Fuel Injector Faults on R1200RS

wattster1 · Sep 6, 2019

I was recently on a trip on my 2016 R1200RS and had an unusual problem with the bike. I was happily cruising along when the engine suddenly started missing, the general warning light started flashing, and the engine symbol appeared, which per the manual means there's a severe engine fault! I pulled over on the shoulder and shut off the engine, hoping that might clear the problem. It didn't, so I rode a bit further until I found a safe place to park. I had brought my GS911 along so I used it to see what the fault was. There were actually two faults: Left cylinder injector, output open circuit; Left cylinder injector, output short circuit to battery positive. I tried clearing the faults and restarting, but the problems came right back. As a last resort I decided to take a look at the injector, since it's very easy to get to. I pulled it out and it physically looked fine. Since the faults were for the injector control circuit I unplugged the control connector and did not see any problems. I reinstalled the injector, started the engine, and suddenly everything was fine! The engine ran fine and the warning light and engine symbol cleared. I continued on my trip and put another 1000 miles on the bike without any more problems.

I'm not complaining about the result, but it kind of bothers me not knowing what caused the problem and how it was fixed. I would appreciate any thoughts about what might have caused the problem and what fixed it. I'm wondering if the injector might have some internal intermittent fault and if I should carry a spare.

Thanks,
Tod

Omega Man · Sep 6, 2019

Welcome to the forum!
Can’t argue with success

These bikes are real sensitive to battery condition. If it’s original, you may want to keep battery condition in the back of your mind.
Enjoy the forum.
Gary

pglaves · Sep 6, 2019

These circuits are prone to connection problems. Very frequently just disconnecting and reconnecting a connector will re-establish good contact. What happened to you did not surprise me at all.

roger 04 rt · Sep 7, 2019

36654 · Sep 7, 2019

PGlaves said:
These circuits are prone to connection problems. Very frequently just disconnecting and reconnecting a connector will re-establish good contact. What happened to you did not surprise me at all.

A diagram or picture of the connector and location would be of great value, if needed, for future reference.

wattster1 · Sep 7, 2019

Thank you all for the replies.

I am still using the original battery. I had it tested last year and it checked out fine, but I will have it checked again.

I'm happy to hear that it was likely just the connector that caused the problem. As suggested, I will provide some more information in case this happens to someone else:

The injector is located on top of the cylinder head behind a plastic cover. The cover is held on with a single T25 screw, which can be removed with the screwdriver under the passenger seat. Here is a photo of the cover with a red arrow pointing at the screw.

Here is photo showing the injector control connector. The red arrow is pointing at the connector. To remove it you need to push in on the release catch at the base of the connector. It is the silver wire you see to the right of the connector. It is a waterproof connector and takes a fair amount of wiggling to remove.

Thanks again for everyone's help.

Tod

pauls1150 · Sep 7, 2019

Great that it seems to be just a connection problem; perhaps it would be worthwhile to examine the mating pins for any physical distortion, and the factory crimp of the wire on to those pins inside the connector.

Not to rain on anybody's parade, but think about what an injector actually is - a selenoid continually moving (the pintle) at very high speed. If it happens again, and the pins are ok, R&R it.

36654 · Sep 7, 2019

wattster1 said:
Thank you all for the replies.

I am still using the original battery. I had it tested last year and it checked out fine, but I will have it checked again.

I'm happy to hear that it was likely just the connector that caused the problem. As suggested, I will provide some more information in case this happens to someone else:

The injector is located on top of the cylinder head behind a plastic cover. The cover is held on with a single T25 screw, which can be removed with the screwdriver under the passenger seat. Here is a photo of the cover with a red arrow pointing at the screw.

View attachment 75540

Here is photo showing the injector control connector. The red arrow is pointing at the connector. To remove it you need to push in on the release catch at the base of the connector. It is the silver wire you see to the right of the connector. It is a waterproof connector and takes a fair amount of wiggling to remove.

View attachment 75541

Thanks again for everyone's help.

Tod

Thanks for posting the pictures.

36654 · Sep 7, 2019

Pauls1150 said:
Great that it seems to be just a connection problem; perhaps it would be worthwhile to examine the mating pins for any physical distortion, and the factory crimp of the wire on to those pins inside the connector.

Not to rain on anybody's parade, but think about what an injector actually is - a selenoid continually moving (the pintle) at very high speed. If it happens again, and the pins are ok, R&R it.

