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My turn: Fuel Sender Errors?

12K views 35 replies 17 participants last post by  hwoodyard 
#1 ·
my bike: 2015 1200 S, 12k miles.

i started it up today, rode a few miles and noticed the fuel gauge went from 3/4 tank to empty, and the fuel icon was flashing yellow. i pulled over, added about 2 gallons of gas, started it up and the guage showed full, no flashing warnings. rode a few more miles and bang, empty and flashing again. i rode about 100 miles like that, with the gauge randomly(?) switching from a an accurate read, to the empty/warning status.

is this the typical behavior of the bad fuel sending unit issues i've been hearing about? i purchased the bike used, out of warranty, so i'm assuming this'll cost me a couple hundred, unless i attempt to fix myself. is there an easy way to tell what version of the sending unit i currently have?
 
#2 ·
Mine just failed outright. Twice. One day it worked, the next day it didn't. All the data that is connected to fuel use (range, MPG, etc) was unavailable and (if I recall) the gauge went to empty once and stayed on "half tank" the other time. However, I believe various sensors/bikes may exhibit different failure modes although most people report that they just stop working. Give your bike a few rides to see if it fails completely. It probably will. The gauge cluster can fail too but if it's just the fuel related readings, you can be pretty sure it's the sensor.
 
#3 ·
My 2016 with similar miles is having these symptoms now. Sometimes appears to be reading correctly and then the whole gauge and low fuel light alternately flashing. Has been doing this off and on for the last 4-5 fill-ups. Now just resetting the mileage odometer and filling up at approximately 160 miles each tank. Warranty had ended shortly before these symptoms and I haven't looked into replacement yet.
 
#4 ·
Hi guys, your choice. Replacement plus labor cost $300+ (chances of failing again: yes) or get a fuel bypass from fleebay for 20 something dollars and be done. I have one on my wife's Diavel and my Multi...bam.
 
#5 ·
if you do the fuel bypass, you lose the dash info yes? i understand the frustration, but i need to know how much gas i have. these days, i forget my name if someone doesn't remind me. attempting to note the milage at every fillup is not going to end well for me ;)

can anyone tell me how to identify which version sender i currently have?
 
#8 ·
I had this problem also. I bought my bike about 2 months ago ('16 Multi with 6500 miles on the odometer). Most times, the display would show that I had no fuel and occasionally, it would show that I had a full tank. This was regardless of how much fuel was actually in the tank. I live a few hours from a dealer and their backlog is 6 to 8 weeks so my plan is to drop off my bike once it gets too cold to ride. In the meantime, I have found that the issue hasn't surfaced since I have been allowing my bike to idle down after starting it up. I don't know if doing this is related to the fuel indicating issue not occurring lately. I can say that I have not had to deal with it since. Just FYI.
 
#11 ·
I have found that the issue hasn't surfaced since I have been allowing my bike to idle down after starting it up. I don't know if doing this is related to the fuel indicating issue not occurring lately. I can say that I have not had to deal with it since. Just FYI.
thank you! i'll definitely try the same and report my findings.
 
#12 · (Edited)
update - called the shop today, will pop up there in the next couple weeks to replace. as i'm the 2nd owner, there's no warranty on parts or labor - both of which the service mgr said were sometimes covered by ducati for the original owner. so, i'll be out $300+ for this fix. i just realized i should have also asked about the warranty on the replacement sender once it's installed. i would expect 1-2 years for that coverage (parts only).

and if the shop can't fit me in soon, i may do this task myself. it doesn't look too difficult, just the usual on-off of the plastics with 1000 associated fasteners, and lifting the tank up - emptying the gas as well.

btw, i found this Technical Service Bulletin SRV-TSB-16-001 - it notes that you can see the version number of the sender from the wire label - no need to remove the sender from the tank. turns out i have 59210211D.

975078
 
#13 ·
Dr. Jones, before you operate, please check with the surgeon general to see if you need to upgrade you software. My Diavel when they replaced the sensor the software got upgraded too, why I don't know. Enjoy.
 
#14 ·
I still find it hard to believe that after FOUR versions of the sender, that they still cannot get them to work. WFT ??? I have a 2001 ST2, and a 2003 ST4s, and both of those senders work flawlessly. Again, WTF ???

I ran out of fuel on my 2013 MTS GT this past Sunday, 'cuz of that f'in sender! I forgot to toggle to trip A to see how many moles were on the tank. Turns out I got 245 miles when it ran dry. Luckily my 30 oz MSR bottle got me to the closest fuel station... But 30 oz is only about 10 miles...
 
#15 ·
Happening to me also (2014 1200S, 3500mi). Sometimes when I turn the bike on I receive a "fuel sensor error" message and the yellow blinking light, no measurements of the gas level in the tank and no readings on the autonomy. Normally while riding that error code disappears (along with the yellow blinking light) and the autonomy displays "some" information. I don't trust the tank readings, as they oscillate.

Thought about replacing it but, since I'm out of warranty and knowing it would likely happen again sooner or later, will just keep track of it using my trip meter (I use meter A for it, meter B for total trip when I'm on a longer one).

