyhibs
Bike Details - September 08 1200 GS
Remedy - Replaced with spare
How many days/work/holiday did you lose - 45 mins by the roadside
Where there any incidental costs - replacement cost of FPC (£85)

I was expecting my "recent" model to have the newer black FPC but no... the old style alloy FPC unit.

Luckily I was out with a group from the forum (Wapping's Wanders) and one of them had an old unit that had failed on them previously. We connected it up and - hey presto! - it worked fine. It took me the remaining 300 miles over the weekend and then through the Eurotunnel and home!

The FPC was covered by my BMW extended warranty but with my £100 excess it wasn't worth claiming. It would have been an entirely different story however, if we hadn't had access to the old spare unit!
 
Another for the list

When did it happen - 09 july 2011
Where - at home
Rider name - brixtonchris
Bike Details - 05 1200 GS
Remedy - Used my unbreakable Courier bike, Honda CBF500 (08 plate, 61300 miles on clock) to go to BMW battersea and buy a new FPC
How many days/work/holiday did you lose - None, but me GF missed her zumba class, and thats a whole lot of pain right there
Where there any incidental costs -no just the £85.01 for FPC and bus fare for exgirlfiend:D
 
Fuel Pump Failure

Hello

After one 1 month of install a new electronical controller it's start to gasoline sniffing after I have filled the tank.
This morning I went back to the dealer and found gasoline in the top of the fuel pump. The new electronical has now something was already in a state of advanced corrosion. After some investigation the appearance of gasoline was found that the fuel pump cover is cracked.

Someone noticed a crack in a fuel tank? What was the material used to repair?

The problem of the first time was not caused by gasoline because there was no vestige of the same.

Regards
Nuno Carvalho
 
When - Easter 2008.
Where - Calais, France, having just arrived off the ferry. :-(
Rider name - Rick Sterry.
Bike details - 1200GS 2006 model.
Remedy - fixed under warranty by BMW dealer in Boulogne while I used free loan car.
How many days work/holiday did you lose? - just 1, but had to use car for the rest of the (short) holiday.
Incidental costs? - Happily, none.

Original failure was due to corrosion on the uncoated aluminium heatsink casing creeping under the (newer type) O-ring seal, rather than failure of the seal itself.

I now carry the failed unit as a spare, having ripped out the guts and bypassed it internally - have tested it and it works fine. Even if I don't ever need it, just maybe it might help some other poor sod one day!

Rick(y)
 
Fuel pump controller failure 2006

Bought my 2006 1200 GS back in 2006 and the controller failed at 2500 miles a few months later, luckily I was home as the bike would not start, phoned BMW and they sent out the emergency brake down engineer in large BMW estate car complete with full diagnostics in back of car, the engineer took off the side panel removed the pump cover put his hand in pocket and pulled out a new controller fitted it and started the bike without the need to use any of the diagnostic gear in the car. He told me he had a feeling it would be the controller when he got the call, and in his opinion the fault was caused by water running down between the tank and side cover falling straight through the vents in the top of the pump cover and corroding the controller, he suggested covering the pump when washing the bike which I do, and I also every now and then I paste the controller with wax oil to repel any moisture, touch wood it’s never failed since. The whole event took about 45 minutes from trying to start the bike to the engineer leaving, guess I was lucky.

The Fix (New member)
 
another 2 for you

mine went 3 years ago @15000 miles
A mate recovered me cost him and I 2 hours
2005 model repaired myself
Paul Jenkins

Also a mate's went on a local spin @ less than 10,000 mls
2008 model repaired under warranty
 
Update on failure statistics (UK owners only) totalled by year of breakdown

2004: 7
2005: 17
2006: 35
2007: 58
2008: 139
2009: 110
2010: 33
2011: 11

Total: 410

These figures exclude approximately 35 failures reported from non-UK owners.

The frequency of failures has certainly decreased in 2010/2011, however older bikes not covered by the rather limited recall window are continuing to break down. There have also been some breakdowns of newer bikes or those that have already had the FPC replaced so the redesigned unit is still not 100% reliable.

Cheers
Tim
 
Another one....

Kobus Noeth has sent the following message from the Contact Us page on http://www.motorcycleinfo.co.uk/:

"I ride a 2005 1200 GS.I washed the bike three weeks ago,
and tried to start it this morning.It only runs for a couple of seconds,then dies(from fuel starvation).The agent tells me it is definitely the fuel pump regulator which costs R1571.
I am in Johannesburg South Africa.
Regards
Kobus Noeth
SA."
 
finally happened

- When did it happen? 11sept 2011
- Where were you? Uk heading out to catch ferry to ireland (on drive of home)
- rider name nomadgser
- bike details (model and year) 2008 GSA
- remedy fixed at BMW
- How many days work/holiday did you lose? 2days and cancelled holiday to ireland, missed ferry
- Were there any incidental costs? around £129 to be replaced. Having to claim £400 on travel cancellations (ferry / hotels) with travel insurance
- 1 unhappy gser
-2 unhappy Harley riders

Though my bike has got me all round europe for over a year totalling 15000 miles with out any glitch. So not all bad :clap

- mileage on bike around 23000
 
Happened to me yesterday. Although mine's not a UK bike, at the end of the day they all come from the same place, anyway I thought I'd let you know.

I had traveled from Gib to the top of sierra Nevada, Granada, Spain. On the way down we stopped at the 'Galp' petrol station to fill up. I went to start the bike, it started then quickly cut out. All attempts to start it proved fruitless as it was not firing at all.
I changed the FPC and on taking the old one out I could see that it was in perfect condition with absolutely no signs of corrosion at all. It did not start straight away because whilst fitting the replacement pipe the fuel outlet pipe was dislodged (Warning it easily unclips).
I eventually plugged the pipe back in and the bike fired straight away.

On arriving home the GS911 was connected and fault history read 10168: Fuel pump faulty. Most likely; fuel pump electronics/ driver. (I know!! I had taken it out to update my Comp software)

- When did it happen? 17-09-2011
- Where were you?: At the bottom of the mountain leading up to Sierra Nevada, Granada. Spain.
- rider name: Andy Watson (GibGSA)
- bike details (model and year) 2008 R1200GS with 38000km on the clock.
- remedy: Replaced with a spare one I was carrying after after hearing about the failures from members on this site.
- How many days work/holiday did you lose? None managed to fix it on location.
- Were there any incidental costs? 117euros that the spare one I had originally cost me.


Luckily I had taken heed of the warnings posted by other members on this site and carried a spare. Otherwise it would have been a tow truck to a garage in Granada which wouldn't have opened till Monday.

Many thanks for the heads up.

Regards GibGSA
 


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