I was weighing the relative value of buying a lift myself (something I know I need) and taking the time to replace at least one coil on my '18 B. I have students now so my time is constrained; I called Max's to see when I could get the bike in. Late July is the earliest. 😲
Well, I guess I am buying a lift today. I have a coil and sparkplug handy. I've been putting off reading the codes only because I know what the problem is - just not the extent (more than one?).
That is exactly what led me to purchasing my Handy Lift. Now that I have one, I don't know how I made it through life without one. I cannot imagine changing a coil without a lift. The project was really not that bad. However, I have had the dreaded oil in the airbox ever since I did the coil replacement. When I get some time, I am going to strip her down again and see if anything is amiss with the air tube. I do not think I damaged it during the process, but obviously something changed while I was in there. No oil in airbox prior to the coil change. Now, oil in airbox. Not a lot, but there shouldn't be any.
I have the sparkplug as a ready-spare in case of the existing one is fouled. But as I say it out loud, if I have the bike apart and the coils are replaced as needed, it is a good time to replace the plugs too. The bike has 40k on it.
I believe he is doing what my best friend and LT guru does, that being, the weight is on the centerstand with a jack under the exhaust (oil sump on the LT) to keep the bike from tipping forward.
I think you need a couple more Amsoil stickers and maybe a sign or two!
Update: I bought my lift, assembled it, and put the bike on it. I scanned for codes ( finally ) and found no discernable engine faults. So cleared all codes and reset the service flag (as I needed to anyway). The service light (white) is cleared and the bike fired right up.
BUT; I know what I felt and I felt a cylinder bog down. The bogging was intermittent and would alternate between correctly running and bogged in an instant. Coils. But no engine code? If the plug was the problem, the engine may not detect that, yes? The plugs have 40k on them. Do plugs pop in and out of working?
I wouldn't anticipate a bad plug. @ 40k miles they're still good. I changed plugs @ 50K and they were fine. Odds are it's a coil going bad, but which one? Without it throwing a code its a WAG. I'd suggest waiting until it either throws a code (engine trouble light on) or the motor starts to miss ALL the time. If it's missing (no code) your only option is to try using an infrared heat gun to identify which cylinder is 'missing'. I wouldn't expect to be able to read "bad cylinder" via checking a spark plug if it's only missing every now and then.
They often don’t throw a code. You may (may) be able to tell which coil is failing by checking the plugs. One may be slightly discoloured compared the the other five. Intermittent faults are a swine.
Did you do the 18K service at 36,000? If not, change all plugs. Also do the rest of the service and give the rad a good thorough clean inside and out. Look for the fouled spark plug. If you have a bad coil, the cylinder with the fouled plug is the one with the bad coil. If you did the 18,000 mile service, keet riding until your engine light goes on. Coils can work intermittently. It is rare that during a failure, you won’t get an engine light or a code thrown. If your situation is intermittent, at one fail or another, you will get the light and the code maybe not every time but sometimes. If you never get either, the vast likelihood is that you have a problem other than a bad coil-maybe a fouled injector or bad gas. Try injector cleaner and octane boost before you rip your bike apart for nothing.
I don't have in-depth knowledge of the BMW's ECU, but on some auto's I know that there's a count threshold it needs to exceed in a set time for a code to be triggered.
To anyone contemplating a lift table if at all possible recess it flush into the floor. It remains there permanetly and you can do whatever you want over top of it and it is never in your way. It costs a few bucks extra in time and material but well worth the effort.
