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Replaced final drive, break in process?


Touristador

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I just had a new final drive put on my 2005 RT. picked it up two days ago and was told that there is no maintenance needed for this part. This morning the dealer called to ask me to come in so he can change the 'break in oil" that came with the part. I was surprised to hear from him that I had to come back for that. For all he knew I could be on a trip right now.

 

When I asked him how many miles this change should occur at, he said it doesn't matter. I have put between 120 and 170 miles on the bike and its another 24 miles to his place.

 

I don't know why he wouldn't have told me about the need to come back for scheduled breaking maintenance when I specifically asked if there were any further steps.

 

Frankly, I wonder a little about the dealer, as I have not always gotten the best advice from him.

 

Is there a break in process for replacement of the final drive or the right angle gearbox?

 

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I just had a new final drive put on my 2005 RT. picked it up two days ago and was told that there is no maintenance needed for this part. This morning the dealer called to ask me to come in so he can change the 'break in oil" that came with the part. I was surprised to hear from him that I had to come back for that. For all he knew I could be on a trip right now.

 

When I asked him how many miles this change should occur at, he said it doesn't matter. I have put between 120 and 170 miles on the bike and its another 24 miles to his place.

 

I don't know why he wouldn't have told me about the need to come back for scheduled breaking maintenance when I specifically asked if there were any further steps.

 

Frankly, I wonder a little about the dealer, as I have not always gotten the best advice from him.

 

Is there a break in process for replacement of the final drive or the right angle gearbox?

 

Afternoon Touristador

 

Your dealer might be partially correct.

 

Way back in 2005 the bike came from the factory with a very heavy moly content gear oil in it. There was a bulletin to change that out & lower the oil level slightly (I don't remember the miles or time frame).

 

In any case he is probably basing the change recommendation on the old data.

 

I'm not sure what a replacement final drive comes with now (it might even come dry for the dealer to add gear oil at installation)

 

So he is either trying to be safe & do the right thing, OR, he isn't sure it came with the correct gear oil or oil level, OR, he is worried that the tec forgot to fill it after installation.

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How can I check to be sure that there is at least some sort of oil in there?

 

How much harm might I have done if I rode 200 or so miles?

 

 

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Afternoon Touristador

 

How can I check to be sure that there is at least some sort of oil in there?--Not easily, probably have to loosen & move the muffler, remove rear wheel then remove fill plug then stick something into the hole to see if any gear oil comes out on it.

 

How much harm might I have done if I rode 200 or so miles?--Depends on how hard you rode it, how much gear oil was used at assembly, luck. If you ran it 200 miles empty then you probably at least scored the gear tooth contact surfaces. It would probably be getting louder & gear tooth contact noise by 200 miles.

 

Just ride it back & tell the dealer that you want to watch the gear oil come out when the drain plug is removed. If no oil comes out then tell the dealer that you want a new final drive.

 

 

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I don't know if it's me but it's the 3rd time I'm trying to submit this post and even though I see it in the preview mode, it is blank after being submitted...???

 

Let's hope it works this time

 

When the R1200Rt came out in 2005, the FD oil was supposed to be "Life time" oil.

That's why the RTs don't have a fill hole on models prior to mid 2007.

BMW realized after some FD failures that the oil was not really good for life and they revised the maintenance schedule.

 

On the R1200RT Hexhead (05-09)the new BMW specs requires that the FD fluid be changed at every 2 years or 20,000km.

The amount of fluid has been lowered to 180ml. (Original level was 200ml IIRC)

BMW recommends Castrol SAF-XO 75W90

Same oil for the transmission.

 

I now use:

• Castrol Syntrax Long Life 75W-90

2003-2009 Land Rover Range Rover Differential Oil - Rear Differential - Castrol LRN7591 - Syntrax Long Life; Equivalent to: Castrol SAF-XO)

 

You can get it from a Land Rover dealership for almost half the price of the branded SAF-XO

 

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I don't know if it's me but it's the 3rd time I'm trying to submit this post and even though I see it in the preview mode, it is blank after being submitted...???

 

Let's hope it works this time

 

When the R1200Rt came out in 2005, the FD oil was supposed to be "Life time" oil.

That's why the RTs don't have a fill hole on models prior to mid 2007.

BMW realized after some FD failures that the oil was not really good for life and they revised the maintenance schedule.

 

On the R1200RT Hexhead (05-09)the new BMW specs requires that the FD fluid be changed at every 2 years or 20,000km.

The amount of fluid has been lowered to 180ml. (Original level was 200ml IIRC)

BMW recommends Castrol SAF-XO 75W90

Same oil for the transmission.

 

I now use:

* Castrol Syntrax Long Life 75W-90

2003-2009 Land Rover Range Rover Differential Oil - Rear Differential - Castrol LRN7591 - Syntrax Long Life; Equivalent to: Castrol SAF-XO)

 

You can get it from a Land Rover dealership for almost half the price of the branded SAF-XO

 

Reposting Dann's post above. It was the bullet point character.

 

Dann, this site recently moved to a new host. Since then, anything but plain-old ASCII characters cause posts to be blank. It's usually not a problem if you type everything from scratch in the post editing window. But if you copy/paste from another application, those characters can sneak in.

 

The admin team is working on a solution.

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Just ride it back & tell the dealer that you want to watch the gear oil come out when the drain plug is removed. If no oil comes out then tell the dealer that you want a new final drive.

 

 

 

 

+1

Good Luck with the dealer.

What area do you live?

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I would call the dealer on the phone and ask the tech if there was gear oil in the FD when he installed it. If he says he didn't check, or doesn't know, talk to the general manager and tell him the story. Request at least an inspect for damage, drain and fill. If damage is identified of any type, demand a new final drive. Go from there. Since I do my own final drive fluid replacement on my '05 between 10-12K, I have not had to deal with that. The fill level should be 180 ml as per the second BMW update.

 

If they went through all that trouble to replace your final drive and didn't at least check the oil, I would find another dealer. That is after I asked for another final drive due to incompetence.

 

Once you have done it a time or two, it really isn't that difficult to replace the fluid.

Edited by rglassma
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