F****ng fuel strip again

[newbuild100]

I realise this has been done to death on here, probably !

Im confidant my fuel strip has packed up altogether now (58 plate GS12 . Gauge is showing 208 miles left no matter how much fuel is in the tank)
I will decide in the next few weeks if Im going to have another fitted or do it myself.

Meanwhile, will i still get a Fuel warning light showing when i get to the normal 50 or so miles left in the tank, (or does that work off the strip and im not going to get anywarning at all ???)

Thanks all

 

[seahorse]

How many bars showing on the display?

 

[bobtail]

Had mine done last week for the second time in 3 months 09 GSA luckily covered on extended warranty , gauge
Went from 280 miles to zero no bars showing in the time I managed to get home which was about 20 mile away ,had to put up with warning light for a while , just hit the trip button when filling up

 

[andy79]

Just had mine done about 1 or 2 months ago and its just fecked up again, what a pile of crap. Not happy.

 

[newbuild100]

Filled up (all bars showing as ud expect)
Did over 100 miles (all bars still showing, and 208 or 204 miles left to go !!!!)

Tried above x three, all to no avail

Trouble is, i dunno how far the bike will go before i ought to fill up (standard gs, not an adventure)


Back to original question then.

WILL I still get a fuel low warning light, depsite the fecked up strip ???????

 

[Roymondo]

No, my understanding is that the low fuel light depends on the reading from the strip (i.e. there is no simple float switch etc).

A full tank should get you 220 miles at 50mpg, 175 miles at 40mpg.

 

[seahorse]

I would guess that you won't get the warning light if the gauge is showing full. If I were you I would get in the habit of using the trip all the time anyway. You should get around 200 to a tank so fill up before then, how much is up to you. I have made up a tool using a piezo electric igniter to fix mine. If you are local I am happy to have a go at yours if you like.

 

[meathumper]

ive just fixed my fuel strip with a lighter clicker.

 

[Bounce]

My fuel strip (07 12 GSA) went in Oct 13. I just use the trip & fill up every 300-320 miles....

 

[newbuild100]

I arent really local to you,but i appreciate your offer. Thank you.

 

[Mad Mac]

Had mine done in January.....and again in April (though under 24 month warranty applicable to all works/parts) - It's poor, and I don't understand why BMW don't get it sorted. The strips are over £100 and fitting brings the bill to £180.......I'm resigned to the fact that I'm going to have to factor this in to my cost of motoring every 24 months......and have the strip replaced numerous times during each 24 month period.

Had mine done last week for the second time in 3 months 09 GSA luckily covered on extended warranty , gauge
Went from 280 miles to zero no bars showing in the time I managed to get home which was about 20 mile away ,had to put up with warning light for a while , just hit the trip button when filling up

 

[newbuild100]

I just had quote from my local BMW dealer and he is saying £136 to fit and provide fuel strip etc.

I maybe ought to snap his hand off, independant bmw guys are telling me a lot more than that !!!

 

[andy79]

it cost me £184 a month or so ago, at least this next one will be free !

 

[Angoo]

I have just had number 7 fitted and I'm not sure it works! One of them lasted 78 miles!

 

[andy79]

Mine only managed 200 miles

 

[bodge it]

Mine went three times so gave up with it. It was useless at low fuel levels anyway and always flicked from 2 bars to nothing with a mile.

Have not used it for ages and running on the trip gauge is much more reliable anyway. I believe you can fit a resistor across the tank sender unit so that the display reads full all the time to stop the warning light but have never got around to doing it.

 

[jeff]

I have just had number 7 fitted and I'm not sure it works! One of them lasted 78 miles!

In 24,000 miles the not fit for purpose fuel strip has been the only problem with an otherwise faultless bike

For two years it worked fine. When the gauge and distance remaining came close to 0 it would run out of fuel - never tried it but ran it close to zero as was leaving
bike for three months and didn't want load of fuel in bike, took nearly 32 litres to fill up.

Then it malfunctioned. At about 125 miles to go the range counted down quickly to 25 miles, warning light started flashing at 95 miles.
Pulled into PFS at 0 miles, tank took 23 litres so 10 litres still in tank.

BMW replaced fuel strip but identical problem persisted . On fourth replacement strip and still have identical problem. The dealers have said they will replace strip
yet again but I find it hard to believe that three new strips would present the same problem. The dealer seems to be blinkered that it must be the fuel strip as they
have a long history of problems.

My only logical thought was that the sucking jet pump was not working and although I had upwards of 10 litres it was on other side of tank to pump.

Dealer assures me that is not the case as a fault code would be displayed. Queried relying on fault codes,but again dealer assured me that if sucking jet pump was not
working it would definately generate a fault code and assured me bike would use "last drop of fuel irrespective of what readouts were showing, but then again he isn't driving down an Italian toll road two up with full luggage in the rain at night. I have used the tipping on side trick many times on many bikes to move fuel from one side of tank to the other but it is no joke on a fully laden GSA

I always use trip and fill tank when I can. Can be a prob in France and Italy where many stations are unmanned and you have to prepay for fixed amounts.
It is a little unnerving and indeed annoying to have the fuel warning light flashing when on an autostrada at night even when you know that you have at least 100 miles of fuel in the tank.

It doesn't help dealer telling me mine must be the last year before BMW reverted back to a float system

Does anyone know whether it is possible to retrofit a float system?

Final thought.If you have new strip it is guaranteed for 24 months. Dealers never question it being faulty ( would require technician to ride bike for hours) so get new one before 24 months is up
and keep doing it as long as you own bike

 

[Pukmeister]

The sucking jet pump problem was solved by an owner fitting a replacement Bosch fuel pump which gave much improved flow and pressure, thus driving the Venturi in the jet pump properly.

My money's on the fuel pump controller running the pump too slowly to drive the jet pump effectively. I've also recently seen a thread where somebody replaced the fuel pump controller and it solved their repeated fuel strip issues.

 

[tanneman]

The float system cannot be retrofitted for the simple reason that you need different software to run it. That software can only be downloaded to the frame number that was originally fitted with the float system.
Make sure the fuel supply is ok. Check the fpc terminals for security, discolouration and corrosion. Clean it and try again.

 

[Kenny Rodkiss]

You will not get a fault code from the sucking jet pump not working. It has no electrics and relies on the return flow of fuel from the pump to initiate the transfer of fuel from the right side to the left.