Starter motor relay

[awilso27]

I'm having a little problem with my 1999 ducati monster dark. my starter relay decided to give up on me for the second time in two months today whilst out on a ride, when pressing the turn over button on the bars nothing happened but all the lights on the dash went off, maybe something to do with the battery. I took the seat off and tank up to have a look at the battery and starter relay, i tried it again and it made a discouraging noise as if a bee was trapped in it. I was wondering whether anyone had any ideas or advice how this could happen, maybe a power serge or something. Has anyone else had a similar problem.
I know the part number is 541.4.003.1A

Thanks

[Smitty]

Talk to Chris he has got what you need. Lots o stuff for your Ducati.
http://www.ca-cycleworks.com/docs/products?id=287

Tim

[motox79]

sounds more like a bad ground than a starter relay. In fact, your starter doesn't use a relay. It uses a solenoid. Notice your Hot wire comes off your batt. directly to a solenoid, then to your starter. The started uses the motor as a ground source. The relay you talk of is possibly a fuel pump? Anyhow, check your main ground, from your batt. to your frame. I don't mean just look at it, pull it off, hit it with some sandpaper, and do the same to the frame, then use some di-electric grease.  Relays don't often go bad, and a buzzing sound is not an indication of a bad part, in fact it means that the circuit is "fighting" to make contact. I.E. is has a bad ground and is not maintaing a constant circuit. Let me know if this helps

[Howley]

Here is what i did to diagnose my problem. My symptoms were similar in that it was an intermittent problem that seemed to sollve itself after a break (but sometimes not).
You can test various parts of the system with some heavy cable. If you have a multimeter its even better.
I'm no auto electrician, but I'll run you through some tests to try to diagnose the problem. I'm assuming the setup is the same on the '99 as my '94.



These are not really steps. This is to be carried out when the bike isn't starting.

1. with the ignition off, run your cable from 1 and touch it on 5. This should turn the starter. (If not I guess you have an earth fault or a problem with the starter motor terminal or the motor itself).

2. Leave one end of the cable on 1 and run it to 4. This should start it also. If not you have a problem with the lead from 4-5.

3. Leave one end of the cable on 1 and run it to 3. Turn on the ignition and hit the starter. If it turns you have a problem between 1 and 3, if not, the solenoid could be at fault. Check the lead from the starter switch is plugged into the solenoid between the terminals.

3.1 If you suspect the solenoid, cable between 3 and 4. If it turns the soleniod is at fault.

4. If you have narrowed it down to a bit of wiring you can check each section with the multimeter. Check the resistance from one end to the other. Infinite resistance means a break somewhere.

I did this and ended up narrowing it down to the connector. To test the connector poke your multimeter probes into the wiring at 2, and on the lead on the other side of the connector. Hope this helps

[Howie]

sounds more like a bad ground than a starter relay. In fact, your starter doesn't use a relay. It uses a solenoid. Notice your Hot wire comes off your batt. directly to a solenoid, then to your starter. The started uses the motor as a ground source. The relay you talk of is possibly a fuel pump? Anyhow, check your main ground, from your batt. to your frame. I don't mean just look at it, pull it off, hit it with some sandpaper, and do the same to the frame, then use some di-electric grease.  Relays don't often go bad, and a buzzing sound is not an indication of a bad part, in fact it means that the circuit is "fighting" to make contact. I.E. is has a bad ground and is not maintaing a constant circuit. Let me know if this helps

People on this board tend to call the starter solenoid a starter relay.  Kind of interchangeable on a Monster (even though the terminology is wrong) since there is only the solenoid in the circuit as shown in Howley's excellent drawing.

I would check the battery connections as well as the ground connection.

[TrevOwnz]

Make sure your solenoid isn't out of its rubber mount and touching the frame, that happen to me at a gas station once.

[Latinbalar]

nice thing about the starter relay is that if you change the connector you can use the same relay that the jap bikes use so you can get a better quality one and are much cheaper and easier to get. I did and had no problem for at least 2 years now.