These are amazing machines in all aspects, but remember guys: you can a take Ducati out of Italy, but never Italy out of a Ducati.
 
#16 ·
"remember guys: you can a take Ducati out of Italy, but never Italy out of a Ducati. "

That's a great quote!

And I stand corrected, summore reading and I see there are SIX revisions of this POS. Up to Rev F now...
 
#18 ·
Coincidentally, today my 2015 with 1432 miles was ridden to the dealer suffering with the same malady.....upon startup low fuel light would flash, gauge showed empty and "distance to empty" on info menu showed only a series of ….. Sadly after riding 55 miles to the dealer the goofy thing started to function properly!!! The dealer is aware of the existing issue and explained that the use of alcohol based fuel causes an issue with the internals of the sensor. In my example only 6 gallons of alcohol fuel over the course of 1432 miles have been used. I try to avoid that stuff when possible. Fortunately I am under warranty, but it is somewhat frustrating. However, before anyone starts piling on with the "Italian bike lack of reliability" parade let me inject that ALL of the last 5 new BMWs I've owned have had much worse so go figure. Whatever happened to those simpler days of yesteryear when we all did without so many of the problematic electronic doodads ( did I really just use that word? Geeze I am getting old!!) causing us intestinal grief today. By the way, my bikes out of service for 7 to 10 days waiting for "factory directions". I'll follow up in 10 days or so.
 
#19 ·
In never had problems with my 748, 749, 1098, 1198 why because they had no fuel gauges, just the trip mileage counter! Since I got my Multi and Diavel and on both these fuel sensors flacking out I went back to basics since that Ducati engineer that designed the systrm is a janitor no an electronics engineer . So instead of bitching, I got them ebay bypass connector and my ulcers don't bother me no mo ?
 
#20 ·
hi enrico,

What’s the function of that bypass? Easy to install or a tank disassembly is necessary?

What keeps me wondering is why they continue to use those same parts/materials that are affected by fuel with ethanol,especially as several countries in the world now have that as standard (unfortunately).

cheers
 
#24 ·
I've been using non ethanol gas 90% of time, only when out of town will I use ethanol fuel. Still have failing fuel sensor that was replaced once a couple years ago at least and now went bad when picking bike up from shop. (?)
 
#25 ·
My MY2015's third fuel sender (C, C, D) began failing on a run into California in August 2019. Since it was very hot (100 F), I thought it might have been heat-related. It would work, fail, work, etc., seeming to fail most often after filling up. It behaved the way others have described: Jumps to empty suddenly and flashes the amber light alternately with the orange bar showing empty, repeating with about a 5 s period. After returning to cooler Oregon it mostly worked, but now and then, after filling up, it would fail for a while.

Scheduled a replacement at my dealer, Motocorsa, along with new tires and an oil change. They had to keep the bike for a week while waiting for the extended policy to agree to pay for it. It covered the $393 cost of parts and labor. This one is a version G, and it was cheaper than the previous 3. So far, so good. BTW, the service guy said they've so far had good luck with this G-version.

Mike
2015 Multi w/ touring and enduro packs at 26k miles to date
 
#26 ·
That's great, you have warranty coverage, but ~$400 for a fuel sensor, that's insane!
 
#27 ·
Yeah, but it was worse for the earlier type D sensors. The cost for my previous replacement was more like $600. The reason I purchased the extended warranty was my fear that I'd have to replace the instrument panel. So far the extended warranty has completely paid for a clutch slave, a leaking fork seal, and the fuel sensor. I've nearly gotten my money back for the extended warranty.

Mike
 
#28 ·
It's a given is to buy an extended warranty beyond what the duc boys give, after all its an Italian bike, and boy do they like to charge a fortune for labor :)
 
#34 ·
I could use some help on this (and the DSS issue) now. Just to recap, I've got a 2016 MTS and the fuel doesn't register sometimes and sometimes it does. Also, the DSS reads error every now and then and the bike goes into limp mode. I dropped my bike off at the dealer for them to look at and they couldn't find anything wrong with it. I live four hours from the dealer so I don't want to spend 8 hours of travel time to have the issue reappear when I get back home.
I understand the dealer's predicament in that you can't fix what you can't find. However, I KNOW SOMETHING IS WRONG. I'm hoping that someone on here has had an issue like this that they were able to resolve somehow. (fingers crossed).
 
#35 ·
I have a 2015 MTS, and the fuel sender failed almost immediately after purchase. It was replaced under a recall. The second one failed and was replaced under warranty, I think. The most recent one was replaced for no cost because I have an extended warranty policy. I'd make sure you talk to the dealer about the recall, now that your bike is out of warranty.

Mike
 
#36 ·
The bike is still under the extended warranty but the dealer says that Ducati won’t reimburse them for the work and material if the parts are found to be defective. That’s where we are with it now. I told the dealer to keep it for another week and drive it. When it shuts down on them (hopefully), then I’ll have my proof of defective parts. That’s the best solution I could come up with.
 
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