2000 R1100RT Fuel pump noise

[K7GLE]

I have about 300 miles on a BMW-mechanic-replaced fuel filter. Today I rode about 75 miles in 70F weather...an easy country putt. Back at home I put the bike on the centerstand, stripped off my armor, had about 1/2 a beer, and came back down to tuck her in. Turned the key on, and in place of the normal "bizzz" of the fuel pump I heard a sound that lasted about the same amount of time but was something between a burble and a growl...sounded a bit like air bubbles were being pumped. (The "bizzz" may have been there too, underneath, but the burble/growl was louder.) Turned the key off and back on, got only the normal "bizzz." Waited about 10 minutes and got the burble/growl again.

Does the Brain Trust have any ideas?

 

[bp@sr9]

I have about 300 miles on a BMW-mechanic-replaced fuel filter. Today I rode about 75 miles in 70F weather...an easy country putt. Back at home I put the bike on the centerstand, stripped off my armor, had about 1/2 a beer, and came back down to tuck her in. Turned the key on, and in place of the normal "bizzz" of the fuel pump I heard a sound that lasted about the same amount of time but was something between a burble and a growl...sounded a bit like air bubbles were being pumped. (The "bizzz" may have been there too, underneath, but the burble/growl was louder.) Turned the key off and back on, got only the normal "bizzz." Waited about 10 minutes and got the burble/growl again.

Does the Brain Trust have any ideas?

call your wrench?

 

[BC1100S]

Does the Brain Trust have any ideas?

How much fuel was in your tank?

 

[happy wanderer]

Burble and a growl you say? Maybe you've popped a hose in the tank?

 

[cycleman2]

If it persists then you'll want to check it out. See how it goes with full tank. Might just be one of those odd noises that fuel pumps sometimes makes. I know once and a while the fuel pump on my R1100s sounds different and it also has a new filter.

Might also just be the pump works easier with the new filter.

 

[snookers]

Updates ????

 

[K7GLE]

Update, sort of:

To recap, the issue is an intermittent gurgling/growling sound at key-on. Maybe more gurgle than growl. This first happened last Saturday...twice, both times after running the bike to operating temp, then restarting after resting (off) 10 minutes or so.

I rode the bike again the following Tuesday, three individual trips with 1+ hours between them. No noise immediately on stopping after the first two, and I was unable to hang around the 10 minutes in those cases. After returning home (the third trip) I checked after 10 minutes, and there it was.

I don't have binaural hearing, so locating sounds is a challenge. I do plan to open the tank and hang the good ear over it the next several opportunities I get, but the timing and duration of the noise are identical to the fuel pump "spin up," so I'm pretty sure that's the source. I hear no whining or other noise while running.

I am having presumably-unrelated issues with shifting (the much-discussed 3rd-to-2nd downshift issue, plus what feels like the clutch control being "slow" when the lever is released...revs run up and then the clutch grabs a bit when it engages. Subtle, but annoying. Feels like grungy cable, but it's new. Both of these point to clutch splines.

Also a possibly-related issue with what appears to be exhaust odor when idling at operating temp. I am planning to return to the shop soon to get the clutch splines serviced (I'm not THAT good a wrench, and don't have the space if I were...) and will discuss the other issues at that time. I'm running the fuel level down in case I need to pull the tank sooner.

The exhaust smell is interesting...my R100RT always smelled that way, probably reflecting the fact that some PO had tweaked the headers so they didn't fit snugly into the heads, and the mounting arrangement on that bike held them on but didn't feature a good way to snug them up. (The RH header needing removal to service the oil filter didn't help...when I DID luck into a good seal, I'd screw it up at the next oil change.) I doubt the wrench removed the header for the work I had him do (fuel filter, tires, new control cables, bleed ABS, & some other things under the tank) though, as I say, I am very familiar with this smell and have never before detected it with this bike.

So that's it. Today was supposed to be a day off, and I was going to re-adjust the clutch cable as a first cut at the shifting problem, but I got a call to come in at 10 a.m. I was going to ride it to work today but my car battery was dead flat (probably left the 2-way radio on) so I couldn't move it out of the way to get the bike out of the garage, so I spent the morning dealing with that, and ended up taking the bus. So no more data points yet.

Oh, I did manage to spend a half hour trying to get a 13mm socket onto the clutch adjuster lock nut. Just can't quite get it. I have done this before, but probably with the Tupperware (and maybe the left footpeg plate) off. I have 3", 6", and 12" extensions, a U-joint, and the deep socket. I think I've tried every possible combination of these - well, the socket is always at the end - and just can't get that dog to bite. Any tips?

Happy Independence Day. I hope everyone ends the weekend with as many fingers as they started with.

 

[K7GLE]

I just re-read the foregoing and remembered the shop also replaced the pivot point on the drive shaft. The exhaust smell is pretty obviously coming from the right cylinder head. Would he have removed that header or the entire exhaust system to do that work?

(Later edit) Never mind. Just checked this out on a couple of online sites and he probably didn't touch the RH header.

 

[K7GLE]

Got the bike back from the shop last night. The wrench was able to replicate the gurgle. Fuel was at about 1/4 tank. He put in a couple of gallons of gas and, while he couldn't say for certain that he fixed it, he wasn't able to get it to do it again. He agreed with the posters here that "it happens sometimes when the fuel is low."

Gas/exhaust smell is probably because I performed a cannisterectomy a few weeks ago, but I hadn't ridden in warm weather until very lately. I'm off to Alaska in a few days so I'll ride it with the Tupperware off for a while for shakedown purposes, final TB synch, etc, and will sniff that hose (in the privacy of my garage, of course) to confirm.

In my first post I mentioned the dreaded stiff 3-2 downshifting symptom, which is the main reason I took it to him in the first place, to have the spline examined and lubed. Also asked for a new clutch while he had it open (it measured about 3/4 gone at 85K miles). He thought the tranny was noisy (how could he tell on a R11?) - I told him I didn't think it needed service but he opened it up anyway and it checked OK. Cost me a new seal but he did the rest on his dime...

Thanks for the input.