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Coolant weephole leak question

B

bmwrider47

New member
There are many R1200 owners who have posted that their coolant weephole leak self corrected (water pump seals finally seated)and the leak did not return after some additional miles on the bike. For those who have had the weephole leak self correct and not leak again, how many additional miles did you go before the leak stopped? It seems that having the water pump changed too soon could just result in a repeat of the problem.
 
bmwrider47- I saw the coolant leakage on the side of the block on my 2015 R1200RT at about the 6K miles point. The dealer in Asheville, NC took a look at it, and told me to get it checked by a dealer if at any point any liquid collected on the pavement below the hole when I'd parked. This was on a trip as I live in Massachusetts.

I never saw any further accumulation or indication of a leak after that initial 6K miles observation. I now have 20,200 miles on the bike and have never seen any further leakage or weeping. I had the 18K service in Texas and no coolant was added.
 
LFarling said:
418 miles this:

weep.jpg


6600 miles and never seen anything again. What you see in the picture is the extent of the "weep". Never did it again. Never lowered the coolant level obviously.

My service manager would have put a new one in but said hey the same part is in the pipeline and it probably will leak also. And all this ripping the front of a 400 mile motor apart to do it. I passed. Glad I did.

I too suspect when I see guys saying they are on their 4th pump and stuff that they should try to run a pump in to see if it will seal.
Click to expand...

I asked my dealers service department if it will be like my old K75 and do it for the life of the bike. He said, probably.

I don't know if the later k-bikes would blow-out coolant, but the original ones did at the recovery tank.

Keep an eye on it.
 
36654 said:
I asked my dealers service department if it will be like my old K75 and do it for the life of the bike. He said, probably.

I don't know if the later k-bikes would blow-out coolant, but the original ones did at the recovery tank.

Keep an eye on it.
Click to expand...

Wow. In 800,000 K75 miles neither my nor Voni's K75s ever did this, never, ever.
 
2016 R1200RS Coolant Drip

Our 2016 R1200RS had a coolant seep, weep, leak from new.

Talking to Iron Horse there was no newly designed water pump in the works that they were aware of.

They would replace the pump under warranty if I wanted.

I decided to wait to see if a new pump or some other cure came down the pipe.

At about the 6,000 mile mark the leak, weep, seep stopped.

The bike now has about 19,500 miles with nothing leaking out the seep hole.

Here is a picture of our past seep, weep, leak:
 

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mehrten said:
Our 2016 R1200RS had a coolant seep, weep, leak from new.

Talking to Iron Horse there was no newly designed water pump in the works that they were aware of.

They would replace the pump under warranty if I wanted.

I decided to wait to see if a new pump or some other cure came down the pipe.

At about the 6,000 mile mark the leak, weep, seep stopped.

The bike now has about 19,500 miles with nothing leaking out the seep hole.

Here is a picture of our past seep, weep, leak:
Click to expand...

Looks just like my weep hole.......
 
Not 100% but they likely use a ceramic face seal, think of it like an old stone grist mill with 2 flat faces rotating against each other, but without the groves. These seals do take some break in, and even then, the simple nature of the seal will allow for minute amounts to seep by. They need these minute amounts of liquid between the faces to cool and lubricate the faces.
 
I just took a look at my 2015 R1200GS: not even a hint of a seep. On my first big road trip I did spot leakage in South Dakota at a rest stop. When I got home my dealer explained that they will leak a very small amount once in a while. Mine hasn't leaked a drop since then. I had left signs of seepage so he could look at the bike. When I got it home I cleaned up the area and it is still clean. The last leakage was over a year ago.

Believe me, this problem is the least of my worries.

Harry
 
Mine hasn't stopped yet, currently just have 10,414 km (6,470 miles) on the bike, but it also is not loosing any appreciable coolant. What I mean is that the coolant level is still on the MAX mark as it was when it had it's "initial" 1,00km (600mi) service and 1st Annual Service this past May when the coolant was replaced. Therefore, I monitor it and clean the seep hole after each ride of any distance.

This is it's current state. It is also the most seepage I've ever had. Haven't cleaned it since my last trip (1,000+ miles mostly secondary and back roads at speed over 2 days)
Coolant seepage my RT 2016-11-28 at 10414km.jpg

I run the bike medium-hard with far more back-road and mountain riding than super-slab and after most every run of 200+ miles I notice a little weeping (normally less than in the photo above). Every run that has seen speeds in the triple digits (as occur with the ride from this photo) has shown weeping. Again, if I'm loosing virtually no coolant, a few drops, than I'm definitely not worried. If it is still doing it close to the end of the warranty than I'll determine what to do based on the typical results people here will have seen by then.
 
I had my water pump replaced at the 6k service. The new one is also leaking. The bike has 10.5k on it now. It leaks slowly, but since the new pump was installed I have had to top off my coolant twice when it reached the lower line. I'm not sure whether to have it replaced again at the 12k service, or to live with it for a while longer. Topping off the coolant is a minor hassle when I'm at home, but I don't want to have to carry coolant with me on longer trips.
 
Thanks for all the replies. My RT is leaking about the same as those in the photos that were posted. It seems like it is worth waiting for awhile to give it a chance to self correct, unless it starts increasing to the point where it is dripping to the floor.
 
AlanColes said:
..What I mean is that the coolant level is still on the MAX mark as it was when it had it's "initial" 1,00km (600mi) service and 1st Annual Service this past May when the coolant was replaced.
Click to expand...

Just curious as to why you would have had the coolant replaced. Replacing coolant is not even mentioned in the maintenance schedules. Did a dealer do this? At the one-year mark, the brake fluid is to be flushed (F/R), but there's nothing about coolant. Maybe I misunderstood your post. Did you mean that they topped off the coolant in the overflow tank, or was the coolant drained completely from the bike, and replaced with fresh coolant?
 
My mistake Mark, you're correct, I was thinking of the brake fluid change.

I bought the bike with 919 km on it in May when it was just at the end of it's first year of in-service, so the original owner had the dealership do the 1,000 km (600 mile) Service and the "Initial Annual" Service which includes changing the brake fluid but not the coolant.

IIRC, coolant is one area where BMW is mute on it's longevity.
 
AlanColes said:
My mistake Mark, you're correct, I was thinking of the brake fluid change.

I bought the bike with 919 km on it in May when it was just at the end of it's first year of in-service, so the original owner had the dealership do the 1,000 km (600 mile) Service and the "Initial Annual" Service which includes changing the brake fluid but not the coolant.

IIRC, coolant is one area where BMW is mute on it's longevity.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I just wanted to make sure I hadn't missed something. You're right, BMW says nothing about changing the coolant. I think the right answer is somewhere between always and never.
 
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