But, if it is the injector........that's a serious Q/C problem.

crustybeemer · Sep 7, 2019

Had this happen 3 times last spring within a week! Engine started to miss badly and check engine service light came on! Each time I pulled over, shut the engine off and waited a few seconds! Restarted and no warning light, no miss, just purring like normal! Had my 80,000 km maint scheduled for the following week! Recorded all the particulars and told the service techs when I went in for service! They said 3 faults showed up on the diagnostic 'puter and the fault was so rare they had no tool to fix it and that they were having the special tool sent in that they need to fix it and I would have to come back the following week! This was only a few days before I was leaving for the BMW rally last June! Also it is 160 km, one way to my dealer! Before leaving I asked the service manager if servicing the 3 year old battery would mess up the memory and he stated it would not, that the fault code was in the "hard drive". Anyways, a few days later, I got the call that the special tool had arrived and went in for the service! After 1 1/2 hours the service manager called me over and said they could find no faults in the bikes memory! I told him about my servicing the battery and he asked why I would disconnect the battery? I said "to clean the terminals to get better contact" because the voltage read low (12.1 V) at the speedo! I told him that I had asked about that the previous week and he said go ahead the fault was in the bikes "hard drive"! He said that because I had deleated the fault code and thus no fault was found, that I would have to pay for the 1 1/2 hr shop time! I told him I had the extended warranty and that should cover it because they had printed out the fault code the previous week and I had a copy! He said I would probably end up paying because I had deleated the fault codes! The mechanic that was "looking" at my bike said that when he disconnected the plug to the injector, that that had probably cleaned off some corrosion and that fixed the fault! Purring like a well oiled kitten ever since almost 15,000 km later! P.S. Got a call shortly after getting back from Lebanon that I would not be billed for the second "servicing"! :scratch

P.S. My bike is a 2016 R1200RT but not all that different from an RS!

lee · Sep 8, 2019

Thanks for the picture of the connector.

wattster1 · Sep 8, 2019

Pauls1150 said:
Great that it seems to be just a connection problem; perhaps it would be worthwhile to examine the mating pins for any physical distortion, and the factory crimp of the wire on to those pins inside the connector.

Not to rain on anybody's parade, but think about what an injector actually is - a selenoid continually moving (the pintle) at very high speed. If it happens again, and the pins are ok, R&R it.

I did inspect the connection when I had it apart, and saw no debris or signs of corrosion. I can't inspect the crimps without removing the outer casing of the connector, and I'm afraid I will do more harm than good if I try to do that. I did try moving the control cable around with the engine idling to check for a bad connection or section of wire, and found no problems.

wattster1 · Sep 9, 2019

crustybeemer said:
Had this happen 3 times last spring within a week! Engine started to miss badly and check engine service light came on! Each time I pulled over, shut the engine off and waited a few seconds! Restarted and no warning light, no miss, just purring like normal! Had my 80,000 km maint scheduled for the following week! Recorded all the particulars and told the service techs when I went in for service! They said 3 faults showed up on the diagnostic 'puter and the fault was so rare they had no tool to fix it and that they were having the special tool sent in that they need to fix it and I would have to come back the following week! This was only a few days before I was leaving for the BMW rally last June! Also it is 160 km, one way to my dealer! Before leaving I asked the service manager if servicing the 3 year old battery would mess up the memory and he stated it would not, that the fault code was in the "hard drive". Anyways, a few days later, I got the call that the special tool had arrived and went in for the service! After 1 1/2 hours the service manager called me over and said they could find no faults in the bikes memory! I told him about my servicing the battery and he asked why I would disconnect the battery? I said "to clean the terminals to get better contact" because the voltage read low (12.1 V) at the speedo! I told him that I had asked about that the previous week and he said go ahead the fault was in the bikes "hard drive"! He said that because I had deleated the fault code and thus no fault was found, that I would have to pay for the 1 1/2 hr shop time! I told him I had the extended warranty and that should cover it because they had printed out the fault code the previous week and I had a copy! He said I would probably end up paying because I had deleated the fault codes! The mechanic that was "looking" at my bike said that when he disconnected the plug to the injector, that that had probably cleaned off some corrosion and that fixed the fault! Purring like a well oiled kitten ever since almost 15,000 km later! P.S. Got a call shortly after getting back from Lebanon that I would not be billed for the second "servicing"!
P.S. My bike is a 2016 R1200RT but not all that different from an RS!

Thanks for sharing your experience. That does sound very similar to my event except that mine didn't clear with a restart. It's odd that your dealer claimed that disconnecting the battery deleted the fault codes, as I did the same thing and it did not delete them. After the reply about battery condition I pulled the battery and made sure the connections were clean and tight. Afterwards I checked with my GS911 and the codes were still in the memory.

