So over the last year or so I've noticed an intermittent problem with the start button on my '02 620. It sometimes would take a second or two to turn over (as in, hold the button for a second and no response). Unfortunately it only happened once in every 50 or so starts so it was impossible to reproduce by the mechanic
The yesterday evening it just dies on on....completely
A bit of history
I've had the bike parked for a few months now due to weather/travel and recently started riding it last week. Yesterday I rode it to work in the moring, then to lunch in the afternoon. Both times it started fine.
I did notice that over the last few days that my instrument panel had done a few quirky things
1) Last week the neutral light was on partially even when in 1st, it was very dim but you could see it at night. It only happened for a few mins
2)When I got to lunch yesterday my blinkers refused to turn off
3) When I got back to the office I noticed my engine oil light was on as I parked.
All these weirdness leads me to believe that this might be an electrical problem.... any ideas? Bike has 9k miles
Thanks
I should also mention that I tried push starting it for a bit and that failed as well.
Also, I'm wondering if it might be an immobilser issue, I just went out there with my red key and tried to start it but no luck
Is there some sort of special procedure for using the red key and code card?
thanks
Quote from: gh0stie on January 22, 2010, 05:19:06 AM
Is there some sort of special procedure for using the red key and code card?
yes. but i don't know it either...
does sound like an electrical gremlin... those are always fun. at least on a bike you're list of things to check isn't that extensive...
hopefully others will chime in with ideas.
Any condensation/water in the gauges?
YES!!! lots at first, seems to be going away now
sorry I forgot to include this piece of information
@ Corey, thanks I spoke with the Ducati Tech today and he gave me a few things to try including a new battery (say it may be low on amps, even if its fully charged)
That water inside the gauges is the issue.
Get them dried out and you may be OK.
really? how?
take them off (is that even possible?)
or just let them sit?
take em off and stick em in your oven on it's lowest temp setting for a couple of hours.
if your lowest oven temp is over 120, I'd just cycle it on and off.
the faster you get teh water out, the less time said water has to corrode anything inside.
your electrical quirks are being cause on random condensation on the boards in the gage cluster, while they are drying out, check and make sure your ground cable is securely fastened to the engine (right, rear)
don't try turning on the bike till you get the gages dry. current through the circuits that are jumped by water willl either corrode more quickly, or short to much juice to somewhere thatcan't handle it and burn something out.
Quote from: CapnCrunch on January 23, 2010, 04:43:39 PM
take em off and stick em in your oven on it's lowest temp setting for a couple of hours.
if your lowest oven temp is over 120, I'd just cycle it on and off.
the faster you get teh water out, the less time said water has to corrode anything inside.
your electrical quirks are being cause on random condensation on the boards in the gage cluster, while they are drying out, check and make sure your ground cable is securely fastened to the engine (right, rear)
don't try turning on the bike till you get the gages dry. current through the circuits that are jumped by water willl either corrode more quickly, or short to much juice to somewhere thatcan't handle it and burn something out.
wish I'd seen this response earlier, thanks for the info
Update:
So after speaking with the Duc tech and being told it could possibly be a battery issue, I took the batt to Advance Auto to get tested and was told it didn't meet the core cranking amp....even though it had a full charge
Since I was still a bit unsure, he recommended I charged it over night and test it again in the morning, which I did. Sure enough I throw the batt back on the bike and it rumbles to life!
I will still try to get the gauges off to dry them out since I can't rule this out completely. either way I don't plan on riding much till I get a new battery anyway.
thanks again for ALL your help guys!
Put the gauges on top of a DVD player or TVO box etc, nice warm place .... or an air-conditioned room with low humidity.
Cheers