I have a 2012 GTL that had an intermittent running issue. It happened after getting some fuel at a station that I don’t think sells much premium. At times it would under hard loads or accelerations it would act like it was missing and would cause it to shutter but then would suddenly clear up and rev to redline with no issue. I first added some injector cleaner thinking it might be a fuel issue even trying to see if by running it completely out of fuel would clear up the issue. All the time I was dealing with the problem that would come and go the bike never gave me an engine code. At the same time I had an issue with the sprag clutch for the starter that caused occasional starting problem to happen that progressively got worse. Knowing that I was going to have to have the sprag gear assembly replaced I decided that I would have the spark plugs changed and a service inspection done at the same time. This was done at 35000 miles on the bike and the dealer was going to keep it over the winter. Shortly after they picked it up I receive a letter from the dealer telling me that they were no longer going to be in business and that they would do the work and store the bike until April. Then receive the recall notice for the bad fuel pump problems from BMW after that dealer had closed shop so they would not be able to do the pump replacement. They had done the starter sprag gear replacement and service work and stored it until April. I decided that I would pick it up with my trailer and keep it in my trailer until a different dealer could get the replacement fuel pump for the recall. This took more time than I had hoped for because I didn’t receive a call from the that dealer informing me a pump had found its way to them until November of 2021. By now It had been sitting in my enclosed trailer since April 2021 I decided because it was winter I would take in this April 2022 to have the pump replaced. I have now been riding it since the pump was replaced and it hasn’t run this well since I bought it. I’m not sure because if it was that sat for a year completely out of fuel or the replacement of the spark plugs or the new fuel pump but one of those seemed to have fixed the problem.
I thought about the pump too; it is running consistently at 65PSI, but I do not know the device's sample or error rates, so that is an observation only.
I cannot get this thing to throw any codes! I can hear it (a "blip" in the tone periodically) I can feel the bogging too on the road.
My problem will be timing. This bike must take me to PA in 5 weeks and run flawlessly on the track. It then has to repeat that down to SC and then KY three weeks later. If I must I will have to shotgun it; which has its own problems.
I ordered up sparkplugs ($13.00) and I have one coil handy. Five coils at $250 would suck and it is an awful troubleshooting practice, but this bike needs to run perfectly this Summer.
If it wasn't a matter of recycling fluid between each test, I would take the new one and go down the line one at a time to see if anything changes. Or change two coils three times. The change is too instantaneous to be a plug.; and it bounces back.
My thought is if it were the fuel pump, that bogging would be across all cylinders, not just one. When it does bog down I can throttle up (load it) and all other cylinders fire.
I don't think it is a complete failure in the cylinder when it does this. I think the spark works but goes cold relative to the other cylinders. I say this because when it bounces back, there is no odd burn from extra fuel and the tail pipe is not wet.
When mine had a misfire issue, the tech figured out which coil is was with a laser thermometer on the exhaust at startup. One pipe was clearly cooler. Might help.
On mine, the coil interruption was for matter of seconds and only when at idle or just pulling away from a stop. I equated it to being heat related and once air was flowing and the bike was at speed it wasn’t an issue.
Yes, replace it yourself. The coil extractor tool by BMW makes coil removal much simpler. Also a worthwhile maintenance action is to take the radiator to get the exterior thoroughly cleaned while it is off the bike.
I assure you all that the BMW extractor tool (BMW part no. 83302153002) works on all coils due to its design. I ordered mine from the dealer (best price I could find @ $50).
I assure you all that the BMW extractor tool (BMW part no. 83302153002) works on all coils due to its design. I ordered mine from the dealer (best price I could find @ $50).
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@Thad_K6 , I was WRONG! You are RIGHT! A great thing about this forum is you learn something new almost everyday. I was right about not being able to remove all the coils with the coil extractor; e.g. the coil extractor I knew about. The coil extractor you posted above DOES work on removing all coils. Thanks for posting! @1004ron thread from Nov '20 discussed this new tool also.
With the Black Friday 15% off the BMW Coil Extractor tool comes to $41, and the smaller tool on Amazon is $13. I'd appreciate comments from others that have removed the ignition coils and if its worth the extra money to get this BMW extractor tool or would the cheaper small tools work well...
www.k1600forum.com
BTW, here's the coil removal tool I "thought" you were referring to.
Thank you @Thad_K6. I will look at that. The hinged "shoulder" of the extractor looks as though it is designed to pry against; the handle looks as though it pivots down to pry up.
It is very adjustable and durable. I put a small piece of wood against the valve cover and the handle for added leverage.
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