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Devilish stalling problem 2007 F800ST

SGTBILL

The Big Red One
My dear wife bought a used F800ST a few years back. Almost immediately she mentioned it would stall when she was down shifting as she rode toward a traffic light that had changed to red. The stalling would not appear until she had been riding for more than an hour or so. We have had the bike in to have the problem fixed several times over the past few years. We have replaced a hose that sometimes collapses causing stalling and it still stalls. We have had injector cleaner run through the engine and it still stalls. Recently the problem has become more acute in that the bike stalls more frequently as you ride. And gets harder to restart after a stall. A couple of weeks ago it was at the dealer and they diagnosed a crankshaft sensor malfunction so that was replaced and it still stalls. The next attempt was to remove the canister attached to the fuel tank relief hose and it still stalls. I rode the bike this morning to see if the canister removal improved things. After 2 hours of riding and about 100 miles it stalled at a stop sign and continued to stall for the next hour until I made it home. One new symptom appears to be an electrical hiccup. Twice while attempting restart the instruments turn off completely. Just like the key was turned off. It only lasts about 3 to 5 seconds before it reinitiates (the speedo and tach flip all the way to the right) and then I was able to restart. But it kept stalling. I'm not sure the electrical symptom is related or just a mean-spirited coincidence. Anyone have any ideas?

I've read several threads on the stalling problem and don't see a common cause to any of them. We're quite frustrated by this and will probably trade the bike back to the dealer in the next few months. We were thinking of a F800GS or the F800GT but are concerned there may be stalling issues with any F800.
 
I suspect it might have a faulty engine temperature sensor. Voni's F800S did this on very hot days until the sensor was replaced. Just a guess, but ...
 
no thoughts on the problem, but my in 30K miles, my F8GS only had a stalling issue prior to it's getting the canister recall done. but that was only 1 or 2 times, only in the rain.
 
Gonna take it to the dealer

And try to get them to force the software update. I'll have my wife let them know to check the engine temp sensor as well. I'll let you know what happens then.
 
Dang that software anyway

Karla's bike went back to the dealer after they found the stalling cause with a GS-911 fault with the crankshaft sensor. Replaced that and it still stalled after 90 minutes of riding. Hard to get the dealer to test ride something that long. On Wednesday they took it back and issued Karla a loaner F800S. First a check of battery and fuel delivery then finally a check of firmware. Guess what, never been updated. A force of the update and the maintenance super rode it home that night. On Friday we picked it up and for the first time in several years it ran flawlessly for the weekend. Three days in a row of + 6 hour riding days without a flinch. What a relief. Our plan is to give this bike to our daughter next year after several different rider training courses.... Can't do that if it is stalling. On the good side the maintenance outfit didn't charge us for the additional tinkering required to get to the solution which avoided a head-butting contest I'm sure neither of us would have enjoyed.
 
engine temp sensor

I suspect it might have a faulty engine temperature sensor. Voni's F800S did this on very hot days until the sensor was replaced. Just a guess, but ...

Paul, did you replace the water temp sensor or the air temp sensor. also, do you use any sealer on the valve cover gasket?

thanks, John
 
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Update

Karla's bike went back to the dealer after they found the stalling cause with a GS-911 fault with the crankshaft sensor. Replaced that and it still stalled after 90 minutes of riding. Hard to get the dealer to test ride something that long. On Wednesday they took it back and issued Karla a loaner F800S. First a check of battery and fuel delivery then finally a check of firmware. Guess what, never been updated. A force of the update and the maintenance super rode it home that night. On Friday we picked it up and for the first time in several years it ran flawlessly for the weekend. Three days in a row of + 6 hour riding days without a flinch. What a relief. Our plan is to give this bike to our daughter next year after several different rider training courses.... Can't do that if it is stalling. On the good side the maintenance outfit didn't charge us for the additional tinkering required to get to the solution which avoided a head-butting contest I'm sure neither of us would have enjoyed.
Have you kept the bike? Any problems? We have the same problem on my 17 year old son's 2007 F800ST. I have seen where guys have removed the charcoal canister as well.
Thanks in advance.
 
Have you kept the bike? Any problems? We have the same problem on my 17 year old son's 2007 F800ST. I have seen where guys have removed the charcoal canister as well.
Thanks in advance.

