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07 RT Fuel gauge


Dave P

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Newly acquired 07 RT, this morning the fuel gauge read 1/4 to 1/3 full, and she died on the road. Fealt like she just plain ran out of gas. A good person stopped with a gas can. After a couple gallons of fresh gas, she started up, made it 15 miles home. 
 

when I gas it up, the gauge does show more bars, but it lied to me (I think anyway) when fuel was low. PO mentioned something about a recall. Hmm we'll see on that. I've heard the fuel gauges on these are problematic. What are the symptoms of a problem gauge?

 

Suggestions? Could just use the airhead method...  Thanks , Dave

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1 hour ago, Dave P said:

Yeah that's a drag, guess I'll be zeroing my trip odo at each fillup. D

Afternoon Dave

 

Even with a good functioning fuel strip (and functioning fuel gauge) you REALLY should re-set your trip odo at each fill up as on the 1200 bikes the fuel strip can fail at about any time with no warning, then you run out of fuel as the first sign of failure.  

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I reset my trip meters at every fill up. I target looking for gas by the trip meter at 250 miles. I also set the fuel reminder on my Nav V to 260 miles.  It pesters you until you reset it.  

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Yeah I've been in that habit since my R80RT days. And my MGB days too. My oilhead has a fuel gauge (with a FLOAT), and I always reset to zero on that RT anyway. Just good insurance. Dave

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For 23 years the fuel gauge in my 66 B bounced wildly. Never really bothered me, never fixed it. For the most part, All of the other electrics worked pretty well, even the generator! D

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Duel- I did see one of those "emulators" online, but it wasn't clear to me exactly what it does. Maybe it just keeps the fuel warning light off? Does it restore the functionality of the fuel gauge?  Maybe you could clarify. Dave

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44 minutes ago, Dave P said:

Duel- I did see one of those "emulators" online, but it wasn't clear to me exactly what it does. Maybe it just keeps the fuel warning light off? Does it restore the functionality of the fuel gauge?  Maybe you could clarify. Dave

Morning Dave

 

The emulator doesn't make the fuel gauge or the low light work correctly ALL it does is keep the low fuel ight out & always show a full tank on the dash gauge. (makes the dash gauge lie to the rider) 

 

I make my own (homemade) emulator (no flashing LED lights or anything exotic) as I don't like to see the fuel gauge reading full all the time as that doesn't catch the riders attention to check the miles traveled since last fill up. I play with the resistors in my homemade emulator until it shows about 1/8 full (that keeps the low fuel light out)  but grabs the riders attention to check the actual trip meters for miles since last fill up. 

 

 

Emulator info, quoted below__ The red highlight was added is by me.

"5 seconds after switching on the ignition, the 'Data Check' LED lights up indicating that the emulator is receiving the signals from the on-board computer. After 32 seconds the LED goes out and sends the new data to the onboard computer. The emulator does this check and writes down new data every 32 seconds. After connecting the tank ribbon emulator, the fuel indicator always remains full.
You should ride on trip meter 1 or 2 and refuel at the correct mileage.
For the GS around 300 km and the GSA can reach over 350miles (550 km) depending on the fuel consumption".

 

 

 

 

 

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DR- Well I haven't even put 200 miles on this bike yet, but when I gas it up, the display shows it is has more gas in it. Level goes down as I ride. Low fuel light has not come on.  Only glitch is that it still showed about 1/4 or 1/3 of a tank when it ran out of gas. No yellow warning light.
 

But I certainly WILL reset to 0 when I gas up! Dave

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17 hours ago, Dave P said:

DR- Well I haven't even put 200 miles on this bike yet, but when I gas it up, the display shows it is has more gas in it. Level goes down as I ride. Low fuel light has not come on.  Only glitch is that it still showed about 1/4 or 1/3 of a tank when it ran out of gas. No yellow warning light.
 

But I certainly WILL reset to 0 when I gas up! Dave

Evening Dave P

 

It's possible someone put a new fuel strip in that motorcycle but didn't calibrate it first. 

