'99 R1100S died on highway

[BLTZN1]

bike is a '99 R1100S 128,000 kms bought new and always well maintained - while on the highway over the week end the bike died completely and I was able to coast to the side of the highway - after a moment a restart was possible and I rode to a safe spot - power seemed down (felt like running on one cylinder) - will not idle, without throttle it will die - was able to trailer it to a friend who runs a small engine repair shop - with a little diagnosis he found that the compression was well down in one cylinder (I don't know the numbers) he strongly suspects a bad head gasket, and I am inclined to agree - battery has tested good although it is 3 years old with 25,000 kms - my friend is hesitant to dig into the engine

I am getting other local advise suggesting the fuel pump, which to me, does not tie into the low compression in one cylinder - I think, but I am not certain, that I have ruled out hall sensor and stick coils

in Canada and hate to just throw parts at it until it is solved -I usually buy my parts from the USA but right now exchange and freight are expensive, plus delivery can be slow into Canada - but, I would gladly order parts and get them on the way if I knew I was on the right track - trying to find a local BMW specialist without heading into a dealership in Toronto - any thoughts from your collective wisdom ?

[bradzdotcom]

can you back to the friend and get those compression numbers?
that'd help.

meanwhile, is there evidence of any crap blowing out of the thing?

[BLTZN1]

yes, I think I can get those numbers will post them as soon as I have them

[BLTZN1]

while my friend had the plastic off and was looking in the air box he felt that there was some "mist" or some blow by that also indicated that the head gasket was bad - there is no oil leakage at the cylinder and I think he said that he may have seen a bit of bluish haze

[JimMoore]

I'd bet on a broken exhaust valve before I bet on a blown head gasket. it happens occasionally. Either one should be easy enough to diagnose once the head is off. Good luck.

[BLTZN1]

compression is 150 one side 75 the other and my buddy says a broken exhaust valve could certainly be the problem and agrees that if I can find a guy to do the work he would see as soon as the head is off

[twitchy]

Chris,
It's pretty normal for the airbox to have a little oil in it. There is a drain on it for that purpose.

Maybe a burnt valve instead of a broken one? If broken, I guess it would depend on where it broke, but some kind of mechanical noise at the time might be heard.

Have the plugs been taken out to look at them?

[cele0001]

Originally Posted by JimMoore

I'd bet on a broken exhaust valve before I bet on a blown head gasket. it happens occasionally. Either one should be easy enough to diagnose once the head is off. Good luck.

I know a guy that might have a cylinder head for sale.

[Droptarotter]

Pretty rare for a blown head gasket on these bikes.

Was there any loud noises when it quit?? Parts hitting each other?

Did anyone set the valves recently?? Too tight??

As stated, it's common to have a mist of oil in the airbox.

I'm betting on a bad valve also.




Cheers

[BLTZN1]

no loud noises when it quit, just quit running and calmly coasted to the side of the road - still will run, but poorly, and no unusual "metal to metal" noises

consensus seems to indicate a valve issue - need to find someone locally that is prepared to take the head off, see what is going on, and then repair

[BLTZN1]

valves were set at 118,000 kms,- 10,000 kms ago - so likely were set OK - bike has run well up to this current incident several long rides and daily use thru the good weather

[RBMann]

It just quit without a bad noise. Doesn't sound like a dropped valve. Even if the valve was burnt it would not suddenly stop running. The stopped running and low compression could be two different issues.

If the valve was broken then you would not have any compression on that side. You could pull just the valve cover and turn the engine over by hand to watch the rocker arm action.

Have you checked for fuel and spark on the side that is running poorly?

[squall_line]

When my bike up and quit running on me, it was the Hall Effect Sensor.

Of course, mine let out a rather rancid cloud of black smoke when that happened, but it's been running rich ever since before I bought it, so that symptom isn't really instructive.

[JimMoore]

Originally Posted by twitchy

Chris,
It's pretty normal for the airbox to have a little oil in it. There is a drain on it for that purpose.

Maybe a burnt valve instead of a broken one? If broken, I guess it would depend on where it broke, but some kind of mechanical noise at the time might be heard.

Have the plugs been taken out to look at them?

Yeah, I meant burned. I was thinking of a piece of the valve face missing. I've seen that before.

[JimMoore]

Originally Posted by twitchy

Chris,
It's pretty normal for the airbox to have a little oil in it. There is a drain on it for that purpose.

Maybe a burnt valve instead of a broken one? If broken, I guess it would depend on where it broke, but some kind of mechanical noise at the time might be heard.

Have the plugs been taken out to look at them?

Yeah, I meant burned. I was thinking of a piece of the valve face missing. I've seen that before.

[brentw1]

75 psi would not be a broken or stuck valve, it is almost exactly the measurements on a 1150
I did last month that had a burnt valve with a missing bit of the edge of the valve, about 60kmiles
never seen a bad head gasket.
you can put it at tdc lock the crank so the air doesnt spin it over, put air in the cylinder
with a air compressor, you should be able to hear the air leak in the exhaust port.
but really only a hour or two to take the head off. all should be revealed.

[BLTZN1]

about 10 days ago I was able to get the bike into a shop that had shop time available but even then they did not get to until just last Friday - the shop is an exclusive KTM dealer, not ideal but they do have some BMW experience - I have worked with them before and I have some faith in them - I went to visit the bike Saturday and the owner/mechanic walked me thru what is going on - he believes the failure was a sudden occurrence due to lack of oil - one piston has catastrophic damage and has scored the cylinder, I think not badly -he suggested it ran without oil - well, it had lots of oil ! but perhaps there has been some oil delivery issue ? I wish that I had taken a picture of the piston to show you, probably still can - both cylinders are off, the "good" cylinder/piston shows signs of wear but is OK - valves and guides on both cylinders have some carbon build up but are OK - so while apart we will do both pistons and rings and clean up the valves - but, of course, we are concerned about what caused the loss of lubrication to damage the one piston, if in fact that is the cause of the problem? sounds like it is going to be expensive but I have some of my soul in this bike and want to get it going - in the meantime I am riding my
'00 R1100S that I have had in "inventory", but I really want my '99 back on the road !

[flatbutt]

that sounds rough. I know what you are feeling bro. My '99 has a real hold on me too. Good luck!

[Dr. Curve]

Call the guy at the shop back and have him pull the oil filter and carefully wrap it up for you to pick up. Go get the filter. Now at home, cut it in half length ways with a hack saw. Look carefully at what you find. We always did this when engine failure occurred like you are talking about. Cheap filters can deteriorate over time but not likely. The filings from your hack saw will be easy to tell as contrasted to metal from a bearing melt, aluminum burn, or thin to flakey hard metal shreds. Start looking for a engine from a misshaped bike. Most likely find a engine ready to drop in for $1000 to $1500. Do not rebuild your engine that has circulated particles,..........as it will cost more that an engine swap will. I have two 99S units and still love them both. Thoughts..........

[Ontario Hawk]

Photo of the pistons in question. Damaged on the left.