We have kept the F800ST. After the firmware update the bike has run flawlessly. This summer our daughter earned her motorcycle permit and joined my wife and I on our trip to the MOA National in Minneapolis/St Paul. A return ride through Ontario Canada added up to 3500 miles. By summer's end she had 5000 miles under her belt. No problem with the bike stalling at all.

We had asked about the firmware issue early on when we first noticed the problem. Our local mechanic didn't have access to BMW software and the dealer pooh-poohed the idea that the firmware could be the problem. I have even heard that dealers wouldn't tell guys the version number of their firmware. If you have an F800 with a stalling problem I would start with the firmware. You might have to butt heads but I wish we had done it sooner.

Regards,
 
Update

I do appreciate the update. I will pursue the firmware update for my son's F800ST. Our dealer here is not my friend but I will try to keep my cool and pressure him until I get the update. If the updated doesn't work, we will be taking of the charcoal canister on the fuel tank vent. It can be very frustrating when your kid or wife is having bike issues. We would be riding along and my son says he has stalled when he pulled in the clutch to stop or down shift. If it was happening to me it would be easier to diagnose.
 
I do appreciate the update. I will pursue the firmware update for my son's F800ST. Our dealer here is not my friend but I will try to keep my cool and pressure him until I get the update. If the updated doesn't work, we will be taking of the charcoal canister on the fuel tank vent. It can be very frustrating when your kid or wife is having bike issues. We would be riding along and my son says he has stalled when he pulled in the clutch to stop or down shift. If it was happening to me it would be easier to diagnose.

Don't chase your tail removing parts to fix an ECU issue. There is an update. Your dealer can install it. If you don't like him/her or he/she dislikes you, find a different nearby dealer. There are lots of them where you live compared to most of the rest of us. (250 miles to nearest, 450 to second nearest, etc.)

There was a non ECU issue on the '07s. The hoses to the idle stepper motors were too soft and too long, allowing them to squeeze shut at a bend, or so I'm told. Replacing the hoses might fix the problem. But this has nothing to do with the canister.
 
We also replaced the hose

As part of our process to resolve the stalling problem we also had the hose to the idle stepper replaced. We were trying the simplest things first.

The bike continued to stall once warmed up when you pulled in the clutch to stop or even downshift.
 
Replacing Hoses

I checked the hoses and one has flattened on the bend. Both are on order. I will try that first.
 
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First Ride Promising

Yesterday we went for the first ride since replacing the vacuum hoses. The new hoses from BMW were formed to the route and about a half inch shorter than the originals. The install was straight forward and my son did most of it himself. So, the conditions were almost identical to New Years day when we last rode/stalled. This time no stalling. My son even tried to induce the stall on clear roads by pulling in the clutch and closing the throttle many times when the bike was warm. We will see if it comes back in the warmer months.

Thanks to all that contributed to this thread.

See you on the road.
 
Still Stalling

Last Sunday we went out of a long ride and the bike ran well until we were nearly home. We jumped in the intersate for about 17 miles. As we got off the intersate and pulled up to the first traffic light the bike stalled twice. Making an appointment with the dealer to update the firmware.
 
My Bad battery behaved similarly

May I suggest checking the origin, or age, of your battery? My 2009 F-series would start fine from cold, run well until the temp or engine warmed up and then would just stop at random as I shifted or came to a stop at a light. Get below 1500RPM, and it was likely to occur. Sometimes would re-start OK, often had to leave bike to get cooled to "ambient" temp. The problem turned out to be a bad battery supplier BMW had been using. Cells in the battery would short when warm. Replaced with BMW's replacement part, from different mfgr. and no problem since for 48,000mi :)
 
Battery Question

Did you have any problems with the restart? Yours fires right up with strong starter. TIA.
 
I will guarantee you that the fuel pump is defective, it will not show a code on the dealers equipment, the only way to test it is for the dealer to watch fuel pressure while bike is running until it starts getting warmed up and pressure will start to drop off. My wife's 2008 F800ST had the same problem, i did all the fixes, trying to avoid buying a new fuel pump ($500) but that's what it took. If I'm wrong, I'll send you a free t-shirt

John
 
On the plus side, in all my messing around with her bike i discovered a leaking valve cover gasket. So i got to experience the enjoyment of learning what it takes to get the valve cover off. Hasn't leaked a drop since.

John
 
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