Victor c
Registered user
That’s the part I’ve ordered. I placed it on Sunday and it arrived just now. It also comes with with the sealing O ring, so no need to order separately.
R1250GS Exclusive - Engine Noise (Valve Tick) Cylinder Pod
- Thread starter AFSKI
- Start date
That’s the part I’ve ordered. I placed it on Sunday and it arrived just now. It also comes with with the sealing O ring, so no need to order separately.
jasonf
Registered user
Great thanks for confirming.
I’ve been told by my dealer it’s necessary to lock the engine before removing the tensioner. Anyone got any info on this?
bosnjo
Registered user
The tensioner on my bike was changed at BMW dealer by BMW mechanic in front of my eyes. He just let the engine cool down, bike was on side stand, put a lot of shop paper towels around the tensioner to keep the bike clean, unscrewed old tensioner and screwed in the new one. Then he cleaned the area and sprayed it with degreaser a lot to clean any remaining oil. While he was doing it some of the engine oil escaped (normal thing). He didn't care to save it. After the job was done, he filled up the missing quantity of engine oil with new oil. It was very little.
All together took 5 minutes and no engine locking.
All together took 5 minutes and no engine locking.
If you view the Boxflyer YouTube video series he always locks at TDC for the cylinder he’s working on.
But, all those videos he goes on to checking clearances and cam timing, so it’s maybe not necessary.
Hi AFSKI and welcome to the forum.
when i first purchased my GS i noticed the ticking too, now to be fair mine isn't that loud but its there.
i mentioned it to a mate, who i know previously owned a GS and he said yea it normal its part of the bikes character.
you can actually feel it when you hold the engine while its running.
I'm glad though it didn't get worse or i would have been worried, even though the bikes under warranty.
I've since got used to it and I've had the bike over 2 years and i don't really notice it now.
i also stopped smashing my shins on the engine too.... again another quirk of the bike lol
hope you get your sorted so you can start to enjoy the bike, they are great bikes.
when i first purchased my GS i noticed the ticking too, now to be fair mine isn't that loud but its there.
i mentioned it to a mate, who i know previously owned a GS and he said yea it normal its part of the bikes character.
you can actually feel it when you hold the engine while its running.
I'm glad though it didn't get worse or i would have been worried, even though the bikes under warranty.
I've since got used to it and I've had the bike over 2 years and i don't really notice it now.
i also stopped smashing my shins on the engine too.... again another quirk of the bike lol
hope you get your sorted so you can start to enjoy the bike, they are great bikes.
The obvious extension to this query is, did they not fit 19mm to the left side for a reason, and do we know whether fitting a 19mm one might have some downsides. I know jack nothing about mechanics, but hoping some of the folks here can shed some thoughts.
From my limited knowledge on the subject (so forgive me in advance if I'm incorrect!) but it's possibly related to the tensioner on the LHS being located at the top of the cylinder whilst the RHS tensioner is located at the bottom of the cylinder.
Why should this matter I hear you ask? Well, it's been highlighted that over time, natural 'drain-down' of oil occurs within the powertrain, especially from the LHS tensioner whilst the RHS side is always submerged (even for bikes commonly left on their side stands as opposed to the centre stand).
The initial cranking event followed by running 'pseudo-dry' for a few seconds can lead to wear/scuffing within the original design of the LHS tensioner. This can later on cause 'worn' surfaces within leading to increased internal clearances.
On my bike, I noticed that the engine was perfectly quiet (well, as quiet as an agricultural lump like these can be!) for the initial ~1000 miles from new, both at cold start, cold idling and hot idling. After ~1000 miles or so, there was evident 'tapping' on the LHS tensioner predominantly only at hot idling or low speeds below ~20 mph in first/second gear.
I don't know how the new 19mm tensioner-head design varies relative to the previous 17mm tensioner-head design, but it does appeared to have resolved this issue.
Why it's taken BMW this long to figure this out I'm not so sure, but that's for them to answer!!!!
Why should this matter I hear you ask? Well, it's been highlighted that over time, natural 'drain-down' of oil occurs within the powertrain, especially from the LHS tensioner whilst the RHS side is always submerged (even for bikes commonly left on their side stands as opposed to the centre stand).
