BMW F 800 GS stalling every 10-15 seconds

[No Fromage]

I am in Morocco and having problems with my F 800 GS. When under way it cuts out every 10-15 seconds then kicks back in 5-10 seconds later if I have enough momentum otherwise it stalls and is sometimes difficult to start. It happens in any gear or rev range. I have been told that it may be the secondary function of the fuel pump and that I may be able to attach a jumper wire from the live terminal of the battery to one of the signal leads on the pump. Can anyone tell me if this works and if so exactly which signal lead.
Also can anyone tell me how to do an ECU reset while I'm at it.
Your speedy help in this matter would be greatly appreciated as I am preparing to move tomorrow morning.
No fromage

[Toyark]

Possible causes to investigate

Incorrect fuel mapping - fixed by firmware update dealership fix

Possible duff or on-the-way out FPC- you may need it replaced- a bypass is do-able

Low fuel (less than 1/4 full) has been known to fry fuel pumps/cause erratic fuel feed

Vacuum building up in the fuel tank- Tank breather hose kinked? do you hear an intake of air when you open the fuel cap? fuel tank shape distorted? -
road side fix=not locking down fuel cap but 'almost seal' with duck tape but allow some air to flow.

Possible faulty Idle valve (stepper motor under the airbox) (dealership fix)

Try resetting the Throttle Position Sensor -
Disconnect battery negative - have a coffee - reconnect after about 15 minutes-ish
Turn on ignition. Move throttle to fully open and hold for five seconds, slowly move to fully closed then turn off ignition. (do not start engine).

Long shot- intermittent fault on the side stand kill switch but my bet is on the fuel pump.
Wishing you good luck

[alper]

How many km`s do you have on the odometer? Roundabout 40000 km`s ? Then you probably need a new fuel pump.
Recently we had two F800GS (out of 6) with the same symptoms. After changing the fuel pump on one bike the problem was gone.

Joerg

[No Fromage]

Bertrand and Joerg thank you both for you reply. We tested for a vacuum in the fuel tank and the side stand and the tank has been full to empty making no difference. The bike has only done 20'000 miles But I am fairly convinced it is the fuel pump as I seems to be a common fault in 800s with these exact symptoms. The fault actually occurred yesterday And this morning we unplugged the fuel pump connectors then carried out what we believe to be an ECU reset and the fault has not troubled us today. I posted this as we are moving to further locations without internet in the morning so if the fault reappears I would like to know if there is a quick fix as I will not be near a main dealer for a week or so inshallah.

[Toyark]

You might want to alter your plans to go towards a dealership...
If it is the fuel pump.... it's camembert time!

[antonltd]

I have a f800 gs and now on my 3rd fuel pump... they are much easier to change than a tire.. make sure you have less than 1/2 a tank of fuel before you take off the lock ring from your tank..
Lots of bad roads, and yes every 15 seconds the bike stopped .. would restart then 15 seconds again it stopped.... the fix : tighten the battery cables ! da..
ok , fuel pumps.. they are the same as the Toyota corolla car fuel pump.. go ahead and give BMW more money if you wish .. they use a pump by Bosh,( about $180USD) the Chinese make aftermarket as well as Japan, Toyota ..( about $250 USD ) the Chinese one is probably the one you will find in any auto parts store in Morocco ( about $30 USD ) as Toyota is very popular in Africa.. Its also cheaper.. and it seems to be working the best for me ... buy an extra , I keep 2 extras with me always ..and yes you can use jumper wire from battery , if necessary I have photo of which wires , PM me , or also look on youtube .
let us know what the problem is when you fix !

[niello8]

We are also on our 3rd fuel pump. Got generic ones as opposed to BMWs $500 fuel assembly. Another thing that I think was helpful was we added a screw clamp to the connecting hose which seemed to get loose. More info about this issue here:

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...arnaul-58766-2

[No Fromage]

Anton and neil thank you for your advice.
I am back in the UK now and my bike will be back in a month.
The problem did not go away however it did not trouble me much as it only kicked in after very long days of which there was only one more before my clutch gave out.

I have been looking at the Burnsmoto cable which retails for $35.
my question is what is wrong with the pump and how does the cable fix it.
I will replace the pump before i sell the bike but would prefer to just carry the cable as back until then as the bike will only be used for light short road journeys.

[rlopes]

Hi,
Two weeks ago I was traveling in Morroco as well.
I experienced just the issue in my 2008 F800GS! In fact I've meet at least 3 other travellers reporting exacly the same problem in the road (2 of them from UK).
The symptoms are quite simple to report. Bike runs well in the morning but after something like 2 hours riding it just starts to cut engine in intermitent 3-4 seconds periods. Imagine running 15 seconds ok, 4 seconds cut, 15 seconds ok, 4 seconds cut,..... mostly at low speed/revs and when act on the throtlle. The cut is similar to fuel fault.
At Zagora I cleaned all the fuel tank and filter, without success.
I decided to do a diagnostic in the BMW dealer at Marrakech but nothing was reported... 50eur for nothing
Anyway I managed to return to Lisbon by highway, with a couple of more fails.
Of course I've already reported the problem to my local BMW dealer, but as you can imagine they just ask me to send a email to BMW.... no comments....
After all I still have no idea about what can be causing such a "stoppable" problem.
One think I can confirm... since I added european fuel into the tank I've never detected the problem again....

Can someone please comment or had the same experience?

Thanks

Renato
Lisbon

[*Touring Ted*]

If I had to guess... Fuel pump.

[rlopes]

Thanks TT.
Yes, Based in all the discussion around the fuel pump it is a possibility.
How can you explain the intermitent behavior in a very fixed pattern?

Just asking because buying a pump is a possibility. Would you trust in the generic ebay ones? (50USD)

Thxs

Renato

[*Touring Ted*]

The pump motor itself is a generic motor. Same out of a Toyota corolla so I believe (but not confirmed).. BMW won't say you can just swap out the motor as they just sell the complete assembly. I havent tried personally but I'm sure it is possible. Best not tried in the side of the road. Get yourself comfortable near a good workshop before you try it. It could also be the pump controller which sits on top of the pump. You can bypass this with a 12v supply to a charging socket etc. More of a Temp solution than a fix though.

[*Touring Ted*]

This is a BMW fuel pump. Not the same as an f800 but similar set up... You can see the motor. A small silver cylinder with 3 wires coming from it...

[rlopes]

Thanks TT.
Will check around for a spare pump. I a've already seen the f800 scheme during the tank cleaning in Morroco. Looks realy easy to replace by myself.
Anyway, do you think a faulty pump could have an intermitent behavor, after a couple of hours ride? Hot can explain? Remember the issue started in Morroco under high temp.
In adition is strange that all the others bykers with same engine I found have reported the same problem. What do you think about the fuel quality? It's possible that any sensor (eg lambda) generate a engine stall for seconds?

Check this pump:
New Intank Fuel Pump for BMW F800GS / F800GT 2006 - 2014 | eBay

Many thanks

Renato

[*Touring Ted*]

For that price.. It's worth a try. If a lambda sensor is faulty, the bike generally runs poorly. The ecu defaults to an extra Rich setting to prevent engine damage. Very Smokey but runs okay(ish)..

Your symptoms do sound like fuel pump. Can you not find anyone to scan for fault codes ??