Question regarding R1200GS recalls....

[CMWingfield]

Hi,

A couple of weeks ago I was camping with some friends and a couple of us were riding R1200GS's. After the bikes got packed we started to depart, and the other guy with the R1200GS couldn't get his engine to start. He knew immediately what the problem was. He pulled the little covers off the left side of the bike and disconnected an electrical connector and sprayed some WD 40 into the connector. He then reconnected the wiring and the bike fired right up. He explained that it was a recall item on some earlier models and that water would condense inside the connector and then it would stop making contact. He indicated that the recall was to install an O-ring as a seal, but it doesn't seem to have worked on his bike. I was wondering if anyone can shed light on this and I was also wondering if some dialectric grease in the connector would eliminate the problem better than an O-ring. I did a search on this site, but I probably didn't use the right wording.

 

Thanks,

Mike

[Ken H.]

Basically that's correct. Bentonville BMW did it on mine when I had it in there for its 6K.

[steve.foote]

So, which connector is it?

[CMWingfield]

I'm not sure what the connector represents, but I believe it is related to the fuel pump. Maybe someone else knows?

Mike

[Ken H.]

Yes, it is the wiring harness connection for the fuel pump.

[CMWingfield]

Ken,

Back to the question of the dialectic grease..do you think it would do the same thing as the O-ring? I'm thinking it couldn't do harm, and it might assist with keeping some of the moisture out in the first place, but the only place I've used it was on spark plug wires. It could however effect the performance of the O-ring warranty fix.

Mike

[Ken H.]

Well I agree dielectric grease couldn't hurt, and I doubt that a judicious application of it would void a warranty.

 

OTOH, if it isn't broke don't fix it? Only a small number of bikes were effected and only under rather severe repeated riding in hard rain over time conditions.

 

OTOH, OTOH, why not run over to Bentonville and have them fix it right? It's only a light morning's ride from Little Rock.

[CMWingfield]

Thanks Ken. I bought my first bike from Jerry and Bob in Bentonville, and they are some excellent folks. As I'm only three miles from the Little Rock dealership versus the 250 to Bentonville, I've become spoiled!

I haven't had any problems with my bike, but watching my friend made me wonder, particularly since his O-ring fix didn't seem to alleviate the problem. That's why I began to speculate regarding the grease.

 

Yeah, I've got too much time on my hands!

 

Thanks again,

Mike