New ECU fried my bike?

[d3vi@nt]

Just got a new Ducati Performance ECU for my '99 ST2. Carefully removed the old one and carefully installed the new one. I turned the ignition on and got the normal lights, etc. But when I hit the starter button, I just get rapid-fire clicking.  So I thought the new ECU was bad and I put the old stock ECU back in and got the same results.

I have no idea what to do at this point.  I used plastic tools to install/remove them and was careful not to bend any pins. Made sure I was grounded, etc.  After installing, I made sure all the pins were seated properly and so forth.

Help?

[Ddan]

It sounds like your battery needs a charge

[d3vi@nt]

Thanks for the reply, Peggy.  Unfortunately, that's not likely, as it's a newer battery and I've been riding it regularly. In fact, I had just gone for a 45 minute jaunt prior to changing the chip and all was well.  The gauge lights are bright and the headlight lights up brightly and the click's are so fast, it all seems to point to plenty of juice.  I don't have a tool to verify, but I hooked it up to the charger anyway, so we'll see. But it doesn't turn over at all -not even a weak attempt.

Any other tips appreciated.

[suzyj]

Did ya remember to hook the ground up for the ECU?

[Howie]

Listen to Peggy (as long as we are not talking about credit card rewards).  Charge and load test battery or jump the bike with a known good battery.  Your dash take and headlight do not draw a lot of amps.  The starter does.  But before that, follow suzyj's advice about the ground.

[thought]

Did you disconnect the battery when changing the ecu?

[Speeddog]

A 'new ECU' for an ST is an EPROM chip.
So it's not like the Monsters where you replace the whole ECU.

D3vi@nt, check all of the high-current battery cables and connections.
Ground cable, power cable to the starter solenoid, power cable from the solenoid to the starter, etc.

When removing or installing the cable from the stud on the starter, confirm that the stud does *not* turn when you turn the nut.

And by 'check', I mean disconnect, inspect, clean, and reconnect.

[d3vi@nt]

Thanks for the replies thus far.  I didn't get any directions with it, so I scoured the web for info. No mention of disconnecting the ground, so I did not do that. I did not disconnect the battery, which may have been a fatal error. However, all directions I found said, turn off the bike, wait a few seconds to hear the "click", then pull the old eprom and replace.

I hooked up my Deltran battery tender and left it going for a little over 12 hours. Red light indicated it was still charging after that time. I disconnected the tender and tried again. Now it doesn't even click and the head light appears dim.  It's as if it was discharging the whole time it was connected to the tender. 

I have to tear off all the plastics (major PITA) to get to the battery and to check all the connections, so it'll take me a bit.

[d3vi@nt]

Battery read 10.75 V, so left it overnight again. Was at 10.8 V this morning. So I'm off to get a new battery.

I don't really understand how it went from perfectly fine to just plain dead with no warning. It's been starting and running fine and I don't run any accessories or anything else that's not stock.

[BK_856er]

My own experience is that batteries die either a slow death (less and less reserve capacity and cold temp crankability over time) or an internal fault (sudden loss of a couple volts when an individual cell dies).  Either way, time for a new battery.

BK

[d3vi@nt]

Well, you all were right -the battery was the issue.  It was just coincidence that it died when it did, and luckily didn't strand me.

I cleaned up the cables and connections, plus replaced the corroded ground connection to the new battery. Smeared some dielectric grease on the connections before reassembling.  The bike fires right up.

Haven't gotten a chance to test out the new chip, but looking forward to it.

Thanks, all.