Fuel strip to float conversion complete guide.

Thanks for the info, mine has ZFE high, its got esa, so if i put the pins back where they were, and buy an fc01 it should work?

Whilst your comment is correct, it shouldn't be necessary...
On the Motoscan app, for ZFE high bikes you find TWO coding steps (both required) on a ZFE basic, one doesn't show up (thus it doesn't work).

if you have ZFE high, re pinned and fitted the right float, the only steps missing could be

fitted something incorrectly, forgot to connect the float wires to the pump, re pin wrong etc.
the float is not moving correctly (some bikes the breather pipes, mis-aligned float, or I guess if you left an old strip in place, can stop the new sensor moving
the float is faulty
the original strip fault is still there and the bike is muddled
the programming steps with either GS911 wifi or Motoscan ultimate didn't go to plan. Its a much simpler operation on the motoscan app, but I've done it with both. GS911 gives indication if you should be trying (as in it tells me on ZFE basic its not compatible) but you can still flip flop back and forth

I guess its possible your diagnostic BT adaptor is cheap and nasty and or missing firmware fixes, and it isn't sending the correct info at the bike. And that might be why its failing.
Do not expect a ebay 25 quid or less BT adaptor to successfully do REAL programme coding steps. They are all fake Chinese shit chipsets that sends partial information and are dangerous to use.

recco is ScanMaster UniCarScan adaptor made by MotoScan app guy (its the best & these days recco by BMW car boys for playing with RR parking sensor beeps & such childishness)
other reputable ones mostly come from ODBlink but you need to keep on top of firmware fixes from here.... https://www.scantool.net/scantool/downloads/updates/
 
Here's a first post for you. Greetings from Australia.
I've read all 9 pages of this thread as I just acquired a 2008 r1200GS which had been sitting around for a few years. As a result the fuel had turned to molasses and long story short I replaced the fuel tank and pump. However I still had the fuel strip but it didn't work. Surprise surprise.
OK so I looked at all the dismal news about fuel strips until someone sent me a youtube clip about a conversion to float.
This then combined with a float control module is apparently the fix.
So I am quite bamboozled by all of you boffins frantically changing pins and recoding and generally giving yourselves heaps of grief when the fix is right there on the table. There are two modules, mod1 for GSA and mod2 for GS.They come from Bert at https://www.proebeemer.nl/
He lists which other models require which module and there may be research required there to get the right float. No doubt Bert will tell anyone who asks.
The floats for the GSA clip onto the pump assembly, for the GS they hang from a mount in the filler neck same way as a fuel strip.
The order number for the GS float is 16148554065
That's it apparently. It's meant to be a permanent fix and there's no coding required[worse luck for the boffins.]
Am I missing something?
 
Here's a first post for you. Greetings from Australia.

I am quite bamboozled by all of you boffins frantically changing pins and recoding and generally giving yourselves heaps of grief when the fix is right there on the table.

Am I missing something?

yes...

Oz dug out the centre of the country making a quick buck, but destroyed the planet and allowed china to take over the world. Whilst a little short sighted, it did mean many of you got a 200% pay rise in the last 25 years - hence the NL gadget turns up in the post for little more than 2 thimbles of lager to you... but its a hell of a lot of cash for people in Europe who mostly have had zero wage change, whilst the cost of living when up 100% in the same time frame - thus for the sake of 2 hours labour (if your bike was made with the right parts) you can make the float work they way BMW designed it... and put the money towards initiatives to try and keep us all alive

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-48354692

He concluded: "The bottom line is that much of the glue that has held British society together since the Second World War has been deliberately removed and replaced with a harsh and uncaring ethos."

The Australian professor, who is based at New York University, said government policies had led to the "systematic immiseration [economic impoverishment]" of a significant part of the UK population, meaning they had continually put people further into poverty.

"UK standards of well-being have descended precipitately in a remarkably short period of time, as a result of deliberate policy choices made when many other options were available,"
 
Interesting. A number of things.

'For two hours work and the right parts' not I presume a manky old fuel strip that had been in a tank where everything rotted, the rubber pump mounts turned to dust, the tipover switch was a mystery of stalactite battery acid, the molasses was fully over the pump and the fuel strip and the wires from the fuel strip fell out of the plug because the metal bits in the plug had rotted, the blue plug now grey and so on.

So a new device was needed in my case, and a fuel strip was obviously the dumb way to go. Because they continue to fail they are no longer made so all the hours spent will not get you a permanent fix. So hours spent getting a failed strip to work are wasted hours.

