K26 Timing Tensioner Oil leak, Cleaning and Oil Change

General discussion of the BMW R1200RT/R1250RT
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Irish_Kid
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K26 Timing Tensioner Oil leak, Cleaning and Oil Change

Post by Irish_Kid »

Hi All


Bit of an intro. I am new to the forum been around bikes for 10years plus and am a firm believer of DIY maintenance ! Bought a K26 2011 (50K KM) last March 2021 with the bike coming with a full ''dealer service history'' to say the least there was not a TAP done on the bike ! so I started stripping the bike covering all the major points of maintenance as I want to keep the bike for the medium long term. Found box flyer and tinderbox on youtube :) Had a lovely summer with the new bike and the piece of mind of [size=2px]maintenance is great [/size]approx.[size=2px] 200 km a week on wide open roads ![/size]
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Last week I noticed there was a slight leak out of the Timing Tensioner (Not a biggy I know) but being noisy I removed the tensioner to have a look at the condition, to my SHOCK when it was removed I noticed it was heavily soiled with crud, the crud was easy to clean off BUT surly I was thinking this must effect the performance of the device ! I cleaned the ports and coated everything in fresh oil and reassembled. (It's a fun tight job !!)


As soon as I started the bike there was a marked difference with the common chain slap on start up issues !! Has anyone else seen the same results and does anyone flush there engine to reduce general crud in the engine  ?


If so what would you use and what's the service interval as I know this part will simply get crudded again. (typical none of the above is not mentioned in any literature form BMW)


Looking forward to your thoughts.


J





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David.
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Re: K26 Timing Tensioner Oil leak, Cleaning and Oil Change

Post by David. »

Irish_Kid wrote:Does anyone flush there engine to reduce general crud in the engine.

If so what would you use and what's the service interval.
There is some discussion in this thread on whether to use engine flush or not, BMW R1200RT / R1250RT forum - The BMW R1200RT/R1250RT forum

For warranty purposes, my 2012 (K26) has the oil & filter changed at a BMW dealer every 12 months or 6K miles, an engine flush is not used. If I was doing it myself, then yes, I'd consider using an engine flush in line with the service intervals. Your experience with the cam chain tensioner suggests there may be some value in using an engine flush.

As per the attached thread, I've used DAE in the car, might be ok for a K26 with a dry clutch. For my XJ650, have used motorcycle specific (for wet clutch use) engine flushes from Wurth & Liqui Moly. Most recently bought Silkolene, haven't used it yet but seems the most cost effective offering.
Last edited by David. on Sat Dec 04, 2021 11:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: K26 Timing Tensioner Oil leak, Cleaning and Oil Change

Post by Our Gee »

What’s a TAP ?.
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Re: K26 Timing Tensioner Oil leak, Cleaning and Oil Change

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Last edited by Boxflyer on Mon Aug 29, 2022 2:48 am, edited 1 time in total.
Irish_Kid
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Re: K26 Timing Tensioner Oil leak, Cleaning and Oil Change

Post by Irish_Kid »

Hi All


Thanks for all the replies :) I am raging that I did not take images of the process now ! Most crud was inside the device where there is a (Brown) mushroom piece that sits into the spring where the other end is over a tiny bleed hole at the end of timing chain contact point, this was all solid with crud, hope it makes sense.


Ill increase the frequency of the oil changes and see how we go over time.


Not done a ''TAP'' means works were billed by an official dealer and documented evidence produced ....... (in the log book) only when I done my run through, work had clearly been skipped , spark plugs worn, air filter was like it had been trough the desert !!! Rear bevel gear oil was like malaises, Clutch oil was contaminated with water ! Let me just state I bought the bike based on the fact it was owned by an genuine owner who had the receipts to prove the work had been done.


Thanks again for all the replies.


J










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