Oil running out of the filler cap

larry · Post by **larry** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 9:41 pm

I have a 2004 1150R that has progressively leaked more and more oil out of the filler cap. Initially, I blamed myself for sloppy touch-ups when the bike was in the break-in phase, requiring a glug or two every other fill. A year or so ago, I noted that the oil was coming out of the cap and running down the jug as I rode. I have to move my knee in order to see this, so I hadn't noticed it earlier. Once I stop the bike, most of the oil drains back in the hole or runs down the side leaving only a small puddle in the cover bolt indent..

The dealer replaced the cap and the plastic seat that the cap comes up against in the head. It still leaks and it seems to be getting worse. The service manager tells me that this is normal, boxers tend to do this. I'm having a bit of trouble accepting this, especially whn my 1100R didn't leak.

acejones · Post by **acejones** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 9:56 pm

I had the same thing happen on my "03 recently. It didn't leak as much as you describe, but everytime I looked down it was leaking some. I was doing a fairly fast 200+ miles. The rest of the trip (1300 miles) it didn't leak at all. I don't think it was overfilled.

Post by **wncbmw** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 9:58 pm

There is a thread on this board about that issue every couple of months. You will probably get some suggestions on how to fix it but first, try this: Remove the cap and carefully clean the surface of both the O ring on the cap and the gasket on the cylinder head to remove all the oil from the surface and replace the cap. See if that makes the problem go away. That's all it took for mine!

larry · Post by **larry** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 10:16 pm

acejones wrote:I had the same thing happen on my "03 recently. It didn't leak as much as you describe, but everytime I looked down it was leaking some. I was doing a fairly fast 200+ miles. The rest of the trip (1300 miles) it didn't leak at all. I don't think it was overfilled.

That's how it started, or at least when I first noticed it. It would leak for a while, and then none for a while and so forth. It still goes for periods of time when it doesn't leak, but these are getting shorted and shorter. It's not overful as I've been running on the lower half of the site glass and I have cleaned the o-ring many times. What really bugs me is the service dude's reluctance to acknowledge that it is an issue, and he won't escalate it to BMW. BMW customer service won't do anything about it unless a dealer refers it to them. So basically, I'm screwed unless I bring it to a different dealer.

riceburner · Post by **riceburner** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 4:01 am

wncbmw wrote:There is a thread on this board about that issue every couple of months. You will probably get some suggestions on how to fix it but first, try this: Remove the cap and carefully clean the surface of both the O ring on the cap and the gasket on the cylinder head to remove all the oil from the surface and replace the cap. See if that makes the problem go away. That's all it took for mine!

as said here - clean the o-ring.... BUT

DON'T just give it a wipe - take the o-ring OFF the cap and get it good and dry, same goes for the every part of the cap, and the edges of the hole. (I use kitchen towel - far better than rag cos you can see where the oil has been soaked up and avoid using that part to touch anything else).

if that still doesn't help then get the socket replaced by the dealer.

larry · Post by **larry** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 12:25 pm

Thanks for your response RB. I believe the dealer already replace the part you referred to as the socket. It;s a little plastic ring that the o-ring on the cap seats up to. They've also replaced the cap, twice. The maddening thing is that the dealer refuses to recognize it as an issue. There is no way that anything beyond modest seepage should be considered normal.

beemerphile · Post by **beemerphile** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 1:53 pm

To make the problem really go away, you can replace the filler cap with the one from Moto-Techniques...

http://www.moto-techniques.com/

Lee

larry · Post by **larry** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 2:13 pm

Thanks beemerphile, too bad the caps that come from the factory don't leak. It kinda sucks to have to dish out $60 just to keep from leaking oil all over. Maybe I should sic the EPA on them.

On a side note, how do the filler caps work on R1200's? I was in the dealership yesterday and couldn't loosen them. do you need a "key" or something?

beemerphile · Post by **beemerphile** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 4:05 pm

larry wrote: It kinda sucks to have to dish out $60 just to keep from leaking oil all over.

Yeah, it seems like a simple thing for the factory to have done right. I guess they didn't but their best guy on the oil cap. But, since they didn't, and I didn't want to dink with it for the rest of my ownership of the bike, I decided to spring for the cure. - Lee