Well I just read the fierce debate about F650 Classics compared to the later GS and GS Dakar, and was a little surprised to see the older bike coming up trumps....

Especially interesting as I sit here in Buenos Aires waiting to pick up my GS Dakar from the ship...

One of the points raised however, was the damage caused to someones F650 GS Engine when a seal inside the water pump broke.

When I recently picked up my bike from Touratech having fitted the larger tank, I asked the touratech mechanic about a drop of coolant eminating from the hole beneath the water pump cover. He said most likely the pump was stuffed, and that he´d seen the problem more than once, but he didn´t describe the problem in further detail. I´ve got the internals ready to replace, although I havn´t managed to get the seal ( or o-ring for the outer cover now in three different countries. ( BMW Motorrad Centrum, New Zealand and Argentina )

Has anyone heard of this problem, or can they shed some light on it ?

Was the problem to di with this outer seal , or with some other one ?

Cheers

Jeremy www.panamerica.co.uk

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[This message has been edited by Jeremy Andrews (edited 18 January 2002).]

Jeremy,
I can't answer your question.
But try the message board on the "Chain Gang" web site http://www.f650.com
You will probably have a dozen answers to your question in a day.

Well, it seems there might indeed be a problem with the water pumps on the F650 GS.

I did get 15 ( now 21 ) replies from f650.com, the end result being that I´ll replace the pump and carry another one with me.

This is the thankyou I wrote in f650.com :

To all of you who answered my plea - I thank you.

I´m kinda pissed off the bike seems to have some kind of inherent fault, especially when its supposedly built for demanding terrain and long trips...

For those of you don´t know , I purchased my F650GS Dakar Second Hand in Germany with 6,500 Km´s on the clock, and it had been fully serviced. Even so, there was a droplet of coolant hanging there permanently underneath.

After reading all of the replies, I´ve decided to replace the pump here in Buenos Aires, and also take another one with me. Thankfully one of our group is in New York and will bring the stuff back in a few days.

Personally speaking - I think BMW needs a bullet. Seems clear to me there is a clear problem here, which although not occuring in every bike, is certainlly not an isolated problem. They should damm well design a strengthened or enhanced replacment kit, and offer free fitting.

I should have bought a R80 GS Basic or used R100 GS PD is all I can think now....

Wish me luck

Jeremy

[This message has been edited by Jeremy Andrews (edited 23 January 2002).]

[This message has been edited by Jeremy Andrews (edited 24 January 2002).]

I had one of the 1st 650GS's to hit the streets & at it's 6000mile service they spotted this, stripped it, & put a new seal in. I kept an eye on it & it carried on weeping 'till I sold it a year ago, at 18000miles. While it didn't seem to cause any problems, you'd think they'd have sorted it out by now!
But that was only 1 of many problems including 1)slipping clutch 2)sticking throttle 3)cam chain tensioner fault (recurring) 4)heated grip failure (in -7C).
Of course there were several Fuel Ignition maps loaded which never worked the way they should have - but I think they've come up with a good one now.
Gooooooood luck!