Fuel strip shite....again!

[Lord Snooty]

I had the fuel strip replaced last year so I am hoping it is still under warranty.

I did a CBT today, when I left home the fuel guage is reading at least half; ride 4 miles to the training centre, bike is then parked up for the morning car park training. About 6-7 miles into the road ride the guage plummets to zero, yellow triangle illuminating and the FUEL warning flashing! WTF. Get to garage and it takes only 15 litres and it is brimmed.... So the fuel strip is FUBAR'd and is giving me incorrect readings, could be worse I guess, it could be telling me the tank is full when it is empty.

What a completely useless, wank piece of technology, I now need to dig out the receipt to see if the replacement is still under warranty and then waste more of my time having another one fitted. I am off to France on Thursday evening so will just have to live with it and rely on the trip meter.

 

[RROB]

Having mine refitted in a couple of weeks..... it was done in Aug 2014 but Cotswold Mototrad will honour warranty (2yrs)..... but they also told me that it wouldn't have a NEW 2yr warranty..... just a month as that's when the last one runs out ????

 

[fizzer]

bmw give a two year warrantee on parts and labour on the fuel strip

 

[RROB]

yes I know.....but according to dealer Not on a part fitted within that original warranty period.....so as the original fit warranty ends in Aug this yr.....my new (if required) fuel strip will be covered to then..... after that I would have to pay in full again....

 

[steadysteve]

Having mine refitted in a couple of weeks..... it was done in Aug 2014 but Cotswold Mototrad will honour warranty (2yrs)..... but they also told me that it wouldn't have a NEW 2yr warranty..... just a month as that's when the last one runs out ????

Had mine replaced in May last year, it failed again within a few months. replaced FOC/warranty. The replacement is covered for a further 2 years, parts and labour.

 

[RROB]

Steve,
I would have thought that.....but they have told me direct it wouldn't be...... so if it fails again within this period (Aug)...
without giving them too hard a time....I just hope it lasts longer than a month...

 

[Bendy toy]

Ive been closely looking at the shape of my GSA tank to fit an alternative level sensor. Work in progress but looking hopeful.

Today I whipped out the fuel strip. and as mine hasn't worked for at least a years I opened it up.

its easy to remove. Take off the beak and tank bodywork. Disconnect the fuel pump and unscrew that big cover flange. Take off the whole filler cap.
Fiddle out the fuel strip complete with its wires and spring clip at the tank filler end.
Its covered by a clip on plastic cover that just - unclips. inside there is are two printed copper strips. One is a heater the other senses resistance change. They look like the clear flat cables you see on computer disc drives so I can't imagine the coppers have failed. Too well protected and the strip has no signs of abuse.
Four ordinary wires go into the top end with a resin encapsulation box around the junction.
The copper into the resin looks very well supported. BUT the wires into the resin while looped over and supported are quite stiff and I expect with very fine conductors. I could hallucinate that my brown wire felt just a bit more flexible at that joint than the others.

Next job is to pick away the resin and have a look at the connections inside. I've got nowt to lose.

 

[cookie]

Had mine replaced in May last year, it failed again within a few months. replaced FOC/warranty. The replacement is covered for a further 2 years, parts and labour.

Only if you've paid for it, or made a contribution.

 

[Bendy toy]

And only if you can be bothered to to take the bike to the dealer.

 

[Lord Snooty]

Just dug out the receipt, it was fitted 5/5/15, just over a year ago I hope it is a 2 year warranty.

 

[RROB]

yes it is.....

 

[Bendy toy]

When you are over at the dealer see if they will give you one or two old fuel strips. They allegedly send them back to BuMW but many will get forgotten.

I want to have a go at digging off the epoxy seal and see just what is going wrong. The copper/film strip looks more then up to the task and its covered in a hard plastic shield. It looks like the weak bit is in the wire connections.

 

[RROB]

will do.....but as mine is showing almost full all of the time....they think initially it might want calibrating

 

[Bendy toy]

Full all the time is a bit odd. See ow it goes.

 

[RROB]

That's what they said......usually it permanent empty isn't it ??

 

[RROB]

The almost full.....caught me out when I bought bike as it was almost empty...........as I found out riding home in fast lane of M40....when I ran out !!

 

[DING-DONG]

I've just had one fitted to my 2012 R12r, £170 after disc - 2 year warranty.

 

[dashfixer]

I've had the same thing happen to mine about a year ago. I can't be arsed to keep having it replaced and as I'm from the era of no fuel gauge, I just reset the trip meter.
The yellow triangle is very annoying though so I thought that I would do some research and see if it could be by-passed. It turns out that yes it can!

I found this post on an American RT riders website: http://bmwsporttouring.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=821234&page=1

The resistors have been obtained and next weekend I will be trying the mod. I'll let you know the result.

Next mod is a low fuel warning light that I'm in the process of making using a small stainless float switch, again I'll post the result.

There's always a way around these problems it's just a matter of time and money spent.

Rich

 

[steadysteve]

Steve,
I would have thought that.....but they have told me direct it wouldn't be...... so if it fails again within this period (Aug)...
without giving them too hard a time....I just hope it lasts longer than a month...

Understood what you had said but I think your dealer is wrong. Told you of my experience to give you a bit of ammo if you decide to question it or take it further perhaps with bmw customer services.

 

[g.s.john]

I've had the same thing happen to mine about a year ago. I can't be arsed to keep having it replaced and as I'm from the era of no fuel gauge, I just reset the trip meter.
The yellow triangle is very annoying though so I thought that I would do some research and see if it could be by-passed. It turns out that yes it can!

I found this post on an American RT riders website: http://bmwsporttouring.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=821234&page=1

The resistors have been obtained and next weekend I will be trying the mod. I'll let you know the result.

Next mod is a low fuel warning light that I'm in the process of making using a small stainless float switch, again I'll post the result.

There's always a way around these problems it's just a matter of time and money spent.

Rich

Likewise with the trip meter, when i start off it takes about 1 minute for the gauge to show on the RID the low fuel warning come on at around 1/4 full can i assume that it's fecked.
How much to get it replaced BTW?