Warning lights, anyone got a GS-911?

[v8legend]

Last weekend I had a couple of warning lights come on. The yellow general warning triangle light came on together with the 'Engine' symbol on the display. The first time I turned off, it momentarily showed EWS. I think this might be a red herring. EWS is for the imobiliser. This no longer shows, but I've still got the triangle and engine warning.

The handbook says it is in 'emergency operation mode', and engine power might be reduced.

So, has anyone got a GS-911, so that I can check for faults. Hopefully not too far away (I don't want to ride far with a potential problem!).

 

[thomo57]

Try Steve at Motoscot, not far from you near Dunstable...

 

[stephen.stallebrass]

Does the fan come on okay?

 

[v8legend]

Does the fan come on okay?

You must be psychic?

Thanks to the generous help of a 'friend of a friend', a GS-911 was made available. Turns out the fan isn't working. Unplugged the fan, and reset the fault codes. I just need to find a fan now.

I haven't been able to check new prices yet, but I imagine they'll be salty. RealOEM says it's the same as the F800S/ST, so maybe I'll find a secondhand one. The fan is made by SPAL, they're used everywhere. It looks like the Aprillia RSV uses one very similar. There's plenty of those on eBay, I might try and splice one of those into the wiring.

 

[stephen.stallebrass]

You must be psychic?...

I had my fan go when I first got mine, it was given a liberal squirt of WD-40 and I was told that it'll need replacing at some point. However, 2 years and 30K miles later, I've even ridden it to Mongolia and back, and the fan has been fine! I check it every time I check or change the oil.

So mine just turned out to be a little ceased, might I suggest giving it a good squirt of WD-40 before stumping up for a new one, they aint cheap if I remember.

Good luck! And keep us posted.

 

[v8legend]

So mine just turned out to be a little ceased, might I suggest giving it a good squirt of WD-40 before stumping up for a new one, they aint cheap if I remember.

Good luck! And keep us posted.

I tried that. Cleaned it, blasted everything with an airline, then sprayed with WD40.

However, I don't think WD40 is going to sort corroded wiring! I've got it in pieces, and the feed in that goes to the brushes is green, and the wires have separated. It might be fixable, but taking it apart may have caused more damage. Plus, I doubt I'll manage the factory level of sealing/waterproofing when I put it back together. I've found one on eBay (Aprilia Falco) that looks very similar. I'm going to offer it up tomorrow, and see if I can make it fit.

I'll keep you posted.

 

[v8legend]

I had my fan go when I first got mine, it was given a liberal squirt of WD-40 and I was told that it'll need replacing at some point. However, 2 years and 30K miles later, I've even ridden it to Mongolia and back, and the fan has been fine! I check it every time I check or change the oil.

Hi Stephen. Having stripped mine down now, I think you may be wasting your time with the WD40. The motor unit is sealed, and WD40 will not be able to get anywhere useful. However, the fan is a press fit on to the motor spindle. If WD40 was able to reach here, the fan itself could come loose. Obviously it is important to keep it clean, so blast it out with the hose or pressure washer, but maybe think twice about the WD40!

 

[v8legend]

Good luck! And keep us posted.

Just to keep you updated. A new fan from BMW is £140. A secondhand one off eBay is £75, so I tried to addapt one off an Aprilia Falco (there are loads on eBay). Initially, all seemed well. The motor part is the same size, and from the same manufacturer. A quick test off the battery, and all's well (except the wire got very hot?). However, after leaving the bike at idle for quite a time waiting for the fan to cut in, no luck. After several minutes the engine note changed (that'll be the limp home mode!), the engine light and engine warning in the display came on, plus the oil light started flashing. Back to the drawing board!

 

[stephen.stallebrass]

Hi Stephen. Having stripped mine down now, I think you may be wasting your time with the WD40. The motor unit is sealed, and WD40 will not be able to get anywhere useful. However, the fan is a press fit on to the motor spindle. If WD40 was able to reach here, the fan itself could come loose. Obviously it is important to keep it clean, so blast it out with the hose or pressure washer, but maybe think twice about the WD40!

It was a ceased motor spindle, my fan has been fine since its liberation. It was probably only the spindle that was ever wrong with it. Sorry to hear that you're back to square one. Good luck.

 

[v8legend]

Just to keep you updated. A new fan from BMW is £140. A secondhand one off eBay is £75, so I tried to addapt one off an Aprilia Falco (there are loads on eBay). Initially, all seemed well. The motor part is the same size, and from the same manufacturer. A quick test off the battery, and all's well (except the wire got very hot?). However, after leaving the bike at idle for quite a time waiting for the fan to cut in, no luck. After several minutes the engine note changed (that'll be the limp home mode!), the engine light and engine warning in the display came on, plus the oil light started flashing. Back to the drawing board!

All fixed now.

I think I'm now fully qualified as an F800GS fan expert! So I thought I'd impart some of my findings.

My own problems seemed to be down to corrosion within the fan motor. When I stripped the motor down there was corrosion on the connection to one of the brushes. I think that when this connection was failing, it overloaded the inline 'black box'. This black box is the speed controller for the fan.

This is why my bodge with the Aprilia fan didn't work.

There have been various reports on here of sticking fans. The motor itself is sealed, so no amount of lubrication is going to help. However, I think it is worth keeping it clean. The fan is in the perfect postion for all the crap that gets thrown up by the front wheel. This dirt will soon dry (it's nice and warm between the rad and engine) and set hard.

I think this potential problem is exacerbated by the Rotax engines cooling efficiency. If the fan cut in more often, then this might not happen.

 

[stephen.stallebrass]

Bravo. Glad it's sorted.

I'm selling mine on fleabay... looking at the gtr1400 or the st1300 for bit of a change.