setting valves and other stuff

[Dr. Strangelove]

Since I got the new bike about 5 k miles ago, I wanted to go through the things I can do, maintenance wise. 19.2k miles now
Did the oil, and glad I did. It was very thin and dirty and it squirted out; did the filter, Marc Parnes wrench; will do the tranny oil and FD oil when I warm her up this weekend hopefully. Throttle bodies will happen too, but I want to read about that a little more, looks simpler than on the 1150, but looks can be deceiving.
Checked the plugs and they were ok, will change at 24k
Did the valves last night and think/maybe imagined they were a little easier to do than on the 1150--should be the same degree of diff, setting hex is 3mm now, 10mm retaining bolt.
Every bolt I loosened was over torqued, The valves were all tight, one intake very much so.

The hardest thing by far was finding TDC on the right hand. There is supposed to be an arrow on the chain pulley that should be aligned to 3 o'clock for TDC. That arrow on mine is VERY VERY VERY difficult to see. I needed a handy son-in-law as an assistant with a flashlight. I tried to do it on my own and never got to TDC, passing it numerous times.
When I got to TDC I cleaned the area well and put a dab of paint there, hoping the oil won't dissolve it. If it does I will etch it somehow next time around.

All previous service was done at dealership. But, as often said here, when you do it yourself you take much more care to do it exactly right. Also, as time goes by, they usually stay put, but that may not happen until 24k or so.
I would encourage new riders to at least consider doing much of your own work. The beauty of the boxers, esp the naked ones, is that routine work is very accessible.

I wish I could work on the fracking fuel strip
John

[deilenberger]

The TDC just has to be close.. the backside of the camshaft has a large area that is the same radius.. I usually set it by putting the metal lump out first, then in for the second set of valves. The metal lump on the end of the camshaft is directly opposite the arrow.

I'd suggest on the throttle-bodies - leave well enough alone. It appears unless they've been dicked-with (tech term) by someone else, once you get the valves set correctly, the TB balance is about perfect. And ignore it at idle, the stepper motors are setting it and they don't always run in sync. It should be checked at about 1,500 RPM (steppers are out of the circuit and locked at that point, and that's about the most sensitive RPM.)

Lots of info on all these jobs on the BMW-MOA Hexhead DIY subforum (which I sorta started and run..)

[Dr. Strangelove]

Thanks for the tip. I found an old entry from CycleRob about TDC on the 1150s saying the same thing essentially.
But remembering my experience last night the intakes on the right were so tight that unless I got the arrow pretty much at 3 oclock, they were touching.

Thant's good to know about the TBs, because I wasn't looking forward to that hot, 2nd degree burn job--I use a manometer and will not be drawn into a discussion about which fluid is best

But I will still prob hook it up just to see, but will do my best to avoid dicking around with it (interestingly enough that is a medical term also)
If I don't check them out I will always wonder what if. I remember the difference it made when I set them myself on my 1150, and I caught air in second and said whoa.

Thanks again

[Dr. Strangelove]

some followup...a cautionary tale for buyers of used bikes, no matter who they were purchased from.
This is a letter I wrote last night to an RT friend and riding bud.
__
I am so glad I tackled all the routine maintenance stuff. The only thing that was to my satisfaction was the plugs.

I have to wonder whether the 12k service was done as I was told it was.
The engine oil was so thin it splashed into the bowl I was catching it in. made splatters. Unv=believeable, and it was so dark and so thin

The tranny oil was very dark also. When I would change it on Stella!(my 1150) it would look like when I put it in, same with the FD oil, when I'd change it it looked almost new.

The FD oil was the worst. It was tarry black, and there was too much of it. about 18 months ago or more BMW began to rec that the FD take only 180 cc, not the 230 it prev rec'd because it was thought the 230 produced too much pressure and led to leaks.
Mine had 230. The drain plug is hollowed on the inside. Mine was FILLED, ***KING FILLED with a thick paste of sludge. Far thicker than toothpaste, almost peanut butter consistency. Black black black
I had to use a wooden applicator stick to scoop it out then alcohol to dissolve the residue, then scrape again.

