Low Fuel light staying on

Greetings all.

Bike : 2002 BMW 1150RT- former p

Situation: Low fuel warning light stays on.

Now that I have gotten all the things almost done on her I forgot to mention something I need to look at. When I got her back from the Dealership, the Low fuel warning light stayed on. I called the dealership when I got her back home and told them this but I am reluctant to take her back to that dealership due to trust issues with them. ( Long story) The driver information panel and the light worked fine when I took it to the dealership and now it will not show a full fuel tank and the LOW FUEL light is continuously on. The Haynes Manual I have does not cover any troubleshooting methodology to even look at this. I see several posts here regarding. Do we have a process written or anything I can refer to begin troubleshooting this challenge?

 

Greetings all.

 

Bike : 2002 BMW 1150RT- former p

 

Situation: Low fuel warning light stays on.

 

Now that I have gotten all the things almost done on her I forgot to mention something I need to look at. When I got her back from the Dealership, the Low fuel warning light stayed on. I called the dealership when I got her back home and told them this but I am reluctant to take her back to that dealership due to trust issues with them. ( Long story) The driver information panel and the light worked fine when I took it to the dealership and now it will not show a full fuel tank and the LOW FUEL light is continuously on. The Haynes Manual I have does not cover any troubleshooting methodology to even look at this. I see several posts here regarding. Do we have a process written or anything I can refer to begin troubleshooting this challenge?

Morning dughawk

With the low fuel light on AND the main gauge not going to completely full you might have separate problems or a common problem but they are basically different systems with a common tie.

There is no ONE thing to look at (especially with your bike having a double problem).

The not reading full part could be a resistance issue in the fuel pump pass through, or a high resistance in the pig tail connector, or even a problem with the in-tank fuel level tube (like being crushed or bent, etc).

On the low fuel light problem that might be a wire or hose inside the tank fouling the low fuel switch float or even the float degraded & broken off the float arm, or even something else.

Usually the place to start your troubleshooting is to look at the connector on the wire pigtail coming from the tank fuel pump pass through-- Make sure there is no corrosion present & that ALL the terminal pins are making good clean contact on all cavities.

If the pass through pigtail connector connection is clean & good then--

More than likely you will have to drain & remove the fuel tank then use an ohmmeter to ohm out the internal circuits. Verify the low fuel float & arm is functional & that all in-tank connections are hooked up & not high resistance.

Lets start the troubleshooting by you telling us WHAT the dealer did to the bike when it was in for service? (we need to determine IF they had the fuel tank off the bike as a first step).

It is difficult to give you a step by step as at the moment we have no idea on where the problem lies. We can talk you through the troubleshooting process but once you verify that the fuel pump pass through connector is or isn't the problem, then, more than likely the tank will have to come off the bike to do further testing & troubleshooting. You might also end up having to add a second ground wire to the fuel pump circuit & possibly adding a better ground path to & through the pump pass through.

If you are able & willing to put the work into it we can probably talk you through the entire troubleshooting process but it could be quite involved & time consuming.

Good Morning!

I bought the bike in April and she has 39k miles. From investigations all that I have seen done to her from a reliable source was that she had a starter replaced. I scheduled the bike to be inspected and the 40k services to be done and to remove the crash bar support system since it was not standard and there were connections to the frame itself I did not know why it had them ... Alt belt/Fuel filter/Inspect/Remove extra battery and crash support system and give cost estimate to replace the ignition due to the wires being cut at the key switch area and the ignition rerouted to a switch on the left side of the Tach/Spedometer and of course the swing arm inspect and general inspect of the bike itself. Since I am new to the mechanical part of BMW Mottorad, I wanted an experienced eye to inspect the not so obvious things to review. This did not include the Tupperware repairs.

The Inspection came back with the Clutch Seals need replaced, Side kickstand ( cop version) was cracked and needed replaced, Brake pads and rear brake disk had to be replaced, outside that, she is a solid 1150rt. New Tires, New Sargent Seat, New aircraft glass for wind deflector.

The Dealership took over a month to get her back to me and when she came back there was more damage... left Mirror was busted, they did not even bother to attach the cooling fins in the lower Fairing. Fairing bolts missing, Some bolts not tightened, Empty gas tank, LOW FUEL WARNING light was on After I complained there was Absolutely no gas in the tank to get me off the lot. ( After they filled the tank, the driver information would did not register the fuel tank being full and the LOW FUEL WARNING light was on) I complained again to the dealership about the lack of quality control.

Since I have had her, I have replaced the rear brake disk, pads and re-primed the ABS ( thanks to this forum), Changed the oil, put new head gaskets, replaced sparkin plugs and replaced the Sidestand. I am in the process of fixing and repainting the tupperware and mirror. and I am looking for a Mechanic to replace the whole clutch and clutch seals( I do not have any experience with the clutching and some times we have to pay for experience.) I want to look at replacing the ignition key switch with either a FOB or a new key set.

I am willing and able to work on her! I enjoy it. I just want to watch costs and be smart about it of course.

That is her whole story atm. She runs wonderfully as she sits and I cannot wait to take her to a rally once all the refurbing and fixing is done! It is my hope to run her to California on Route 10, Up the Pacific Highway, back across either Rte 66 or maybe 70. I had my 04 1150 from the Top of Maine all the way to ST Louis and down just south of Orlando FLA.

Afternoon dughawk

Well, it sounds like a lot was done with possibly some of the work done incorrectly or improperly. They would have had to remove the tank to do the fuel filter so who knows what they did wrong while re-assembling the pump pass through & related parts.

So, I guess the place to start is to inspect the pump pass through connector & terminal pins to verify that is assembled correctly with good clean connections.

Probably the next move will be to remove the fuel tank then start inspecting the wiring connections & pass-through clocking.

Here is the proper clocking of the pump pass through--

Thanks DR, What are the red arrows indicating? Ignorant minds want to know. I will start this week on this. It will take me some time due to visiting family....FROM OHIO....ugh...

Red arrows indicating radial location of plate WRT the fuel take aperture.

Thanks DR, What are the red arrows indicating? Ignorant minds want to know. I will start this week on this. It will take me some time due to visiting family....FROM OHIO....ugh...

Morning dughawk

The red arrows are pointing to the FLAT on the pump pass through plate lining up with the raised tit on the tank plastic.

When you remove the fuel tank the first thing to do is verify that the flat lines up with the tit as that tells you the pump pass through is/was installed in the correct clocking.

Forgot to mention-- MARK ALL HOSES for position before removing so you get them re-assembled correctly (or the markings can be used later to figure out if they were originally installed correctly at last service) . Especially the two smaller hoses that attach to the inside of that pump pass through plate & the two small outside hoses where they attach to the bike's drain & vent hoses. (basically mark anything for position BEFORE you remove it).

When removing the pump pass through don't just yank it out as there are small hoses & a wire harness pig tail on the back side that need to be disconnected before complete removal.

Also be very careful on the low fuel float & arm on the inside of tank as the pump pass through plate is (slowly) pulled away & removed.

Remember you are not only trying to repair the darn thing, you are also trying to find out WHY you have the problem so go slowly & methodically.

THANKS ANDY AND DR! I will get to it.