Oil Analysis and Rattle at 4.5K RPM's

[BakersRT]

I have an 04 RT. I had an 02 R1150R.....I mention that as I know these things can create quite a racket. I've noticed that when I get to abour 4.5K RPM's and up, there is a pronounced rattle. When I had my 12K service done (Not a BMW shop), the service managed said I had bad connecting rod bearings. I haven't taken it to my local dealer (who did the 600 & 6K service) yet as I want to do another oil analysis at 1500 miles. Other than the noise, I'm having no problems. My warranty runs out in October of this year. I would appreciate any thoughts here. [/img]

[Boffin]

I would see your BMW dealer and give him that information and get him to record it on the computer. This should give you protection if there is a failure after the warranty runs out as there is good evidence of an incipient failure inside the warranty period. The dealer may however want you to park the bike until it is looked at in order to minimise any potential damage.

 

BTW, I have had a rod let go due to big-end bearing failure on an old Triumph and as the engine siezed it dumped the small amount of oil in the 'dry sump' onto the back wheel through the hole in the crankcase where the piston exited. Now try that with 3-1/2 quarts of 20W-50.

 

Andy

[David]

I do know that both are high, but I do not know if they are significantly high. For reference purposes, I pulled some reports out for oilheads hoping to give you some context. I found eight of them, and here were the numbers for:

 

COPPER

8

7

9

6

8

11

2

3

 

LEAD

3

3

5

3

3

3

5

7

 

Hope that helps a little.

[duckbubbles]

You've usually got to do several oil analyses on the same engine to get a representative trend, assuming that something is not wrong to begin with.

 

But copper and lead sure sounds like plain bearing material. The advice to get the dealer involved would probably be a good idea for documentation if you have a problem in the future. If there is a bearing putting out the metal, it will show itself soon enough.

 

Frank

[smiller]

That report would definitely get my attention, the next one will probably tell the story. Document everything in the meantime. FWIW oilhead bearing failures are very rare.

[4wheeldog]

If I had the data points that you do, I would call Blackstone and discuss the numbers. In my limited experience, high copper and lead are indicators of bearing failure. They are not in the top layer of the bearing surface, but are found underneath, in the backing material. Probably time to make use of the warranty. Good Luck!

[duckbubbles]

Another step to take is to inspect the oil filter for trapped metal particles. Use a tailpipe cutter or large tubing cutter to cut the metal can off. (don't use a hack saw or anything like that) A knife should cut the paper off of the center tube. Squeeze what oil you can out of it (in a vise), check out that oil too. You can then unflod the paper like an accordion and look at it for metal particles. Since the engine oil syatem is separate from the transmission, it will normally be clean.

 

Frank

[RPG]

just a thought, but wouldn't bad rod bearings exhibit noise at ANY RPM?

 

Rick