 

You can probably run it out of fuel, then put in exactly 1/4 tank of  fuel in it then see if it shows 1/4 full, then add another 1/4 tank of fuel then see if it shows 1/2 tank, then another 1/4 tank of fuel to see if it reads 3/4 full.

 

Added: you will probably have to ride that motorcycle after each fuel addition as it takes a while for the fuel gauge to catch up to the actual fuel level in the tank. 

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Just now, dirtrider said:

Evening Dave P

 

It's possible someone put a new fuel strip in that motorcycle but didn't calibrate it first. It can be calibrated wit a GS-911 but the strip needs to be removed then totally dried out first.

 

You can probably run it out of fuel, then put in exactly 1/4 tank of  fuel in it then see if it shows 1/4 full, then add another 1/4 tank of fuel then see if it shows 1/2 tank, then another 1/4 tank of fuel to see if it reads 3/4 full.

 

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Is there a procedure to calibrate the fuel strip? It would be cool if I could get it functional (without dropping a bunch of coin) D

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23 minutes ago, Dave P said:

Is there a procedure to calibrate the fuel strip? It would be cool if I could get it functional (without dropping a bunch of coin) D

Evening Dave P

 

Yes, there is a fuel strip calibration tool in your GS-911, problem is you need to remove then dry the fuel strip first. 

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DR, well a friend is going to help me with repairing my abs unit this winter. Has a GS911. He theorizes the "motor" in there is stuck. Brake Failure light is on. I did see a test you suggested where you spin the rear wheel and hit the front brake.

 

Anyway, I'll be pulling the tank to get into that can o worms. Would be a good time to mess with that fuel strip. Is the fuel filter inside the tank like on my 1100RT? Would be a good time to change that as well. Dave

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12 hours ago, Dave P said:

Duel- I did see one of those "emulators" online, but it wasn't clear to me exactly what it does. Maybe it just keeps the fuel warning light off? Does it restore the functionality of the fuel gauge?  Maybe you could clarify. Dave

I didn't want to tape over the yellow triangle as it can still show other warnings you would miss if the yellow warning light was covered up. The emulator spoofs the gauge into reading 100% full all the time. A bonus was to find out the onboard computer still uses displayed average mpg to figure range of a full tank (because it thinks it is always full) and I use that range compared to one of the trip odometers that I reset at every fill up. The computer still displays average speed and mph since last reset. For example if the average is 45 mpg then it figures 7.1 gallons  X 45 = 320 miles. 320 miles will show on the instrument panel as range to empty. For this example monitoring the trip meter to 270 miles leaves approximately a 50 mile reserve. The emulator plugs into the wire harness that formerly plugged into the fuel pump cover and connected to the fuel strip. My strip acted up for a while and I couldn't trust what the gauge or range to empty was showing. Hope this helps clarify.

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14 hours ago, Dave P said:

DR, well a friend is going to help me with repairing my abs unit this winter. Has a GS911. He theorizes the "motor" in there is stuck. Brake Failure light is on. I did see a test you suggested where you spin the rear wheel and hit the front brake.

 

Anyway, I'll be pulling the tank to get into that can o worms. Would be a good time to mess with that fuel strip. Is the fuel filter inside the tank like on my 1100RT? Would be a good time to change that as well. Dave

Morning  Dave P

 

Yes, on your 2007 1200RT the fuel filter is inside the tank, but unlike your 1100RT the filter is not replaceable. Well, not meant to be replaced anyway. 

 

With a lot of work, & IF you can find that Mahle non-serviceable filter, you can take the fuel pump assembly apart then replace the built-in filter.  But if you use clean fuel then the permanent filter will usually go the life of the motorcycle.  

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Although after zapping my fuel gauge works as it should, am old school and always reset the trip meter at each fill up. When am around the 230/250 mark i look for a fuel station. For yours i dont think zapping will work. As other have said it sound like it need caliabrating.

