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ECU Failure

16K views 44 replies 18 participants last post by  flyboyjohn  
#1 ·
My dealer says that my HM ECU is toasted.
Any of you with the same problem?
 
#7 ·
Recently had the ECU on mine replaced under warranty. Bike was running fine and then started it up one day and made it to the end of the block before the bike spluttered and died. Went through the whole gamut checking fuel, battery, push-start, but no luck. After an hour or so, tried starting it again and it'd kick over and run for about 30 secs before cutting out again repeatedly. The dealer experienced similar symptoms and spent 2 days troubleshooting the problem and it finally came down to the ECU. Took a week to get the replacement shipped over and it's running great now.
 
#10 ·
Mark, you may want to have your dealer test your air temp sensor. Its located under the front fender/headlight cover. This may be the root cause of your ECU problems.
 
#12 ·
Mine idles erratically, stock except missing evap. can and DP air box lid. Gaining elevation also effects idle. Has been into the shop about "Horn hack your ECU" post here. They duplicated my experience and mentioned something about replacing the speedo because it went blank during the test?? Seems that I could use a new ECU too, but it runs good everywhere but on/off throttle and stalls on warmup.
 
#13 ·
My HM ran well everytime except for 3 times the engine died for no reason in 6th gear at about 80 m.p.h.
Last time I rode the bike for like 100 miles, then washed it, after that it started fine and then I stored the bike.
Next weekend I wanted to start the bike and nothing.....after some tries with the clutch in, sidestand up, etc...I push started the bike and it ran fine but when you stopped the engine and tried to start with the starter button nothing happened.
I took both keys to the dealer so they can try resetting the code but no luck.
The dealer says that the bike did not give any inmobilizer errors when they hooked the diagnostic equipment.
In other words the bike does not start with the starter button.
Any ideas?
 
#15 ·
I haven't had any stalling issues, but I've noticed at the end of long rides the idle is extremely rough, bouncing up and down between 1000 and 1400 rpm. Anyone think this is a bad ECU? Bike is perfect when starting out for the day, and runs okay, just bad idle when it's hot.
 
#18 ·
I'm starting to feel a bit of little deja vu reading this thread. Some of the problems you folks are talking about (along with serious lean surging) were chronic issues with early (2006 and early 07) Sport 1000's and GT's. It eventually led to an ECU recall. Ironically, the first folks to receive the replacement ECU's got units with Multistrada part numbers, which I'm guessing are the same ECU's as the Hyper.

FWIW, after running perfectly for most of the first week, I'm starting to see an erratic idle (jumping around between 800 and 1100 rpm) and the bike is also stalling now and then. My dealer will take a look a week from Saturday but he's pretty sure it's a trim or adjustment issue and not an ECU issue. We'll see...
 
#20 ·
Found out today that my ECU was also what was causing my erratic idle and stalling. Replaced under warranty and the bike is running perfectly again.
 
#22 ·
Just got my hyper back from getting its ecu replaced. It didn't start acting up until after my 600 mile service. The only real symptom was stalling, but it would stall after about 10 seconds every single time it was cranked if I didn't give it some gas to keep it going. You could tell it was coming because it would idle high, up to about 1450, and then the rpms would just take a crap and go to about 800 and then click :mad:. Went for a ride and everything seems in order.
 
#26 ·
I have the DP ECU for the race cams. I'm starting to exhibit the symptoms described above, at 700 miles. It seems like every day it's more difficult to idle and keep running on a cold start--stalls are more frequent on take off. I'm now to the point where I can't start it and walk away to put my helmet and other gear on; all because I have to stay on the throttle. Also beginning to exhibit a bit of backfire from time-to-time on deceleration. :think:
 
#27 ·
My HM has been stalling out as well (same situation as everybody else) I took the bike to Atlanta Motor World. They said that the TPS was way out and said they recalibrated it. Guess what.....no change. Still stalls on the first (and sometimes second) start attempt.

Would writing DNA help any? My dealer didn't seem aware that there've been any issues.
 
#28 ·
I don't know if writing to DNA is going to help. My dealer is supposed to be calling DNA on Tuesday to ask what to do next. I thought I was the only one with this problem 8 months ago. Now that the problem seems to be hitting more bikes, maybe they'll be able to figure out what's causing it.

Maybe print out this thread and show your dealer.
 
#31 ·
Just to be clear, my bike would start up just fine. After about 30 seconds, the idle would start to wander between 800 and 1200. I'd reset the instrument panel to give me the digital readout of RPM so I could watch the range closely. As soon as the RPM's dipped below 800, she'd conk out cold. Restarting would just start the whole process over again. I couldn't put my helmet and gloves on while idling because that was always enough time to stall.

