Took out the starter motor

[Spike]

Hi after all my posts about the clutch slipping I took the starter motor out this morning and there was no sign of oil anywhere.
But everything did look rusty, ok alot of surface rust but rust non the less.
here are some pics of the findings

I know they are not the clearest of pics but it gives some indication of whats in there.
Looks like i will be stripping the bike down now even if it is just to clean the splines or whatever.
Looking at the pics what would you guys do.

1. strip it and just replace anyways seeing as you have split the bike
2. strip it clean it if everything checked out and put it back to gether hoping you had cured the problem

Thanks

spike

 

[AberdeenAngus]

Looking at the pics what would you guys do.

Nuthin. There's nothing wrong that I can see.
Flywheel is made of cast iron. Surface rust is normal.
If you clean it, it'll only come back.


I thought it was a problem with the clutch ?

 

[Spike]

It is a problem with the clutch, I just got told to take out the starter to see if there was any oil present which there is not.

I probably frased the above post wrong.

spike

 

[AberdeenAngus]

If I was stripping a clutch I would always replace the disc unless it was immaculate and almost brand new.

I think with the symptoms you described you're going to find a badly worn clutch.


... and if there is any oil on the plates then you'll be needing to replace the oil seal too.
In fact you might just want to replace the oil seal while you've got it apart.

 

[Steptoe]

Just because you can't see any oil doesn't mean there isn't any on your friction plate.

Oil or no oil if the clutch is slipping it's slipping. Looking at it won't fix it

 

[Pukmeister]

Thats quite a bit more rusty than I was expecting to see.

I reckon Steptoe the sage has spoken words of wisdom (as usual), the only way to know for sure is to take it to bits and get a closer look.

Once apart, you will be able to inspect the clutch properly and see if it is faulty, or if the fault lies with the release mechanism (eg splines tight, master cylinder faulty, clutch pushrod stuck, oil on friction plates etc etc).

Deep breath and out with the spanners I guess. Good luck with it, be sure to take plenty of pictures before stripping anything so you can put it back together again and get an assistant to help with the heavy or cumbersome parts when splitting.

Shop around for the replacement clutch (if needed) from Motorworks, James Sherlock etc etc and avoid dodgy eBay copy parts unless you are 100% sure they are genuine.

 

[Spike]

Ok thanks for the replys guys.
Will be sorting the garage out next weekend ready for the big strip.

Had a good look at the bike this morning and it does not look as daunting as it first seems.
The only tool that I can see that I will need is the engine lock thingy, looking at the tool on the BMW workshop disc it looks like it sits in the teeth of the flywheel, the one in the Haynes manual looks like an allen key with a smaller bit on the end, That pushes into the block.

spike

 

[Pukmeister]

Probably a multitude of ways to lock the flywheel in place on a 1200 engine.

Paging Mr Steptoe...........

 

[Steptoe]

Why do you need to lock the flywheel ? - i've never needed to lock one on all the clutches i've replaced...

 

[Spike]

Why do you need to lock the flywheel ? - i've never needed to lock one on all the clutches i've replaced...

I had wondered that myself, Never locked the flywheel either when doing a clutch on cars.

It says something about getting the engine to TDC and locking the flywheel.

I think this might be if your putting the same parts back but I still cannot see why to do it,even when putting the same parts back.

spike

 

[Pukmeister]

It's probably a good idea whilst you are at it to lube the splines on the driveshaft going into the final drive input pinion too.

 

[Demongroover]

Just curious Spike, but how many miles has your bike got on it?

 

[Spike]

39500 miles

spike

 

[Pukmeister]

Went out on my bike yesterday thinking my clutch was OK now, gave it a handfull on the motorway and heard the revs rise and fall. It did seem less slip than previously and I was pressing on a bit, but I'd prefer to have none at all.

Spoke to Bahnstormer who suggest that at my current mileage (11,900) it could be a glazed friction plate and not necessarily oil contamination. No rise in the reservoir level which suggests little wear on the friction plate.

I guess I'll be removing the starter motor on Saturday afternoon to take a peek.

The clutch is covered for either a fault or due to oil contamination through a failed seal under the BMW extended warranty, but if none found then I'd be looking at a £900 repair bill.

The dilemma of dealer versus DIY begins......

 

[forest biker]

Went out on my bike yesterday thinking my clutch was OK now, gave it a handfull on the motorway and heard the revs rise and fall. It did seem less slip than previously and I was pressing on a bit, but I'd prefer to have none at all.

Spoke to Bahnstormer who suggest that at my current mileage (11,900) it could be a glazed friction plate and not necessarily oil contamination. No rise in the reservoir level which suggests little wear on the friction plate.

I guess I'll be removing the starter motor on Saturday afternoon to take a peek.

The clutch is covered for either a fault or due to oil contamination through a failed seal under the BMW extended warranty, but if none found then I'd be looking at a £900 repair bill.

The dilemma of dealer versus DIY begins......

At least the cost will be covered if it does need doing though under warranty once you have had a look ,thats the main thing so you dont have to drop £900 , good case for the warranty was worth it if that does happen

 

[Spike]

I must admit when first looking at doing the job and having to actually split the bike I did contemplate getting it done.
Trouble is I started to look at cost and read a bit more got a lot more advice off here and decided why give the dealer get my hard earned cash.
I trust garages as far as I can throw them, I used to work in one, and vowed my cars bikes will go no where near one unless it is absolutely nessassary.

Like been said its just nuts and bolts, its not a hard job just a long time consuming one.
I am looking forward to doing it.

spike

 

[stross]

clutch

hi been reading your clutch problems iv got gsa 2007 28.000 on the clock. mine started having the same problems as you.5th gear on it slip so looks like it is the clutch . my question is do you change plate or all of the clutch? and with the looks of things you could start a workshop up just for clutch changing is this a common fault on all gs .have you managed to find a cheap plate im looking now cheers

 

[Spike]

Hi stross
try looking at James Sherlock, they advertise at the top of the page, seem to be the cheapest around.
From advice on here and from my own experiencewith xars I would change everything.
Oh and get this cd it is really helpful, better than the haynes manual in places

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BMW-Workshop-...es_Manuals_Litterature_ET&hash=item1e6185a7e8

Spike

 

[Pukmeister]

I just whipped the starter out of mine (11,900 miles) and as expected the clutch looks pristine visually, although everything is fairly rusty. Plenty of meat on the friction plate surfaces, the gearbox side of the friction plate looks a tiny bit thinner than the engine side but thats probably due to the clutch action where the plate slides towards the engine and most of the slip is going to occur at the fixed pressure plate face (gearbox side) rather than the sliding face (engine side). I checked the clutch action with the lever and it seems to slide smoothly and separate the plates as expected. No signs or smells of oil within the bellhousing with an inspection mirror.

I would suspect my clutch plates have glazed leading to the clutch slip, and I'm loathe to pay the dealers the £900 required to replace my clutch due to slip, when Sherlocks sell the parts for less than £300.

I shall probably wait and see if the clutch improves with wear/use and if not, I will split the bike and change it myself in due course, replacing everything.

 

[stross]

clutch

thanks just orderd the cd order parts monday then get the bike up in the air and get stripping thanks again