How to stop oil consumption? (R1100GS)
 

Hi, I have a 94' R1100GS, and oil consumption is about 1liter/1200km, there is any way to stop it?

Yes there is a way to stop it .
But you will have to find out why it is consuming oil .
It could be leaking , which is obvious .
Or it could be burning oil which MAY be visible from the exhaust .
Oil smoke on 3/4 to full throttle under load indicates piston ring or cylinder bore wear.
Oil smoke after snapping the throttle shut after a period of high throttle running under load indicates valve guide wear or worn valve guide seals .
A compression test of the engine will reveal more details .

yes it´s visible from the exhaust when the engine is cold, and I think I should go to BMW´s to check all the other things, is right?

No ,the engine should be warm before you look for smoke .
Oil smoke is grey/blue and has a characteristic acrid smell .

If you don't have any mechanical ability ,then you will have to use a mechanic .
A good motorbike mechanic is OK , not necessarily a BMW mechanic [ expensive sometimes ] .

when the engine is cold, I see the smoke quite white/blue, and I feel the oil smell, then I will take the bike to the mechanic, and if could be non bmw´s, then is better(because of the price).

Fernando,
How many KM's has the bike done? Generally a GS will use some oil from new & continue to do so, having said that, they can do a massive mileage before it gets excessive, I can't remember but I think BMW says as much as 1lt per 1000Kms is acceptable limit, which is a lot by other makes standards.
Are you sure you aren't overfilling the engine, it's very easy to put too much oil in if your method of checking isn't as per handbook, in which case it will blow it out into air box & burn some, before you fill it again thinking its low. :cool4:

I´m not overfilling the engine, and the bike is now 99.000km, and 30.000km ago was 0.5liter/1.500km, but with the time is growing. I will do a cilinder compression test, will be ok?

That's not a high mileage for one of these engines, try checking the crankcase breather on to of the engine under the tank, the pipe might be trapped increasing crankcase pressure & forcing oil past the rings? Are you using a different oil to before? Mineral to synthetic? Thinner?, just guessing.

I always use this oil "CASTROL ACT>EVO GP 4T 20W-50", maybe I should need something different? and I will check the crankcase breather too.

That oil should be fine, 20/50 is what's recommended by BMW.
Let us know what you find with the comp test & breather, good luck :thumbup1:

this month I will do all, and I will write the result of all:mchappy:

Oil consumption.
 

I have a 97 1100GS with 85,000k's. That rate of oil loss sounds ok. I'm also pretty sure a boxer engine will consume more oil than some other engines. If it goes ok, feels ok don't sweat it, ride the thing!

I usually take a bit of oil for top ups on trips no biggie!

Steve

The oil loss is near to the maximum allowed amount by BMW spec, but within the limit, so should be OK. But most of the oilheads I've got info about oil consumption varies around from few hundred millilitres to litre per 5000km. Both of my 1998 have taken around 500-800ml per 10,000km, more if I use sidestand. Intense use of sidestand, especially on overnight stays can considerably increase the oil consumption (last gulp of oil from the last stroke flows into exhaust in the bottom cylinder that is below).

My quick checklist would be:

• Has the bike had a proper run-in in the beginning or was it trashed or the first 1000km oil not replaced when it had less than 30,000km (oilheads average run-in time)?
  
• How often are you using sidestand? Do you leave the bike on the sidestand for every night or put it on the center stand?
  
• Does the exhaust smoke only in the morning's cold starts or all the time?

As said according to spec the consumption should be OK-acceptable. But for a paranoid person like me, if the "problem" continues, I'd rather replace the oil rings and also piston rings as a "while I'm there" job. Search for a competent motorcycle mechanic or do it yourself if you've got some mechanical experiences - you'll find that the boxers are so easy to work on such jobs if you have the manual with you in the garage. Just make sure you have the timing chain correct according to manual on mounting all back together or you'll end up with a disaster ;).

