2nd incident of water in gas...

[jeffkyle]

2012 R1200RT with 108,000 miles. Bike has ran impeccable since I bought it new. I live in Tampa. In May I was riding in NC in torrential rain. Stopped for gas, bike started, ran 30 seconds, died... would not start. Towed bike to Carolina BMW (Greensboro), they determined it was bad (water in) gas, pulled tank, flushed refilled with fresh gas, ran like a top. (I called the gas station and was told by the manager that I was the only person that had complained... I wrote it off that maybe I had let water get in the gas at the station. It was pouring down while I was filling up..)

I left NC, headed back to Florida, noticed smell of gas... When I got to Florida I found that gas was leaking around the quick disconnect at the top of the Fuel Pump on the gas tank. I tried several orings...no success to stop the leak, so a week or so later I picked up a new quick disconnect elbow fitting(O ring included) from my local dealer, installed it and left to go back to NC. By the time I got to NC it was leaking again. Went back to Carolina BMW, they said there was a crack in the flange where the quick connect fitting went in, and the only fix was a new fuel pump. They said it was a known issue, previous recall item,but because I was over 2 years beyond the warranty, BMW would not cover. That sucked... Put new fuel pump on and no issues since. Runs as good as the day i picked it up with 12 miles on it...

In June I rode from Florida to NC, to the Black Hills (SD), Chief Joseph, Beartooth, Glacier National Park, Canadian Rockies (Banff, Jasper, etc), back thru Montana, Idaho, Salt Lake, Colorado, Texas, Louisiana, Tampa. Bike performed absolutely flawless. (9,685 miles)... Got home, got new set of tires, washed bike, and parked it. It has set there with about a 1/2 full tank for about 2 1/2 weeks. (Although it is in a garage, it is Florida... 99% humidity everyday). Went out this morning to ride. It cranked, ran 15 seconds, died. Seemed to be the exact symptoms as previous water in fuel. Today I pulled tank off, flushed, put new gas...it cranked up and runs like it should.

Now my questions.... How can water get in the gas tank so easy? Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I need to inspect? or how to avoid recurrence? Can water get into the tank by any means other than thru the fill hole?

Sorry for the long post. Thanks for your suggestions. (I guess it proves a BMW should never be washed ? ...but I do occasionally ride in some rain...)

 

[pglaves]

There is a drain at the filler cap that is supposed to allow any leakage at the cap to drain away before the seal is broken when the cap is opened. If this drain is clogged water can accumulate and enter the tank when the filler cap is opened. Compressed air and/or some piano wire may be used to clear the drain.

And over time, humidity in the air may condense in the tank in humid areas.

A good additive such as Heet or Isoheet is the preventative. If it happens again add 1/2 bottle of Isoheet. After a few minutes it should start and run. I carry a bottle when we travel.

 

[lee]

There is a drain at the filler cap that is supposed to allow any leakage at the cap to drain away before the seal is broken when the cap is opened. If this drain is clogged water can accumulate and enter the tank when the filler cap is opened. Compressed air and/or some piano wire may be used to clear the drain.

I had the drain clog on my 2003 K1200RS and found the clog where the line came out of the tank where the fuel pump screws in. I was able to use a can of compressed air to unclog it.
I was afraid if I used my air compressor I might pop a hose loose inside the tank.

 

[179212]

Recall

I thought if it is an official recall for some safety issues how can it be 2 years out of warranty? I thought they were supposed to fix the problem. The time frame should not matter
See first post did not want to do long quote thing.

 

[jeffkyle]

I thought if it is an official recall for some safety issues how can it be 2 years out of warranty? I thought they were supposed to fix the problem. The time frame should not matter
See first post did not want to do long quote thing.

Agree..

Sent from my GT-N5110 using Tapatalk

 

[junkjohn]

Yes, a recall and a warranty repair are two very different things.

 

[deilenberger]

Yes, a recall and a warranty repair are two very different things.

If I was the OP - I'd be approaching BMW-Motorad US about being reimbursed for the pump replacement. It was not a warranty item - it was a recall item. It sounds like Carolina BMW is a dealer to avoid.

 

[junkjohn]

Seems as though they broke the quick connects also.

 

[exgman]

If I was the OP - I'd be approaching BMW-Motorad US about being reimbursed for the pump replacement. It was not a warranty item - it was a recall item. It sounds like Carolina BMW is a dealer to avoid.

When in NC, take it to Asheville. Great people there, and very accommodating of travelers. Matt Hoekstra is the SM. Here's the website: http://eurosportasheville.com

 

[AntonLargiader]

From the bulletin:

Warranty: The repair described in this bulletin is covered under warranty regardless of time or mileage.

I'd start by contacting your dealer first, then (if necessary) BMW Customer Service, then (if necessary) NHTSA.

From the recall response:

Owners may contact BMW customer relations at 1-800-525-7417 or email BMW at CustomerRelations@bmwusa.com.

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.

 

[exgman]

2012 R1200RT with 108,000 miles.... Went back to Carolina BMW, they said there was a crack in the flange where the quick connect fitting went in, and the only fix was a new fuel pump. They said it was a known issue, previous recall item,but because I was over 2 years beyond the warranty, BMW would not cover. That sucked... Put new fuel pump on and no issues since. Runs as good as the day i picked it up with 12 miles on it...

Jeff - There are two different dealer/BMW NA situation which might pertain to a BMW motorcycle. There are recalls which are performed by dealers after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and BMW agree regarding the terms of a recall. You can check on this kind of thing in the NHTSA website. I did a search just now and here is a screen-shot of the results, done without knowing the last 7 digits of your VIN:



You'll note that there are no recall items in effect according to the NHTSA for your RT. There is another place you can check for recalls and possibly "campaigns." These are voluntary actions taken by BMW to address issues. All you need is the last 7 digits of your VIN, and you can check both recalls and campaigns on an official BMW NA website. See the URL for doing that here:

http://www.bmwmotorcycles.com/us/en.../en/virtualcenter/index_recall.html&notrack=1

BMW NA does issue Service Information Bulletins (SIBs) to the dealer network when a problem with a group of bikes does not rise to the level of concern regarding a recall, campaign, or Warranty Extension (as in the fuel-level indicator in some earlier RTs). This is the kind of thing of which Anton writes, I believe.

 

[AntonLargiader]

The bulletin clarified (in my words) that the recall affects all bikes produced before BMW started using the support rings in production, and that the goal was that all bikes have support rings, either as new equipment, as a replaced pump, or as an added part. According to them, a 2012 bike should have had the ring from new.

If it did, and leaked past warranty, then this recall does not influence your repair because your situation was not what the recall was about. I'm not saying no one will listen to you, but you are not legally within the scope of recall that BMW and NHTSA agreed on.

If you did not have the ring and it leaked, then you "fell through the cracks" and you should contact the people I mentioned. If you can no longer show that your bike did not have the ring, because you discarded the part when it was replaced, then you may have no real recourse.

Any dealer can pull up your bike's history to see if the recall was required and if it was performed.

Oh, and you still need to fix the water leak...