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Need help getting my rt 1100 running again.

442bmw

New member
Short story of my 97 rt 1100. I just picked her up last summer with 94000 miles with good service records. Put bike on optima charger for last two months and been keeping battery good,no faults on charger. So this week I go put half bottle of iso heat in tank and start my bike ,she fires up and I let it idle for ten minutes before she stops running. When I go to restart it ,she won't fire ,starter sounds fine and battery cranks bike fine.. So I leave on tender come back next day,same thing, no fire, except this time I have two steady flashing abs lights and am hearing a click under the seat. Before this I'd have flashing abs lights back and forth and no clicking . I read that this was normal and lights would go out after you take off and this did happen during the fall. Today I pulled off the fairings for the first time and removed the battery. Volt meter read 12.6 and when I turned key on it read in the 11.8 volt range. I did try the abs reset once with success,but when I try to restart bike it came right back to both abs lights blinking at same time and that clicking noise again. I'll do a load test on battery tomorrow and pull the plugs next. Will the abs fault stop a bike from running and did the iso heat affect anything . Any help in figuring this out would be great. Buddy said there's nothing wrong with battery if it cranks the bike over and all the lights are bright and I don't see any drain on light when hitting the starter button.
 
When you turn the key on is the quartz info display working?
Is the kill switch in the run position?

Put a voltmeter on the battery and crank the bike. If the voltage dips below 10VDC it is not likely to start as the ECU fails to work properly under 10 volts.
 
When you turn the key on is the quartz info display working?
Is the kill switch in the run position?

Put a voltmeter on the battery and crank the bike. If the voltage dips below 10VDC it is not likely to start as the ECU fails to work properly under 10 volts.

The quartz info is on,the kill switch is not in off position,volts was at 11.6 with key on,..ill have to put it back in to try cranking it and testing volts. Will abs stop it from starting, any idea why it clicks now and stays blinking simultaneously.
 
The quartz info is on,the kill switch is not in off position,volts was at 11.6 with key on,..ill have to put it back in to try cranking it and testing volts. Will abs stop it from starting, any idea why it clicks now and stays blinking simultaneously.

The ABS system goes into test mode whenever the key is turned on. The clicking you hear is probably the ABS relay in the fusebox and is normal. The abs does not initialize until the bike is rolling 7 or 8 kms/hr I think it is. You'll hear the whirring sound of the ABS and it will initialize. The lights should go out, if not there is a fault. ABS fault codes and clearing them to confirm there is a problem is documented here someplace.

I would check all the fuses under the seat as well.

You may want to confirm spark and fuel. Pulling one injector and pointing it into a coffee can or whatever is an easy test for fuel spray.
Ground one sparkplug making sure it it touching grounded metal before you crank the bike to confirm spark.

If either of these are not present obviously it will not fire. The lack of fuel spray might indicate Hall Sensor issues or Spark Issues but not likely all of a sudden like that.

I did have a fuel pump fail on me while cranking the bike so that may be an issue as well. Also the hoses inside the tank for a bike this age can be suspected of failure.

Check for fuel and spark and go from there after confirming your battery voltage stays above 10 volts while cranking.
 
The ABS system goes into test mode whenever the key is turned on. The clicking you hear is probably the ABS relay in the fusebox and is normal. The abs does not initialize until the bike is rolling 7 or 8 kms/hr I think it is. You'll hear the whirring sound of the ABS and it will initialize. The lights should go out, if not there is a fault. ABS fault codes and clearing them to confirm there is a problem is documented here someplace.

I would check all the fuses under the seat as well.

You may want to confirm spark and fuel. Pulling one injector and pointing it into a coffee can or whatever is an easy test for fuel spray.
Ground one sparkplug making sure it it touching grounded metal before you crank the bike to confirm spark.

If either of these are not present obviously it will not fire. The lack of fuel spray might indicate Hall Sensor issues or Spark Issues but not likely all of a sudden like that.

I did have a fuel pump fail on me while cranking the bike so that may be an issue as well. Also the hoses inside the tank for a bike this age can be suspected of failure.

Check for fuel and spark and go from there after confirming your battery voltage stays above 10 volts while cranking.
Will do ,I'll try tomorrow and keep you posted.
 
Short story of my 97 rt 1100. I just picked her up last summer with 94000 miles with good service records. Put bike on optima charger for last two months and been keeping battery good,no faults on charger. So this week I go put half bottle of iso heat in tank and start my bike ,she fires up and I let it idle for ten minutes before she stops running. When I go to restart it ,she won't fire ,starter sounds fine and battery cranks bike fine.. So I leave on tender come back next day,same thing, no fire, except this time I have two steady flashing abs lights and am hearing a click under the seat. Before this I'd have flashing abs lights back and forth and no clicking . I read that this was normal and lights would go out after you take off and this did happen during the fall. Today I pulled off the fairings for the first time and removed the battery. Volt meter read 12.6 and when I turned key on it read in the 11.8 volt range. I did try the abs reset once with success,but when I try to restart bike it came right back to both abs lights blinking at same time and that clicking noise again. I'll do a load test on battery tomorrow and pull the plugs next. Will the abs fault stop a bike from running and did the iso heat affect anything . Any help in figuring this out would be great. Buddy said there's nothing wrong with battery if it cranks the bike over and all the lights are bright and I don't see any drain on light when hitting the starter button.

