Brand new to the forum...and i need of some help, advice...or charity! My 848 evo has just gone into the dealership (wouldn't quite turnover and start after running the tank 28 miles into the reserve...error no1) - long and short of it, is its in my local dealership, who are very good! however, the prognosis is that water has gone as through the injectors (had accumulated and separated in the tank) and into the bowls of the engine...causing it (when being turned over manually) to be very tight - without stripping the engine down to see what if any damage has been done to pistons etc its impossible to know quite how serious it is, i DO not want to sell it for half the value as a non-runner....any advice, experience or mockery welcome? EXTENDED INFO Thanks so much for everyones input on this - genuinely overwhelmed! To be clear - i had ridden the bike perfectly just over 100 miles back to home - i made an error of having a daytime visor on and in failing light i made the decision to risk it in the reserve to home (where i have some fresh fuel) it rode perfectly - 7 days later i went to start it - it DID start spluttered for second then stalled...looking back i expect this was the first bit of water entering. So i added 2.5 litres of premium unleaded - i then tried over the next two days to turn it over maybe 20 attempts - i had sort of convinced myself that air had got into the line or rather it had blocked as it was so low - so was patient - the battery as result of my attempts lost the amps required to crank it over, i checked both plugs and they naturally smelt of fuel and where damp so i decided fuel wasn't the issue - roll on the call to the dealership... after checking, using a borescope they have said there was almost half a litre of fuel in the bottom of the tank - a blocked breather pipe has contributed to this accumulation apparently. The haven't been able to turn it over (the Ducati Main dealer), and described the engine as tight, they have surmised that it could water or just a weak starter? they have said that it could and will get very pricey, their recommendation was to either sell as none runner (which i think is poor advice really) or they can strip it down (keeping to fixed cost) but depending on what they find may mean i end up with a bag of bits!!! So is a sensible think to do as many have suggested, to ask them to dump the oil, replace the plugs (which need replacing btw) dry it where possible put fresh fuel in then fire it up? then if that doesn't work replace the stater? then....if thats all failed allow them to strip it down? thanks again, i'll respond to everyone individually! Kev
Seems odd you'd get that much water from the fuel tank, is it more likely a head gasket gone? Anyway, assuming it's not been standing for months like that I'd be more inclined to check compression for head gasket failure (and water bottle level) then change oil and give it a turn over. Having a cylinger hydraulic lock from a squirt or water seems far fetched, And welcome
Sorry I can’t be any assistance but one of the many experts will be along shortly to help, they’re a good bunch on here. Welcome to the forum.
Thanks Harry, appreciated, seems a sensible suggestion. I suppose i would have expected them to have checked that already!? We are talking two weeks it stood for - just got back from a long run and it didn't miss a beat! - i think the dealerships view is that it might be the water making it really tight, or possibly a weak starter motor! Thanks again
Welcome to the Forum Kevin and sorry to read about your problem. Like others above I find it hard to imagine there was so much water in the tank that it filled the cylinders and caused them to rust. As an example I had a bike once that I was servicing and the plugs were removed as one would. I blocked the hole with tissue paper to stop stuff falling into the cylinder. I was working outside - no shed - it rained. The tissue paper got soaked and the inside of the cylinders filled up with water couldn't believe it in the morning when I discovered it. It took me ages to get the water out by rolling up kitchen towel and pushing it in the plug hole to soak up the water. Anyway, all was OK at the end of the day, got the water out, refitted the new plugs and fired her up, thought the heat would soon dry it out. It ran fine, hence I'm surprised at yours but you gotta trust the dealer I suppose.
Presumably the oil has been drained to verify all the water that has made it hard to turn over? I too find in difficult to believe there was that much water collected in the bottom of the tank to cause the problem! Surely if water was going through the injectors it would have been running like sh*te or not at all? What was the time between it running low on fuel and you attempting to start it again? How long was it turning over for?
Welcome Kevin, does seem strange, to get enough water in to hydraulic 'almost' lock the engine you would have had to ride through a car wash with the tank flap open, you didn't did you?
Hi Kevin: If you'd not explained anything other than ran the tank almost dry and now it will not start, my first guess would be contamination in the tank resulting in plugging an injector or two; not water, but other crud. Your fuel pump has a filter and this would be the first thing I'd have looked at; a PITA to get to on most Ducatis. The only way for water to get into a fuel tank, other than leaving the cap open in the rain, is via contaminated fuel and this does happen, thankfully never to me. Even if you had water in your tank, it would eventually be squirted through your injectors, would not ignite and the engine would simply stall. Hydraulic lock would only happen if a massive amount of water entered your engine; typical if a bike's air intake goes under water. As others have indicated, the more common scenario for water getting into the engine is from within, cooling water via a blown gasket. Your exhaust will be white and your oil will be milky brown. Your shop should have told you this; did they? They should be removing at least one plug per cylinder and checking out the barrels with a borescope to look for damage. If so much water got into the motor that it hydro-locked, then much bigger damage can be expected; bent cranks, bent valves but I doubt that this occurred. What has the shop suggested? If the motor has seized, I strongly suspect something else has gone wrong. A really low coolant level or oil level could cause this. Of course if you have an internal coolant leak you will get a low coolant level and a very high oil/water level. Not good either. Are you mechanically competent? If so, binge watch here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7n8NssOobhinJYMFDn2YIg One of the hardest things about working on newer Ducatis is getting all the body parts off and being careful not to lose or lose track of all the different fasteners used. The motors are relatively simple but some special tools are required. Do you have any Ducatista near by that can help you? I'd love to do this but I'm on another continent. You should move this thread to the correct group, not the newbie list. You will be more likely to get help from other owners of the same or similar bikes.
Welcome and agree with above - if it was water from the tank - remove plugs turn it over clear water - replace plugs and start. See what happens / compression test. All sounds like someone feeding you bull to charge for an engine rebuild
I could not find the Evo service manual but my bet would be that the 2008 848 manual is pretty close: https://www.dropbox.com/s/r5poalywrjz3zp5/Ducati_848_2008_Service_Manual.pdf?dl=0
FYI: https://www.bike-parts-ducati.com/ducati-motorcycle/Superbike/2010/848/848/FUEL-SYSTEM/123/45/0/123 I picked 2010 model year, see part #14
