fuel pump/electronics corroded

[butterfly]

I have a '07 R1200RT, with 12,655 miles on it when it quit running during a ride. (Stranded for over 3 hours on the road) Fuel pump electronics and fuel pump corroded. Is anyone else having or had these problems or know of problems with the electronics/fuel pump? Is this a problem that BMW knows about with the RT's or any recalls with the RT? This is my dream bike and now I seriously considering getting rid of it after my experience this past week with BMW. Really disappointed!

[johnlt]

This is a know issue for the last several years. I think it has been corrected on later years. Simple fix. Remove he electronics module and you'll find waterin the cavity. Blow out water and install a new module with good sealing grease on the edges. Ask me how I know. My 07RT quit this AM a couple miles from home. I did the above and am up and running. Fortunately I had a spare module from an Alaska trip I never needed. I made an emergency "jumper" from the bad module connectors that bypasses the module to carry in my tool pack.

[butterfly]

thanks for the reply. seems like they would do a recall on the part if they know it is a problem. Cost me a fortune to get taken care of....tow bills, rental car, 3 days lost vacation and bill to fix.

[dirtrider]

Hi butterfly

 

Why would BMW even consider a recall? That would cost them money. You can see that is your case, it cost YOU a fortune so BMW already saved that amount.

 

The only way BMW will recall those FPC pump controllers is if some congressman’s son or daughter is injured or killed because of a defective FPC then puts the pressure on NHTSA. Or enough injury or death incidents occur to force NHTSA to open an investigation into the BMW FPC failures.

 

Voluntary recalls are old school.

 

[johnlt]

Depending when in 07 it was purchased, it may be covered by warrantee. I think they did a recall on some of them (not mine). Don't let them sell you a complete fuel pump $$$$ unless they can show you that it is defective. 99% of these failures are just the control unit, a $135 part.

[bobbybob]

John, is there a way (short of hooking up a GS911) to know that its the FP controller thats killed your motor? As opposed to other causes...

 

Also, how do you make an emergency bypass connector and what does this do? Make the pump run continuously when the switch is on? If so, could this cause any FP problems?

[johnlt]

The bypass is pretty easy to make out of the connectors on the "bad" module. You can usually get a "bad" module from your friendly BMW dealer and scavange it. To install it, you have only to take off the upper left tupperware (4 screws) and you have easy access to it with a T20 driver. Can be done on the side of the road with no problem. I haven't used one yet but my understanding is that it makes the fuel pump run continuously which is not good in the long run but probably ok to get you home or to a dealer. There are many testements of it working fine to get stranded riders in the boodocks to a town (or country) with a dealer.

[bobbybob]

Are the terminal lugs such that they could be jumped using just a piece of wire with some spade connectors on either end? Or alligator clips?

 

It just irks the living s##t out of me that I should even need to be thinking about doing this. Making a fuel pump jumper in advance of a failure on a $20K bike. Reminds me of not too long ago when I joked about Harleys needing a follow-up van when they made cross-country trips. Things are different now....ya know, I used to enjoy that E-glide a lot.....hmmmm

[Limecreek]

thanks for the reply. seems like they would do a recall on the part if they know it is a problem. Cost me a fortune to get taken care of....tow bills, rental car, 3 days lost vacation and bill to fix.

 

This must be your first BMW?

 

They are great bikes, when they are running, but they have their problems--perhaps more so than other brands. The more you know about prevention and/or what to carry with you, the better the experience will be.

 

 

[dirtrider]

Hi Bob

 

Not easily. The terminals on the pump are way down in the well and are recessed round terminals, they look like the old AMP terminals used on the early BMW power outlets.

 

The easiest thing to do is to cut the end off the factory FPC then hook the power wires to that connector. On the later BMWs with the 10 amp power outlet the pump can be powered from that. On the earlier 5 amp outlets that just isn’t enough power to operate the pump without the ZFE shutting the power down.

You could use some small male terminals to grab the power from the FPC feed connector but still need to get that power down in the recessed well to those little round pump terminals, for that using the stock FPC connector as a little pig tail works the best.

 

[bobbybob]

Sounds like they made it as difficult as humanly possible.

 

What about polarity?

[dirtrider]

What about polarity?

 

Evening Bob

 

Yep, polarity is important as the pump is a DC pump. The yellow wire to the pump is positive and the blue wire is negative. The brown center wire in the FPC input connector is negative, the blue/green wire in that connector is positive, the red/blue wire is the trigger wire so leave that alone.

 

[EddyQ]

Check this thread. Lots of info/links: Linky

[johnlt]

Here is a pic of the emergency jumper I made. Much cheaper than a spare module:

 

[Nice n Easy Rider]

John, is there a way (short of hooking up a GS911) to know that its the FP controller thats killed your motor? As opposed to other causes...

 

Also, how do you make an emergency bypass connector and what does this do? Make the pump run continuously when the switch is on? If so, could this cause any FP problems?

 

I took the "easy way out" to making an emergency fuel pump bypass cable: I used my credit card.

 

http://www.burnsmoto.com/bmw-fuel-pump-bypass-cable.php

[johnlt]

It may be easy but it's typically not timely. This takes less than 15 minutes and I can be rolling.

[johnlt]

George, I miss read your point; I thought you meant calling a tow truck. I would have bought one also if it was handy but I had the dead module on my bench so just went ahead and made it.

[BeemerLover]

It would seem to me that simply taking off the tupperware in your driveway and doing what Johnlt suggested (2nd post) is much better than buying and carrying a $135 controller or making a jumper. Preventive actions are always better than coping while on the road!

 

 

[butterfly]

I appreciate all the feedback but you are right. They installed the entire pump and electronics. $641 in parts. the tow really got me too due to being over a hundred miles from dealer and me being over 600 miles from home. rental car charge for a week. I was totally disgusted with it all. I can't even get them to return a phone call now. I wish I had gotten on this forum before. Everyone is so informative and helpful. thanks