1997 Monster M900 Went for a Drive , about 20km in the Bike just decided to die , I taught one of the small cables came off a coil or battery cable....on lifting up the tank the battery was roasting hot , smell of burning , cable insulation nearly melted Issue The Starter Solenoid is under the battery tray , very close proximity to the head , I did not notice the rubber boot of the negative cable was touching the head (it is buried in there) , as the engine heated up ; the heat broke down the rubber boot causing the cable to be exposed to the head, causing a short Questions I presume the Battery is shot? New cables required? They do not look too bad but are now heat sunk to the wire Rectifier , Start Solenoid be ok ? Any advice what else to check?
I thought all Ducatis of that era had a -ve earth which means if the cable with the melted insulation is -ve, it wouldn’t cause a short ? If the battery was that hot and the cable with the melted insulation is -ve, my guess is your regulator/rectifier failed and your battery boiled. If that is the case, you are looking at a new regulator/rectifier, new wiring and new battery. Andy
The cable was touching (after the heat melted the rubber boot) and arcing against the head Once I moved the cable away from the head , stopped the arcing; I got electrics back
Its sounds,to me,that the thick cable to the solenoid has earthed out to the head.If it is so,that cable is straight from the +ve of the battery.I would be very surprised if there was no further damage than that of a melted bit of rubber but you never know.You may have caught it just in time,lets hope so.I would deffo be moving the solenoid so as this kind of thing couldnt happen again,you might not get away with this twice.
I agree with both posts above, you need to check which cable was touching + or - if it was arching then it would be + and could well be what Keith described, - and it could be what Andy says but - wouldn't arch.
Thanks The cable was positive from what I could see , The problem with location is the Loom has zero play and it is the OE location , might use a cable tie to make sure it is 100% clear of the head once it was clear , she would try to start but the battery was drained too much
Was looking at the kits, not too sure if it covers all the cables battery positive has the mta connector I am a bit tight on cash, no job Might give Stu a mail see what's covered Want to pull it apart tomorrow first
Hey Stu, when you say piggy back , You still keep the MTM connection in situ ? Cable on mine nerds replacing,, the solenoid connection has melted into the plastic , oe cable is worse for wear Can I use yours to completely replace, I presume not, due to the loom connection?
Thanks Will see what cables I can get off ducati, might get yours too But so far, she is working , taped them up with insulation tape to tie me over Thanks for the help lads
