• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

Blown Apart

Very sorry - that is going to be expensive.

What were the signs leading up to the rod coming apart? Did you get a low oil pressure light? Anything?
 
Very sorry - that is going to be expensive.

What were the signs leading up to the rod coming apart? Did you get a low oil pressure light? Anything?

Engine had a noise, I thought it was bad, Had it to Heids, they thought it was crank related, and Max's Thought it was a rod, but it went to a dealer in N.C. who said it was the cam chain tensioner and they replaced it. Still had the noise, they claimed it was nothing and to ride it. So I did, needless to say Paul and Heids was right again! And I had to get towed off of interstea 70 in Ohio and then have someone drive five hours from maryland with my truck to get me. Then we droove back to maryland and I had to drive to New York to get home.
 
Engine had a noise, I thought it was bad, Had it to Heids, they thought it was crank related, and Max's Thought it was a rod, but it went to a dealer in N.C. who said it was the cam chain tensioner and they replaced it. Still had the noise, they claimed it was nothing and to ride it. So I did, needless to say Paul and Heids was right again! And I had to get towed off of interstea 70 in Ohio and then have someone drive five hours from maryland with my truck to get me. Then we droove back to maryland and I had to drive to New York to get home.


Ouch!! :scratch What motorcycle / engine was that?
 
Asheville, Raleigh or Greensboro?

Did your bike have the unstable idle accompanied by chain rattle periodically?
can tell you that bike retroed with the new tensioner and jumped guard will still do that- I suspect it caused in part by a stretched chain from being banged around prior.

Anyway, that type of functioning can't be any good at all for rods- pretty much like hammering them.

Apparenyl 5-50 is now the recommended oil weight- to me it exacerbates the chain issues with thse bikes rather than helping but it might flow better if there are fundamental lube issues at the rods.
 
Asheville, Raleigh or Greensboro?

Did your bike have the unstable idle accompanied by chain rattle periodically?
can tell you that bike retroed with the new tensioner and jumped guard will still do that- I suspect it caused in part by a stretched chain from being banged around prior.

Anyway, that type of functioning can't be any good at all for rods- pretty much like hammering them.

Apparenyl 5-50 is now the recommended oil weight- to me it exacerbates the chain issues with thse bikes rather than helping but it might flow better if there are fundamental lube issues at the rods.


5w 50.... really???
5w 50?
I'm down.

I was considering running 10w 50 in order to help with gear changes.

The only time that my 2008 GT trans shifts nicely is when the oil is stone cold.
Maybe a few times through the gears... a couple minutes....

Who makes a 5w 50?

I'll try it.


For the OP with the blown engine... ughhh, I feel your pain.
This is my second '08 GT.
Didn't feel confident about the first.
Don't know why I bought the second. Twas a good deal I guess.
I don't exactly get a warm and fuzzy from these machines.


d'milan
 
Last edited:
Asheville, Raleigh or Greensboro?

Did your bike have the unstable idle accompanied by chain rattle periodically?
can tell you that bike retroed with the new tensioner and jumped guard will still do that- I suspect it caused in part by a stretched chain from being banged around prior.

Anyway, that type of functioning can't be any good at all for rods- pretty much like hammering them.

Apparenyl 5-50 is now the recommended oil weight- to me it exacerbates the chain issues with thse bikes rather than helping but it might flow better if there are fundamental lube issues at the rods.

I dont know about chain noise a the noise heard is described above. I was having the engine take a few seconds to idel down the day this happened. Also the cam chain had been inspected prior to this trip and I was "told" it was in spec and good to go.
 
Helen's '05 K12S sounded like marbles bouncing in the valve cover at first start...at 36K I changed the cam chain & sprocket even though I had done the tensioner/guard prior. The chain and sprocket are now a recommended service bulletin item at 36K I recall.
We bought this bike with 27K and it was noisy from day one...this was before the tensioner upgrade came out.

Seems like Rick Mayer had a engine failure also on a S a few years back...and know of one other CENTEX female rider (Muddy1) who lost a top end due to broken chain I believe.

The oil weight change was more due to the extremely annoying chirping/judder clutch issue at idle on the early Wedge engines...also an expensive retro including better clutch basket (riveted in!!) and wet plates...It's annoying on Helen's...but my 05 has not showed symptoms at 26K . The lighter weight really doesn't help her clutch noise. Of course BMW sells the weight now. Some folks run Castrol.

Sorry for the ugly looking issue , that def sucks!
 
Meant to say 5-40! Sorry for the typo and failure to catch it.

Do you know for sure this bike was never dumped and left running for a while on its side, resulting in no oil pressure? Don' think it has any kind of tipover but never went over the wiring diagram to confirm. On a bike that already has a wonky cam drive, that would probably do it in easily- already hammered rod ends with no pressure created wiped bearing quickly- with complete destruct at a later date.
 
Meant to say 5-40! Sorry for the typo and failure to catch it.

Do you know for sure this bike was never dumped and left running for a while on its side, resulting in no oil pressure? Don' think it has any kind of tipover but never went over the wiring diagram to confirm. On a bike that already has a wonky cam drive, that would probably do it in easily- already hammered rod ends with no pressure created wiped bearing quickly- with complete destruct at a later date.


Nuts
Ya got me all worked up.

I'm gonna try it anyway.
Not 5W 50, don't think that can be found. But maybe my own witch's brew.

2 qts 5W-40 4T and 2 quarts 10W-50 4T = 7.5W-45
Or maybe I'll just try straight 10W-50 4T.
I don't ride much when it's under 40 degrees outside, and when it is cold out, I'll let it warm up a bit b-4 putting any load on it.

Regarding Blown Apart
Just a rumor I suppose, but I spoke with a gent at a certain used motorcycle part supplier, that may or may not specialize in any particular brand :brow, that said they have seen a noticeable and steady increase in folks searching for K12 engines due to bottom end failure.

d'milan
 
Last edited:
Nuts
Just a rumor I suppose, but I spoke with a gent at a certain used motorcycle part supplier, that may or may not specialize in any particular brand :brow, that said they have seen a noticeable and steady increase in folks searching for K12 engines due to bottom end failure.

d'milan

This I do not like!
 
Do you know for sure this bike was never dumped and left running for a while on its side, resulting in no oil pressure? Don' think it has any kind of tipover but never went over the wiring diagram to confirm. On a bike that already has a wonky cam drive, that would probably do it in easily- already hammered rod ends with no pressure created wiped bearing quickly- with complete destruct at a later date.

It is possible, you are not the first person to mention this. And I got some more troubling news about the bike today. Have to wait to see what happens.
 
Back
Top