Gooey breather

AxeGrinder

AxeGrinder

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Hi...I seem to be visiting this page a lot this weekend!

OK, whilst dabbling with speedo/idle issues, I came across this



It appears to be emulsified oil, that has dripped from the crank case breather pipe, onto the BMS and a couple of other bits.

At first I was horrified :eek: but after checking fluids, all seems to be in order, no coolant in oil, no oil in coolant :thumb

Just wondering where/how it may have developed...I've not seen this happen on any bike or car I've messed with before :confused:

Also...the elaborate termination of the pipe, would upon examination make me think it should connect to something...or is this just BMW's way of adding parts that are not really required?

Any ideas?
 
Typically you get oil emulsifying if you do lots of shor journeys. IIRC a while back someone had it on the oil filler cap (on a F650) and they were doing about 15 miles each way each day. On my commute the oil temp gauge gets up to at least 90 deg c, so I'm not seeing it happen.

On a Passat I had blew loads of oil out through the breather and into the carb, checking the oil filler cp showed lots of white goo.
 
Last edited:
John Armstrong said:
Typically you get oil emulsifying if you do lots of shor journeys. IIRC a while back someone had it on the oil filler cap (on a F650) and they were doing about 15 miles each way each day. On my commute the oil temp gauge gets up to at least 90 deg c, so I'm not seeing it happen.

On a Passat I had blew loads of oil out through the breather and into the carb, checking the oil filler cp showed lots of white goo.
Click to expand...

I commute most days...25 miles each way, 60% in town... and I keep the gears low/revs high...so it should be getting up to a good temp, I would have thought...

Last weekend I gave it a blow out, visiting my m8 in Abersoch...loaded with gear, for around 300miles...wondered if this was something to do with it.

Not splashed on a temp guage yet...it's in my list of stuff for my uncle to try n get cheep, while he's working in Germany!
 
Having just popped out to look under the saddle of my 2004 GS, it appears that your loose Breather Pipe should be routed into the fuel filter!

A photo would make this more obvious, but may take some time, as I'm on holiday in Edinburgh at present.
 
Just to give you an idea, on the motorway crusing at about 70mph, temp gauge is not less than 90 deg c, in town drops down to 80 deg c.
 
Here we are, said breather attached to filter:-

100_0314.jpg



100_0315.jpg


Hope this helps.
 
The Wilbur said:
Here we are, said breather attached to filter:-

I deleted the pix...see below

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...


I'm sure it will!!!!

I'll check it when I get outside to head home!

...wonder if this is anything to do with the Idle RPM issue I've had! Will let you know when I get home.

Many thanks theW, and everyone else!
 
That's the engine breather pipe which should be pushed into a rubber grommet on the underside of the airbox.
Do NOT try to connect it to the fuel filter!!!
The fuel pipes are under extremely high pressure even with the engine not running and the ignition off.
The pipe shown in the pic of the fuel filter goes to the fuel injector!

Tony
 
tall tony, it is the one for the fuel filter, hence the crappy bmw clip attached to it, The breather pipe that goes to the cylinder head has a reusable clip and the oil drain doesn't havew a clip. Axegrinder, There is an oil drain on the airbox, lower r/h side of the airbox when your sat on the bike. That's the one that has the bung in it. Mine routes down near the shock adjuster mount. Could also be the cause of the high idle as well.

edit, just been looking through the bike manual and my bike, airbox has two breathers on the bottom, one goes to the the cylinder head and the other is the oil drain, the one that goes to the fuel filter comes from the throttle body direct above the fuel filter.
 
talltony said:
That's the engine breather pipe which should be pushed into a rubber grommet on the underside of the airbox.
Do NOT try to connect it to the fuel filter!!!
The fuel pipes are under extremely high pressure even with the engine not running and the ignition off.
The pipe shown in the pic of the fuel filter goes to the fuel injector!

Tony
Click to expand...

I'm about to pull the airbox, to find the hole...been inspecting the bike again...and figured it must go to the air box somewhere...I looked before leaving work, and the fuel pipes are all in tact, which would explain A) why the bike runs fine and B) why I didn't spot it last night...

I came back here to post pix of the actual hose...but it seems Tall Tony is way ahead of us all!
 
rc mad said:
tall tony, it is the one for the fuel filter, hence the crappy bmw clip attached to it, And the fact that it appears to be reinforced. Axegrinder, There is an oil drain on the airbox, lower r/h side of the airbox when your sat on the bike. That's the one that has the bung in it. Mine routes down near the shock adjuster mount. Could also be the cause of the high idle as well.
Click to expand...

The pipe in question comes from the crankcase in this pic...



and terminates below the air box, as shown in this pic



If it's an airbox drain hose, then it drains straight back to the crank case...

I've been looking in my manual, but the pix are crappy...so I'm going to have to pull the air box to have a looksee!
 
link to piccy here

I'm off to put the bike back together now :D

Al done, looking at your pic properly :blast it looks like its just pulled itself out somehow, push it back in throught the rubber bung and it should be good to go.
 
rc mad said:
link to piccy here

I'm off to put the bike back together now :D
Click to expand...

Nice one RC!...that confirms what I've found...but not the why!