Note that if you'll replace the oil rings the consumption temporary may be even higher for some time as the oilhead BMWs have extremely stiff oil rings (that's why you see over 600,000km ridden R11xx bikes that still have the original pistons and rings - and still within acceptable compression and oil consumption!), it takes around longish 20,000 to 30,000km to properly run them in, so don't be that hard handed on the bike during that time, keep the revs low.

Let us know what results you'll get from the compression test and whether you'll accept the high consumption and ride on or decide to replace the rings :)

Cheers, Margus

ok, this month I will do the compression test and I will write the result, what I will do and how is going, thanks for all.

margus gives some good pointers..
one of the major problems with the nicasil bores is they are so hard it take along while for the rings to bed in properly. Often 10Km or so. Unfortunately people sometimes switch from running in oil too soon with synthetic. this can prevent the rings from ever bedding in.

Unless you are very unlucky. a deglaze and new rings are likely to effect a complete cure, but do use mineral oil for the first 10Km. with a first change and filter at a very short interval.

Performing a Compression test
 

Run the engine until it reaches normal operating temperature. Tests done on a cold engine usually show lower readings. Remove the spark plug leads and take out the spark plugs. The ignition system MUST then be disabled. If this isn't done it will continue to generate high tension voltages into the HT leads which will have nowhere to go with the plugs out. These high voltages will find another route to earth and can damage the ignition system or even the bikes ECU. Unplug the low tension ( 12v )connections to the coil . If you aren't sure how to disable the ignition system on your own Bike then check with a dealer before you start. It is also good practise to unplug the fuel injectors or disable the fuel pump,( just pull the fuse to the fuel pump) especially on Bikes fitted with a catalytic convertor. This prevents unburned fuel getting into the exhaust system during the test.

Screw the gauge into cylinder 1 and rest it somewhere you can see the dial while you crank the engine. Open the throttle fully either by opening the throttle wide open. If the throttle isn't open then air can't get into the cylinder and the readings will be far too low.
Crank the engine until the gauge stops rising and count the revolutions while you do so. It should normally take no more than 10 engine revolutions (5 compression cycles) to get a full reading. You can count the cycles by watching the gauge too - each jump of the needle is one compression stroke.
Write down the final reading and also make a mental note of how quickly the gauge rose on the first few cycles. Then just repeat for the other cylinder. Make sure that each cylinder reaches its highest reading after the same number of engine revolutions. If all readings are good then the test can end there.
If any cylinders are low then a "wet" test can be done. This involves squirting a few ccs of oil into the cylinder and repeating the test. The oil will help seal bad rings and increase the reading but won't affect it if the problem lies in the valves or head gasket.
By doing the above test you will know if the problem lies with the piston rings or worn bores

An engine in good condition should have readings within the specified range (preferably at the upper end of it) and with both cylinders within 10 % of each other. A perfect engine might have almost identical readings on both cylinders - it is certainly possible to achieve this on a really well blueprinted competition engine. A good cylinder will reach about 2/3 of its final reading on the first compression cycle and reach the full reading after only 2 or 3 cycles. If the rings are worn you often see a gauge rising in smaller jumps of 20 to 30 psi per cycle rather than one big initial jump and also taking more revolutions to reach a peak reading.
If both cylinders show similar psi but are below the minimum figure then this usually indicates excessive ring and bore wear due to high mileage.

One cylinder low means a bit more detective work. If the wet test improved things back to a normal reading then the problem lies in the rings or bores. If not then its usually either valves or gasket not sealing properly. To an extent I fail to see the point in worrying overmuch about exactly where the problem lies. Most of the time the cylinder head is going to have to come off so you might as well do that first and see what shows up.

Hope this helps ya!

Martyn

yes, margus gave me some good pointers, I already speak with my mechanic and in the next 2 weeks will check all, I will write the result.

Today I made the compresion test and was 11,1 (left one) and 11 (right one), so there are no problems, the mechanic told me that sould be because these last 3.000km I was riding almost all inside the town.