But basically what you are saying is because I am from Oz I can afford to fix it properly while you poor benighted souls have to slave away on your benches because your country didn't dig up the earth and rape and pillage the land, maybe not this century but anyway it's a weird thing to say. Because I've read the thread and I've seen all the troubles and the disappointments and in any case you need to spend more money to go and do that because you have to buy the electronic tool which I have not afforded.

Then it's a question of owning one of these bikes. People who have one are not poor generally speaking. One trip to the dealers will cost more , at least double what I will spend on this fuel gauge problem. I'm not rich though neither am I poor, but if I can fix something I will, I would never go to the dealer, I run old cars that cost hardly anything to run, I do own a Velocette and ride it, so I must be a toff right? Nup not at all. Again I do all the work and Velo ownership is a very zen mechanical discipline.

The point is I haven't missed anything about this fix. I have sat back, read everything, checked it out and formed a reasonable plan and it's in the pipeline. So I think you might be a little more generous with your response and admit boffins defeat on this one, Bozo.
 
Interesting.

But basically what you are saying is because I am from Oz I can afford to fix it properly while you poor benighted souls have to slave away on your benches because your country didn't dig up the earth and rape and pillage the land, maybe not this century but anyway it's a weird thing to say. Because I've read the thread and I've seen all the troubles and the disappointments and in any case you need to spend more money to go and do that because you have to buy the electronic tool which I have not afforded.

Then it's a question of owning one of these bikes. People who have one are not poor generally speaking. One trip to the dealers will cost more , at least double what I will spend on this fuel gauge problem. I'm not rich though neither am I poor, but if I can fix something I will, I would never go to the dealer, I run old cars that cost hardly anything to run, I do own a Velocette and ride it, so I must be a toff right? Nup not at all. Again I do all the work and Velo ownership is a very zen mechanical discipline.

The point is I haven't missed anything about this fix. I have sat back, read everything, checked it out and formed a reasonable plan and it's in the pipeline. So I think you might be a little more generous with your response and admit boffins defeat on this one, Bozo.


BMW designed the bike (when fitted with the ZFE High) to operate with either type of fuel level sensor.

I guess by sharing his knowledge, the point of the post on a public forum was to help others upgrade designed to fail bikes to the better fuel lever sensor. By using the half priced BMW part that's many times more reliable, the bike becomes 100% as BMW made the later bikes. There is no software update. Just swapping coding across using tick boxes on readily available tools.

It does not introduce a non standard part from a third party to try and get a tank level reading. Its 100% end to end BMW. And saves £120 euros, and should be more reliable, as we have no detail on the life expectancy of the NL part.

Had you not bought the bit from NL you could have the motoscan app and half the money left in your pocket, after all its highly likely you'll need it for other jobs anyway. The motoscan app isn't restricted to a given number of bikes so we can share / support others improving their bikes for free. And worth noting swapping from one BMW coding option to the other is 5 minutes work.

And yes I was saying for the average Australian, its far more affordable. As a percentage of average wage its half the cost to someone from Europe. But also worth noting, doing the job correctly helps save the planet, as it doesn't involve another factory building an unnecessary component or air freight around the world.

All that said the NL part you mention looks to be a sensible way forward to fix any fuel strip bike stuck with a ZFE basic. Its very same fix I mentioned here on 11 June 2021. I did this within 48 hours of knowing what a fuel strip did and that they are unreliable rubbish and its best to rid your bike of them. And the cost of both bits is the same as buying one faulty designed to fail strip.

As we're sharing feedback, you come across like a very stereotypical BMW owner
 
Well then Botus, I've succeeded in one thing at least. I have cracked on to the fix, possibly the only permanent fix for this little first world problem.
I have problems understanding your other ideas probably because I'm Australian, as from what the thread has shown it isn't a permanent fix while ever one is trying to use one of the failed fuel strips.
Having only been in possession of this beemer for nigh on two weeks I am extraordinarily happy to discover that I have instantly become a typical BMW owner. It's not like moving to the country where after 20 years you are still considered a blowin.
But I notice some feeling of negativity in that assignation, as if there might be some kind of Beemer Type that might aggravate you or something.
I spose I may have reacted in a more critical way than otherwise after the way you ran an Aussie Demolition campaign upon seeing my filthy words. But I know you are a smart guy and I have probably poked the maitre D by my foolish and ignorant attitude so in the interests of world peace and free fixes I'd like to shake your hand and hope we might be friends.
 
