Hey guys, just wondering if this has happened to any of you with your Ducs....
I have a new (972 miles) monster 696 and there's been a few times, specially while idling for a min or too in neutral that the engine light comes on and it marks it as a Lambda sensor error but then it goes away by itself or if I startup the engine again or just ride away. But yesterday it was giving me problems starting up and the idling seem really low, off and rough and the engine light came on with the lambda sensor error, I gave it a woot to see if it would clean it up (I've read somewhere that this helps sometimes) but it didn't go away until after min or two, I went to run some errands and had to turn off and on a few times he bike and eventhough it was already hot the initial idling seemed very low and rough then a min or two and I would be fine again and idling fine..... I'm going to hav it checked at DucatiMiami any way but has this happened to anyone? Is it common? Thanks!
I am very, very, very sorry for you, as I have had this experience with my gf's 696.
Here's my write up that includes everything we went through, including dealing with Ducati North America:
http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=27988.0 (http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=27988.0)
Here is a thread where be350ka had the exact same issue:
http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=25371.0 (http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=25371.0)
Whatever you do, DON'T let them take forever to resolve the problems with your bike.
It took over 6 months for my gf's bike to get fixed, and that was with us harassing the dealer and DNA every couple of days until DNA told the dealer to take one of their bikes in the showroom, and pull off every electrical part on the bike and swap them until they found the culprits.
BC.
Thanks a lot BC, seems like I might be in for a ride..... I really hope not.... + I have 100% trust and confidence in my dealer fixing it properly or replacing it. The owner (Luigi) is a good friend and DucatiMiami has a really excellent top notch team in the service dpt with Rudolph at the head of the team and amazing customer service.
A few things I can mention after reading those threads is that I just had the recall performed along with the 600 miles service (currently 992m) and before the recall it had only happened 2 separate times and it was so fast that it didnt even give me a chance to check the error code before it went out, but both times it happened as the engine was idling for a min or two and then as soon as I started moving it would go out. But now since I had the wiring recall performed its happened on two days several times, and it reads LAMB but it has always been when stopped and with the bike in idle or when starting it up again after a brief ride once its warm.
Another thing Im thinking of, is that I had to bring the 696 to the dealer to get the battery recharged and a battery tender pigtail installed a few days later after the service because I left it accidentally in the parking light position overnight and the battery was completely dead [bang], so maybe when they worked on it they could have damaged the cable (if it was damaged by heat before the recall) or moved something like someone else mentioned on the other thread.
Lastly a few days before the CEL came on again recently, the bike wouldnt start one day after work so I push started it and it was very hard to keep it on since the idling was really low and it seemed like someone had been playing with the throttle and choked it. After a min or two it started idling fine and I took off, no CEL came on though.
Im thinking that it def. has to do with the placement of those cables as for me it always comes on (CEL) once the bike is hot and just idling for over a few mins. Im not in the habit of checking the OTemp reading but ill start monitoring that too. One thing I have noticed though is that Ill come back to move the bike after 1 or 2 hrs of leaving it in the garage lobby after a ride and when I turn it on, the temp displayed for the bike is 2 or 3 bars yet it wont start like its hot, I need to use a little bit of choke yet the Eng Temp reading says the bike is hot...... hmmmmmmmm ???
Quick Update
I went to check the Outside Temp reading as its been a little over an hour that its been sitting in the garage after coming home from work and the temp reading with the bike off (not hot anymore but warm if you touch the exhaust) sweeped from reading 51 to 57, 63, 68, 75,82, 89, 95, 99, 102, 104 then 105..... With bike off!! So I went to turn it on and the reading went down to 104..... WTF? Its around 80 here in MIA, so Im wondering how much this has to do with the whole thing. Also checked the wirings on the side and theres one runing behind the top valve that is still touching the side of the valve and gets really hot, this cable is attached to the center pipe thats insulated Im not shure if its one of the lambda sensors cables. Might be another thing to tell them to look at... Oh well, I guess its all part of the fun & the whole "experience"....
Well, I have more news for you for your problem.
My gf had a conversation with someone at Ducati North America yesterday, and he informed her that there is a new TSB for people who are experiencing the issues that you are. They will reflash the fuel injection computer with a new set of parameters, and that should resolve the issues you are having.
Take your bike to the shop, and have them contact DNA, and have them discuss the most recent TSB for the lambda error issue.
BC.
Man thanks soooo much for the info!!! [bow_down] Ill do that exactly this weekend. Any additional info or param settings or anything I could pass along to the guys at DucatiMiami will be greatly appreciated. I was thinking of printing out your thread and the other guys thread too and take it to Rudy at DCMiami so they are aware of this issue and the things that have been tried unsucessfully.....
Whats her current status with the 696? Is it up & running yet?
I have to say this forum is the....... [bacon]!!!!! hehehehe
Quote from: preynoso on December 09, 2009, 06:27:55 AM
Whats her current status with the 696? Is it up & running yet?
Well, her bike appears to have been fixed sometime September, but honestly, she's only ridden it about 3 or 4 times since then, since the weather and her job have been uncooperative.
To her, it seems to actually run better than it originally did before all the issues with the CEL, and considerably better than when the shop fixed it the dozen or so times I kept bringing it back to the shop to fix their fix.
But we are working on getting another issue that was caused during the repairs corrected, and are running into crap from the shop about that. Basically, during the time the shop had the bike to correct the issues with the CEL, they scratched the frame tubes pretty badly.
When we pointed this out, they first wanted proof of the scratches, so we sent them an email with a couple of pictures of them, and then they told us that they would tear the bike down, and ship it off to their friend's paint shop to make it right.
Unfortunately, my gf is less than pleased with the fact that they didn't color match the paint that they used to cover over the scratches, so now if she were to sell the bike at any point in the future, she would then have to go into a whole long spiel about what happened, and she ultimately runs the risk of not getting as much for her bike due to no fault of her own.
She's been unhappy about the whole ordeal with her bike since May, and no one seems to care at the shop anymore.
I can understand teething problems with a new model of fuel injection system that Ducati decided to use.
I can understand scratches occurring as work is performed on a bike.
But I can't understand telling a client who has been incredibly patient and polite for 8 months while her bike is worked on that "There's no way to make the frame all one color" as was said to her in her last phone call with the Service Manager at the dealership.
The worst part is, this isn't a bad dealership, or service department.
These are good people, who, I think, are a little off track right now.
But, none of this helps with your situation.
My suggestion is that you don't print out the couple of threads I pointed out, just give your dealer a chance to work on your bike. You might be surprised that they know all about the issue, and go straight to the TSB, and resolve it on the first try. Let them solve it on their own. But if you feel it is starting to drag on, then you can whip out the threads, and tell them to get DNA on the phone and get the issue resolved.
My recommendation to you is give the shop 2 weeks (not including waiting for parts) to correct the problem, and if they don't have it solved by then, call DNA, tell them your bike is having the Lamda error message issue, and get someone working on the case.
BC.
My CEL never came on again once the temp sensor was replaced. Ducati originally thought it was a lambda sensor, but it didn't fix the issue. After the temp probe/sensor was replaced the bike ran like a dream.