I don’t know what kind of battery you have in the bike but at 12.6V key off the battery is only about 80% charged. And 11.8V key-on is another bad sign. Just because a battery will crank the bike doesn’t mean it will start a BMW. It is very likely your battery is shot.

What brand/model battery is installed?

If you try starting with jumper cables, you can quickly rule in or out a battery issue.

The in-tank hoses fail often and when they do you get a no-start. I’m wondering if the ISO Heat attacked a hose that was nearly ready to fail.
 
The in-tank hoses fail often and when they do you get a no-start. I’m wondering if the ISO Heat attacked a hose that was nearly ready to fail.

I don't think Isoheet will attack fuel hoses. I always store our bikes with that in the tank, along with Stabil. Any fuel will attack a hose however, if it is not a hose rated to be submerged, but ...
 
fwiw... unless you're doing a FI synch, there is NEVER a reason to start a BMW and let it idle for ANY length of time over 30 seconds or so, let alone 10 minutes. Never.
 
fwiw... unless you're doing a FI synch, there is NEVER a reason to start a BMW and let it idle for ANY length of time over 30 seconds or so, let alone 10 minutes. Never.

True dat! I was going to get around to letting the OP know that however for now I figured let's help him get to the bottom of it first. Because of the sudden failure and low battery condition, spidey sense has me thinking battery first, loss of fuel flow from a popped hose or pump failure since that has happened to me. Pulling an injector and cranking will point inside the tank quickly if there is no squirting going on.
 
The quartz info is on,the kill switch is not in off position,volts was at 11.6 with key on,..ill have to put it back in to try cranking it and testing volts. Will abs stop it from starting, any idea why it clicks now and stays blinking simultaneously.
At 11.6 volts, a push of the starter button can easily drag the voltage down below the minimum voltage the bike computer needs to see and be able to start. Each revolution of the starter will bring the battery lower and reducing the chance of a start.
As mentioned, either a check of the voltage (drop) while cranking or a careful jump with a known good battery or a charger capable of a boost start will get you going in the right direction as to what's up.
OM
 
I'm beginning to suspect a bad or discharged battery. Jump it. If the bike cranks and starts, then the battery was discharged or bad. (Why it was discharged or bad is a different question.)

An ABS fault will not affect cranking or starting or running.
 
I'm beginning to suspect a bad or discharged battery. Jump it. If the bike cranks and starts, then the battery was discharged or bad. (Why it was discharged or bad is a different question.)

An ABS fault will not affect cranking or starting or running.

Well today I had the battery load tested,passed,put in bike and cranked her over read 10.3 and floated under 10 Alittle. Changed the plugs and tested for spark ,good spark on crank. Moved to fuses ,all seemed good none looked blown. Watch a video and removed the left fuel injector,put a small piece of paper towel over hole to keep dirt out like the video said,,cranked over bike and had no spray pattern,but I didn't think the darn small piece of napkin got sucked in,my buddy said it should dissinagrate next time it fires up,Im now worried even more.When I turn the key on I hear a small noise whirl,but no fuel coming from injector,also looked in tank,but didn't see no hose everybody talking about,do I need to remove the cover on the right side of tank to see it. Thanks to everyone for the help.
 
Yeah, you have to pull tank and then remove the cover assy on the right side. Mark the location before you remove to get it situated correctly again. Do you know if the HES has been replaced or if it the newer style without the wire insulation issue? One part of that unit triggers the injection.
 
Yeah, you have to pull tank and then remove the cover assy on the right side. Mark the location before you remove to get it situated correctly again. Do you know if the HES has been replaced or if it the newer style without the wire insulation issue? One part of that unit triggers the injection.
Can you pull the pump out without unhooking and pulling tank off,I open it up today and try to lift out but had some resistance and wanted to wait on more info. Am not sure about the hms sensor,,,I think that be more than a job I could handle since I have no bmw experience yet,still learning,,,any help from anybody would be very appreciated.
 
Can you pull the pump out without unhooking and pulling tank off,I open it up today and try to lift out but had some resistance and wanted to wait on more info. Am not sure about the hms sensor,,,I think that be more than a job I could handle since I have no bmw experience yet,still learning,,,any help from anybody would be very appreciated.

No, you can’t. The fuel pump plate is on the underside of the tank. The pump is connected to hoses that are directly connected to the plate. You must remove the tank, try to drain most of the fuel, lay it down on its side and take off the pump plate. The pump, fuel filter, low fuel float and electric connector are all attached. It’s an exercise to work all of that stuff through that small opening. Oh, there are also the vent hoses connected to the plate also. Watch a couple of videos that demonstrate this before you try it. You also must get a replacement for the O-ring for the pump plate. The one that is on there will be swollen from gasoline and will not fit back on unless it sits for a day or two.

When the ignition key is turned On, the fuel pump is supposed to run for about a second, then it will only run after that when the Motronic and HES tell it to run. I’m pretty sure that the first cycle of the fuel pump will happen even if the hall sensor is corrupted, as long as the fuel pump is functioning.
 
Before you pull the tank.....
It would be wise to check what the fuel pressure is on the bottom line (pressure side) first.
Tee with some hose and turn the key on. After prime and while cranking you should have 43psi +/-
If there is pressure, there is a good chance the Hall sensor assy. is defective.
 
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