I think you may be just a tad obtuse mister Botus. I have delved into the meaning of your last post further and discovered that what you are saying is I could use a float and then a recode and not have to buy the thingo from NL .
Big trouble is you weren't very clear about this. You write in some code that has to be deciphered. You speak in riddles.
I'm not that kinda guy. As my Dad once said, I'm subtle as a bag of shit.
I like things spelt out.
Like : The fix: Fit a float instead of the fuel strip. Fuel strips are a failed technology.
Next you need to recode. Plug in the thingo and here's the way to code it.

But I saw this trying to happen , sorry, and I saw reports of it needing to be done again and failing and stuff.
That's why I think mister NL is a great idea.
OK I'll stfu now. Cheers.
 
Electric / logic diagram

Hi
I have discovered this by mistake...I was working on the ESA r1200gs and it makes change from my suspension posts...
The main thingis it works!
And you don't need any magical devices!!!
So before you start you will need
1 OEM FLOAT TYPE SENSOR FOR YOUR MODEL
anyK25 After 2010 should have one...(not early 2010 gsa this comes with strip)
GSA float is mounted on the pump
GS float is mounted on the fuel cup
This includes models from 2006 to 2010 ADV (I'm working on 2010ADV)
2 Moto Scan App with OBD linkLx
3 basic mechanical skill and tools

FIRST Make sure your tank is fairly empty!!! REMOVE THE FUEL STRIP AND INSTALL THE FLOAT (I DON'T HAVE THE PICTURES SHOWING THAT )float for GSA on the fuel pump picture one

Now time to make it work
For the ZFE to be able to read the new sensor you need to swop the pins in the main connector pin 34 (green with red trace )and 35(brown with blue trace) needs to be moved to 21 and 37 on the ZFE connector
Picture 2
Check the pictures on how to disassemble the connector and remove blanking pins.
After removing transparent retainer push on the black and white inserts they will come out then remove the top part by pressing four little clips in every corner
Next, remove blanking pins in the location 37 black connector and 21 white connectors.
Swop the cable and insert blanking pins in the old locations 34,35 this will stop moisture going into the connector
On the pictures below...

Programming!
Without this computer "ZFE" doesn't know you just installed float type sensor...
Connect the cable find your bike on the list K25ADV in my case...
Go to central chase electronics ZFE
and find Thermo Coupler FLS 08 and change the value to Potentiometer. Press CODE
Next, find INDUCTIVE FUEL SENSOR change to"deactivate" press code.
You're done! Your old lady finally knows how to measure fuel properly no more yellow triangle...
Install the tank and other connectors.
Why BMW didn't do that on the recall???
You can get fuel float on ebuy or Motorworks for about 40-80 subject to availability I guess...
If anyone needs more explanation just ask If not me maybe someone else will assist you

I'm using a spare pump with sensor to demonstrate how it works
float is already in the tank...
Good luck with the conversion.


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Hi Denz0,

Where did you get the GS electrical / logic circuit?

Thank you,

Guilherme
 
Not sure what I am not doing right here...
R1200GS 2009, with ZFE high, has ESA, has the INFO button on the left hand side cluster.
I changed the fuel strip for the lever type, did the pin swap inside the connector, did the coding with NCS Expert for both the dash and the ZFE.
GS911 sees I have the lever type fuel sensor.

I keep getting the 41705 fuel level indicator error and there are the fuel level is not indicated on the dash, the yellow triangle is displayed. I filled up 10liters of fuel and get ~50 ohms resistance between the 2 and 3 pins...

Can this bike be fixed with the float or should I get another fuel strip?
 
did you turn off the original failure code before doing any work - read the small bits and it suggests this is an issue

read the whole thread from page 7 onwards and you get all the nuances - like the bit DON'T re-pin add two new wires... much of which is already on the old strip (after you have spark fixed it using a gas hob igniter then used to clear the fault) then you can try either or sensor and indeed go back and unravel the uncleared error code without taking the tank off all over again)

Some suggest it can just get over itself, but...

