R1100S needs a new left head

[Ridgetopboy]

Looking for a complete head and cylinder for my bike. I have a 2004 R1100S with <16K miles. The other day I was putting along doing about 45-50mph thinking that the new seat was awesome and the bike was running great when all of a sudden there arose such a clatter from the left side of the engine. I immediately shut it down. Towed it home and proceeded to take the left head off suspecting that the cam chain tensioner had let go.

The first "speed bump" was that I couldn't break the spark plug loose, bad sign. Ended up with the ceramic part of the plug coming out but the threads stayed in the head. WTF! Upon removing the secondary plug, it was mangled. When I finally got the head off one of the valves had broken off and cause all kind of damage.

How does an engine with <16K miles and fully serviced grenade itself? Not happy to say the least.

Anyone know where I might find a used or rebuilt cylinder & head?

[brentw1]

I probably have one

[Ridgetopboy]

Awesome, I PM'd you with my number and email.

[Ridgetopboy]

Found an complete engine on eBay for $1000 w/ 34K on it decided that was the best way to go since even used parts will cost more. Now to decide whether to swap just the parts I need or the entire motor?

[tm1100s]

Is it possible to get a nice, hi-res pic of that damage, head and piston side, if possible.

Thanks.

[N41EF]

My 2 cents, if you have a complete running engine, I'd pull yours and just transfer the minimum to it and install it, instead of swapping parts to an engine that had an issue. I might check that the new style tensioner is in the new engine, and replace the belt and valve cover gaskets, check the valve clearances, new plugs, and an oil change. If the "new" engine has any sort of wants, pulling a head off might void that as well.

[Ridgetopboy]

Ok, sounds like swapping the entire engine out is the preferred method. Now does anyone have any experience with swapping an engine like this? It looks to be a lot bigger job than swapping the the head, cylinder and piston but I have no idea what's involved.

[JimMoore]

I haven't done an S, but I did an R1100RS. It's a lot of work, but it is pretty logical. Support the engine with two chairs under the cylinders. Start at the back and take off everything until you get to the engine. Go to the front and do the same thing. A lot of the electronics can stay connected to the front end.

Installation is the reverse.

[wswartzwel]

Fairly easy to do... Like Jim said just support the engine, and take everything off. I did it on my Zip Tie replacement thread.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/bmw-r1100s-r1200s-tech-forum/380162-neglected-maintenance-items-do-winter.html

[BadToTheBown]

The root of these bikes are the engines. Plan on getting everything off then swap motors, start reassembly. I lift helps, something to hold the engine, some scissor jacks can be very helpful. I use the front lug on the engine to attach my engine supports with one make out of wood and some angle and the other from an old Nissan scissor jack, good luck....