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Quick Disconnects, O-rings, and other unpleasant thoughts


beemerboy

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Okay, the symptoms are fuel leaking on the right side and onto the catalytic converter. The leaks stops after I turn off the ignition and restart the bike.

 

The most likely culprit is the o-ring in the factory quick disconnect (QD); the o-rings contract when not in contact with fuel thus allowing fuel to leak through the coupling. Reading another thread in this forum I saw that a member purchased replacement QD's through McMaster-Carr did his own replacement. I PM'd him for a brief rundown on the procedure over a week ago but didn't get a reply.

 

I was at the local dealer yesterday and asked about the complexity of replacing the QD's. I was told that it takes their mechanics an hour to do this and it's easy to crack the factory QD. I was told that BMW offers new o-rings and should consider going that route first.

 

I'm doing a TB synch and valve adjust this weekend so I'm inclined to resolve this problem while I have the plastic off the bike. I've seen the fuel lines before and they appear to be very rigid and possibly difficult to work on.

 

My questions are: What am I getting into? Am I looking at having to remove the fuel tank and if so do I have to drain it first? Should I install new o-ring or should I just chuck the old QD's and install aftermarket units? If so what other parts should I have on hand, i.e., hose end clamps, spare fuel line, etc.?

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John Ranalletta

Had the BMW QD on my '00 GS and had an o-ring problem once. I'll put QDs on my '04, but they'll be the metal type, not plastic.

 

Reading the Aprilia webs sites, the most common mod is to replace the plastic QDs with metal as Aprilia owners experienced a lot of failures.

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If you already have the tupperware off it should be a small job! Make sure to remove any wire ties that might be fixed to the fuel lines to give you more room to manuever. Remember to pull straight apart on the lines. Trying to "wiggle" them loose may lead to snapping them. Once apart the O rings are easy to get to. I use a small amount of petroleum jelly on the O ring and the male part of the fitting to make it go together easy and to promote a good seal.

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I've found that the O rings tend to swell in use and they're very easy to damage when you re-connect the units.

I always fit new O rings. I bought a huge bag of them for not much money. There's enough to last me 2 lifetimes.

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While your at it, get rid of the oetiker clamps on the fuel lines. My bike had the same leaking problem. I changed the o-rings and it still leaked. It was the oetiker clamps that were the problem. I changed them all for screw type fuel injection clamps and it hasn't leaked since. HTH.

 

John Veilleux

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I replaced the QDs on my roadster

 

see picture

77694567-L.jpg

 

and part numbers from McMaster

QD replacement thread

 

The job is not difficult but it is a PITA. The QDs are barbed, and I found them to be very difficult to remove if you want to keep the same fuel lines. It probably would have been much easier, in hindsight, to replace the fuel lines at the same time.

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If you're just going to do the QDs, you can clamp off the hoses toward the tank and not have to mess with anything at all.

 

But as mentioned, getting the old ones off w/o slitting the hose can be a challenge. In which case, you can replace the hoses (it's 5/16" fuel injection rated hose) from where they exit the tank on. Not too hard, but the tank does have to come off. Which is also pretty straight forward. One bolt, two vent hoses (mark them) two fuel hoses (keep track of them) and a single electrical connector and it slides back and off.

 

But usually just the O-rings will solve it. And are much easier. Do that first, then if you still have issues replace the entire QDs.

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Thanks to all for your input. It looks pretty straight foward but I'll have my 3 pound mini-sledge hammer and a bottle of whiskey near by just in case. thumbsup.gif

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When I did the remote filter mount on my 1100 RT, I replaced all the fuel lines to and from the fuel tank and got rid of the quick disconects. It sounds like the are a source of frustration for many, besides if you do all your own "wrenching", how much longer does it take to drain the fuel when the tank has to be removed? thumbsup.gif

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I replaced the QDs on my roadster

 

see picture

77694567-L.jpg

 

and part numbers from McMaster

QD replacement thread

 

The job is not difficult but it is a PITA. The QDs are barbed, and I found them to be very difficult to remove if you want to keep the same fuel lines. It probably would have been much easier, in hindsight, to replace the fuel lines at the same time.

 

That is a beautiful thing though!

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