Author Topic: Valves, water pump, leaky tank - all in one place :D  (Read 3444 times)

Offline matjas

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Valves, water pump, leaky tank - all in one place :D
« on: June 21, 2018, 02:52:50 AM »
soooooo.... I'm in my second season bricking and it has been relatively good so far, however I started reading this forum again when I could not stand the smell of petrol in my garage and it sort of opened a box full of Pandoras :D  :musicboohoo:

I have actually to my disbelief located a tiny hair crack in the right lower corner near to the seat. So small the fuel was evaporating as it seeped out - hence the smell and no 'leak' as such. As I weld aluminum I may give it a shot with a TIG torch but when I think of purging this tank with gas I may just sandblast a couple of centimeters in the close vicinity and dab it with a drop of two part polyester resin which to my knowledge is fuel resistant.
My reluctancy to weld the thing is caused mainly by the fact the aluminium really moves when you apply heat and do not want to have some other cracks to develop maybe along the lines of the present one. IF the problem persists I will give it a good sandblasting and weld the whole seam up.

I was very happy to see the innards of the tank in pristine condition as well as the pump, damper and the float resistor. Calibrated the bastard by the way as I NEVER had my tank full according to the gauge. Hopefully when it all goes together I will have a better idea how much fuel really there is in the tank.

While I was at it I finally decided to have my throttle sync check /waaaay off/, and the valves checked - now sit for that.
NEVER took anything for granted and it is a good way to go. According to one YT BMW mechanic, he has never seen valves go tight on 1100 - well mister you might have not seen enough.
Three of my exhaust valves are loose in the 0.32 region /0.35 feeler is NO-GO, 0.3 goes in tight/ but my INLET /!/ from the timing chain side is TIGHT - 0.12 I reckon from approximated measurement. ALL of other valves are ideal spec.
The bike has 70000km and I think someone f..ed up this one on check long time ago. My wild guess.
Will have to pull the cams and BOTH of them as I plan to swap the buckets hopefully - the exhaust side is loose - the intake is tight: it may give me an opportunity to have it swapped upon measurement.
The BMW book of wisdom says you can only swap the buckets on the initial 1000km inspection. From then they need to be replaced with new. Can someone confirm on that???
During the winter I am planning to put the whole valve train in the production spec - now I do not want to have the bike standing.

Also my combination pump leaks oil - it was intense when I started riding /the bike stood for YEARS/ and stopped leaking /same as clutch/ but it is wetting the bottom of the bike on the constant basis which makes me unhappy. So it is another thing to do.

These and new tires bring the brick closer to my heart /and wallet :D/ but I like the bike. Things I defo hate are the stock seat, the heat and the windscreen. To be worked on in the future.

m
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Offline Laitch

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Re: Valves, water pump, leaky tank - all in one place :D
« Reply #1 on: June 21, 2018, 06:15:51 AM »
I was very happy to see the innards of the tank in pristine condition as well as the pump, damper and the float resistor. Calibrated the bastard by the way as I NEVER had my tank full according to the gauge. Hopefully when it all goes together I will have a better idea how much fuel really there is in the tank. Things I defo hate are the stock seat, the heat and the windscreen.
The fuel level sensor float position or the sensor itself can be adjusted so you'll have a more accurate fuel warning. Read all about it here. Steps can be taken to reduce heat felt when riding. One way to deal with it is discussed here.
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Offline Scott_

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Re: Valves, water pump, leaky tank - all in one place :D
« Reply #2 on: June 21, 2018, 08:40:19 AM »
As far as the valve bucket swap, it will depend on the sizes needed to get the gap back into spec. I have swapped buckets on my '95LT with over 80K miles. Disclaimer, that's not saying there were 80K miles on the buckets if they had been replaced prior, but most likely they were still original.
You may need some cleaner/degreaser and a good magnifier, but you should be able to read the bucket sizing on the underside. Otherwise you will need a micrometer to measure the current size.
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Offline matjas

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Re: Valves, water pump, leaky tank - all in one place :D
« Reply #3 on: June 21, 2018, 09:12:12 AM »
thanks for the replies guys.
my bike /apparently/ has 70k kms on the tach - so hope the buckets did not go tits up.
even though I will see the markings underneath I will give them a shot with my micrometer.

