Hi @Robbo75 Any further update? My 2011 S had been running perfectly temperature wise, but died last week and wouldn't start. Installed new spark plugs and she burst back into life, but now running 10 degrees hotter on the open road and rapidly overheating in traffic - up to 115. Fans come on around 103/104, but the temp does not fall with fans on. Incidentally she appears to be 5 mpg better post plug change, but that could be a fluke. I'm going to change the coolant for with an OAT based one and check for air in the system. The hoses feel to easily compressed when hot for my liking, but not sure what sort of pressure the system should be under. I've also noticed the radiator cap side of the radiator is cooler than the hose side. Does this suggest my radiator is knackered? Leave for WDW in 6.5 weeks, so keen to get this sorted before then! Cheers, Gordon
Apart from the non-starting, sounds like my ‘10, when the radiator core collapsed. Comp’d by Ducati. Check thermostat as well, but if the rad is hot at the top and not the bottom after getting up to temperature, you may have the same issue I had.
Thanks for the replies - that’s what I was thinking. :-( Anyone recommend a source for a replacement radiator?
If you’ve a good relationship with a Ducati dealer and your service record is complete, you might want to ask them to approach Ducati - mine was six years old when the rad collapsed, and Ducati supplied the radiator - I just had to pay for the labour to fit.
I have read about fans coming loose on their spindles, so the motors switch on but the fans don't move air. Is this possible? When Aircon investigated, did he have a similar 'control' bike to compare it to? Seems to me that such issues are fairly standard with Ducatis, ie cool at speed but hot when you slow down. My 999 is certainly like that.
Come to think of it, maybe what we need is a range of ExactCool HiCap fan kits to keep our Ducatis cool in town. How about it @Exige??
I've been playing, I mean testing, a bit more. Let it get hot at idle - to 115. Fans came on at 104, as expected, but temp kept climbing. Then applied some revs (blipping) and temp quickly fell to 103. I guess that gets the radiator off the hook and points more to water pump? It does go against the grain to rev a bike that is overheating! Incidentally I bought the bike second hand, privately and my nearest dealer is 150 miles away and they have already told be to go away about other bits and pieces. Got my fingers crossed I can get a software update done at WDW to make my new fuel sensor work.
Interesting... You’d think the fans would at least slow the rate of temperature increase. Are they definitely working, as in the blades turning and could you have had a breeze blowing along your driveway negating the pull of the fans?? Why do you need a software update to get a sensor to work???
Yes, I agree, you would think that the fans would slow the rate of increase. There is a reasonable air flow being created by them, so I do think the water/coolant just isn't circulating fast enough at engine idle. Maybe everyone is like this? Or maybe my water pump is failing? Or I guess there could be air in the system? The header tank level looks fine, but I haven't taken the radiator cap off yet. Planning to flush and refill the system asap. Fuel sensor was changed to a .E version after the original one failed and apparently that needs a software update (there is a thread on here about it somewhere), at the moment it reads backwards and shows fuller the emptier the tank gets!
I plucked up the courage this morning to look inside the radiator and low and behold it was only half full/empty (depending on your point of view). Topped up with water and refilled header and now working as expected. Now to figure out where the water went in the first place... hmmm... No sign of water in oil, other than the usual condensation from commuting and no oil in the water (what was left of it), so potentially it was not refilled properly at last dealer service. I'm going to cross my fingers and go with that explanation for now and will put fresh coolant in before heading to WDW.
Hi, My radiator gave up the ghost last year and warranty company are having none of it. They say a blockage isn’t covered as it isn’t a sudden mechanical failure. Does anyone know if there was a TSB for these 2010/2011 radiators? I do know they changed the coolant type over as a service update but need more information to go into battle on this. Alternatively anyone have any contacts at Ducati UK?
There were a number of radiators on those models, that suffered a breakdown of the inner core. Ducati replaced these under warranty and it was a known fault (mine was one). I would argue it is not a simple blockages and this is a radiator failure
