LCD exclamation mark

[Hati]

A bit puzzled with this one. I got the exclamation mark between the two triangles on the LCD screen of my '06 without any other symbol on the LCD or any idiot lights. Both times I noticed it when I killed the engine from the handle bar switch while waiting at roadworks. I did not turn the ignition off, just killed the engine and flicked the switch back to "run" and did not start the bike again until it was time to go. I think it was around 5 minutes or less the time I spent waiting with the engine off. Not sure how quickly after stopping the engine did the exclamation mark appear. It disappears almost right away when I fire the bike up again.

 

The manual says the it comes on with low oil level but I did not get the accompanying oil warning light that the manual says should come on with.

 

Any clue what this?

[Rougarou]

Check your sight glass on a level surface.

 

 This is what you will receive when you have low volume of oil.

 

This is for low oil pressure.

 

The only real way to check if you have proper amount of oil is the sight glass.

[Hati]

First thing I did was check the oil level. On the centre stand it is smack in the middle of  the glass. The manual says that for low level oil, the exclamation mark comes on with the oil pressure light. For low oil pressure, the light comes on by itself. This is what got me confused...

oil.pdf

[Rougarou]

Could just be part of the bike computer thing from killing it and not turning the key off. 

 

For engine oil checks, I believe that the engine has to be running and you'd get that "oil checkmark" notice as well.

 

[dirtrider]

7 hours ago, Hati said:

A bit puzzled with this one. I got the exclamation mark between the two triangles on the LCD screen of my '06 without any other symbol on the LCD or any idiot lights. Both times I noticed it when I killed the engine from the handle bar switch while waiting at roadworks. I did not turn the ignition off, just killed the engine and flicked the switch back to "run" and did not start the bike again until it was time to go. I think it was around 5 minutes or less the time I spent waiting with the engine off. Not sure how quickly after stopping the engine did the exclamation mark appear. It disappears almost right away when I fire the bike up again.

 

The manual says the it comes on with low oil level but I did not get the accompanying oil warning light that the manual says should come on with.

 

Any clue what this?

 

Morning Hati

 

Was the "exclamation mark between the two triangles" red or yellow? This makes a difference in what it was & how important it is.

 

Are you sure that no symbol  was showing in the multi-function screen (like a battery icon or engine electronics icon, or oil icon? (note: multi-function screen can have a lot of things showing so seeing something new there might have been missed)

 

With key ON & engine stalled (not running) you have low oil pressure, low alternator charging, & engine electronics is not getting an ignition signal so any one of those could be showing on the lower multi-function  screen.

 

In any case getting the "exclamation mark between the two triangles" warning with key ON & engine stalled is normal as you do have low oil pressure,  low alternator charging,  & no running ignition signal to your BMS-K.

[Hati]

1 minute ago, dirtrider said:

 

Morning Hati

 

Was the "exclamation mark between the two triangles" red or yellow? This makes a difference in what it was & how important it is.

 

Neither. it was on the LCD screen (multi function display), so it was monochrome.

 

1 minute ago, dirtrider said:

 

Are you sure that no symbol  was showing in the multi-function screen (like a battery icon or engine electronics icon, or oil icon? (note: multi-function screen can have a lot of things showing so seeing something new there might have been missed)

 

100% sure. The exclamation mark was present for virtually the entire time the bike was stationary with the engine stopped, but ignition still on, after pulling up to the roadworks stop signals. Loads of time to look for any additional icon coming on with the exclamation mark on the multifunction screen, but none showed.

 

1 minute ago, dirtrider said:

 

With key ON & engine stalled (not running) you have low oil pressure, low alternator charging, & engine electronics is not getting an ignition signal so any one of those could be showing on the lower multi-function  screen.

 

In any case getting the "exclamation mark between the two triangles" warning with key ON & engine stalled is normal as you do have low oil pressure,  low alternator charging,  & no running ignition signal to your BMS-K.

 

Come to think of this last sentence, I don't recall ever expecting to be stationary for long enough on this bike to warrant turning off the engine until the last couple of days, so never experienced turning the engine off from the kill switch. I normally turn off the ignition.

 

I''ll check this again tomorrow. thanks for the tip.

[dirtrider]

Morning Hati 

 

Neither. it was on the LCD screen (multi function display), so it was monochrome.-- This makes a difference, I thought your   exclamation mark was showing in the upper dash screen? 

 

If the exclamation mark was in the lower milti-function screen then it was probably the low oil level warning. That warning does require a warm engine (you had that) but also requires an idling engine for at least 10 seconds (you didn't have that) so as long as the warning goes away when you restart then you are good to go. 

 

It also requires an upright motorcycle, was your bike on the side stand at the time or was it upright?

[Corazon de Pollo]

It's one of the many "glitches" I have had with my Hexhead central LCD display, albeit not as common as the ESA! warning on startup.

 

I've never found a reason for those random error messages and to be honest they were so random and rare happenings I just turned a blind eye: if you oil level is fine and you don't get any more messages just ignore it.

[dirtrider]

22 minutes ago, Corazon de Pollo said:

It's one of the many "glitches" I have had with my Hexhead central LCD display, albeit not as common as the ESA! warning on startup.

 

I've never found a reason for those random error messages and to be honest they were so random and rare happenings I just turned a blind eye: if you oil level is fine and you don't get any more messages just ignore it.

 

Morning Corazon de Pollo

 

I haven't ever seen an ESA (electronic suspension adjustment) warning show on the multi function screen, didn't know that one was even possible or a place on the screen for it. 

 

Are you by chance referring to an  EWS (electronic immobilizer) warning not an ESA warning?

