Ducati Monster Forum

2003 Monster 800Si.e.
13,450 miles
All maintenance done at the dealer and up to date (except the cam belts which are 2 1/2 years old.)
12K service done in December of '05 by previous owner's dealership at just under 12K miles.
Bike was ridden to by P/O to 13K miles.  I bought it 2 months ago and have put ~400 miles on it with no problems.

Mods:  Power Commander III, Termi slip-ons, open air box with K&N.

Tonight I was letting the bike warm up before I went on a ride.  I had it idling at ~1500 RPM by using the fast idle lever for about 2 minutes when it died as if someone hit the kill switch.  It died that fast, no hiccups or rough running, no "dieseling."  Just like someone turned off the fuel or hit the kill switch.  It will not restart.

Things I know:

Fuel tank is full.  I have intentionally ridden it until the low fuel light came on (and beyond) on two occasions since I bought it.
Cam belts look fine and are adjusted properly.
Battery is 3 months old and the bike cranks extremely well.
I checked all fuses in the fuse box near the vertical cyl. head.
The guages sweep normally, and no new indicator lights are on.
The PCIII lights sweep up and down and seems to act normally.
Both cylinders are firing strong according to my timing light.
I installed new spark plugs, but they made no difference.
All wiring connections at/to/from the PCIII are tight.
I've tried starting it with the side stand up, just in case.  No change.
All connections at the battery are tight.
I can find no pinched fuel and/or vent lines.
No vaccum or pressure is present at the fuel tank when the cap is opened.
Fuel pump seems to pressure up and turn off just like normal.

There is no fuel filter itemized on the 12k service receipt.  This really seems like a fuel issue, but I want to cover all of the bases before pulling the tank and pump.

I have no experience with the PCIII or immobilizer (though that doesn't seem to be the problem.)

Any advice or suggestions is greatly appreciated! [beer]

First off, excellent work so far in trying to track this down!  [clap]

My first suspicion is that a fuel line inside the tank has ruptured or come unhooked.
I've seen both.
Open the filler cap and turn the key on, see if there's fuel squirting around.
*BE CAREFUL*, especially since your tank is full. No open flames nearby when you do this.

Also, you can pull the airbox top and filter, and try cranking it while spraying carb cleaner into the throttles.
Again, be careful, as this can get exciting if it backfires through the intake.

2nd suspicion is possibly your PCIII died.

Yes, go carefully with the aerosols. Maybe first give it a few seconds cranking and pull the plugs which should be either a little wet or rather smelly. Otherwise it should be a fuel supply problem, and the aerosol will wake things up.

Speeddog, my 900ie doesn't seem to do any fuel swirling when I look in the tank turning on the ignition, there's the whirring noise for a second or so, then all is quiet.

Is the 2000 system different ?

 

Fuel swirling or flying around is a pretty good sign that a hose or connection has gone bad.

Just a thought, but will it crank if your side stand switch is bad? I've had the cracked fuel line issue, but it caused all sorts of vacuum in the tank, pissed out fuel through the overflow, and the gauges would go crazy. Is it cranking over?

Yes, I remember when this happened on my brother's ST2.  We had replaced all of the fuel lines inside the tank.  After he rode it for 100 miles, it did exactly what mine is doing now.  It turns out the hose I bought from LT Snyder had shrunk enough that it allowed the hose clamp to come loose and the discharge hose to come off the nipple on the fuel pump.

Hopefully I'll have time to pull the tank tonight and inspect.  Since this is my first Duc with an immobilizer and a PCIII, I wanted to cover all bases before I once again experienced the joys of pulling a fuel pump.

Thank you for your help everyone!

Just curious, when you first turn on the key, can you hear the fuel pump turn on inside the tank?

Something similar happened on my 748 a while back. I had ridden it all day, and everything was fine, parked it at work. Going home in the evening, I go to start it, hit the start button, nothing. I don't remember about whether the lights came on or the fuel pump primed at this point, as it was a bout a year ago. I called my trusty dealer and they said to check this little wire or plug that goes into the back of this little gold item, which I think was some solenoid or something.

It was a small gold cylindrical metal part which had a little white plug with a couple of wires. On the 748, it was on the right hand side, near the battery and regulator.

I pushed it in, though it didn't seem to move at all, and voila, bike started right up. It actually had a ziptie to keep it plugged, but it must have loosened just a bit...

Sorry for all the non-technical description but hopefully it made some sense. I'm not sure if its one of the items you checked out on your list above, but its worth a shot...

Yes, from my original post (sorry if I was unclear.)

Oooops, sorry. I read the OP pretty quickly, I must have missed it.

OK, I checked it with the cap open.  The tank is totally full, but the fuel swirls around quite a bit.  It's not forceful enough to puch any out, just a slow swirl.  I've never checked it before the problem, but I'm guessing I'll be pulling the tank soon.

Is there anything special about the o-ring?  My dealer is 200 miles away.

Before you open it up, try getting most of the fuel out of the tank, then check it again.

I'll definitely do that, but I just sprayed a little carb cleaner into the throttle boddies and she fire right up.  Now it's just a matter of finding out why the fuel isn't making it to the TBs.  Methinks the discharge hose on the fuel pump is the best guess.  Hopefully I'll have time to pull the tank and pump tomorrow night.

Last night I found the problem.  As expected, the discharge hose had come off the fuel pump.  I was able to get it back on, and the bike started flawlessly.

Now I just need to get the fuel cap assemble back in.  The o-ring is so darned tight that no matter what I try it will not go in.  The cap was very difficult to remove, and it may be impossible to get back in.  I've tried twisting with constant pressure applied, tapping with a dead blow hammer  tapping while applying pressure equally accross the cap (took 2 of us.)  I'm to the point where I think I'll go find a slightly smaller o-ring on monday.  Any advice is appreciated.

Lube it up well and push like a bastard.   Wait, that doesn't sound right... 

Twisting won't work unless you're lucky enough to get it lined up correctly when it goes.

Probably best just to get a new O-ring.

Sometimes they swell up a bit from the gasoline, and then they just won't cooperate.
Use grease on it for sure.

Trust me, it was lubed up like a mo-fo.  I'm still not having any success, so I hope to find a new o-ring on Monday.  Thanks for the help! [thumbsup]

New o-ring procured and gas cap assembly is installed.  Everything is once again right with the world! 

The fuel filter had indeed been changed at the 12K service, so all I can figure is that the tech didn't tighten the hose clamp enough on the fuel pump.  Or, perhaps it wasn't right from the factory and finally worked intself loose.  Not a big deal really.

I appreciate the help! [thumbsup]

Excellent work, Always good to see how people track down faults.
I love to learn this sort of stuff.