I recently sorta accidentally bought a '84 K100RT (ex police). It clearly hadn't run for some time and I'm guessing it stopped because the fuel pump was clagged up. The rubber sleeve that holds it had turned to silly putty and left a tar-like residue (ethanol in the petrol?). I fixed the pump, changed the watery oil in the sump and got the bike to start. Everything sounded OKish so maybe the bike is worth persevering with.

I took the sump off (probably never been off before) and found this:



I understand the black sludge on the bottom - at least there was nothing shiny in it - and I understand the milk-shakey stuff on top. But what on earth is the orange stuff in the middle?

Yuk. was there any sign of gasket sealant around the sump cover? I've seen orange sealant in spots on my bike.

No idea, but I think you were brave to run your finger through it.

Can we see a picture of your car please? HZ?

Quite likely an alge, I have seen it in diesel tanks and kerosene as well.  clean as best as you can put clean oil in, change the filter and run it till it gets to operating temp. Pull the cam cover off to make sure oil is getting to the top end (check the shims while you are in there) if oil is getting to the top end then go for a ride of 10k and change the oil again and the filter.
All should be OK
Don't eat any mushrooms growing in the air filter 
Pay to take the crankcase cover off as well then spray some degreaser in and hose it out. All the water will run out the bottom. Then blow it all out with air.

Dayum! That looks nasty....

Rick is probably correct in that it is a fungus. It lives in the layer between the oil and water. It happens in diesel tanks too. I have spent many night shifts trying to clean out jet aircraft fuel tanks after contamination with that stuff.
The name is something like "Glydosporium resinay" with a different spelling. One of you chemistry buffs is now going to correct that and us humble engineers will be astounded!  

Sell it to a multi-national fast food hamburger chain as a new secret sauce  

How the heck can you spell "Glydosporium resinay differently? 

Like this Cladosporium resinae Read all about it

RicK G wrote:Like this Cladosporium resinae Read all about it

Told you some one clever would be along soon!

Thank you Rick and bikerboy, I had no idea that things could grow in motor oil. Hell, there could be life forming in that oily slime (Geez, maybe well all evolved from sump sludge. That would explain a lot.)

Rossko, I was not at all brave. I wasn't going to touch that mess - I used an icy pole stick. I do indeed have a HZ ('77 253 Kingswood wagon) but I don't believe I have ever taken a photo of it. It has a certain, um, patina of age about it. But in the 12 years I've owned it it's never let me down.

I've taken the rocker and crank covers off and cleaned up the mess. Things actually look pretty good apart from #4 inlet valve has closed up a bit. 

It'll be a while before I can take it for a ride Rick. The seals in the pumps need to be fixed first. Some PO* 'fixed' the leaky seals by forcing a screw up the drain hole at the front of the sump. They used lots of sealant to make sure they'd done the job properly.

All good fun and quite a learning experience.


* I found out yesterday that the PO had it 18 months but never got around to fixing it. The PPO had it for two years and never got around to fixing it. The PPPO had it for 6 years, 'restored' it when he got it (had the fairing painted), rarely rode it and sold it when the fuel pump carked it.

Well at least it might appreciate a bit of TLC now.
Whereabouts in Vic are you from, it may be a small state but still covers a lot of ground.

Looks like someone poured cream of mushroom soup in there...

It bought back memories of having to clean out the oil fuel tanks on a ship in about 1972-3. We were wearing breathing apparatus an scraping inch thick crud of the inside of the tanks shoveling it into buckets and hauling it out and then clean the tanks with detergent then steam clean them. I think it was one of the worst jobs I have ever done.

I'm in sunny Beechworth in Vic's north east. Right on the edge of some of the finest riding country in godzone.

Does anyone know the number of the Kaco seal for the water pump?

11 41 1 741 870

Thanks Inge, but not the BMW part number. The Kaco brand seal that Motobins sell for the job. I figure I may as well get one from my local bearing shop rather than get one sent from England.

hzbloke wrote: The Kaco brand seal that Motobins sell for the job.

That is the genuine BMW seal.......could be a puzzle to find this seal elsewhere,
but if you dig deep enough.......you could be lucky

Ah Beechworth now that is a nice spot with twisties leading to anywhere.
I have been trying to source aftermarket seals oil and water for the pump for some time without success. the oil seal I can get one that will do the job but it's not quite the same but the waterpump seal is as far as I can see not available except OEM.  I feel that it will be available from somewhere but once found it is just as likely to be more expensive and still not easily available.

Thanks for that fellas. I'll place an order with Motobins.

RicK G wrote:Ah Beechworth now that is a nice spot with twisties leading to anywhere.
I have been trying to source aftermarket seals oil and water for the pump for some time without success. the oil seal I can get one that will do the job but it's not quite the same but the waterpump seal is as far as I can see not available except OEM.  I feel that it will be available from somewhere but once found it is just as likely to be more expensive and still not easily available.

Just done a full water/oil pump replacement but as far as I can see all are available from BMW locally but just not stocked locally.