The initial cranking event followed by running 'pseudo-dry' for a few seconds can lead to wear/scuffing within the original design of the LHS tensioner. This can later on cause 'worn' surfaces within leading to increased internal clearances.
On my bike, I noticed that the engine was perfectly quiet (well, as quiet as an agricultural lump like these can be!) for the initial ~1000 miles from new, both at cold start, cold idling and hot idling. After ~1000 miles or so, there was evident 'tapping' on the LHS tensioner predominantly only at hot idling or low speeds below ~20 mph in first/second gear.
I don't know how the new 19mm tensioner-head design varies relative to the previous 17mm tensioner-head design, but it does appeared to have resolved this issue.
Why it's taken BMW this long to figure this out I'm not so sure, but that's for them to answer!!!!
The 19mm tensioner is the same physical size as the 17mm item when compared except that it has a greater protrusion of the tensioner piston when unpressurised and more range of travel. I didn't measure/feel the differences in spring pressure but replacing the 17mm with a 19mm has drastically reduced the cacophany of clatter I had when hot at part throttle between 2-3000 rpm. I suspect that the slightly longer protrusion/travel is sufficient to take up the very last bit of slack in the LH camchain that the previous design of tensioner couldn't reach.
scarab1987
Registered user
It makes big sense. I don't really know why they didn't do it from the beginning. Left cam chain is longer than right side because of engine architecture. So a longer chain needs stronger tensioner to has the same slack as right. Simple engineering..
Mine is in for service in a couple of weeks and the workshop are going to have a listen. It’s noticeable but not getting worse.
My bike is still under warranty but I asked how easy it is to change the tensioner if I choose to change it myself for my own peace of mind. That was when locking the engine was mentioned. That’s probably the official way, but anybody’s guess what the techie actually does.
Wouldn’t be surprised if the 19 mm tensioner is purely an aesthetic exercise to make the punters feel something has been done….
My bike is still under warranty but I asked how easy it is to change the tensioner if I choose to change it myself for my own peace of mind. That was when locking the engine was mentioned. That’s probably the official way, but anybody’s guess what the techie actually does.
Wouldn’t be surprised if the 19 mm tensioner is purely an aesthetic exercise to make the punters feel something has been done….
Victor c
Registered user
Fitted mine yesterday, and it has made a significant reduction in the noise from the left cam chain. Simple enough job, but I would suggest the new sprung loaded part is dipped in oil prior to fit, so it is lubricated as soon as the engine starts.
For fitting to a GSA, you have to move the lower crash bar out of the way.
This mod, combined with the replacement cams and followers, has also reduced the engine vibration I could feel through the foot pegs.
For fitting to a GSA, you have to move the lower crash bar out of the way.
This mod, combined with the replacement cams and followers, has also reduced the engine vibration I could feel through the foot pegs.
Victor c
Registered user
Not quite, the l/h (upper) camchain is driven off the crank, the r/h camchain (lower) via the slave shaft-in-shaft (1:1 ratio with the crank):
Well I had mine replaced several months ago, a definite improvement in the horrible rattling but it’s still noisier than the right side, I’m wondering what if any damage may have occurred during the 8,500mls it was running with the original tensioner….
When the motors cold it’s pretty quiet on both sides, only when fully hot the left side gets noisier.
When the motors cold it’s pretty quiet on both sides, only when fully hot the left side gets noisier.
I didn't need to remove the LH lower crash bar at all on my 1250GSA, I just used a normal offset-crank 19mm ring spanner to undo and an offset-crank 19mm ring spanner to tighten the new one. The job took all of three minutes to complete.
I guess if you use a socket wrench you would need to remove the crash bar but why make life difficult for yourself if there is an easier way?
On the subject of oil, my GSA had stood on the centre stand for two days before I removed the old tensioner and virtually no oil came out, unlike the youtube video where his engine had been run. I guess this proves that the tensioner oil drains away when stood. I only wiped fresh oil onto the piston and O-ring before installing the new item but there was no noticeable camchain clatter on start up unlike my old hexhead which always clattered from LH cylinder on startup.
The bike now sounds way better with the new tensioner and feels a little smoother when running.
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