Having experienced the Fuel Pump Driver failure....

[bmwrich58]

I wanted to see what all was involved,and if I could maybe help prevent any future failures.
After the new repair at the Dealer,I noticed the Black Plastic Cover installed. Maybe at BMW's Factory request,the whole assembly is now once again "some what" protected by a black "vented" plastic cover in order to help prevent water damage. I'm not sure how much protection with the slits/vents right on top...!
Anyhow,my old 2005 GS had this cover. On my new 2007 GS Adv this cover was missing. I thought I had lost it on my Alaska Trip in '07, so asked the Dealer to order me another one. The parts guy said that my bike showed no part available for my year/model bike. I thought "OK",so I didn't lose it after all.

The new cover.

Here is the FPD assembly removed from the tank.

That "thin Blue gasket" fits loosely around the assembly....and the screws that hold the FPD assembly are not all that tight holding it down in place.

I took some silicone gasket sealer and with a Q-tip painted just enough on the FPD where the gasket rests,and also painted the seat in which the assembly rests on top of the fuel pump.

Here you can see the triangular shaped seat where the FPD gasket rests.
Easily "pinched" because it fits loosely,so when installing the assembly, be careful.
This photo is before I applied the silicone to the seat area,but you can see some of the Dielectric Grease in where the plugs attach.

Assembly installed and hopefully "weather/water proof"......

Cap back on,bike works...and Good to Go!

At the begining of this, before I decided to take photo's,there was water already accumulating inside the "hole' again.
This after only 1200 miles on the repair. So, probably just a matter of time before it filled to a point of causing another breakdown...hopefully the silicone will help sealout any water.

 

[original_concept]

I still don't get why this is such a problem for BMW.

The FPC on the F800 bikes is under the pilot's seat positioned flat, so after washing the bike etc the water simply remains and creates a moat (yup, lots of water!). But the difference is (to my eyes) is the F bike variant get a soft rubber cover, it leaves the FPC wiring and the fins exposed but no-one's ever reported a FPC problem on a F800 bike.

Do BMW simply need to whack the F800's cover onto the R1200GSs?


I dunno.. I've got an '09 model, so I'm hoping this revision fixes the FPC issue.

 

[Stevie73]

Read somewhere that it's not only water ingress that causes failure, but over heating too, hence the need for slits on the cover to let air pass through....

 

[Dainese Brave]

Is the fitting of a new FPC (and plastic cover) a remedy for future failures? i.e are the ones fitted now any different?

...has anyone had a new version fail having had it fitted?

...are the 'new' FPC's fitted under warranty or re-call?

.....only reason I ask is that I'm concidering buying a new one as a spare for my trips abroad, but also concidering asking the dealer to fit a 'new' one on my next service.

I haven't (fingers firmly crossed now) had a failure yet...but wondered do BMW just replace them when they do, or do they change them at a service?

I'll ask my friendly dealer next time I'm in...just wondered what you guys had experienced?

 

[Slowdown]

Read somewhere that it's not only water ingress that causes failure, but over heating too, hence the need for slits on the cover to let air pass through....

Nah - at least not in the UK. I gaffer taped the slots closed and sprayed the connectors/gasket with ACF-50 then the bike was new and haven't had any corrosion or water ingress into the area at all.

The FPC hasn't failed either, but I suspect that's luck (isn't the main failure due to a dodgy electronic component???)

 

[bmwrich58]

Nah - at least not in the UK. I gaffer taped the slots closed and sprayed the connectors/gasket with ACF-50 then the bike was new and haven't had any corrosion or water ingress into the area at all.

The FPC hasn't failed either, but I suspect that's luck (isn't the main failure due to a dodgy electronic component???)

I had 22+k miles when mine went south.....!

My advice is to open up and check for water filling the void under the FPD.
Damage occurs when the water over fills under there and seeps past the (Blue) plug and shorts out.

 

[Slowdown]

I had 22+k miles when mine went south.....!

My advice is to open up and check for water filling the void under the FPD.
Damage occurs when the water over fills under there and seeps past the (Blue) plug and shorts out.

