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Fuel Gauge Failure and Recall

8.7K views 22 replies 14 participants last post by  RiderJC  
#1 ·
I left work last Friday on my 09 F650GS. (purchased in September 2008) I decided to take the long way home. The gas tank was essentially full when I left work as I noted by looking at the gauge. I was just about home when I noticed the fuel gauge was down to two bars. The computer said I only had enough gas for 55 miles! :confused: Wow! that was interesting since I had just filled up before going to work that day! (10 miles from my home!) I pulled into my garage and opened the gas tank and looked inside. I could see the gas and it was just a bit down from the bottom of the red tube. I went ahead and rode to the gas station and filled up. It took 1.03 gallons to fill it up and I had ridden 54.5 miles since the last fillup. After filling the tank, the gauge still showed two bars and 49 miles of gasoline left. I called my BMW dealer and sure enough, he confirmed that my bike had been recalled for the fuel gauage sensor. It will be two weeks until I can get in to get it repaired. I have not yet received a letter from BMW about the recall.

My bike has been recalled for the front brake rotor bolts, the rear sprocket bolts, the coolant hose replacement and now the fuel gauge sensor. It also doesn't like to run in the rain. I have owned at least 15 new bikes over the years and I never had any recalled this much nor have I had a bike sputter this way in the rain! (I mentioned the rain problem to my dealer when I scheduled replacement of the fuel sensor! Of Course, they have never heard of a new F650GS having this problem in the Rain!)

I sure am impressed with this BMW!!! [err]

I thought I would share the failure of my fuel gauge with you all so if you experience the same failure (before receiving a letter from BMW!) you will know what the problem is!

LSKBike
 
#3 ·
How about a little heads up BMW.....
Is there no way to get word of these service issues without letting them fail first?
I have questioned my fuel indicator a number of times, never run out but I have never pushed it either....
I am taking my bike in for another issue am going to ask about this and any "other" known issues BMW is dealing with...
[?]
 
#4 ·
When I took the bike in for the shifting problem, the dealer (without being asked) checked for outstanding items and found there were 3 things to be done: the front axle, the fuel sensor plus one more (maybe re-torque the rear sprocket bolts? Dunno).

I think the reason we as owners aren't hearing about most of these items is that they aren't recalls. BMW has 2 levels of warranteed repair that I'm aware of:
- the "recall" we all know about, plus
- something they call a "campaign".

The former is a safety issue so significant you might have an accident; the latter is something that they'll inspect and/or fix the next time they see your bike. The NHTSA has guidelines for whether or not they contact the owner directly ("get the vehicle in there and get it fixed ASAP!") or the alternate of telling the dealer and not the owner. Granted you can easily imagine a scenario where any of these things should warrant a recall vs. a campaign, but it's our NHTSA that sets the guidelines.

Personally I'd like to know about everything and decide for myself (noting their recommendation) what is urgent enough to get the bike in ASAP.

Bruce
Santa Fe, NM
 
#6 ·
Miles to go has to be based on some recent previous miles per gallon. I do not know how far back it goes to determine this but I know it will increase when riding very conservatively.

So if you have spent the last hour riding at 55 mph on a straight flat road (we all do that, right?) and your Miles to go show 55, then you start riding very agressively in the twisties, your miles to go has to be substantially less than the computer thought it was before the agressive riding began.
 
#7 ·
My fuel sensor was replaced and still is not quite accurate regarding miles left on the tank. When it reads 40 miles left, my tank will take 3.8 gallons. Assuming that the tank holds 4.2 gallons (I have never run it dry and am using BMW's tank specifications), then at my typical 60 mpg, it would run out of gas with a reading of about 10 or 12 miles left on the tank. My policy now is to fill up as soon (or before) the low fuel light comes on and don't pay any attention to the miles-per-empty reading.
 
#8 ·
I'm kinda glad I didn't get the computer. I had my sensor replaced on recall and the light seems to always come on at 178 miles. I have gone 210 and had .4 gallons left, so I just figure 200 and done.

I am extremely disappointed with the number of recalls and the fact that after 3 years they still don't have a dealer in Cincinnati. Like a sick relationship though, I still love her as the best bike I ever owned and don't regret buying her for 1 minute.
 
#9 ·
They redid my 800's fuel sensor last time I was in for service but I think it worked better before they "fixed it". They were out of parts on the other two campaigns and said they'd catch me at the next service or when the parts came in, which ever was first.

I am on two different BMW Motorcycle forums. Each seems to have posts on a number of issues with the bikes. I had similar experience with BMW cars I once owned.

It makes me wonder if Japanese motorcycle owners have similar but different issues.

You'd think BMW as a premier marquee with a premium price should have fewer issues. But based on what I've read, I almost think they do no beta testing and we the customers are their quality assurance department. [?]

That being said, I have over 10,000 miles on my F800GS since October 08 free of most of the things I read about here. [:D]
 
#12 ·
It makes me wonder if Japanese motorcycle owners have similar but different issues.

[:D]
I can not speak to Japanese models but I can tell you that over on Tiger1050.com you can read this same thread with the only difference being Triumph substituted for BMW.

My posts over there have already been duplicated here and that is ignore the guage use the trip ODO.
 
#10 ·
Other brands have their own issues. It is nowhere specific to a single manufacturer.

