exgman
Active member
I just returned to Boston from a trip to NC and back. Along the way I had problems which required transportation of my ailing RT to two dealers (one in Roanoke, VA and one in Asheville, NC). Despite their best efforts, the problems persist. I hope someone might have some insights or ideas.
History of the problem: The bike has 43K miles on the ODO. I left Boston in sunshine two weeks ago and stopped in Chambersburg, PA my first night. Overnight rain arrived, and I headed out for Floyd, VA. As I was riding south on I-81 in Raphine, VA at 70mph in heavy rain the engine suddenly died, the red/exclamation point triangle appeared in the display and the rpm went to zero. It started again as I was rolling when I let the clutch out. I made it to the next exit (about 1/2-mile) rolled into an Exxon station, shut off the engine with the key, and proceeded to refill the tank with 93-octane fuel. Even though it was raining heavily, I was completely under the canopy and no rain was hitting me or the bike. Attempts to re-start it following fueling were unsuccessful. I had the jumper cable for the FPC (the original silver one), so I removed the FPC, put the jumper to the SAE plug (direct to the battery) but got no joy (to use an old military term). Bike was dead. It would crank but nothing else.
Bike was flatbedded in heavy rain 70 miles to BMW dealer in Roanoke, VA (Frontline Eurosports). These folks jumped on my problem, and determined that the electronics of the fuel pump were about half the expected values in the computer. They replaced the original FPC and the fuel pump (which had been replaced during the recall). I was told that "bad fuel may have caused problems with the fuel pump." They drained the fuel in the tank, and replaced it with non-ethanol fuel.
I then rode about 300 miles to Hendersonville, NC, much of which was in the rain. Outside of Asheville, NC I filled the tank with Shell 93-octane fuel along the way about 20 miles east of Asheville on I-40. The bike had no issues and had the expected power before and after the refuel.
After letting the bike sit in an enclosed garage for a couple of days, I took the bike out for a ride while in Hendersonville and covered about 50 miles. No rain. No problems. All seemed fine.
After a couple of more days I wanted to meet some friends in Greenville, SC. I rolled the bike out of the garage, suited up, and pushed the start button. It would crank, start a little, then die. The longest I got it to run during this sequence was about five seconds. As soon as I moved the throttle, it would die. The SM at the Asheville dealer asked me to bring it in for a look. It was trailered in non-rainy weather to Eurosport Asheville, and they jumped on it right away. Ultimately, they said the fuel appeared "cloudy" so they drained it, replaced it with one gallon of clean fuel, and put in a full bottle of BMW fuel system cleaner. The SM advised me to use another bottle of the cleaner (aka Chevron Techron) at the next fill up of gasoline.
I then road east to Wake Forest, then north to MD, NJ and ultimately home. I used two more bottles of Techron, one at the next fill, and another later. Much of this riding was in the rain except for the last 460 miles from MD to MA. Throughout I experienced periods in which the bike felt as if it had lost power, and was struggling to maintain speed. This occurred ramdomly and intermittently. If this might have any meaning, the displayed MPG dropped from a steady 48-49mpg during the strong times, to 43-45mpg when it was struggling.
Storage Conditions: This bike has spent its Winters stored in closed but not-heated garages. I have filled the tank with 93-octane fuel and an ounce of Star-Tron before each winter, and run it about five miles before putting it away. It's attached to an Optimate-4 each Winter, so it starts with one push on the starter in the Spring.
I really, really thank anyone who has read this long post. If anyone has any ideas about this or suggestions about how a tank of fuel could be contaminated in a standard 2008 RT on which I push the cap down until it clicks every single time I fill the tank...well, I'd be really pleased to hear from you.
Thank you - John Gamel
History of the problem: The bike has 43K miles on the ODO. I left Boston in sunshine two weeks ago and stopped in Chambersburg, PA my first night. Overnight rain arrived, and I headed out for Floyd, VA. As I was riding south on I-81 in Raphine, VA at 70mph in heavy rain the engine suddenly died, the red/exclamation point triangle appeared in the display and the rpm went to zero. It started again as I was rolling when I let the clutch out. I made it to the next exit (about 1/2-mile) rolled into an Exxon station, shut off the engine with the key, and proceeded to refill the tank with 93-octane fuel. Even though it was raining heavily, I was completely under the canopy and no rain was hitting me or the bike. Attempts to re-start it following fueling were unsuccessful. I had the jumper cable for the FPC (the original silver one), so I removed the FPC, put the jumper to the SAE plug (direct to the battery) but got no joy (to use an old military term). Bike was dead. It would crank but nothing else.
Bike was flatbedded in heavy rain 70 miles to BMW dealer in Roanoke, VA (Frontline Eurosports). These folks jumped on my problem, and determined that the electronics of the fuel pump were about half the expected values in the computer. They replaced the original FPC and the fuel pump (which had been replaced during the recall). I was told that "bad fuel may have caused problems with the fuel pump." They drained the fuel in the tank, and replaced it with non-ethanol fuel.
I then rode about 300 miles to Hendersonville, NC, much of which was in the rain. Outside of Asheville, NC I filled the tank with Shell 93-octane fuel along the way about 20 miles east of Asheville on I-40. The bike had no issues and had the expected power before and after the refuel.
After letting the bike sit in an enclosed garage for a couple of days, I took the bike out for a ride while in Hendersonville and covered about 50 miles. No rain. No problems. All seemed fine.
After a couple of more days I wanted to meet some friends in Greenville, SC. I rolled the bike out of the garage, suited up, and pushed the start button. It would crank, start a little, then die. The longest I got it to run during this sequence was about five seconds. As soon as I moved the throttle, it would die. The SM at the Asheville dealer asked me to bring it in for a look. It was trailered in non-rainy weather to Eurosport Asheville, and they jumped on it right away. Ultimately, they said the fuel appeared "cloudy" so they drained it, replaced it with one gallon of clean fuel, and put in a full bottle of BMW fuel system cleaner. The SM advised me to use another bottle of the cleaner (aka Chevron Techron) at the next fill up of gasoline.
I then road east to Wake Forest, then north to MD, NJ and ultimately home. I used two more bottles of Techron, one at the next fill, and another later. Much of this riding was in the rain except for the last 460 miles from MD to MA. Throughout I experienced periods in which the bike felt as if it had lost power, and was struggling to maintain speed. This occurred ramdomly and intermittently. If this might have any meaning, the displayed MPG dropped from a steady 48-49mpg during the strong times, to 43-45mpg when it was struggling.
Storage Conditions: This bike has spent its Winters stored in closed but not-heated garages. I have filled the tank with 93-octane fuel and an ounce of Star-Tron before each winter, and run it about five miles before putting it away. It's attached to an Optimate-4 each Winter, so it starts with one push on the starter in the Spring.
I really, really thank anyone who has read this long post. If anyone has any ideas about this or suggestions about how a tank of fuel could be contaminated in a standard 2008 RT on which I push the cap down until it clicks every single time I fill the tank...well, I'd be really pleased to hear from you.
Thank you - John Gamel