I filtered the tranny oil and fd oil through a kidney stone filter and saw no metal. I saw no metal when I spread out the sludge either. I think that's a testament to the robustness of the engine and drivetrain. It certainly casts **** ******* (the prev owner and owner of the shop) in poor light, and makes me wonder if the 12k service was even done.
(I bought the bike at 14,281 and was assured the 12k service was done, now have 19.2k)

I am going to call BMWNA Monday and ask what servcie has been done on my bike. I hope they have it and will release it to me. They may not.

I will change all fluids at 24 k just to see.
The tranny change can be a mess. The drain is in a hard to drain cleanly place. To change the FD the rear wheel needs removal, but that turns out to be not bad, though you may have to swing out the muffler. I can work around my remus.

I went for a ride today to warm things up for the draining and I did so without any screen. I want my screen back. Buffeting was there, but it was windy, still I felt way less protected.

___________

Of course your mileage may vary, but ...

I almost feel like I liberated the bike.
Gonna ride and check the throttle bodies--seems like a prudent thing to do.
And the reason I was riding without a screen...the prev one bent up after the 0mph tipover when my fuel ran out secondary to an overly optimistic fuel strip.

[David R]

My 12 had a thick grey paste in it too at 6,000 mile change. I figured its Moly used in assembly. Then I felt better. I changed the FD fluid because the tire was off. I will keep doing that till it runs clear. It took a while to clean the drain plug, but I like the design. Magnet in a deep well.

David

[Dr. Strangelove]

That;s what it looked like, moly, the thick kind.

but in addition the oil was black like tar.
I replaced the K&N air filter today, and like other renewables, it was filthy. Could barely see light through parts of it. Switched to a stock Mahle filter.

Checked the TBs and as Don E suggested they were pretty close, but I played with them anyway. I think I got them close to the starting point or maybe very slightly better

[omg1010]

When I recently changed the oil in the FD (bike had 20 000 kms on the clock) I discovered a stinking black sludge and the FD shaft running quite dry ... Happy changed the oil and applied Honda Moly 60 on the fd shaft. Since it is not a big deal on the 12S I will change the oil in the FD and gearbox on an anual basis ... Lesson learned.

Brgds
Oliver

[Marcin]

In my case when i did my partial 12K before winter i found fluid in FD was somehow dark gray and in gear box was about the same. I did not find any large particles on my FD magnet plug only some like powder residue. I have read about amount of fluid in FD, some say it should be 180cc some say 230cc well i put in 200cc since about 230cc came out. When i was doing my gear box change i used small funnel to drain the fluid and of course i tried not to spill anything well it didn't happed that way. I dropped the drain plug in the funnel and, i will live this one to your imagination.

[Dr. Strangelove]

I dropped the drain plug in the funnel and, i will live this one to your imagination.

That's exactly what happened to me.
Interesting that, I think, the Haynes manual advises making a cardboard conduit that would eliminate the plugging of the funnel and the subsequent overflow.

live and learn

[omg1010]

In my case when i did my partial 12K before winter i found fluid in FD was somehow dark gray and in gear box was about the same. I did not find any large particles on my FD magnet plug only some like powder residue. I have read about amount of fluid in FD, some say it should be 180cc some say 230cc well i put in 200cc since about 230cc came out. When i was doing my gear box change i used small funnel to drain the fluid and of course i tried not to spill anything well it didn't happed that way. I dropped the drain plug in the funnel and, i will live this one to your imagination.

Originally it was 230cc and due to some presseure/foam buildig up inside the FD it was later changed (by BMW) to 180cc. Hence 180cc is the correct filling of the FD.

