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I noticed the radiator fan kicking in many times on a long slow piste in Oct 08 and at the time put this down to the fact the F650GS has a smaller radiator than the F800GS, but now I'm not so sure that there wasn't an air bubble due to previous top hose leaks. The notes below are from my contemporaneous failure log. So far my experiences have been
- leaking from top hose, hose tightened by me
- hose came off on M25, cost BMW a packet to ship me and bike back to Eastbourne
- hose refixed by me with jubilee clip
- came loose again
- spent most of day taking bike into dealer for fix who took jubilee clip off
- hose came loose again in Morocco, fitted another jubilee clip
- hose came loose again in the UK
- dealer had bike overnight for another fix and again took jubilee clip off
- dealer then fitted a longer hose
- bought another jubilee clip and holding breath
- two lots of problems on Apr 09 Morocco trip
21 August 2008: came back from town and found the right hand side of the bike covered with coolant. The radiator top hose was almost off, so I removed the side panels and managed to get the hose back on. Made an appointment with Coopers Tunbridge Wells to have it looked at.
3 September 2008: Before the appointment date I was on my way back from London and got showered with coolant. The top hose had just about come off. I was amazed at how flexible the side wall of the hose is and it seems the hose is too short. Due to the sheer volume of traffic it was too dangerous for me to fix on the side of the M25, I didn't want a truck driver to get target fixation! In any case I didn’t have any water with me to replace the fluids. So I called BMW Assist at 1820. Then again at 1940. Eventually a recovery van turned up at 2025 and transported me and the bike to Eastbourne. Phoned Coopers the following day and did a temporary repair with a 30mm jubilee clip.
September 2008: Not sure of date. Rode up to Cooper Tunbridge Wells where the mechanic removed my jubilee clip and refitted the BMW clip.
16 Oct 2008: The top hose and clip came off again in the middle of Marrakech. I stripped off the side panels and managed to source another 30mm jubilee clip from a market stall. Topped up the coolant. As one owner wrote, “there is now a secret society of turquoise right trouser legged, F650/800GS riders.”
12 November 2008: Back in the UK and another 2000 miles later the hose worked loose again and I spent an hour removing the side panel and securing the hose again. I fear it will only work loose again--the hose seems to be too short and when it gets hot it becomes flexible. It doesn’t help that the flange on the water pump casting doesn’t extend all the way round the pipe. The radiator top hose is now a common problem on the F650/800GS, there is a discussion thread running at http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=153468
19 Nov 2008: The bike is now booked in for a 'proper' repair. Coopers need it for two days which makes me wonder what's going to happen. I spoke to Bahnstormers about the problem and the 'PUMA' fix on the BMW system is (surprise, surprise) Micky's fix of roughening up the stub of the pipe before refitting with superglue. No news of longer tubes or armoured tubes.
13 Mar 2009: After months of seeming innaction, BMW has introduced a more permanent workaround of a longer hose, so when the bike was in for the 12000 service Coopers removed the superglued interim fix and installed the longer hose.
7 April 2009: The radiator fan came on when riding in slow traffic (the air temperature was only about 18°C) and after a while the red warning light came on and the temperature gauge showed a pulsing effect presumably indicating serious overheating. The radiator expansion container was full and when the engine cooled I loosened the radiator cap to ensure there wasn’t an air lock. Left things to cool down. When I restarted the engine the warning disappeared. I checked coolant levels again the next morning. Whatever the problem was, it then went away for about a thousand miles before coming back again.
23 April 2009: Although not particularly hot weather (about 20°C) the radiator fan started to cut in whenever I was riding slowly uphill. When I checked this time I found the coolant expansion tank was completely empty. Fortunately I was carrying bottled water so was able to top up the tank.
The above is part of a seven-page failures log that I sent to BMW that covered
- rocker cover oil leak
- clutch drag
- side stand design problem
- chain failure
- radiator top hose
- fuel range errors
- splits in tank plastics
- side stand cutout
- engine stammering
- premature front disc wear
- rear wheel bearing failure
- tyre pressure monitor errors
- coolant overheating warnings
The bike has now been returned to the dealer.