I pulled the AirBox, and found a peice of duct tape covering the hole indicated in your piccy!



This has obviously been a modification by the previous owner...the termination of the hose looks as though the rubber grommet has been trimmed off it!

It sort of brings me all the way back to square one, as I was, and still am very happy with the performance of the machine...just that suddenly, the idle has increased!

I guess it's time to check the US site for mods...

SH1T
 
Very strange, only reason i can think someone would do that for would be to stop any oil getting into the airbox via the crankcase breather. Or the old grommit has broken and they simply haven't replaced it. :nenau

The gromit or ' shock absorber (M8) ' as bmw call it is a seperate part to the rest of the hose, it's number 15 on this pic, part number should be 65106905660 from bmw, in reality it's just a grommit with a 8mm hole through the centre.
 
rc mad said:
Very strange, only reason i can think someone would do that for would be to stop any oil getting into the airbox via the crankcase breather. Or the old grommit has broken and they simply haven't replaced it. :nenau

The gromit or ' shock absorber (M8) ' as bmw call it is a seperate part to the rest of the hose, it's number 15 on this pic, part number should be 65106905660 from bmw, in reality it's just a grommit with a 8mm hole through the centre.
Click to expand...

Jeez...I'm begnning to wonder if turning German was such a good idea!

I'm saving like mad for my trip to Italy in two weeks, and gotta fork out over £40 for a speedo sensor...now this grommet...I know BMW ar gonna charge £5 for it, at least! Do you have to be made of money to own one of these things!!! :spitfire

End of rant :rob

Maybe I'll go on the almost retired VFR instead...at least I know it'll make the trip :augie I'll be going to work on it tomorrow anywat, as I'm getting tired of removing 1000000 screws just to get at the airbox!
 
AxeGrinder said:
Jeez...I'm begnning to wonder if turning German was such a good idea!

I'm saving like mad for my trip to Italy in two weeks, and gotta fork out over £40 for a speedo sensor...now this grommet...I know BMW ar gonna charge £5 for it, at least! Do you have to be made of money to own one of these things!!! :spitfire

End of rant :rob

Maybe I'll go on the almost retired VFR instead...at least I know it'll make the trip :augie I'll be going to work on it tomorrow anywat, as I'm getting tired of removing 1000000 screws just to get at the airbox!
Click to expand...


Hmm your not alone there :thedummyI've started leaving out the odd screw here and there.

Just been looking at the posts above 'some interesting suggestions :augie' I can confirm as you have now discovered anyway that you and RCmad are correct in your diagnosis - it's the crank case breather :rolleyes:

Interesting to see the air box was taped up. probably to prevent extra unfiltered air. Have a good look inside for a piece of rubber ring (the top end of the original grommet). Also look inside to see if there has been excessive amounts of oil at some point, look at the side of the funnel of the intake rubber inside the air box.
If it's oily, then it's likely the crank case breather was deliberately removed to stem the flow 'as it were'. If not, then it's probably just rotted and fallen off.
Again look for evidence of sticky tape on the breather tube itself. It's probable that if the box was sealed, then the pipe would have been too. You might find whats left in the vicinity of the back of the engine or the fuel filter.

I would suspect the root cause of this is that at some point the bike has been overfilled with oil (easily done) It's then blown back up into the air box causing the air filter a premature demise. There could also have been a blockage of the oil filter causing the crank case to pressurise and force oil up inti the air box. (When was the last time YOU know when the oil filter was changed?)

If your inclined, a service kit (oil filter, plugs, 'o' rings and washers) is about £20 from Motorworks (often found on ebay) Air filter about £& extra.

It would also be worth removing the breather pipe and blowing it through to make sure it's clear.

Hope some of this is usful.

Val.
 
VAL. H. said:
Hmm your not alone there :thedummy

If your inclined, a service kit (oil filter, plugs, 'o' rings and washers) is about £20 from Motorworks (often found on ebay) Air filter about £& extra.

It would also be worth removing the breather pipe and blowing it through to make sure it's clear.

Hope some of this is usful.

Val.
Click to expand...

Wow...Val...I think I bought your panniers!

I've had the bike since end of May, and not done an oil change yet...as it was like new when I got the bike...However...I have in my posession, a new KnN oil filter, Spark plugs, fork seals and stuff, which will all be installed before my trip.

The bike came with KnN air filter...which I have cleaned n charged a few weeks ago.

BTW: I did know all along that it was the crankcase breather...but it wouldn't have surprised me for it to be connected to a fuel pump or some thing wierd like that!

There's no sign of tape on the breather...and it looks as though the "connector" been trimmed at some point in it's lifetime...hence the thought of a tuning mod...there are some ingenous folk out there...

The breather could be slightly blocked...hence the emulsified oil...it was laying free under the airbox, just above the electrnics box...

There is a small "film" of oil in the airbox...could be leftovers from something in the past...

Anyhow...thanks a lot for the advice...I'll let you all know how I get on with it...

I'm very excited about my trip to Italy...and am hoping the Dak is goiing to be running AYOK ready for the trip...I don't want to use the VFR...just bought panniers (and I burned holes in my throw overs last weekend so now got none for the VFR)

:beerjug: from a not so dispondent AxeGrinder :thumb
 
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