Brgds
Oliver

[deilenberger]

Just a heads up to everyone doing rear drive oil. Was at the dealer today for my daily fuel strip replacement (replacing the one they installed on Monday..) and felt I should spend some money there. Looked at the oil section, and lo-and-behold! BMW is now packaging the correct Castrol XO 75W-90 oil that is called for in the rear-drive, and only doubling or tripling the price it really should be. Bought a quart of it for $25.

Yowzers!

BTW - the service department wished me well in the campaign to get BMW to FIX the fuel strip problem. They are getting quite tired of replacing them. They usually have one or two in there getting it done now.. At least today's strip calibrated (unlike the one from Monday.) That's #7 for me..

[Newportcycle]

$25 per quart? Congratulations to Castrol and BMW, finally capturing that super lubricant "unobtainium". Seriously though, it is good to see someone supporting local business.

[Dr. Strangelove]

So, Don, as I am on the schedule for my third--yes, I am a rank amateur-- what is the current feeling regarding calibration of the strip? Should it be or not, and if so, is it calibrated to 0 with one gallon in the tank?

Searching this issue on line there are many people who have put theirs in naked, ie, without calibration and the failure/success rate is the same???? Also, there is mention of the "proper" technique of replacement, with at least a couple of protocols; and there is a seemingly knowledgeable guy in St Louis on advrider.com who is a proponent of shock therapy to the troublesome strip to get it/keep it working.

This may represent thread creep, so if it should be moved, please advise.

That's good to know that your dealer is on board with the NHTSA filing. When I visit mine I will mention it there also. When I scheduled there for the replacement, I was advised to reset my odometer. I was polite.

[deilenberger]

Hi Doc,

There was some thinking at one point that the calibration process was causing the problem. Since the problems continued on strips where no calibration was done, I believe that theory was disproved. AFAIK - BMW calls for the calibration (at least this week.) It's supposed to be done so when you have one gallon left in the tank the fuel light comes on. My first strip (which I still have - got the dealer to give it to me) was quite reliable at doing that until it went wonky at around 30,000 miles.

If you have a URL to point to where the ADVRider guy is shocking them back to life, I'd love to read what he's doing. If it's what I'm guessing, it's probably the use of a fairly high current "shock" (momentary contact) to the fuel strip that blasts through what I suspect is oxidation between the real wire and the evaporated metal film on the plastic. That oxidation (and this is simply semi-educated guesswork by me - sorta like medicine..) likely happens in the junction in the epoxy block where the wires connect to the film.

I'm sure your dealer will be happy to give you your old one (or many old ones) since BMW no longer requires these back for warranty claims. It seems they believe they may go bad - despite what they say publicly. Why the oxidation? Well - gasoline has lots of other solvents in it like benzene - which is heck on epoxy. Alcohol is also known to attack epoxy - and it looks as if the block the connections are made in is made of molded epoxy.

It's also possible that water in the gas (captured by the alcohol/ethanol) may wick along the wiring from the connector into the junction via capillary action. Sounds odd - but certain years of the Porsche Cayenne (not mine thank Dog) are known for having the transmission ECU destroyed by ATF wicking back up the wiring from the transmission to the ECU. Oddball failure, but certainly not an unknown failure mode for electronics.

I could see either failure mode being the cause of our problems.

One interesting thing I noticed after the strip was changed. When the first one last week was installed and didn't work - I decided to make sure I had gas, so I opened the cap, used a flashlight and looked in. Right below the filler neck was the strip. I couldn't recall ever seeing it there before, but I also can't recall ever really looking for it. I thought this was wrong and it wasn't mounted correctly, so when the 2nd strip of the week ended up in the same place I asked if I could see another R1200R fuel tank and look into it. Sure enough - one in for some other service had the strip in exactly the same spot. That means the pressure of the fuel filling the tank falls directly on part of the fuel strip. Dunno if that might be a causative factor - but I'm guessing not since a brand new one was defective on installation.

[Dr. Strangelove]

http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=758453

the meat starts around post #48, but the whole thread in about it