BMW R1200R R1150R/T F800 K1200R R1100R/T R1250R RnineT Message Board

So, My bike has just recently started the irritating squeal on start-up (sounds just like the starter motor whine when you try to start an already running engine.) and I wanted to ask the crowd if this is the infamous cam-chain tensioner failure thing. If it is, I guess I'll replace it with the upgrade one, but I want to make sure this is not something more serious.

Bike: 04 r1150r
the noise is only on start-up, only lasts a couple of seconds and goes away as soon as I rev the engine a tad (to shut the battery light off). Really irritating and turns heads when I fire the bike up around people (not the reason I want to turn heads, thank you very much. The exhaust does that quite fine by itself).

So, those of you that know, is this the CCT, or something worse?

Thanks all

Sounds like a simple case of an alternator belt too loose or too tight. Easy to check. Pull off the front cover and give the belt a twist with your fingers. It should twist no more than 90 degrees.

Or it could be a dirty nose bushing on the starter motor, in need of cleaning, or the Bendix hanging up (the coil that activates the starter motor gear to mesh with the flywheel ring gear during start up)

Doubt its the alternator belt. Just had the dealership put a new one on while they had the bike for valves and syncing, and I know the mechanic that worked on it, and he's very good, very meticulous.

Boxermania, how would one go about checking on what you mentioned?

but for the alternator belt...and not saying it is that...but iirc it needs to be checked for appropriate tightness after about 600 miles--not EVERY 600 miles, but 600 miles after a new one is placed. This is true whether or not symptoms are present.

needs to be ruled out and a simple fix if it is that

John

In the case of my bike, that's the testosterone flow coming from the rider...

AirForceDirt

The starter will have to be removed. The heavy wire is a direct conexion to the + of the battery and live at all times. Some people remove the starter wothout removing the tank and disconnecting the battery by very carefully removing the heavy wire from the starter and taping it. I would advise against that for your own personal safety as you are right there next to the fuel tank.

There have been several posts with pics on how to clean the starter.......

Does it have ABS??

No.

+1 on cleaning the starter. Personal experience speaking.

My first thought was the starter as well, but the other key evidence..."Only goes off when I rev the engine to make the battery light go off."...points to the alternator belt. The starter is certainly highly suspicious.

Let us know what you did and how you solved it.

Boxer wrote:My first thought was the starter as well, but the other key evidence..."Only goes off when I rev the engine to make the battery light go off."...points to the alternator belt. The starter is certainly highly suspicious.

Let us know what you did and how you solved it.

It goes away after a second or two even if I don't touch anything, but it goes away immediately if I rev the engine a little. I'll check the easy to get to parts first, then start figuring out how I want to go about getting to the more buried parts.

Okay, so I took the starter off today, sprayed it out with some brake cleaner and threw it back on. Now it sounds just like new...well, maybe not. But it starts nice and quiet with no squealing noises. That thing was filthy. Perhaps it should be cleaned every so often to keep this from happening. I'm thinking every 30k or so, as it took 37k before it started acting up. Next time if it does this, I'll know what it is. Thanks to those who offered advise. back to the roads!

Yup, same here. It only happened a couple of times...fleeting at that. Next opportunity, just pulled the starter (easy) and cleaned and lubed the gears and shaft. ALL QUIET! Easy stuff...

Okay, the noise is back. Same exact problem as before.

Remove, clean and actually lube this time? What do you lube it with?

I sprayed aerosol lube (WD40) onto mine. Squealing started at around 90,000km and didn't come back before I sold it at 98,000km.

Tom

AirForceDirt wrote:Okay, the noise is back. Same exact problem as before.

Remove, clean and actually lube this time? What do you lube it with?

I use this stuff...it seems to work very well on this application.

http://www.filmtools.com/boest9watlub2.html