R1200GS Fuel Pump Failure

[Dutchman]

My recent trip to Germany & Holland was blighted by not one but two breakdowns apparently caused by the same thing, that the first dealer thought he had cured, but obviously hadn't.

If you remove the left hand fairing panel you see the fuel pump cover made from black plastic with slots in it.

After removing this cover, which is just a push fit, you'll see two electrical connectors & one quick fit fuel connector. The orange circle approximates the area which was filled with water when the first dealer removed the cover. The silver coloured component is the CanBus controller for the fuel pump.

Undoing two Torx screws enables the CanBus controller to be eased away from it's mounting. There is a rubber 'o' ring which seats between this component and the top of the fuel pump assembly.

When the blue push fit connector is released the CanBus contoller can be removed. The void below was also about half full of water, causing intermittent electrical shorts, which caused fuel pump failure, the symptom of which was just like running out of fuel, even though plenty was in the tank.

Here is the CanBus controller top & bottom view........the underneath is sealed with black silicone & the second dealer in Germany suggested that water ingress to this component was the definate cause of the breakdown rather that the now completely dried out electrical connections.

Replacing the CanBus controller has certainly cured the problem and I've now ridden about 500 problem free miles!!

Clearly there seems to be a design fault in a plastic cover, which is fairly obviously exposed to the weather when the bike is in motion, that then allows water ingress to an area containing three electrical connectors and where there is no drain for any water to immediately disperse.

For a motorcycle that is marketed as an all weather/all terrain vehicle this is quite simply unacceptable. The German dealer said he had replaced no fewer than five of these devices under similar circumstances and that he had, on each occasion, reported his findings back to BMW.

So that I am not further inconvenianced personally I shall devise a way of preventing the water ingress, but I have also written to BMW asking for an explanation.

Their reply will be published here.

Cheers

Dutch

 

[Deleted account W]

....but I have also written to BMW asking for an explanation.

Their reply will be published here.

Cheers

Dutch

Sorry to here you had another holiday cut short by breakdowns.

I'd also be asking BMW for payment for doing the R&D work they obviously didn't do.

 

[TheJoker]

Dutch,

Thanks very much for the pictures and the explanation! Hope you get a good answer from them rather than a standard answer from a "customer-service-muppet"...

Sorry to hear about, yet another, ruined trip!

 

[richie]

Humm, seems to me that we all have a good reason to look for a succesor to the GS. Two trips down the pan. Will B*W repay the money you lost.

 

[Lunsarboy]

Hi Dutch
That is excactly the same thing and the same part that failed on mine just over a week ago. I posted as "Engine Died" I was unable to post a proper replyto the cause other than it was fuel pump related as my Spanish was not up to the long winded explanation I got from my local guy. I do whoever recognize the part. Sorry to here about your failure but thanks for the explanation at least now I know what might have caused the problem. I say might becuase, since buying the bike it has not been ridden in rain (sunny Spain!!!) so can only conclude that this was caused by water from washing the bike (in which case even worse) or in my case it was not water related.
Look forward to hearing what BMW have to say about it though.

Lunsarboy

 

[suarvharv]

Hi Dutch,
How much rain did it take to cause the pump to fail? I, like many here, have ridden in all weathers, including a good 5 hour downpour and haven't had this problem - yet.
harv

 

[Dutchman]

In the three months I've had this second 1200GS, it's covered almost 6000 miles, and it's hard to say exactly which downpour was responsible....there have been that many!!

The first dealer found water in both the areas indicated previously as well as a severe amount of electrical corrosion/erosion on the two pins within the blue connector which had intermittently been exposed to water sloshing around in the supposedly sealed void beneath the CanBus controller.

When both dealers plugged in the BMW diagnostic computer, it simply reported fuel pump failure, rather than identifying the actual failed component. It was only the second dealers' previous similar experience that got me mobile again.

The second dealer was honest enough to explain about the five previous incidents, to the extent that he said they usually have spare CanBus controlers in stock........but they've had a bit of a run on them recently so one had to be robbed from a showroom bike.

I'd imagine it would be difficult for BMW to quote their usual bollox of 'never seen that before'........but that's what I'm expecting.

For those of you familiar with my 'Norway Saga', the final resolution consisted of a brand new replacement R1200GS, which was delivered to my door 16 days after the breakdown and only a week after we got home.

All out of pocket expenses were refunded by BMW Assistance.

We also made a claim to BMW GB for a goodwill payment to compensate us for the spoilt part of our holiday which we had to complete in rental cars.......

Their first & final offer was £500.00.

I then enlisted the services of Gary Stoddart from the BMF accredited solicitors, Lloyd Green in Glasgow, who, without charge entered into correspondence with BMW GB.

BMW subsequently raised their offer to £750.00 which we accepted.

Needless to say I'll be pursuing them in similar fashion as a consequence of the latest debacle, which resulted in my planned week away in Europe being reduced to two different overnight stops in places not of my choosing and two whole days of immobility while the bike was being fixed.

