Ducati 996 Starting Problems

[Damien11B]

Ok a little back story. I bought the Duc about 8 months ago from my uncle. He bought it from a guy that didnt take any care of the bike.. No services or anything.. Well now im running into problems left and right due to that i think..

This is the deal. Since winter has hit in texas i have been having problems with my bike not wanting to start up. When i hit the starter the motor would turn over like two times then it just spins. I noticed that when i get the motor warm it wouldnt have a problem starting.

Now when i try to start it up all i get is a clicking noise. I took it to the local shop but didnt have the time to have it looked at all the way through. The chick told me to first change the battery out for a yt12-bbs yausa. I didnt get a yausa but i got the same model. But that didnt fix the problem. So from there i have been told that it could be 3 different things... The starter solenoid , the starter itself, or the starter sprag clutch.. I dont wanna drop this kind of money on new parts if i dont have to..

If this sounds like something that has happened to you or if u kno what it is let me kno... I dont kno how to test the solenoid so that would help out also...

If you have any of the parts listed above for cheap and they work let me kno please.. thanks...

Keith

[freshage]

Your battery is dead, the clicking noise is one of 2 things mate.

1st, the battery is dead which simply makes the starter solonoid spin (high speed clicking noise).

2nd, if it's a single one click when you hit the starter, you have a dodgy earth or a fuse is buggered.

First port of check is by swapping the 2 fuse boxes over under the seat, doesn't matter about swapping them. If no joy, go round the batter on the LH side, take out all fuses and give them a clean, also do this for the RH side.

If still no joy, then it's defo your battery.

EDIT: I had to replace my starter solonoid at one point, was fairly cheap buying a used one from a reputable seller (breaker) over here in UK. Took me 15 mins to swap em over, it's easier than you think.

[motolectric]

Originally Posted by Damien11B

Well now im running into problems left and right due to that i think..

When i hit the starter the motor would turn over like two times then it just spins. I noticed that when i get the motor warm it wouldnt have a problem starting.

Now when i try to start it up all i get is a clicking noise

So from there i have been told that it could be 3 different things... The starter solenoid , the starter itself, or the starter sprag clutch.. I dont wanna drop this kind of money on new parts if i dont have to..

If you have any of the parts listed above for cheap and they work let me kno please.. thanks...

Keith

If you click on my member link you can find topics on starting issues and troubleshooting your problem.

http://www.ducati.ms/forums/search.php?searchid=3074417

Look for posts that have either "Battery" or "Starting" in the title.

Most of the most useful are the earlier ones, so page through to them.

The posts should bring you up to speed.

I think your starting circuit is the issue but that's what you would expect me to say since I make a replacement.

So learn what you can from the posts and see if that helps you sort out the problem.

In general;

The solenoid is just a high current switch and (usually) either works or doesn't.

The starter can be damaged and pull so much current it starves the rest of the electrical system.

The sprag clutch also (usually) either works or doesn't (either engages and sticks - or doesn't engage). The spinning sound you hear when you stop trying to start is the sprag spinning backwards as the engine did not go over top dead center and so the compression pushed things backwards (that's when the sprag does its job -to protect the starter motor from backwards motion).

HTH