996 Recommission - My First Ducati

So I've bought this 996.


It only has 6k on the clocks, has not seen much use since 2014.

First plan is oil and filter, air filter, belts. new spark plugs and sump plug copper washer.
I started it once (wary of the aged belts) and discovered the following faults
wont idle
no neutral light
no high beam warning light
not charging - have bought another reg/rec
oil weep from sump plug

I'm an electronic engineer, so the electric issues are no big problem, the idle should be any easy fix, but I'll drain the petrol because its probably past it's best.

There's a random switch under the seat which I was told was for the datatool alarm

So I've started to strip it and found a few more things...


Quick google and its a quickshifter, dunno if that will stay, I like OEM.



As an electronics engineer this sort of bodge causes issues with my OCD, any idea what might have gone on here, looks like two wires were broken to fit something in that has been subsequently removed?

 

Stoked? yep love it, the three spokes are amazing, it has those original 916 looks.

Useful advice thanks, where would I get the parts from, what do I need?

Having taken the tank off it looks like I'm missing a overflow pipe, there's a tee/y piece joining two pipes but nothing coming off, there's also a clip lower down the frame that looks like it is for overflow pipes, but there's nothing there.

I've done oil and filter, time to do the belts, taking it slow, enjoying my time with the bike soaking it all in.

 

When I first got the bike I was worried about starting it but I wanted to make sure it at least ran, so I fired it up and tried to let it idle a bit, although it wouldn't hold an idle and kept stalling if it wasn't blipped (gently).
To be honest I was a little bit dissapointed with the noise from the exhaust, didn't seem as booming as I'd expected, seems like I may have found the reason...

Put it off for a bit but tonight I pulled the belt covers off, first impression belts are a bit slack and as dry and creaky as expected, but when I brought the top cylinder cams up to the mark, I noticed this on the horizontal cylinder's exhaust cam pulley.



Unless I'm mistaken, that's a tooth out? Might explain the poor running?

But, then I checked the crank pulley....


I think that might be a tooth out as well, putting the crank pulley on the mark makes one pulley timed up right, but unfortunately the other three are out. No wonder it was stored and not ridden for years, must have run like crap.

I also had a look at the electrics as I gained clearance to the cam covers, I used to be a design engineer for AMP connectors so I appreciate the Econoseal connectors used throughout the loom but I wish Ducati had used one on the ignition switch connector



God knows how this worked.

 

Great info, thank you.

My son is going to do the belt swap as an introduction to mechanics, with me supervising, seems like a great engine to learn on, clean, good access, fairly simple, nicely laid out. Far better introduction than trying to do the belt on a dirty old van, lying on your back, fighting seized bolts and getting covered in filth

 

Bit of coating with flux and cleaning and the spade terminals came up ok apart from the red one which had nearly dissolved, so that got replaced. The mating females were all replaced with new.


Assembled back together packed with some silicone grease.

 

Me and the boy spent a good afternoon fitting the belts, I had a VW head stripped on the bench so I could explain the valve gear and cams and how it all works.
All went back together apart from when I was just about to try and start it and I spotted the spark plugs still on the bench.

Fitted the plugs and hit the starter, not firing, little blast of easy start and it came to life - ish. Misfiring, popping banging something terrible.
When I started it on the old belts with three cams out it fired up straight away and run fine if a bit subdued. Now the combustion is much better as testified by the noise from the termis.
But it's misfiring terrible. I'm wondering if it could be one of the following...
New spark plugs, fairly standard champions supplied in the service kit, the ones taken out were fancy iridiums
Quick shifter not connected to battery, maybe that would cause the misfire?

Oh and even with another rectifier, it still wasn't charging, i couldn't measure the output direct from the coils, but testing both rectifiers with a multimeter and they test ok, and the charging coils are all about 4R each with no shorts to earth so should be fine...

 

Good shout by the Ducati forum, glad I checked the fuel pump and lines.

This split in the pipework won't be helping, would have taken ages to find without your guidance, many thanks.