[costlyducati]

Hope someone can help me with my duc. Went riding the other day and it was running perfect. I am doing about 50 when all of a sudden it just shuts down. I pull off to the side and try to restart it. Fuel pump runs and the starter turns, but nothing. After about 20 minutes it starts, but sound like its only running on one cylinder. I trailer it home and visually check it out. Start it again and the same thing, so I shut it down. Anyone know where i should start on this thing.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Rich

 

[John]

Did the red instrument light come on? Do you know if its charging properly?

 

[costlyducati]

Battery is fully charged. When i turn the key on the fuel pump primes, but the red oil light did not come on.

 

[OldBaldy]

When last did you have the cam belts changed? I'd take a quick look under the covers to ensure you don't have any issues there before you try to start it again.

 

[costlyducati]

They were changed recently, but I will go check that out right now.

 

[costlyducati]

belts look good.
The way it shut down when I was riding was quiet, like hitting the kill switch, and not like parts breaking and such.
Could the problem be a cylinder coil, and is there a way to check that. Or am I on the wrong track.
Rich

 

[OldBaldy]

Concentrate on the two main systems - fuel delivery and spark. The easiest is to check your spark at both plugs. From your description, I'd think it's a spark issue - and could be the coils, or plug wires shorting, or plugs fouled, etc, etc.

Once you confirm it's NOT a spark issue - then look at your fuel delivery. Fuel flow, filter, etc, etc.

 

[costlyducati]

Thanks for the advice. I will check that list out as I have time in the next couple of days and let you know what i find.
Rich

 

[epl]

916

I had something like that happen to mine... the dealer said it was the stator?

wiring went bad...

not sure it that helps.

 

[Namor]

you're on a 916 which means you have a single-phase charging system, which means the connectors from the alternator to your rectifier (which are behind the rectifier (the black thing), below the battery on the right side of the bike.)are all burned up and won't hold enough of a current to keep the eletrical sytem charged.

your problem occured on my 748 about 2 months ago. the bike rode fine for 40 miles (on the battery only) then started sputtering and died completely once the battery was drained of its life. the fuel pump would engage like yours does, but the bike would not start. i let the it sit for 10 minutes and it cranked over. i made it 1 mile before it died. i did that process for 3 miles before i parked at a gas station made a call, went home then picked the bike up in a truck.

to fix it i cut the old (white burnt) connetions and used some 12-14 guage wire connectors, found at any auto part store, and rerouted the wire beneath the horizontal cylinder near the oil line. so far for $1.50 its held up for 300 miles with no sign of wear or problems. there are pics floating around on the web site but i'll send you some if you need any. PM me if you need any pics at all. it's no big deal...the problem

 

[amullo]

Since your starter is turning, I´m not guessing on a charging problem. Those often give you a warning with the RPM-gauge going nuts and the engine sputtering during acceleration before they die.

A friend had this problem (916), his groundwire to the computer had broken. That will cause your bike to stop immidiatly. All his lights still came on and it cranked and primed fine.. Just make a point of checking it.

Does the bike start ones you re-charged your battery? Is the cranking "normal" fast or abit slow? Does it WANT to catch, but doesn´t?

My friends bike sounded like it really wanted to catch, but it didn´t. it was ALMOST starting. you could hear it trying to fire, but without the ECU grounded, it didn´t get going.

//amullo

Hope you get it sorted!

 

[costlyducati]

Just to update you, I think I fixed it. Ultimately it came down to a loose connection in the wiring harness that controlled the fuel. Hopefully I will get it off the bench tomorrow to test ride it and make sure all is good.
Thanks for all the help.