Reminder: Replace Your FPC

FPC
Fuel pressure controller. It sits on top of the tank, and supposedly toggles the fuel pump between 80% and 100% voltage.
They fail.
I knew mine would fail, 2008 R1200RT. But I didn't realize it would happen in Mexico, with 12000 miles on the bike.
I had to get towed off the mountain. To the city. Then someone else brought their spare down to me from the Los Angeles area.
They had been told by the dealer that it looked like theirs was going bad.
They get wet, they corrode, and they fail.
There was a recall, but only on GS and only 2006 to 2008 models.
In 2009 BMW went to a different controller, only in the sense that it was black anodized and sealed around the plug.
Some still fail.
Carry a spare (your old one, which didn't fail yet) or a bypass cable.
I guess it's like the old Ford ignition modules.
dc

If you've got that original you're tempting fate unless you know how to do a bypass or replace it roadside- which you MIGHT have to do even with the newer variant (powder coated, not anodized, to prevent corrosion of the housing which breaks the board seal on the bottom in some cases).

An upgrade is certainly good but in addition always be prepared to do a bypass or replace. Good info on the hexcode site, the UK GSinfo site, and other places.

David- with just a T-20 (not in the bike tool kit but needed to get the fpc out) and a knife you could have cut the plug off the dead fpc and connected it into the power supply wires to the fpc, making an on the spot bypass connection.

I check mine every year, and thus far its been dry inside. Resealing it with silicone grease along the gasket surface. I am assuming that if it stays dry I will be okay?
I do however have a bypass cable.
Ed

Are you referring to #17, fuel pressure regulator?

lkchris said:

Are you referring to #17, fuel pressure regulator?

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He's referring to an electrical module that sits where the fuel line exits the tank. As for the "Replace" advise... mine is original, going on 7 years and 70K miles old. If it does fail I know how to bypass it in the field.

The controller is the metallic object with cooling fins and an electrical connection inside the ring in the following image.

I carry one of these. Easily do on the side of the road if need be.

http://www.burnsmoto.com/bmw-fuel-pump-bypass-cable.php

Racer 7 did a nice job on this subject and it became a Best of Forum segment-
http://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?t=55047

m249joe said:

I carry one of these. Easily do on the side of the road if need be.

http://www.burnsmoto.com/bmw-fuel-pump-bypass-cable.php

Click to expand...

My controller has 72,000 miles on it (05'RT). I also carry the bypass harness.

marchyman said:

He's referring to an electrical module that sits where the fuel line exits the tank.

Click to expand...

And, it's like pulling teeth to get somebody to post the part number for this thing.

Not in the "best of forum" thread anywhere either.

lkchris said:

And, it's like pulling teeth to get somebody to post the part number for this thing.

Click to expand...

You've never heard of RealOEM? Took me about 5 clicks to find it for my bike.



The table below the picture says that item 5 is a Fuel pump, electronic, qty 1, part number 16147720776. That's for my bike. Don't know if it is the same for yours.

I did get the info about the bypass, at the side of the road, but at that time I still did not understand the issue and any potential problems with the bypass. And I did think we were talking about cutting into the wiring.
I have since realized the bypass would be ok.
And I am now attempting to solder my old one into a bypass cable.
One wire broke off. Back to the soldering table.
Any time you need a part number, go to MaxBMW, parts microfiche online. Very convenient.
I had my laptop and GS911 so I got a code roadside.
We do not mean the regulator. Some people end up with a bad pump. But I never heard of a bad regulator.
I ended up getting a tow, and then someone brought a replacement spare to me to use temporarily. He rode 420 miles roundtrip.
He was grateful someone else rescued him a few years ago, and wanted to pass on the goodwill.
Insurance paid for the tow and the motel. I actually enjoyed the adventure.
dc

776 is my new one.

marchyman said:

You've never heard of RealOEM? Took me about 5 clicks to find it for my bike.

Click to expand...

Of course I have--I posted one of its diagrams above.

But when somebody calls something a fuel pressure controller when the fiche calls it a fuel pump, electronic and in addition provides no picture ... well it isn't good or helpful communication. I queried about something called in the fiche fuel pressure regulator, which in English is a lot closer to fuel pressure controller than is fuel pump, electronic.

But, I've got it now and thanks for posting the part number and the photo.

I already have the "commercial" bypass cable, which I'd prefer to carry over a $150 part and easily broken gasket.

And, kind of interesting there's an "authorities" version that's less electrically noisy as regards RF interference. Wonder if it's more durable as well?

OK, Reading both about the Burns cable & the ADV how to fix it bypass in Racer7's expose, am I seeing that if you bypass the controller under the plastic, you leave it in & are good to go, but if you use the Burns bypass, you are effectively putting power to your pump unswitched by the key?

So, if this is the case, wouldn't the short under plastic bypass be the better option? Leave it on & remove when you get a repair?

Well, yes. In a word.
I don't see why they run it out to the power outlet. Then you have to deal with plugging in and unplugging the plug.
The other one, like you say, runs off the key.

Fuel pump controller. It does control the pump. Why BMW, or their translator calls it a pump, well, ask them.
dc

Plugging into an outlet is quick and convenient- saves time IF you have to do a roadside fix from scratch and avoids having to connect into stock wiring to the fpc like most other methods. BUT it will only work with certainty in stock outlets with 10A capability (early R12s had 5A outlets) or those that bypass the ZFEs "fuse" capability entirely. The pump draws 7A at full run which is why the fpc is finned. You do need to remember to unplug itwhen you stop but you're not going to ride forever in bypass mode anyway so who cares? No different than an electric jacket or whtever else you might plug into your bike except that you will need to rememver unless you pay enough attention to hear the pump runnig after shut down- it is reasonably audible as long as you're not in a noisy urban situation.

You could simply have a pre wired bypass connnector already wired into your bike.
All you need to do is cut the plug of the dead one and T (solder suggested but a posi tap would work also) its wires into the correct 2 of 3 feeding the fpc and leave it sitting under your plastic ready to go (tape it up if you worry about it. corroding or shorting).

You could also connect to any circuit on the bike that can handle a 7A load without tripping out or direct to battery- but would need some sort of switch or disconnect for the latter. But if your bike has, for example, an SAE connector on a charging lead that is fused at 10A, you could make a bypass with the fpc's blue connector on one end and an SAE to plug into your charger lead to battery on the other.

And if you have a hamster that runs fast enough and long enough, you could hook a 7A generator to his wheel and connect that to the blue connector at the pump but its probably easier to train guinea pigs to say "row"Hamsters tend not be strong enough to make 7A.....

The fpc is not a fuel pressure regulating device per se. Its name in the fiche is a bit of an abbreviation like many other fiche names and therefore somewhat misleading.

The Burns cable was patterned after something I made to get a customer going again, years ago. At the time it worked well because I think the outlets had not yet been derated to five amps. This was on an RT and the accessory socket was right there. I very recently had the same issue with a GSA and that original cable was not long enough. Power is generally not an issue since most local bikes have independently powered accessory sockets, from new.

The cable was easy to make since it only required a BMW plug and the plug from a bad controller. You could make one that is powered by your battery tender or Gerbings plug, too. With the right connector (I could probably scavenge one from a dead harness) one could make one that simply replaces the controller, which is what I assume the racer one is.