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18 hours ago, dirtrider said:

Evening Dave P

 

Yes, there is a fuel strip calibration tool in your GS-911, problem is you need to remove then dry the fuel strip first. 

Ok sounds good, I won't be getting into that until the end of the season. Will start a new topic about this fuel strip recalibration in a few months. Thanks as always. Dave

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Was just going to post something about a 09rt fuel gage problem when I saw this. My friends rt fuel gage just shows 0 fuel and a warning light. Fuel strip ?

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17 minutes ago, joeb said:

Was just going to post something about a 09rt fuel gage problem when I saw this. My friends rt fuel gage just shows 0 fuel and a warning light. Fuel strip ?

Afternoon joeb

 

Not 100% that it is the fuel strip but probably close to 99.9% that it is. 

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  • 4 months later...

The fuel strip failed on my '09 RT a week after I purchased it (second hand ) 

I got my dealer to fit a new fuel strip, and it works great. The fuel strip has a different part number than the older one, the parts manager said BMW 'improved' it. 2 year parts and labor warranty.

 

Anyway IMHO worth fixing. The motoscan app also has a calibrating function of a replacement fuel strip if you dont have a gs 911. Apparently it works if you have 4 litres left in the tank, just make sure you have a minimum of 12.6 volts or it won't work.

 

I also use the odometer, old habit over 40 years riding

 

 

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On 7/31/2022 at 3:08 PM, Dave P said:

Newly acquired 07 RT, this morning the fuel gauge read 1/4 to 1/3 full, and she died on the road. Fealt like she just plain ran out of gas. A good person stopped with a gas can. After a couple gallons of fresh gas, she started up, made it 15 miles home. 
 

when I gas it up, the gauge does show more bars, but it lied to me (I think anyway) when fuel was low. PO mentioned something about a recall. Hmm we'll see on that. I've heard the fuel gauges on these are problematic. What are the symptoms of a problem gauge?

 

Suggestions? Could just use the airhead method...  Thanks , Dave

 

It happened to me a couple times after I had the fuel strip replaced a second time. I make sure to remember to reset and check the trip meter. 

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  • 7 months later...

07 1200- Fuel strip replaced twice under warranty

Failed twice.

Saw several threads on using a pizzo lighter.

 

It has worked better than the factory replacements.  The result is 80-90% successful.  The TRIP METER is 100% successful.

 

This video is not mine, nor my bike.

 

I think someone suggested doing on a full tank so there is less fumes.?.

 

 

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I converted the defective fuel strip in my 2012 R1200R to the fuel strip spoof and low fuel switch. Now the fuel gauge shows full until the low fuel light comes on with about a gallon of gas remaining.

 

I had developed the lazy habit of relying on the low fuel light to tell me when to fill up with gas, so this works good for me. I still reset the trip odometer at every fill-up....

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Wally- generally fuel gauge works ok, it just shows about a third of a tank... and then runs out of gas. No yellow light. Yeah I reset the trip odo, that works fine. But my 1100 RT has a float and the thing is reliable every time. The odo reset is like my airhead days. Guessing the fuel strip idea was cheaper. Follow the money for your answer I guess.

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  • 5 weeks later...

I just ran my 2008 down to 3 miles range ;) ( lots of blinking and warning triangles ) likely not the smartest move but my fuel gauge works as it should. 

I have read about others troubles and do watch for it to move as I think it should but have not bothered to set my OD yet. 

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1 hour ago, Rider1260 said:

I just ran my 2008 down to 3 miles range ;) ( lots of blinking and warning triangles ) likely not the smartest move but my fuel gauge works as it should. 

I have read about others troubles and do watch for it to move as I think it should but have not bothered to set my OD yet. 

How much did it take to top off? A time or two I ran single digits to 0 and someone told me they once ran 40 miles past zero. I think the most I put in was 6.6 gallons in a nominal 7.1 gallon tank. 

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