How do you know you have a ZFE HIGH and did you complete two separate coding steps to swap (double socket ZFE and you have ESA suspension ) ? if not it might be a ZFE BASIC HIGH (which is a single socket in-between unit and needs the adaptor from the NL bod)
 
Denz0

for good measure please could you cover this step again on a later iteration of the motoscan app - he now has the Module you are working in displayed in the bar at the bottom of the app screen since v1.70
(FYI 1.81 is now out - minor bug fix from the Nov 2021 release)

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@botus I did clear the errors prior to starting the re-wiring. Zapping the strip did not make it temporary to work, the pins 2 and 3 in the strip are completely broken, no matter how much I zipped it.
When searching for errors, the ZFE - High section mentions the type - ZFE-High. I have 2 sockets under the tank and ESA suspension.

Also, I did a mistake, I read the errors when the level 4 pin connector was not connected to the tank. So the error does not appear on gs911, it is only that the level is not working...
 
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OK... so I am amazed... I only had half a tank, filled it up to the top, and when switching ignition on, it appears to be almost full :)
Almost full since the top line is not showing, even if the tank is full, but I am guessing this can be corrected over time, if it learns itself, right?

Important! after doing the job, you have to FILL UP THE TANK. I guess that is how it learns the upper side value.
 
zapping the strip with piezo igniter rebuilds a carbon trace till it works - its this trace re-creation that means it needs to be done quite a few times circa 19 - of course its luck of the drawer - I guess you can then blow its brains if you try too much (its not a great fix but it often works - if you read many forums, for around 6 months) it fixed mine and let me clear the fault code for the broken strip

911 just got another update today - u want v2111.4 (although the feature to do the strip is a beta online change and may not be seen to all users). I swapped back and forth last night there is a new key on off cycle and it seems to clear faults on its own as it tidies up

On the motoscan app (I last tried on V1.71) as used in the photos by Denz0 its a two step process (with the second step only there on twin socket bikes)

You mentioned you tried using NCS expert (which I have never tried) this is a very old BMW dealer techie tool - designed to vandalise your BMW at a high level (I only know of for playing on the cars.... But as they all use the same platform I guess there could be a bike friendly iteration)

Ahh... I was replying to your 18:40 post - Nice its fixed for you

A number of users say eventually it gets over itself - I suspect either the sensor needs to go through each end of its travel to calculate what the hell is going on (makes lots of sense) or its a time / rebuild what to display kind of thing going on (maybe with a key on / off cycle)
 
Well I just wanted to let you know that the Proebeemer solution without changing any pins on the ECU is working fine now.
When first connected it worked and then wasn't working so I was waiting to have the error code removed, but meanwhile after riding a bit more the gauge is now working as it should.
I was told that once there was no error it should work and this has turned out to be correct. I was also told by Mister Proebeemer NOT to swap terminals on the ECU which has also turned out to be correct.
I can see the terminal swap is also a way around that does work as well but a lot more hassle and with coding too.
Phew, glad that's sorted. Now to enjoy the bike.
 
Well I just wanted to let you know that the Proebeemer solution without changing any pins on the ECU is working fine now.
When first connected it worked and then wasn't working so I was waiting to have the error code removed, but meanwhile after riding a bit more the gauge is now working as it should.
I was told that once there was no error it should work and this has turned out to be correct. I was also told by Mister Proebeemer NOT to swap terminals on the ECU which has also turned out to be correct.
I can see the terminal swap is also a way around that does work as well but a lot more hassle and with coding too.
Phew, glad that's sorted. Now to enjoy the bike.

Yes, the remaining fault code is a pain
Yes, if modifying the output of a different sensor to mimic the standard signals reaching the bike (using this gadget) must leave the pins in its original place or you'll get no reading

if you have the right Twin Socket ZFE its cuter and cheaper to do it the BMW way, but many that need it only have a basic ZFE - the best thing is to zap the strip, clear the fault, code to the new sensor type, and then pull the strip part to provide the wiring to make two new wires to put on the other pins - and you have an either or configuration without need to play with the tank in case of issues
 
OK I have an update.
So to be clear the 'fault code' I thought I had was an illuminated triangle on the dash which the dealer showed me is the stupid tyre pressure sensors. So there's no fault code showing for the fuel sender.
I went for a fair ride to see the dealers and the fuel gauge wasn't working at first but after over an hour on the road it suddenly came good.
It showed empty a couple more times and then displayed fairly correctly for the rest of the trip, showing reducing fuel as I went. I thought it was right.
But when I refilled the tank it shows nothing again and I've ridden a few short rides since then but still it's on the blink.
So it's becoming pretty annoying and it won't be long before I decide that the whole thing is a fail.
Will keep you posted.
 


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