Similar to another thread but a bit different... Got my bike serviced 2 weeks ago, 30,000km, and rode it home 170km odd. Only thing I have done that is different is put a small ethanol blend fuel in. I only put 10L and then topped up with premium later. Anyhow, when I start it up from cold, it starts and then goes into fast idle, immediately followed by a kind of spitting stall. It will do this 3times before it is warm enough and idles properly. Then when riding it, if I give it a handfull when the revs are under approx 3800, it spits and farts and does not accelerate momentarily then picks up. I can roll on the throttle no probs and it is fine above 4k rpm. Wondering if it might be a crap sensor or such...but thought I'd post here to see what the brains trust can come up with! Cheers!
Did it start immediately after service? If so maybe they did something.. trapped fuel or breather line..?
Yes it seemed to be after, pretty sure I would have noticed the rough running beforehand but I did have a couple of gas station stallouts as I was taking off and pulled the clutch to ease out onto the road. So many variables now... I did wonder that but kind of told myself that it was too specific in what was happening to be that. They did remove and replace the petrol filter inside the tank tho, but again, it would be more problematic across the range if it was that, surely? I have been wrong before!
Op seems to suggest it was fine. Then added fuel. Then it wasn’t. I’d be tempted to pump all the fuel out, ditch it, add some of that injector cleaning stuff when I stick fresh fuel in. Although I’d probably be checking my exhaust valve wasn’t stuck before I did anything else... If tha all good, may be dealer kickned a pipe or didn’t seat something when refitting tank and it’s come loose/trapped with ride. If dealer is local, get them to have a look. If not, i’d Lift the tank and see if it’s something obvious
To clarify tho, I left the dealership on new tyres so was being careful and did about 50km before adding fuel so not sure if the problem was there at this point. Bike was already warmed up when I got to dealer to collect. Yep, I will advise them things are not right but here's the thing, they are in the throes of getting the Ducati servicing software etc to reflash, reset codes etc. So prob in six weeks is when I will go back. Hoping I can find and fix myself before then cos I suspect Bradders post below might be on the money... I have no exhaust valve so will check to make sure my Ducee is still plugged in properly and go from there. Might even be something like a MAP sensor?... Above 4k rpm it pulls well with no dramas so not sure it is a fuel line
Would be worth checking the duccee thing for sure, as dealer may have removed and either not replaced or not in properly?
Misfires at idle? If yes, i had same symptoms with a MAP hose cracking (vertical) which freaked the computer out. It got bad enough to eventually throw misfire codes.
The ducee was still plugged in securely, I would have rather it had been that simple! Not misfiring at idle as such, but does when dead cold and will stall 3times before maintaining idle. Checked the vertical map hose and it did look good, it is kinda difficult to get at but I gave it a bit of manipulation so I could see most of it. Drained the fuel tank, no contaminants, so will fit fresh fuel and hope for the best! No doubt it will need to be connected for diagnostics... Thanks guys for your input!
Nearly four weeks later and the bike has been at the service shop for over two weeks and they can't find what is wrong with it. They are going to put new plug leads and caps on to see if it is that, and if not? Guess I'll be paying for that as well... Next step is to hook it up to a dyno and see what happens? Frustrating as hell...
A simple thing to try is to slip the shim out from behind the crank position sensor. It is held in by the same bolt as the sensor, so all you need to do is take the bolt out and slip the shim out from behind the sensor, then replace and tighten the bolt. This reduces the air gap, so if doing this improves the situation, the sensor is on its way out and needs to be replaced (along with reinstatingthe shim) The sensor on my bike is just in front of the water pump. I could remove the shim without disassembly but replacing the sensor meant the coolant had to be drained and the water pump cover removed, as there is a hose outlet right in the way and slipping the hose off the outlet doesn’t work. With help of Derek, I was able to get a sensor for just 25 quid, so it’s a simple thing to diagnose and an easy, cheap fix.
Funny you should say that Oldie, I felt like mentioning it to the mech but he is a very experienced guy and I didn't want to tell him how to suck eggs! Maybe I could send him a tactful email suggesting that...it does seem like it is going to be a sensor issue to me... Also, he is 160km away from me which is a pain. Lucky I have another ducati to fix/ride!
I know what you mean but he’s spent two weeks getting nowhere, so is probably frustrated enough to happily take suggestions. In my case, removing the sensor was followed by the motor firing up for the first time in two months after all sorts of shenanigans but the euphoria was short-lived as when I tried taking it for a spin, it died again. I think I have now narrowed the underlying problem down to a broken wire creating all sorts of red herrings and have bits arriving tomorrow which will hopefully sort it. If and when it fixes it, I will post a full report complete with heartfelt thanks to the helpful, patient and knowledgeable forum members who have guided me through the maze of red herrings I have encountered.
To update. Spoke to my mech today. He tells me that they put a gas analyser up the pipe and when he started it cold, after a few seconds it sped up, ran super rich and stalled. Next day started right up, it sped up, ran super lean and died. Next day they hooked it to a diagnostic and it was iddling with the IAT sensor saying -42deg and rpm sensor stating 8000rpm. Replaced the IAT sensor and it idled perfectly and rode perfectly. Same the next day. Then, next day, it started up and went to fast idle and stall again but still rode ok. He said it seems like one cyl is running lean and the other rich, fighting each other. Currently pricing a dyno tune and ecu upgrade at my cost....bit over it all really...been a month.
I take it that he is not a Ducati dealer then, if he was he could interrogate the ECU while it's running to read the O2 sensors to see.
Correct Peter, so very frustrating but he comes highly recommended and I haven't lost faith in him. But lack of the proper ducati diagnostics could be making it much harder to troubleshoot.
Right so nearly five weeks and we still have no solution. Bike is going to Ducati Hamilton on monday to be hooked up to diagnostics but interestingly my mechanic feels that this will not highlight the issues... So I will be getting it back next week by the sound of things, going or not and if not, I am just going to do a dollar auction on trademe and let someone else sort it out. Is depressing me too much now...
Sounds like the iat sensor is key here. When it was replaced, it seemed to cure the problem but then the problem came back. Could it be as simple as light oxidation in the connector? Well worth giving both sides of the connector a spray of contact cleaner and a good wiggling