Once I got going the bike ran fine. But, if I was coming to a stop sign or red light, I needed to pop into neutral or clutch in so I could keep the revs up while coasting to a stop, otherwise the bike would stall before stopping about 40% of the time. With the new ECU and a few other adjustments, the bike is now flawless and quite amazing.

By my count, about 6 folks have documented stock ECU failures in this thread. I'm guessing the issues with the DP ECU will be tunable, but I'd like to hear back from those folks once their problems are resolved. FWIW, ECU problems with the 2006/07 Sport Classics were much more widespread than this, so maybe it won't turn into a full recall issue. My shop reported the diagnosis to Ducati and got immediate approval for the warranty replacement. Fortunately, they had an ECU in stock. Many Sport Classic owners were not this lucky and had to wait. If your dealer is slow to pick up on this issue, a call to DNA or simply showing them this thread might help.
 
#33 ·
I emailed DNA yesterday on their web form. I mentioned the stalling issue and the trip odometer calculation error. They replied, so I'm hopeful that the dealer will be more helpful now.....see below:

Thank you for contacting Ducati North America.

I’m sorry to learn of the concern you are experiencing with your Hypermotard. It is definitely not Ducati's desire for a customer to have such an experience.

Ducati Customer Service is unable to provide technical advice. In order to properly determine what these concerns are stemming from, please make an appointment with Atlanta Motor World to get the bike in as soon as possible for diagnosis. At that time they can also load a software update to correct the trip meter on your Hypermotard.

Please let me know when your appointment is, as I will pass this information to the local Service Area Manager so he can assist your dealership in resolving these concerns.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us or any Authorized Ducati Dealership. To find an Authorized Ducati Dealership, please visit www.ducatiusa.com and click on "Dealer Locator".

Best regards,
Customer Service
 
#34 ·
Here's the latest on my stalling problem which still hasn't gone away. Dealer had it for another week (2 and a half weeks this year so far) and replaced, get this, the exhaust valve assembly. That's what Ducati NA told them to replace.

When I picked up the bike I was told it was running fine. I took it home on a trailer without starting it first. The first time I fired it up it stalled within about 15 seconds. It's worse now than it was before.

I've been told that DNA won't let them do just anything to try and fix this problem and they have to get approval to do this warranty work. They apparently couldn't even do the TPS reset under warranty. So, next thing I'm doing is paying for a TPS reset. If that doesn't work, good bye Hyper?
 
#37 ·
I've been told that DNA won't let them do just anything to try and fix this problem and they have to get approval to do this warranty work. They apparently couldn't even do the TPS reset under warranty. So, next thing I'm doing is paying for a TPS reset. If that doesn't work, good bye Hyper?
Like I said earlier, the Sport Classics had their share of teething problems early on. There were two recalls during the GT's first year, one for the fuel line and one for the ECU. Before Ducati issued the recalls, most riders were concerned enough to try to get their dealers to initiate the fixes. What we found out won't surprise anyone. Some dealers were much better to work with than others. My dealer fixed the fuel line long before the recall and we agreed to wait on the ECU because my bike wasn't having any of the surging issues. Some others had experiences similar to me while others couldn't get their dealers to initiate anything.

If you haven't tried another dealer, now may be the time. When I took my Hyper in for the stalling my service guys were skeptical about the ECU but I knew they'd be thorough and work through the issues until they figured it out. Took them a full day when they originally figured it would take a couple of hours. When I came in to pick up the bike it was just in time to observe my technician test riding my Hyper. He wasn't 100% sure this would be a permanent fix but his test ride left him pretty confident. So far, so good. My dealer also had to get approval for all this work and it seems that all dealers are not created equal when it comes to warranty work. If you can find out who the best dealer is in your region, give them a call and talk things through on the phone. Good luck, you (and all of us) deserve better service.
 
#38 ·
HM Stalling Issue Update....bad TPS!

The dealer called and said that they believe that my problem isn't with the ECU, but with bad throttle position sensors in both throttle bodies. They cranked the bike cold with the analyzer hooked up and they noticed the TPS reset exactly when the RPMs started wandering around before stalling. Ducati NA told them to replace both throttle bodies. Bike's still at the shop, so we'll see if it improves.
 
#39 ·
The dealer called and said that they believe that my problem isn't with the ECU, but with bad throttle position sensors in both throttle bodies. They cranked the bike cold with the analyzer hooked up and they noticed the TPS reset exactly when the RPMs started wandering around before stalling. Ducati NA told them to replace both throttle bodies. Bike's still at the shop, so we'll see if it improves.
I believe there is just one single TPS in the throttle body assembly. But either way, please let us know how the repair works.