09 RT - ANOTHER FUEL STRIP FAILURE

[ully211]

Just took the bike in at 53,000 when it was having problems starting ... sure enough even tho tank showed 3/4 full, it was out of gas.  1st time this has happened on my bike.

 

Just quoted $508 to fix it at my dealership ... with all the folks who have had this, how many have actually gotten it fixed?  Do I just use the miles traveled and watch it like a hawk, or get the dang fuel strip fixed?

 

Hoping DR will chime in on this one too ... thanks a million

[dirtrider]

9 minutes ago, ully211 said:

Just took the bike in at 53,000 when it was having problems starting ... sure enough even tho tank showed 3/4 full, it was out of gas.  1st time this has happened on my bike.

 

Just quoted $508 to fix it at my dealership ... with all the folks who have had this, how many have actually gotten it fixed?  Do I just use the miles traveled and watch it like a hawk, or get the dang fuel strip fixed?

 

Hoping DR will chime in on this one too ... thanks a million

Afternoon  ully211

 

When was the last fuel strip replaced. It might still be under the replacement warranty.

 

You can have it replaced but if BMW won't do it for free then I would probably just  use the trip meter & forget about the fuel gauge.

 

Even if it starts working again you won't ever be able to trust it unless you have the strip replaced.   

[ully211]

DR it has never been replaced ... it's the original.  But you don't think its worth replacing?  

And it could begin working again couldn't it?

[lkraus]

Any chance the bikes "in service" date is less than twelve years ago?

 

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2014/CSC-10056106-4420.pdf

[dirtrider]

3 hours ago, ully211 said:

DR it has never been replaced ... it's the original.  But you don't think its worth replacing?  

And it could begin working again couldn't it?

Evening ully211

 

It could start working again but not likely, give it a little time & see. There is a way to use a gas grille piezo igniter to spark the strip & sometimes that will start them functioning again. It can work but they usually just quits again in the future so you can run out fuel again (so I don't use the Piezo method myself).

 

As far as replacing, that is pretty well up to the rider. 

[ully211]

Thanks DR ... I"m picking it up in the morning just as is.  Figuring the odometer is the best way to ensure I don't run out of gas ... especially to save $500+!!!

[MoteroNC]

I just had the same issue after replacing 5 strips since 2012. Now the dealer told me that BMW won't cover it anymore as a warranty strip does not have warranty itself and the dates of warranty have expired last year.

For me the worst is the yellow triangle ON all the time.

[dirtrider]

1 minute ago, MoteroNC said:

I just had the same issue after replacing 5 strips since 2012. Now the dealer told me that BMW won't cover it anymore as a warranty strip does not have warranty itself and the dates of warranty have expired last year.

For me the worst is the yellow triangle ON all the time.

Morning   MoteroNC

 

You can build a simple (well sort of anyhow) little resister setup to spoof the fuel gauge circuit to make the dash gauge show a fuel level therefore turning the yellow light out.  

 

Not only is that yellow light annoying but if it is on due to that gas gauge thing it won't show if you have a real problem in another area. 

[MoteroNC]

Thank you. I think I remembered that solution posted in the forum albeit a lot of debate as to wether it worked. I agree keeping the triangle ON is not very safe/smart.

[dirtrider]

12 minutes ago, MoteroNC said:

Thank you. I think I remembered that solution posted in the forum albeit a lot of debate as to wether it worked. I agree keeping the triangle ON is not very safe/smart.

Yes, it usually works OK & with a little tweaking of the resistors you can actually set a mid level fuel level so you don't subconsciously think tank is full & run out of fuel.

[ully211]

Well picked the bike up Saturday after telling dealer not to fix it.  Good news is they didn't charge me at all for the break down and fuel strip failure diagnosis.

 

And then going right to get gas after leaving the dealer, the fuel gauge started working again immediately!!!!

 

But as  DR said earlier in this post, I will NEVER really trust it again.  Going to go with the odometer for sure!!

 

Thanks for the help.

[MoteroNC]

Hello DR

 

I think I am ready to do the resistor modification. Any chance you have the latest results of which pin out and resistors works best. Thank you

 

MoteroNC

[dirtrider]

1 hour ago, MoteroNC said:

Hello DR

 

I think I am ready to do the resistor modification. Any chance you have the latest results of which pin out and resistors works best. Thank you

 

MoteroNC

Afternoon MoteroNC

 

There are probably a number of combinations that work, I  typically don't do many as I usually just install & calibrate a new fuel level strip. 

 

On the ones that I have done (been well over a year now with this darn Covid thing) I start with the below___

 

I just unplug the tank connector,  then use a 43 ohm (2 watt) resistor between terminal pin #1 & terminal pin #4  (this spoofs the fuel strip heater circuit)

 

Then I add a 1M resistor between terminal pin #3 & terminal pin #4.

 

Then I start with a 2K resistor between terminal pin # 2 & terminal pin #3 (temporary installation). This typically makes it read full.

 

Personably I don't like to see full on the dash gauge as that can make a rider forget that it is just a spoofed reading so I fool around with the  resistor between terminal pin # 2 & terminal pin #3  by trying different resistances until I get it to read somewhat close to 1/2 tank. (Note: when fooling with the 2-3 resistor in some cases it can take up to 90 seconds to see a change in the dash gauge. 

 

As I mentioned I haven't done one in well over a year now so maybe someone has a better spoof going by now (search around).   

[MoteroNC]

Thank you DR,

 

any chance you you have a photo of the tank connector to make say "MoteroNC" proof?

[dirtrider]

1 hour ago, MoteroNC said:

Thank you DR,

 

any chance you you have a photo of the tank connector to make say "MoteroNC" proof?

Afternoon MoteroNC

 

Not where I'm at right now, I'm lucky to have WiFi.

 

This thread should help you understand__ Don't go any farther than post 12 or so in that thread  as the last part is about adding a low fuel switch (just use the pictures on adding the resistors to the connector) 

 

https://www.bmwsporttouring.com/topic/95168-replace-fuel-strip-with-warning-switch-on-2012-r1200r/

 

[MoteroNC]

If I want to use pins to make a good coonection , any idea what the pin size or spec maybe?

[Rider1260]

It may not be related BUT check your battery voltage. When I just had a dead battery the fuel level showed empty and stayed that way until the voltage was high enough after jumping the bike and getting the RPMs up to get home.  ( also the brake fault light came on )  all was fixed with a new battery.  One other thing my Garmin  Zumo has a fuel level range setting that is very convenient as a backup reminder.  Frankly when and if it happens to me I will fix mine I hate when things don't work as they should. 

 

[MoteroNC]

Thank you I have a semi new battery one of odessy. I am pretty sure it is the stupid fuel strip. I am happy keeping track on the odometer just need to get rid of the yellow flashing warning 

[MoteroNC]

I was able to install the "spoofer" successfully. In my case I used resistors from Mouser electronics and they seem to engage well. One thing I wanted to point out for future modifiers is that at least on my '09 I had to actually drive the bike for about 30 seconds before the warnings cleared. Maybe obvious to others but thought I would clarify.