Wiring on 1999 Monster is kicking the bucket EDIT: solenoid plug irritating

[Bergweiserus]

Well.....after 18 years of no trouble what-so-ever, the wiring on my Monster is beginning to fail.  It's actually done quite well considering most of that time was spent outside, in salt-air conditions, desert conditions and temperature extremes.

Wires are broken and cracked up front coming from both the left and right control boxes down into the harness plug-ins.  2 years ago i chased some dis-continuity on the starter wires, found it in 3 places, fixed it with soldering and shrink-tubes but now other stuff is starting to go...horn, etc...

Problem: bike is a '99 and all the places i've looked are only offering 2001+ model year replacement parts....older Monster items are becoming few and far in-between....

Question(s): it's late at night now and all the Ducati dealers are closed for the evening so I have to wait until tomorrow afternoon when I have time, but do you guys think OEM wiring is still available to purchase?  I really don't want to go the custom route as I like the stock control setups.  I'd be down with doing some kinda custom or aftermarket thing if need-be because I obviously still want to ride the bike but want to locate OEM replacements if possible.  I'm worried about getting something off eBay and have it not plug in, etc; wiring on the older bikes was seriously hit-and-miss with near-zero consistency from year to year....trial and error with eBay sucks.

Thanks for any direction!

[Duck-Stew]

Ducati has been cleaning out a lot of parts lately to wholesalers.  They buy at a fraction of the cost and pass the savings onto you.  Ducati gets clean parts shelves.  win-win-win.

I've been following an ebay seller: Valtermotousa  (I wish I knew of another but my wallet doesn't.)

They seem to have a lot of odd-ball-as-hell Ducati stuff.  They could be your best bet.  But, to answer your question, if the harness is available from Ducati expect it to be stoopid expensive.

[Speeddog]

I checked a while back for a harness for my '98 M750, and it came up NLA.

Checking now, it's shown as available, as is one for a '99 M900.
Both about $310.

[koko64]

A new harness would be good. Used might be ok. A sparky wiring up a new harness would cost a lot (I know two here for $40-50 an hour).

[Bergweiserus]

I've been following an ebay seller: Valtermotousa  (I wish I knew of another but my wallet doesn't.)

Thanks man, I'll give Valtermotousa a shout.....   

I checked a while back for a harness for my '98 M750, and it came up NLA.
Checking now, it's shown as available, as is one for a '99 M900.
Both about $310.

THAT is what i was afraid of.........Grrrrrr......

[Bergweiserus]

A sparky wiring up a new harness would cost a lot (I know two here for $40-50 an hour).

Yeah, i'd probably tackle this myself.  If only i would've bought extra parts back then, too.....

[Speeddog]

Honestly, considering the time, effort, and cost of sourcing all of the various connectors, IMO $310 for a harness is a bargain.

[Bergweiserus]

Honestly, considering the time, effort, and cost of sourcing all of the various connectors, IMO $310 for a harness is a bargain.

     that's an excellent point, Sir.  I may just go that route....considering every wire on the bike is now 18 years old.

[Duck-Stew]

Honestly, considering the time, effort, and cost of sourcing all of the various connectors, IMO $310 for a harness is a bargain.

If I were to guess earlier today, I would've added $1000 to that price.  Honestly.  $310?!?  Save your time and the hassle.

[Bergweiserus]

If I were to guess earlier today, I would've added $1000 to that price.  Honestly.  $310?!?  Save your time and the hassle.

Word......

Well i've got an irritating development to add:   I tested continuity and i've got good wires from the starter button down past the plug-in into the main harness.   Everything else works, horn, turn sigs, high-low beams, kickstand light.....

this is super irritating.

i hate electrical problems. they are the worst if you not an expert.

at this point i'm not sure i even NEED a new harness....  i DID notice that my coils got super warm while i had the power on, even without trying to start it.  just flipped the switch and coils began getting hot.   not sure if that's normal or not?

[ducpainter]

What isn't it doing?

[Speeddog]

What isn't it doing?

+1

Your coils will heat up with the key on.
That supplies them with +12V to the primary, and the ignitor boxes are a ground for the other end of the primary.

[Bergweiserus]

What isn't it doing?

Everything seems to be fine and working, but when i hit the starter button i get NOTHING. 

not even a click.   

[Bergweiserus]

Your coils will heat up with the key on.
That supplies them with +12V to the primary, and the ignitor boxes are a ground for the other end of the primary.

Okay cool, thanks.

I am getting 14.43V from my ballistic 12-cell when it's at rest (starter toggle off).  So the battery is fully charged....i checked that first.

[Speeddog]

You can use a scruffy open-end wrench to short across the terminals of the starter solenoid, and determine whether the solenoid has died.

The starters themselves are pretty reliable.
If you inadvertently spin the stud trying to get the nut and the hot lead off, it'll break wiring inside and it's fuxxored.
I've seen some killed by stuck solenoids, they just run until they wear out.
Some killed by bad sprags, get spun to death.
And some die when the seal gives up, and they get filled with oil.

But the majority of 'no crank' conditions are caused by parts upstream of the starter.