The problem is that how do you test a product to make sure it covers each and all aspects of what could go wrong. When we had wagons drawn by horses it was easy but they still were not bullet proof. Now a bike (or car) has so many parts interacting with each other for multiple reasons that it becomes impossible to test all combinations. Then the fact that there are things you cannot simulate and will only come surface due to actual mass manufacturing and real world usage. A car before being sold to the public has made several million miles on test tracks and other things (in prototype form = hand built).

Reiner
 
#11 ·
fuel sensor

I had mine replaced a few weeks ago.
Before the action I did run out just after the warning was lit.(243)
Now I rode it to 178 miles and it indicated I had 2 miles to go , tank had .7 gal left in it when filled.
Guess it is better to have some than not but I know at 243 I'm pushing so to heck with the gauge , I go by miles ridden .
 
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#15 ·
They got it right with the Version 1 of the all new R1200R - 45,000+ miles on mine without one issue. Not one, and I'm not exactly known for treating my bike gently.
My GS is a whole other story...

I'm scheduled to have the gas gauge sensor or whatever it is fixed, along with the many other things soon.

Still love it though, and after reading many a ride reports from guys with orange bikes I don't believe mine's any less reliable than the only comparable models... and a hell of a lot easier to work on.
I agree, ChiTown, after 15 years of making the oil-head boxer engined motorcycles,
BMW finally got the bikes' problems under control - except for the little problem of the key sensor ring, the occasionally exploding rear drive and some crappy batteries. :rolleyes:
 
#13 ·
I am up early to take my F800gs to Ft. Worth to have the sensor replaced. Mine works right in the last half of the tank, but just reads full until half empty. I hope it is not worse after the fix. Other than that, no problems or "campaigns" that I know of, since mine is a 2009 that I just got, hopefully the axle bolts, sputtering in the rain, and ?? are not issues.
 
#14 ·
I am up early to take my F800gs to Ft. Worth to have the sensor replaced. Mine works right in the last half of the tank, but just reads full until half empty. I hope it is not worse after the fix. Other than that, no problems or "campaigns" that I know of, since mine is a 2009 that I just got, hopefully the axle bolts, sputtering in the rain, and ?? are not issues.
You might wan`t to check with the dealer before changing it......The fuel gauge will read full....til about 1/2 full....then the fat bar on the top will disappear. About that time the dist. to empty will come alive as well. Users manual verify`s this as well.[thumb][thumb]

Erling
 
#16 ·
"You might wan`t to check with the dealer before changing it......The fuel gauge will read full....til about 1/2 full....then the fat bar on the top will disappear. About that time the dist. to empty will come alive as well. Users manual verify`s this as well.[thumb][thumb]"

So, mine was not broke, eh? That's good, cause after the "fix" it's no better, and may be worse, I'll know when I get below 1/2 tank.

I looked that up in the user's manual just now and could not find it. What page is it on? I found reference to the bars and all that, but it did not say it only indicated in the last half of the tank that I can see. If that's that, then I can accept it, but I think it's crappy that the gauge would work that way. The gauge on my 2002 RT worked just as it should have, showing full, 7/8's, 3/4, 1/2, etc. You would think that BMW could make a freakin' gas gauge that actually worked, wouldn't you?

I've had a lot of bikes with no gas gauge. I'm used to using the trip meter as a gas gauge and don't have any problem with it. So, I guess that's what I'll do.

Sheesh.
 
#17 ·
Yeppers...... There are a lot of odd balls on this gs. Sometimes I wonder what the Germans were thinking....They sat high in the saddle in the 70-80`s...Mercedes was the only lux. to be had... Now.....clunk every time you hit a pothole......On a enduro.....Only upload the ecm 12 times.,...then it`s toast.....Water getting in the airbox...leading to stalling...Front axle breaking......Front calibers falling off......And don`t mention the goofy turn signal button`s. Ohhhhhh.....and ....eh....... the seat......That said.....I still like the machine.......[lol] But I can see why the Japanese bikes are gaining fast. The fuel gauge thinghy was not in the manual...but in a suplement my dealer gave me along with the manual.... Sorry... It is normal for the gauge to not move for about 75-100 miles....Go figure......[thumb][thumb]

Erling
 
#18 ·
When I fill up my fuel tank on my 800, the digital dash reads 110 miles range left. It stays like that for some time, and then starts going down normally. I'm going for my six-hundred mile checkup on Monday. I'd like to have something to compare mine to. What approximately should it say?
Jeff
 
#21 ·
Jeff:

When topped of and then ridden for maybe a mile or two mine usually say "> 170" or a number about like 170....
But if you had been riding hard and your average gas mileage was very low it might say 110 .... I'm not sure...
I am in the habit of resetting all of the average numbers at every fill up. You might try that at the next fill and then see what the initial range-to-empty reads?

Jim
 
#20 ·
I seem to recall that my bike shows 185 miles left when full. Later it may go up to around 230 miles and then come down to around 145 when half the tank is used up and the gauge starts moving. It stays above 100 miles for quite a while and only drops below 100 miles when there are three bars showing. All very confusing, so I just use the computer for a general idea of what is happening and if I want accuracy, I use my tripmeter for the distance traveled since I filled up last, like I do with all my other bikes. (Well, I do have the same computer on my R12R, but it is spot on and I have never had an issue with its brain cell.). I do note however, that the computed fuel mileage is very accurate and exactly matches my calculations based upon the miles traveled and the fuel pumped into the tank.