Watch this space.

Cheers

Dutch

 

[suarvharv]

Now I see why you're so pissed off. Puts my problems so far - transmission clunk in 1st gear (to be resolved) and intermittent misfire (lambda sensor) into perspective.

 

[Mouse]

Hmm, I need to dismantle this area of my bike soon to fit a new power socket. I shall check that area for moisture and report back.

And possibly get the silicon sealant into action!

 

[Cestria]

Hi Dutch

Sorry to hear about the ruined holiday. You must be really pi**ed off. I hope you are not too disheartened with the bike.

Thanks for the excellent description and pictures. From what you show and say it does seem like a design fault .

Presumably the can bus controller for the fuel pump must get warm/hot in use or the plastic cover would not need the cooling (?) slots.
When you come up with a solution to the water ingress problem I , for one , would apreciate knowing what it is.
I may take mine to bits during the winter lay off to see how it can be improved / waterproofed.
My bike is at Mill NE today for its 'running in ' check, I'll ask when I pick it up tonight if they have heard of this problem.

 

[Arthurwg]

Hmmm... So many problems. My as yet undiagnosed "Brake Failure" also put me on the side of the road-- without ANY brakes what-so-ever. It really seems BMW should do a better job in the first place. And BTW, who needs servo brakes??

 

[Paul Wakefield]

Dutch,

I've had 2 fuel pump failures as well though not as disrupting as yours.

Interestingly, the dealer commented the 2nd time on how much water was in the unit. Obviously a major design flaw.

Paul

 

[Tobers]

Good info Dutch - thanks.

Just checked mine. There was water in the outer recess into which the canbus controller fits. Not too much - about a teaspoonful. Probably from washing the bike yesterday.

I absorbed this with a bit of kitchen towl and then removed the controller by unscrewing the two torx screws. The controller came out with a sucking sound, indicating a good airtight seal with the blue sealing ring. No water inside, but you can see how it could get in there with a badly fitted sealing ring.

I put liberal gobs of grease around the sealing ring after cleaning everything, and then refitted the controller. I put more grease around the controller joint. Hopefully that'll keep everything nice and clean.

I forsee a carbon-fibre replacement fuel pump cover with rear-facing shrouded vents.

 

[Wraithwrider]

My bikes seen about 9 hours of rain but hasn't been washed yet. I'll have a look under the cover on Friday and report back. I may indicate how the water is most likely to get in there.

 

[TheJoker]

Just a thought...

Since there is cooling vents on the lid, does it get hot in there, and thus would it let the water evaporate?

Just a thought; if you ride your bike long enough (in the dry), would all that water have evaporated?

Could you be at higher risk if you're not riding a long enough distance, and sometimes in the rain?

Kind of like car exhausts; if you only do short runs and the exhaust isn't allowed to ge warm throughout, you'll be sustaining water in the system, and thus it'll rust through prematurely..?

 

[Marty Hill]

There is a post in advrider by a bmw person who explains the situation quite well. Seems that perhaps it isn't water after all.

 

[Dutchman]

There is a post in advrider by a bmw person who explains the situation quite well. Seems that perhaps it isn't water after all.

Thanks Marty......here's the thread: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57153

There is very little doubt that we are experiencing water ingress the the upper housing as described above, which in turn is having an effect on the electrical components.

Poolside's comments are well informed & concise but there is no suggestion here, certainly from me, that water is entering the fuel by the means described above.

I acccept all petrol has minute amounts of water in it, but my overiding concern here is the ingress of water into exposed electrical connectors.

Cheers

Dutch

 

[(RIP) Kaister]

From what i've read from poolside - i tend to agree with him.

my old BMW 635 had an in tank fuel pump that had open electrical connections to it - as designed.

Looking at the connectors on top of the fuel pump on the 1200 they look like automotive AMP connectors - fully booted at the back and the main seals.

Cars have been using them for ages and Suzuki have recently switched to them .

Its fair to say they are a proven w/proof connector.

My vote is with the controller - not water ingress from the top.

Anyone want to do a comparative analysis test by pouring water in the top to a running pump/engine to prove / disprove ?

I mean - what can possibly go wrong....

also - i think poolside got a bit sidetracked with his filter thing - he's not saying water got in this way - just that water in fuel generally causes filter failure.

 

[Wraithwrider]

Well as I said I would I had a look under my cover. No not bedcover!

This is a new bike that's never been washed but has seen a lot of hours of being ridden in the rain.

Sure enough there was a teaspoon or so of water under the cover at the front of the recess. So BWM can't blame us for careless bike washing here.

I'm kinda with 'Poolsides' comments in that 12v electrics can be quite robust in the presence of rainwater.

I also thought I'd just check to see if it ran okay and had a strange problem that I'll post separately as 'strange problem' surprisingly enough.

 

[Wraithwrider]

BTW should there be a torx key in the toolkit that fits the fuel pump controller. I couldn't remove mine because the smallest key in the toolkit was too big.

There was an ominous space in the toolroll though!!