1200 exhaust valve burnout

Pauly S · Jan 8, 2012

HI all,Have any of you guys experienced the exhaust valves dropping off on a 1200?
I just wondered if you managed to find the cause?
I noticed they have twin lambda probes, and wondered if one was causing the offending cylinder to run lean.
The bike i'm working on, has a dead right side.
Any others out there? :beerjug:

Deleted account 190920001 · Jan 9, 2012

There are a few posts on here about it. Nobody really knows why it happens but there are a few theories if you read through them.

Schtum · Jan 9, 2012

How old's the bike? Early 1200s, ie '04 & '05, came with a fuel/ignition map which resulted in some failures on the right hand pot, before they were recoded.

Pauly S · Jan 9, 2012

spot on sir

Schtum said:
How old's the bike? Early 1200s, ie '04 & '05, came with a fuel/ignition map which resulted in some failures on the right hand pot, before they were recoded.

that fits the bill.its an 05, well done.

Pauly S · Jan 9, 2012

schtum

can i pick your brains mate?
where did you find this info from, i rang bmw today and they said, no, dunno what you are talking about? ecu upgrade nah..
no surprise there ...

Schtum · Jan 9, 2012

Nomad biker said:
can i pick your brains mate?
where did you find this info from, i rang bmw today and they said, no, dunno what you are talking about? ecu upgrade nah..
no surprise there ...

I used to help out in a BMW dealership from time to time. I know at least two guys who had their bikes replaced because the right pot ate itself. The information about the coding issue on early ECUs came from the head tech in one of the dealerships. Early 1200s had several software upgrades. My first one was a December '04 bike and from memory, I'm pretty sure it had at least 3; one of which caused more problems than it cured but that's another story. However, it was notable that there were significant fuel economy changes between a couple of the upgrades.

If it was Bracknell that you spoke to, I'm not surprised at the reply you got.

Pukmeister · Jan 9, 2012

I agree with everything Schtum says, having owned one of the first ex-dealer demos in 2004-2008. Some of the software updates caused more trouble than they solved. I recall the last dealer update made the engine feel less powerful and responsive, presumably due to enrichment of the mixture to avoid exhaust valve woes.

skywalker · Jan 9, 2012

Naw he'd have got through to the call centre in Rotherham. They handle all the customer service enquiries now.

Pauly S · Jan 9, 2012

well..

it was my local dealer whom are normally very helpful' they havnt Been there very long, so i wondered if they were out of the loop, so to speak.

DrFarkoff · Jan 9, 2012

If the flash screen below doesn't work ... Click on this link

<div style="width:480px;text-align:right;"><embed width="480" height="360" src="http://static.pbsrc.com/flash/rss_slideshow.swf" flashvars="rssFeed=http%3A%2F%2Ffeed663.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fuu352%2FJaythro55%2FPetes%2520R1200GS%2Ffeed.rss" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" /><a href="http://photobucket.com/redirect/album?showShareLB=1" target="_blank"><img src="http://pic.photobucket.com/share/icons/embed/btn_geturs.gif" style="border:none;" /></a><a href="http://s663.photobucket.com/albums/uu352/Jaythro55/Petes%20R1200GS/" target="_blank"><img src="http://pic.photobucket.com/share/icons/embed/btn_viewall.gif" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

gipsymagpie · Jan 10, 2012

Right hand pot

+1 here. Right hand pot and insides replaced plus whole new exhaust system (extended warranty wins again). Never explained to me what happened. 04GS

Pauly S · Jan 10, 2012

A discovery made today

All those bods out there with full bmw service history, thinking your bike is fully up to date on the software front beware..
It probably isnt, the ecu can only be flashed up to about 9 times, after that you need a new ecu, its only software flashed to cure a problem..
So maybe the bike i'm mending may have the older right pot munching software..
will defo have that re-flashed.

Pauly S · Jan 10, 2012

ive done the same

Jaythro said:
If the flash screen below doesn't work ... Click on this link

<embed src="http://static.pbsrc.com/flash/rss_slideshow.swf" flashvars="rssFeed=http%3A%2F%2Ffeed663.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fuu352%2FJaythro55%2FPetes%2520R1200GS%2Ffeed.rss" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="480" height="360">

but i had to split the cases, there was swarf everywhere.Itwas the only of way of guarenteeing total shyte removal.

jogo · Jan 10, 2012

Does anyone know if it is usually the upper or lower exhaust valve that fails?

I read a theory once that might expalin failure of the lower one. :nenau

However, it would not expalin why it seems to be the right hand cylinder that usually seems to get hit.

supaparty · Jan 11, 2012

Identical problem on my 2007 GSA

On Christmas day I dropped the exhaust valve on the right cylinder on my 2007 GSA with 33k miles on it. I was going about 80 mph at the time shifting from 4th to 5th gear as I merged onto the freeway, trying to go fast to see if I felt any wheel shake after installing ceramic balancing beads inside a new set of Karoos. Suddenly there was pop and a loss of power as I was streaming smoke and spewing oil like a downed P-52 Mustang.

This happened the day before we were supposed to leave for a 6 day Baja Mexico trip on the big bikes. I ended up having to take my small 450 dual-sport instead...what a bum deal.

Anyhow, I've got the bike on the lift and after pulling the exhaust and spark plugs the damage looks identical to the photos posted previously...I haven't yanked the head yet to see if I punched a hole in the piston, but stay tuned.

C-J · Jan 11, 2012

If they are left in the side stand, oil seeps away from the right hand cylinder more compared to the left hand........

:augie

cookie · Jan 11, 2012

C-J said:
If they are left in the side stand, oil seeps away from the right hand cylinder more compared to the left hand........

yeah, right.

oh hang on. there's a pump. and they seem go when upright...

Bobbin-Man · Jan 11, 2012

cookie said:
yeah, right.

oh hang on. there's a pump. and they seem go when upright...

At start-up the only lubrication is oil that is already in the bearings and journals - the pump will build pressure and it will then be fed to everywhere from where it has drained - only a momentary starving of oil but it can add up over many many cold start cycles. My 49,000 miler has a small chatter at start-up which disappears after a second or 2 when the oil gets back to where it should be - not unusual - but I'm sure it's more from the RH side if it's been on the side stand for any length of time. I know from talking to plenty of other boxer owners that there's plenty that prefer that if the bike is left, particularly overnight, it goes on the centre stand not the side stand. This is unlikely to be the cause but can certainly be a contributing factor.

Deleted account 190920001 · Jan 11, 2012

These bikes are all all running at speed and haven't just been started and failed. Yes the oil might drain more from the right but there shouldn't be any oil on the valve stems anyway as they have seals to stop the oil getting in there. The oil drains into the cover on the left anyway and when lifted it will drain low and down the chain tunnel. Its not like the whole valve area is full of oil at any time anyway, its just wet. The cam is far more likely to suffer from oil starvation. The pressures are huge on the moving surfaces so if it was oil related the cam and flowers would wear well before a valve would size and snap. Every other engine other than boxers have the heads right at the top of the engine, where do you think the oil is going to go? Should you park your car/bike upsides down?
Anybody else care to mention you will fook your engine leaving it on the side stand?

C-J · Jan 11, 2012

Clearly

isn't understood..

Apparently leaving it on your side stand also damages the left sidewall of your tyres.

:augie

1200 exhaust valve burnout

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