Duc is dead - Ducati.ms

speedfreak · Apr 6th, 2008, 2:27 pm

Well at the end of last year a few of us went on a trip to Arkansas. I noticed that my HM would display different levels of performance. Sometimes it would run awesome and it would even pull wheelies easy in 3rd and an hour later it wouldn't even pull up first gear. But them a few hours later it could pull 2nd and 3rd gear wheelies again and would be running strong. I just thought it was some bad gas since we were in the sticks and the gas stations looked very "iffy" to say the least. As soon as we returned stabil was added to fresh tank of gas and the HM was parked for the winter inside my house. This winter I bought a Nichols lightweight flywheel, 520 chain coversion, an ecu off of a cam kit, and Leo Vince slip ons and cat elim. pipe.

Since I couldn't ride because of the weather, I went ahead and installed the flywheel and 520 chain conversion. Got my first weekend of riding in for the year and the bike runs like crap! When the engine is cold it will start and run for about 3 minutes and then stall. Once it is warmed up it stalls about every 20 seconds while at idle. Once you get moving you have to slip the clutch or it will die and untill you get up over 4000 rpm you can feel it missing and cutting out. Over about 4000 rpm it seems to pull fine. I ran two tanks of fuel through it this weekend and it just keep getting worse. I have come to the conclusion that anything from cracked throttle to 1/4 throttle is the problem area. Once about 1/4 throttle (which I usually find around 4000 rpm depending on the gear) it is like it flips a switch and runs like a top. It's going to the dealer to get the new ecu put in so I went ahead and put the Leo slip-ons on today. Fired it up and it idled fine. Took it for a ride around the block and it ran REALLY bad below 1/4 throttle. Even died on me turning a corner and locked the rear wheel and almost low sided it. Now it won't even start. It will crank and act like it wants to pop on one cylinder but won't start.

Here are my ideas. My local dealer acts like they have no idea about the battery hold down clamp thingy so I dont have one on the bike. My battery cables are tight to the terminals but the terminals themselves are loose on the battery. Last night after riding home (bike was running for about a half hour straight on the highway) I checked the Volt meter with the bike not running and it said 12.0 V and it was flashing. For running at highway speeds for over 30 minutes I feel that it should be at least 13.0 V or higher.

My other thought is it may be the throttle bodies need synched, but I don't see how they would get progressively worse this fast.

The engine light is not on and I don't see any codes flashing. What do you guys think?

MultiDoc · Apr 6th, 2008, 2:40 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by speedfreak

My other thought is it may be the throttle bodies need synched, but I don't see how they would get progressively worse this fast.

The engine light is not on and I don't see any codes flashing. What do you guys think?

Have the TPS reset, synchronize the throttle bodies, and also have the bike plugged to check the ECU and have it adjusted.

gp637 · Apr 6th, 2008, 3:46 pm

I think you should bring it to the dealer and let them figure it out. There are just too many things that could be causing your problem to diagnose it on this forum.

Joe1L · Apr 6th, 2008, 4:53 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by speedfreak

Well at the end of last year a few of us went on a trip to Arkansas. I noticed that my HM would display different levels of performance. Sometimes it would run awesome and it would even pull wheelies easy in 3rd and an hour later it wouldn't even pull up first gear. But them a few hours later it could pull 2nd and 3rd gear wheelies again and would be running strong. I just thought it was some bad gas since we were in the sticks and the gas stations looked very "iffy" to say the least. As soon as we returned stabil was added to fresh tank of gas and the HM was parked for the winter inside my house. This winter I bought a Nichols lightweight flywheel, 520 chain coversion, an ecu off of a cam kit, and Leo Vince slip ons and cat elim. pipe.

Since I couldn't ride because of the weather, I went ahead and installed the flywheel and 520 chain conversion. Got my first weekend of riding in for the year and the bike runs like crap! When the engine is cold it will start and run for about 3 minutes and then stall. Once it is warmed up it stalls about every 20 seconds while at idle. Once you get moving you have to slip the clutch or it will die and untill you get up over 4000 rpm you can feel it missing and cutting out. Over about 4000 rpm it seems to pull fine. I ran two tanks of fuel through it this weekend and it just keep getting worse. I have come to the conclusion that anything from cracked throttle to 1/4 throttle is the problem area. Once about 1/4 throttle (which I usually find around 4000 rpm depending on the gear) it is like it flips a switch and runs like a top. It's going to the dealer to get the new ecu put in so I went ahead and put the Leo slip-ons on today. Fired it up and it idled fine. Took it for a ride around the block and it ran REALLY bad below 1/4 throttle. Even died on me turning a corner and locked the rear wheel and almost low sided it. Now it won't even start. It will crank and act like it wants to pop on one cylinder but won't start.

Here are my ideas. My local dealer acts like they have no idea about the battery hold down clamp thingy so I dont have one on the bike. My battery cables are tight to the terminals but the terminals themselves are loose on the battery. Last night after riding home (bike was running for about a half hour straight on the highway) I checked the Volt meter with the bike not running and it said 12.0 V and it was flashing. For running at highway speeds for over 30 minutes I feel that it should be at least 13.0 V or higher.

My other thought is it may be the throttle bodies need synched, but I don't see how they would get progressively worse this fast.

The engine light is not on and I don't see any codes flashing. What do you guys think?

Seeing that I have heard there were some bad DP Ecu's. I would just try your stock ECU to verify that it will start with a normal ECU. If your TPS is off, then alot could go wrong. I know from the days with my ATV's TPS, the bike would run like crap if it wasn't setup right. The TPS changes timing depend on throttle position, not just the gas.

speedfreak · Apr 6th, 2008, 5:39 pm

This is the stock ecu. Until this morning everything the only thing done to it was airbox lid and flywheel. Still on stock ecu, cat, and O2 sensor.

08hyper · Apr 6th, 2008, 7:59 pm

go ahead and put on ALL your go fast goodies, with the cams ECU and try it,
and then have the dealer set your TPS. You have nothing to lose. Alex

dukepilot · Apr 6th, 2008, 8:25 pm

Get a new battery and check your frame ground connection. The terminals on the battery should not be loose and it should show more than 12V when the engine is running. Check the easy stuff first. If you have an intermittent electrical problem caused by broken terminals or a bad ground, you could risk damaging your new ECU. There is no warranty on the ECU if you fry it. So make sure the battery and ground aren't the problem before you proceed.

gp637 · Apr 6th, 2008, 8:28 pm

Or, you could just bring it to the dealer and have them fix it. It is under warranty.

speedfreak · Apr 6th, 2008, 9:20 pm

It's going to the dealer Wed. anyway to have the new ecu, tps, balance, and CO set anyway. I do have the battery out of my quad sitting on the bench. I'm going to just toss it in to see if that makes a difference before it goes to the dealer.

AXE · Apr 6th, 2008, 9:32 pm

You might have something clogging a fuel line too. Does this thing have a fuel filter, if so check it as well. Also, check your spark plug wires, change the plugs to some NGK Iridiums and make sure the plugs are gapped and snugged up correctly.

I definitely think your battery could be shot or the connections bad.

Definitely add all your stuff then take it to the dealer as they are going to have to mess with your settings anyway. Probably going to cost you some $ since you got busy installing stuff when the problem occurred. Hopefully, they don't charge you anymore than to set the TPS and CO.

I usually go fuel first then electrical.

Out!