Hole in left hand side of engine casing. Advice, please.

[TomP]

I was having a good look around and underneath my 2015 reg 1200 GSA today, prior to giving it a clean before its upcoming 12k service, and I noticed a small hole in the engine casing, quite near the base of the left-hand cylinder. Looking at the bike from the left, it’s towards the front, along and up a bit from the oil filter. There’s a bit of what looks like dried up coolant that has been coming out of the hole - greenish tinged white crud. Not a huge amount, but I’d not noticed it before.

I’ve had the bike for just coming up a year, and I’m still learning my way around it. Nothing in either of the manuals I have (Haynes and the Mark Barrett one) mentions this hole at all, and I was curious to know what it’s for. I am assuming it’s some kind of a vent for the engine casing?

Any gems of information and advice gratefully received, especially if there’s anything sinister about the weeping coolant that’s coming out of it.

Many thanks.

Tom

 

[Santa-2512]

Its the tell tale for the water pump,

ordinarily there should be nothing coming out of it, but you mention a small amount of dried coolant .

if you see coolant running out of it after a long run or in the mornings after a long hot run, then chances are the mechanical bearing / waterpump seal is failing ..

The idea being you get advanced warning before the pump fails and the engine overheats

 

[malcopopolo]

Hope it is under warranty.

Its a known fault but BMW will never acknowledge like many other known issues.

 

[Alan R]

This help? It shows the hole to which you refer.
Alan R

 

[stever1]

I rejected a 1200 LC after 4 water pumps- in 5 months !

 

[TomP]

Thanks for these replies. Not encouraging for a bike that’s only just turned 11,000 miles. The dealer warranty still has time to run, so I’ll be raising this issue when it goes in for its 12,000 service in a couple of weeks from now. Because of lockdown, I’ve only put 2,000 miles on the bike since buying it 11 months ago.

I’ve had no indication of water pump problems - no dashboard warning light coming on, or the kind of noises you’d expect from a sick bearing, nor any other signs of overheating, like the cooling fan cutting in unexpectedly.

Any views on how much prior warning this weep gives? Is the bearing likely to fail suddenly, or just steadily get worse?

Thanks.

Tom

 

[stever1]

The purpose of the hole is to allow liquid to drop out of the engine if the seal between the oil and water sides of the pump wears out. As far as i know it not a bearing problem. You won't get a warning, just keep an eye on the water level and keep listening for continual running of the cooling fan. Oh, don't ride on hot days.

 

[beemerboy9]

This might be a helpful thread.

 

[malcopopolo]

The dealer will tell you that is normal occasionally, tell them it happens quite often!

 

[TomP]

Definitely. Thanks.

Tom