Tim
- leaking from top hose, hose tightened by me
- hose came off on M25, cost BMW a packet to ship me and bike back to Eastbourne
- hose refixed by me with jubilee clip
- came loose again
- spent most of day taking bike into dealer for fix who took jubilee clip off
- hose came loose again in Morocco, fitted another jubilee clip
- hose came loose again in the UK
- dealer had bike overnight for another fix and again took jubilee clip off
- dealer then fitted a longer hose
- bought another jubilee clip and holding breath
- two lots of problems on Apr 09 Morocco trip
21 August 2008: came back from town and found the right hand side of the bike covered with coolant. The radiator top hose was almost off, so I removed the side panels and managed to get the hose back on. Made an appointment with Coopers Tunbridge Wells to have it looked at.
3 September 2008: Before the appointment date I was on my way back from London and got showered with coolant. The top hose had just about come off. I was amazed at how flexible the side wall of the hose is and it seems the hose is too short. Due to the sheer volume of traffic it was too dangerous for me to fix on the side of the M25, I didn't want a truck driver to get target fixation! In any case I didn’t have any water with me to replace the fluids. So I called BMW Assist at 1820. Then again at 1940. Eventually a recovery van turned up at 2025 and transported me and the bike to Eastbourne. Phoned Coopers the following day and did a temporary repair with a 30mm jubilee clip.
September 2008: Not sure of date. Rode up to Cooper Tunbridge Wells where the mechanic removed my jubilee clip and refitted the BMW clip.
16 Oct 2008: The top hose and clip came off again in the middle of Marrakech. I stripped off the side panels and managed to source another 30mm jubilee clip from a market stall. Topped up the coolant. As one owner wrote, “there is now a secret society of turquoise right trouser legged, F650/800GS riders.”
12 November 2008: Back in the UK and another 2000 miles later the hose worked loose again and I spent an hour removing the side panel and securing the hose again. I fear it will only work loose again--the hose seems to be too short and when it gets hot it becomes flexible. It doesn’t help that the flange on the water pump casting doesn’t extend all the way round the pipe. The radiator top hose is now a common problem on the F650/800GS, there is a discussion thread running at http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=153468
19 Nov 2008: The bike is now booked in for a 'proper' repair. Coopers need it for two days which makes me wonder what's going to happen. I spoke to Bahnstormers about the problem and the 'PUMA' fix on the BMW system is (surprise, surprise) Micky's fix of roughening up the stub of the pipe before refitting with superglue. No news of longer tubes or armoured tubes.
13 Mar 2009: After months of seeming innaction, BMW has introduced a more permanent workaround of a longer hose, so when the bike was in for the 12000 service Coopers removed the superglued interim fix and installed the longer hose.
7 April 2009: The radiator fan came on when riding in slow traffic (the air temperature was only about 18°C) and after a while the red warning light came on and the temperature gauge showed a pulsing effect presumably indicating serious overheating. The radiator expansion container was full and when the engine cooled I loosened the radiator cap to ensure there wasn’t an air lock. Left things to cool down. When I restarted the engine the warning disappeared. I checked coolant levels again the next morning. Whatever the problem was, it then went away for about a thousand miles before coming back again.
23 April 2009: Although not particularly hot weather (about 20°C) the radiator fan started to cut in whenever I was riding slowly uphill. When I checked this time I found the coolant expansion tank was completely empty. Fortunately I was carrying bottled water so was able to top up the tank.
The above is part of a seven-page failures log that I sent to BMW that covered
- rocker cover oil leak
- clutch drag
- side stand design problem
- chain failure
- radiator top hose
- fuel range errors
- splits in tank plastics
- side stand cutout
- engine stammering
- premature front disc wear
- rear wheel bearing failure
- tyre pressure monitor errors
- coolant overheating warnings
The bike has now been returned to the dealer.
Tim