 

Or possibly a  DWA (anti-theft) warning. 

[Corazon de Pollo]

19 hours ago, dirtrider said:

 

Morning Corazon de Pollo

 

I haven't ever seen an ESA (electronic suspension adjustment) warning show on the multi function screen, didn't know that one was even possible or a place on the screen for it. 

 

Are you by chance referring to an  EWS (electronic immobilizer) warning not an ESA warning?

 

Or possibly a  DWA (anti-theft) warning. 

 

No DR, it's was on the central LCD screen. It only came up when pushing the starter motor and then only rarely. The dealer's diagnostic system found no code had been stored and ESA always worked as intended so we put it down to some to some startup voltage hijinks.

I haven't got that bike anymore so I cannot replicate the issue, but it was displayed for a few seconds in the top half of the screen.

Besides random warnings I also experienced severe swings in the fuel level indicator three times. Never seen anything like it on any other vehicle. For once the fuel stripe wasn't to blame and when the bike was total'd it was still on the original one.

 

Given the costs of a replacement instrument cluster I never investigated the issue... it was more of a nuisance than anything else.

[Hati]

On 3/22/2020 at 9:36 PM, dirtrider said:

If the exclamation mark was in the lower milti-function screen then it was probably the low oil level warning. That warning does require a warm engine (you had that) but also requires an idling engine for at least 10 seconds (you didn't have that) so as long as the warning goes away when you restart then you are good to go. 

 

It also requires an upright motorcycle, was your bike on the side stand at the time or was it upright?

 

I haven't had a chance to check again yet, maybe this weekend. I will update the thread then.

 

The bike was upright, not on the stand. Thanks again for the assistance DR!

[Sonor]

Funny, I never thought of it as an exclamation mark.  It always looks like a GPS symbol for Hospital. 

[Hati]

LOL @Sonor It does remind of that indeed...

[Hati]

Bit of an update to this thread. I finally got the shock absorbers back from being refurbished and took the bike out for a ride today. I can confirm that it comes on (the exclamation mark between the triangles, aka hospital sign ) on its own, no other warning lights participate in the show. It happened twice, the second time on my driveway. This (driveway) is on a bit of a slope, maybe 10 degrees, enough to have to hold the bike on the brakes, not just by foot.

 

When it first came on, the thought crossed my mind to press the "C" button to cycle the computer readout while I was riding. The warning disappeared when I arrived back to average fuel consumption display. On the driveway I had a bit more time to just look at the dash and noticed that the first press of the button brings up the word "oil" on the screen, so yes, low oil level it is. The question is then: why? I checked oil level, just above half way on the sight glass before I left. About the same after arriving home.

 

@dirtrider is this something I should worry about or investigate further? 

[dirtrider]

13 hours ago, Hati said:

Bit of an update to this thread. I finally got the shock absorbers back from being refurbished and took the bike out for a ride today. I can confirm that it comes on (the exclamation mark between the triangles, aka hospital sign ) on its own, no other warning lights participate in the show. It happened twice, the second time on my driveway. This (driveway) is on a bit of a slope, maybe 10 degrees, enough to have to hold the bike on the brakes, not just by foot.

 

When it first came on, the thought crossed my mind to press the "C" button to cycle the computer readout while I was riding. The warning disappeared when I arrived back to average fuel consumption display. On the driveway I had a bit more time to just look at the dash and noticed that the first press of the button brings up the word "oil" on the screen, so yes, low oil level it is. The question is then: why? I checked oil level, just above half way on the sight glass before I left. About the same after arriving home.

 

@dirtrider is this something I should worry about or investigate further? 

 

Morning Hati

 

Next time that you are at your BMW dealer just  have them  pull up  service bulletin  1200106(024)  Dated, June 2006.

 

 This service bulletin covers incorrect oil level readings (dash check-oil-light coming on even with correct oil level)  from the low-oil-level warning system  on the  pre (mid 2006 build)  1200 RT's.

 

It states that incorrect-oil-level-readings can occur under unfavorable conditions, or occasionally, when the motorcycle  is  being ridden during some circumstances, and despite the fact that the oil level is correct (ie middle of the sight glass), the light errantly notifies the rider of the necessity of checking the oil level even though the oil level is at the correct level .  

 

BMW  offered a new  (oil level sensor) float that lowered the sensor's trip point by 4mm, they also  updated the software level to K024-06-01-510 or higher.

 

 This was a warranty issue & not a recall so I'm not sure if it would still be covered or not. 

 

You could at least buy the new (updated float) then install that as that would probably correct most of the false readings. (I think the proper float is around $28.00)

 

One of the problems with this issue is that MOST times when that  light comes on it is not giving the correct info so is showing that the oil level is low when it really isn't, BUT what about that one time it isn't a false light?   

 

 

 

[Hati]

Ah, I was suspecting something like this, quietly... Thank you for that DR!. I'm not too worried about the one time the reading would be for real, I have a daily pre-ride check routine, plus I am OCD about having no oil leaks on my bikes, so the likelihood of losing oil and it going unnoticed/ignored is very small.

 

Will check with the dealer next RDO. Thank you.

 

 

[Hati]

An update to the above.

 

I noticed that the oil level was slowly getting lower and lower approaching the next service. It was never gone from the window but (from memory) I filled it at the 50k service to 3/4 line of the window and it went down to about 1/4 to 1/3 by the time the service came around. The oil float then was just doing its job and warning me, possibly a little prematurely. I have just done the 60k service and (learning from this experience) I filled it to top of the window. No oil level warning ever since. I think it's safe to conclude that it was just a bit too eager of an oil float doing its job.

[Rinkydink]

And better too eager than too lazy. 😳