Rubber Solvent

Go with the chloroform, at least you won't have to deal with the problem for a couple days.

Seriously, if your seals are shot so is the bike. Sad I know. Only hope is getting a junker crashed early and spending a lot of time retrofitting with no guarantees.

heh, thats a bit pessimistic :)

I'm not too concerned at the moment, its only the fuel tank components that have rubber in them .. since the bike hasn't run for 2 years then without a pressurised fuel rail I doubt the gunge has gone as far as the injectors. I am guessing it wouldn't make it past the fuel filter which is after the pump. There was a little on the outlet to the fuel pump but it looks like it gummed up the pump and inlet filter pretty quickly and stopped dead.

I will pull the fuel rail after I have the tank all cleaned up and have a look at that anyway, also replacing every fuel line on the bike. It should be good as new when done .. actually better since I hope to use non-BMW components that won't dissolve in fuel.

Thanks for the reply .. now to find some chloroform.

Might also try some acetone and paint thinner while I'm at it.

Best of luck, it is a nice bike.

If chloroform doesn't do the trick, you may be looking at something nastier like methyl-ethyl-ketone, which should work.

I would recommend toluene, but it causes brain damage pretty easily so I hesitate, and I'm not sure how commercially available it is.

I loved my old BMW e30 car, so while totally different, I'm sure the bike will be a dream once restored.

-T

Why would BMW do such a thing? I would contact them to find the right solvent. Keep trying different ones until you hit it, well ventilated, avoid the carcinogens 'till last, use a gas mask. Acetone and ketone are good ones, I get them from the paint store. Keep in mind many will penetrate into your skin, right to your liver, bad,bad,bad. Use chemists gloves!! Alcohol will clean up epoxy, not much else does. Good luck, BMW's are cool. Trichlorethylene is a bitch. Danger.

Thanks guys .. the solution was under my nose. Paint thinner did the trick.

Maybe 4 or 5 years ago when fuel prices started going nuts the cheaper fuel companys here added benzene I think it was. Several where busted with over the 10% allowed and then cars started getting damaged fuel systems and the practice was banned. They can only add alcohol now. I suspect it either had a benzene fuel in it earlier or possibly even the fuel left in it.

If I pull the hose from the outlet of the filter it looks spotless, no residue at all. So hopefully all is good from the filter on.

How bad is paint thinner for you ? I was pretty much up to the elbows in black gunge by the end of it. I added thinners, swabbed around with a rag on forceps and then sucked up the residue with paper towels. Looks pretty good now, probably still a few blobs in odd corners but I think it will be stable in 'normal' fuel anyway.

here's the remains of the damper ...

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/hQvHfYoAES0jB5YV12Ij7A?feat=directlink

Once again .... the unintended results of ethanol....

Manufacturers in the rubber industry usually use MEK or Toluene to break down organic rubber compounds. The fellow who suggested Paint Thinner was also right on as well. Like the process that created the chemical reversion of the rubber part to begin with, cleaning the gunk will take time for the solvent to react with the residue. Scrap the Rube Goldberg fix for your Bike and get someone to make a new connector and hoses for you out of Fluorosilicone which has better fuel AND environmental resistance. Chris, Seal Science, Inc.