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K1200RS Water Pump Job
May 2003

A few days ago, while preparing to do an oil change, I removed the belly pan from the bike and found coolant in the well of the pan. The water pump was leaking. The telltale is a drip from the bottom of the water pump. There is a weep hole that is channeled into a cavity behind the water pump seal. If the seal leaks, fluid gets past the seal into this cavity and drips out the weep hole, letting you know there is a problem.

Of course, this is the busy season and my local dealer said that the earliest I could get in for service is May 30. Unfortunately, it's also prime riding season and I'm not going to park it for a month. Looks like it's "do it yourself" time. Oh well, the warranty's expired anyway. The dealer also has to order the parts. He has the o-rings and one seal, but was out of stock on another seal.
 

Pretty ugly with the body panels removed, eh?

This is a change from the first and second generation K-bikes. The oil-water pump used to be one housing. However, with the introduction of oil cooling on the K1200 series, the housing was spilt into two sections. This intermediate housing contains the passages and thermostat for the oil cooler, and the hookups for the oil cooler lines..


Notes:
1. When replacing the water pump seal, you'll need to bring the water pump with you to the dealer when you pick up the seal and have their service department install it. The seal requires a special tool (BMW No. 11 6 724) for installation. This is important as the water pump seal costs $30 and will be destroyed without the proper installation tool. Even with that tool, it's dicey. Better to let the dealer install it. I had one dealer tell me that they won't even do the job, but opt to replace the entire water pump instead. You can remove the old one, however. When performing this job, you will also need to replace the $5.00 seal which installs behind the water pump seal.

2. Install Spacer Bushing and Impeller and torque its retaining screw to 33 Nm.

3. Coat the mating faces of the Intermediate Oil Housing and the Oil/Water Pump Main Housing with Yamabond or equivalent upon re-assembly. You only need to coat the mating perimeter. Do not coat the two red o-rings.

4. Required torque for all housing screws and cover screws is 10nm.

5. Allow the Yamabond to cure for 24 hours before refilling the crankcase and radiator and starting the engine.

Anecdote - This prime riding season actually turned out to be the rainiest spring we've had in many years. The downtime was limited to 2.5 weeks and I really didn't miss anything. It would have been much worse if this had happened in July.