2015 GSA small end wear after minimal mileage

NeilG

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Small end play on a '15 GSA? Barely 3,500 miles old and a manufacturing issue with the RH rod has created excessive small end wear.

Engine always very noisy even when brand new (much more so than any other LCs) with noise always from RH pot. (LH pot always normal) There were two sorts of uncomfortable noise - a knocking (from cams) and a far lighter noise coming from deep inside. Sounded a bit like cam chain tensioner but no problem there. This latter noise became very apparent when in Italy in the summer especially when hot after a good day's ride.

CW initially diagnosed and sorted the cam problem and once that was quiet the other noise became very apparent. After plenty of to-ing and fro-ing with BMW the engine was stripped and the small end was found to be at fault, due to a machining error on the rod. Apparently this was known about at production stage but B-M thought they had caught all problem bikes.

Engine currently in bits with CW, awaiting a few parts from Germany. Good service from CW, hopefully will be back together in about a week.

I've heard that the cam problem isn't unusual but small end? Never come across small end wear ever before.

Neil
 
At that low miles I’d be pushing for a new engine not a repaired one - that said, CW do look after their customers properly.


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BMW have refused point blank to replace the engine.

No disrespect to CW, they have been excellent, but when a core part is machined incorrectly and causes a major fault within a minimal mileage, then it should be a new unit.

It's BMW as manufacturer that should recognise the responsibility and sort it out as the engine fitted to the bike contained substandard parts and as such was 'not of merchantable quality'.
But, they don't quite see it that way even though CW will probably end up sending a warranty bill in for more than the cost of a new unit!

Neil
 
Spend £16k+ on a new bike only to have the engine completely rebuilt at 3k?

Requires new rods, pistons et al, also a new cam assembly on same side which was knocking like hell.

Currently undergoing a complete strip down - should not be necessary.....
 
Mike O said:
Why? Genuine question - why a new engine for a minor repair like this?
Click to expand...

Hardly a minor repair, if the little end is wrongly machined then the piston/barrel will need replacing. Big end bearings will also need to be changed and there is also a possibility of damage to the crank.

Sorry but unless I was 100% that the dealers technicians know what they are doing and BMW are going to give a warranty on the engine work I wouldn't be happy with a rebuilt motor especially as it is a fault that BMW were aware of when the bike was built
 
In the interest of balance, it sounds perfectly reasonable to me. You had cam problems which were sorted, and have now exposed small end problems which are again being sorted. I can't see any reason why a small end issue, unless it was a catastrophic failure causing knock on issues, would warrant a replacement engine. Excessive small end wear causing noise is hardly catastrophic. If BMW recognise this as a problem that they thought they'd already fixed in pre-production, it would seem likely that the fix they recommend will work. Given a proper fix, there's no reason to suspect that an engine that's had small end work would be a lesser unit than one which hadn't. Whilst it would be wonderful if BMW could manufacture completely defect free machines in the first place, your dealer service sounds great and BMW are covering the fix. I don't see much that's unreasonable.
 
The difference is that a factory engine is assembled in controlled conditions on a line dedicated to that activity, whereas a dealer engine strip and rebuild is potentially subject to a wide range of unknown variables, even when done at one of the best dealers in the UK.
I'd want a new engine if it was mine.
Also the down time will be less for the owner.
 
ChazzyB said:
What barrel?
Click to expand...
Yes just clicked that the LC has the barrel as part crankcase half ala CX500 so if the little end is wrongly machined , and there is enough of a problem to cause an audible noise over the course of 3500 miles it has every chance to have caused damage to the gudgeon pin, piston and barrel wear .

Possible new cases
 
Neil W said:
Yes just clicked that the LC has the barrel as part crankcase half ala CX500 so if the little end is wrongly machined , and there is enough of a problem to cause an audible noise over the course of 3500 miles it has every chance to have caused damage to the gudgeon pin, piston and barrel wear .

Possible new cases
Click to expand...

Any of which will be revealed within the planned repair activity, so there's nothing wrong with the current plan. If there's barrel damage, BMW will doubtless review their options. Whether the barrels are ok, it needs new cases, or even a replacement engine - every which way, it's gonna come back sorted by BMW. I still can't see that the dealer or BMW aren't playing this right.
 
Back in 2003, I bought a new Suzuki SV1000S and in a short while, it became apparent that the engine had a knock that could be heard clearly at idle. It turned out that a batch of these early bikes has the wrong sized main bearing. Suzuki insisted that my dealer rebuilt the engine with new parts rather than supplying a new "short" engine.

After 3 or 4 weeks my bike was still not repaired so I went down to the workshop and asked to look at my engine. To my horror, the engine was in bits and crankcases etc were just thrown altogether in a big plastic box. The paint finish on the cases was scratched to buggery and no one seemed to care at all.

Parts had not been ordered and it took eleven weeks to get my bike back with bits missing, scratches to the exhaust cans, paintwork and of course the crankcases.

It must have cost more in the long term rebuilding, rather than replacing but Suzuki had their policy and stuck to it.

I hope your dealer is better than the one I had to deal with.
 
It's just as likely that you'll get away with a new rod, bearing and gudgeon pin. I think you're overstating the problem a little - if this happened to my car, I wouldn't expect them to be talking about replacing the engine - I'd expect them to replace the parts that need to be replaced and button it back up...:nenau
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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