As I said - with the vents in the plastic 'cap' taped up with gaffer I've never had water in the area around the heatsink fins, let alone below the 'blue' gasket.

And the bike's ridden every day to work.

 

[Stevie73]

mine doesn't even have the cover on must have been left off at some point....

 

[Wapping]

Hypothesising as to the cause of fuel pump controller failure is simply what?

Hypothesising.

I have owned two 1200 GS motorcycles, one a vanilla variety, the second an Adventure version. Accumulated mileage? About 55,000 in a full variety of weathers.

Washed?

Yes, a jetwash when I could be bothered but always after a run out in the winter, when it is salty.

Neither bike has had a little plastic hat to keep water out out of the fuel pump controller area.

Neither bike has had silicon or other magical properties applied to the fuel pump controller area.

Neither bike has had a fuel pump controller failure.

Do I carry a spare fuel pump controller? Yes.

Neither bike has has an EWS failure.

Do I carry a spare EWS ring? Yes.

Both bikes have sat on an Optimate charger 24/7/365 when not in use.

Neither bike has had a battery failure.

Both bikes have had a final drive oil seal go at about 22,000 miles.

One of the bikes has had a final drive replaced at about 22,000.

Neither of the bikes has had AC50 (or whatever it is called) applied to it.

Neither of the bikes has suffered corrosion.

Both bikes blew their H7 bulbs at about 8,000 mile intervals. However, since switching to HID's, the GSA I own has not had a problem with blowing burners.

Both bikes (or me) benefited from a Sargent seat.

 

[SPL]

I stripped my 12 month old and 8K miles GS over the winter to do some modifications.

Had a look at the FPC while I was at it, and it had minor corrosion from water ingress (it is on 07 model year with the cover fitted).

I've cleaned up the corrosion and taped over the vents in the cover as a precaution.

Also bought one of the "get you home leads" from that guy in the USA as a cheap insurance policy against a possible future failure.

TBH I wouldn't give it another thought now - I've done all I reasonably can to prevent and/or prepare for a problem, so if it happens it happens and if it don't then it don't

P.S. - Interesting to see that the FPC in the pictures on this thread is not the same as mine (so maybe an attempt has been made to solve the problem). It's a while since I did the work on my bike, so I can't be certain how different mine is to the photo, but it definitely wasn't painted black.

 

[ktmmark]

I was always finding mine sitting in water so dried it out & poured melted candle wax where the water sits till it was level.The thinking was if it gets hot the wax will melt ,that was 4 years ago ,wax never melted

 

[Stevie73]

I was always finding mine sitting in water so dried it out & poured melted candle wax where the water sits till it was level.The thinking was if it gets hot the wax will melt ,that was 4 years ago ,wax never melted

Fecking GENIOUS!!

What colour candle is best?

 

[Wapping]

I was always finding mine sitting in water so dried it out & poured melted candle wax where the water sits till it was level.The thinking was if it gets hot the wax will melt ,that was 4 years ago ,wax never melted

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/CD5kmAfA1R4&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/CD5kmAfA1R4&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

PS Candle wax melts at about 65c - So don't be surprised it hasn't melted on your bike.

 

[ktmmark]

PS Candle wax melts at about 65c - So don't be surprised it hasn't melted on your bike. [/QUOTE]

The wax dose not cover the controler
i have infared temp probe & from what i can see the thing never breaks in to a sweat

 

[swissrob]

Also bought one of the "get you home leads" from that guy in the USA as a cheap insurance policy against a possible future failure.

is this the lead that goes to the accessory socket? I thought that the pump pulled more than 5A so it tripped out making the lead actually useless????

 

[Slowdown]

is this the lead that goes to the accessory socket? I thought that the pump pulled more than 5A so it tripped out making the lead actually useless????

So buy the 'bare leads' one that's cheaper and connect it directly to the battery.

 

[Snoopy]

As I said - with the vents in the plastic 'cap' taped up with gaffer I've never had water in the area around the heatsink fins, let alone below the 'blue' gasket.

And the bike's ridden every day to work.

+ 1.