RT Fuel pumps

[NormanFox]

Hafa! I've got an '04 R1150RT with 63,000 miles that just had a fuel pump failure. Naturally it was in the middle of nowhere and I found that there's no way to jerry rig 70 psi pressure to the injectors.

 

That seems like it didn't last very long. Has anybody else had fuel pump issues?

 

Rgds, Norm

[Mr. Frank]

Mine died at around 65K miles. I was REALLY in the middle of nowhere -- 70 miles SW of Amarillo, Texas.

[NormanFox]

You're right. Your nowhere trumps my nowhere. I was in the middle of Waller County 60 miles west of Houston. I only had to get a $250 tow. That means the whole fuel pump problem cost about $1000. That seems a lot for only 65,000 miles on the pump.

 

Rgds, Norm

[flars]

Pretty rare, but not unheard of, as evidenced by the previous post. Usually they get very noisy before they fail, so you generally have time to get back to civilization. Did the shop give an idea as to why they think it failed, i.e. was the filter screen torn, which caused the filter to become plugged, which caused the pump to work too hard?

[NormanFox]

There was no indication what so ever, no noise, no nuthin'. I was cruising along about 75 mph when it sputtered, caught for about 20 seconds and then just died. Bwaaaaaaa...... I only had 18 miles on a fresh tank of Shell Hi Test so my first thought was contaminated fuel. I drained the tank, no contamination. That's when I noticed that I didn't notice the hum when I turned the key on. I usually wear earplugs so I hadn't noticed earlier.

 

Thanks for the thought about filters, I didn't think to ask about them, but the bike had just had it's 60,000 mile service, which is the big one, a couple of months earlier. I'll e mail the service center and ask if they checked or noted anything.

 

Another theory I read about, but but hadn't thought about, is folks who run the tank close to dry before refueling may not be giving the pump enough cooling gas to surround it. Over time, that may shorten life. I usually hit the next suitable gas station when the light comes on so I don't think that may have been much of a contributing factor.

 

I also got a reply from am English BMW mechanic who said it's not uncommon for them to poop out at this mileage.

 

Anybody else got ideas on how to extend fuel pump life?

 

Thanks for the thought, Norm

[Stan Walker]

Anybody else got ideas on how to extend fuel pump life?

 

Ride faster....

 

Stan

 

Actually no, other than changing the fuel filter every 24,000 miles.

[flars]

"folks who run the tank close to dry before refueling may not be giving the pump enough cooling gas to surround it. Over time, that may shorten life"

Hasn't affected mine, and I regularly run the tank down to the point where vapor is the only thing keeping the bike running. One of these days I'm gonna run out of gas while riding two up and my wife is gonna kill me.

I don't think there is anything special to do other than replacing the fuel filter as required by the maintenance schedule. You pays your money and you takes your chance.

[Fugu]

$1000 - $250 tow = $750 for a fuel pump?

 

Yikes.

 

 

edit: Just checked Max BMW - the pump's $229 to $269. Add in a filter just because you're in there and it makes sense and that's $450 in labor?

 

OUCH!

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

Another theory I read about, but but hadn't thought about, is folks who run the tank close to dry before refueling may not be giving the pump enough cooling gas to surround it. Over time, that may shorten life.

 

If it's like other pumps I've seen, then cooling is due to the flow of gasoline through the innards of the electric motor, rather than the sloshing of gasoline against the exterior casing. Virtually all of the heat generation is in the rotor (the armature windings and the commutator), so flowing fuel through the electric motor cools it much more effectively than simply sloshing fuel against the exterior surface.

 

We use in-tank fuel pumps like this as part of several test cell fuel supplies, with the pump mounted dry on a wall rack. No problems with durability.

 

I don't have an RT fuel pump in front of me, but I expect the inlet is at one end of it, and the outlet is at the other. If that's the case, then you won't harm it by running the tank very low on fuel. Cooling will only be compromised if the pump inlet starts sucking air - and at that point, the engine will sputter and die (due to loss of fuel pressure), and the pump will shut off, negating any need for cooling.

[NormanFox]

OK, so I exaggerate. Pump, filter, strainer, vibration dampner $290, Labor $255, Tow $260. Total for fuel pump $805.

 

The other $200 was for the two year fluid replacements that hadn't been done yet.