Thanks for the idea about the blanket - will defo give it a try.

One more question though - upon dismantling the fuel tank I found a piece of ... hm.... rubber rope about 10cm in length /4inch :D/ with a slot alongside. Have NO idea where this came from.  :dunno any clues guys?

I am planning on buying heated grips to my LT as it lacks this feature - where would you typically connect the grips??? I found some empty connectors under the tank but have no idea whether this is the thing I am looking for.

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Offline The Mighty Gryphon

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Re: Valves, water pump, leaky tank - all in one place :D
« Reply #4 on: June 21, 2018, 09:27:30 AM »
Retrofitting heated grips can be a lot of work, and in my opinion they are very overrated.  I have them on two of my bikes and find that all they do is roast yur palm while the back of your hand freezes. 

It' a lot easier and cheaper to find a good pair of gloves with insulation on the back of the hand.  This will keep your hand warm while still being flexible enough to make operating the controls easier.  The LT does a good job of keeping the wind away from your hands so good gloves should do the job without heating the grips.
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Past:
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Offline Scott_

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Re: Valves, water pump, leaky tank - all in one place :D
« Reply #5 on: June 21, 2018, 09:38:44 AM »
I have heated grips on my '95LT, and also have Gerbings heated gloves. I find that having both is very good.
For me the grips are good because my gloves don't have heating elements in the palm side of the glove, only for the backside of hand/fingers.
YMMV.
  • My Garage
1995 K1100LT 0302044
1997 R1100RT ZC62149
2017 FLHTK Ultra Limited
1997 K1100LT 0302488 (R.I.P.)
"One who does not ask questions is ashamed to learn" Danish proverb

Offline Laitch

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Re: Valves, water pump, leaky tank - all in one place :D
« Reply #6 on: June 21, 2018, 10:09:30 AM »
One more question though - upon dismantling the fuel tank I found a piece of ... hm.... rubber rope about 10cm in length /4inch :D/ with a slot alongside. slot alongside. Have NO idea where this came from.  :dunno any clues guys?
That slips onto the edge of the platform into which the fuel pump assembly is mounted. It is considered as perhaps an anti-vibration damper between the metal of the platform and the metal of the fuel tank. Many members have written about finding it in the bottom of the tank when looking around in there. Some reinstall it; some make a new one out of fuel hose and install that; some throw it away; some members never know about it. The outcome seems to be the same for everybody. Life goes on. :giggles
  • Along the Ridley in Vermont.
  • 1995 K75 89,000 miles
I wept because I had no radials until I met a man who had no splines.
https://tinyurl.com/RillRider

Offline matjas

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Re: Valves, water pump, leaky tank - all in one place :D
« Reply #7 on: June 21, 2018, 01:58:40 PM »
That slips onto the edge of the platform into which the fuel pump assembly is mounted.
....
The outcome seems to be the same for everybody. Life goes on. :giggles

Cheers Laitch :D I thought it was some kind of damping material or something 'similar'  bmp

As to the heated grips - So far I am on my dozenth or so bike and most of them had this feature - I must say I pretty much hate have thick things between my beloved one and myself :D so thick gloves being one of those things are pretty much to be avoided. I mostly had the Oxford grips so far but even the thinnest of them are somehow thicker than the original BMW grips which I find particularly comfortable. Also I do not want to add another 'funny' box to otherwise original classic bike thats why I am planning on this mod - original grips from some poor bike at the end of its road transplanted to mine.

I mostly have too big pictures in my phone, but when I have found some proper way to have them 'trimmed' I will post them to the forum as more questions are to come.

I n the end I must admit it is pretty uncommon and touching to be a part of a forum that on a daily basis deals with bikes that are quarter of century old. Nice bikes, nice people it seems :D Best regards.

matjas
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