FYI, I downloaded the fault codes and have attached them in a text file.

blacque jacque shellacque · Sep 9, 2019

crustybeemer said:
Had this happen 3 times last spring within a week! Engine started to miss badly and check engine service light came on! Each time I pulled over, shut the engine off and waited a few seconds! Restarted and no warning light, no miss, just purring like normal! Had my 80,000 km maint scheduled for the following week! Recorded all the particulars and told the service techs when I went in for service! They said 3 faults showed up on the diagnostic 'puter and the fault was so rare they had no tool to fix it and that they were having the special tool sent in that they need to fix it and I would have to come back the following week! This was only a few days before I was leaving for the BMW rally last June! Also it is 160 km, one way to my dealer! Before leaving I asked the service manager if servicing the 3 year old battery would mess up the memory and he stated it would not, that the fault code was in the "hard drive". Anyways, a few days later, I got the call that the special tool had arrived and went in for the service! After 1 1/2 hours the service manager called me over and said they could find no faults in the bikes memory! I told him about my servicing the battery and he asked why I would disconnect the battery? I said "to clean the terminals to get better contact" because the voltage read low (12.1 V) at the speedo! I told him that I had asked about that the previous week and he said go ahead the fault was in the bikes "hard drive"! He said that because I had deleated the fault code and thus no fault was found, that I would have to pay for the 1 1/2 hr shop time! I told him I had the extended warranty and that should cover it because they had printed out the fault code the previous week and I had a copy! He said I would probably end up paying because I had deleated the fault codes! The mechanic that was "looking" at my bike said that when he disconnected the plug to the injector, that that had probably cleaned off some corrosion and that fixed the fault! Purring like a well oiled kitten ever since almost 15,000 km later! P.S. Got a call shortly after getting back from Lebanon that I would not be billed for the second "servicing"!
P.S. My bike is a 2016 R1200RT but not all that different from an RS!

Obviously the mechanic cleared the fault codes when he serviced the bike the first time. If the dealership is keeping proper records, why should it matter if he cleared the codes? The faults are stored in non volatile RAM which does not require power to keep the data alive. It's clear that the service manager has no idea what the techs are doing in the shop, or how modern vehicles retain error codes. It's probably a good idea to have all future conversations concerning service to your bike with this guy in writing. BTW, is this the dealer in Ottawa?

gator · Sep 10, 2019

Clearing a fault with a GS-911 can erase all faults.
Gator

crustybeemer · Sep 12, 2019

Blacque Jacque Shellacque said:
Obviously the mechanic cleared the fault codes when he serviced the bike the first time. If the dealership is keeping proper records, why should it matter if he cleared the codes? The faults are stored in non volatile RAM which does not require power to keep the data alive. It's clear that the service manager has no idea what the techs are doing in the shop, or how modern vehicles retain error codes. It's probably a good idea to have all future conversations concerning service to your bike with this guy in writing. BTW, is this the dealer in Ottawa?

Yes my dealer is in Ottawa and I am increasingly becoming disillusioned with him! :ca

azgman · Sep 13, 2019

I would call BS on the Ottawa dealer. Call BMW Canada if it comes to that. Or, just ride on happy and don't give them any more business!

crustybeemer · Sep 13, 2019

Hard to avoid my dealer as the next one is another 2 hours down the highway in Montreal and bike is under extended warranty!

zoomie · Oct 14, 2019

I used to work for TMobile. We would trouble shoot electronic equipment by first attempting a remote reset. When that failed, the fix was usually reseating the equipment, which is essentially what was done when the F.I. connector was removed and replaced. The technical repair was called “P.F.M.” Pure Freaking Magic, or thereabouts. A little corrosion gets into the contacts, and reseating the equipment will restore it. That same reseat technique is also used to clear faults in Minuteman ICBM equipment, FWIW.

wattster1 · Oct 17, 2019

zoomie said:
I used to work for TMobile. We would trouble shoot electronic equipment by first attempting a remote reset. When that failed, the fix was usually reseating the equipment, which is essentially what was done when the F.I. connector was removed and replaced. The technical repair was called “P.F.M.” Pure Freaking Magic, or thereabouts. A little corrosion gets into the contacts, and reseating the equipment will restore it. That same reseat technique is also used to clear faults in Minuteman ICBM equipment, FWIW.

Interesting observation! It's too bad that our bikes have become like our computers and electronics and periodically require a reboot or connection reseat to fix them. I just hope that if something like this happens again to me that the connection is not buried somewhere that's hard to get to.

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