Thanks for the tip, waiting for bits to turn up now. I have a tub of red rubber grease I use on o-rings that should do the trick. Fingers crossed she runs sweet again.
Well, what a transformation! Submersible pipe fitted, new filter and new o ring on fuel pump assembly. Battery on and fired straight up, idling at a shade over 2000rpm, check the fast idle button...nope. Check the idle stop and the throttle linkage is clear and not hitting the stop, but the adjuster is wound out on the throttle cable at the twistgrip, wind it back in and the idle drops to a sensible setting. It's idling smooth, picking up cleanly and eagerly (unlike when it first arrived and all the proper Ducati noises are present and correct. Sounds absolutely spot on. Can't thank you enough for the guidance from people on here. A low mileage bike picked up cheap because it obviously had running problems and buyers were walking away. Simple enough fix...happy with that! Now I need to look at charging side, the cheap reg/rectifier picked up as 'definitely working' from eBay - definitely isn't working, I have 26v ac coming from the coils, and about 0.8V dc out of the rectifier unit.
Congrats on getting everything running! When was the last time the reg/rec malfunctioned on your car? It blows me away that motorcycle manufacturers still struggle with regulator/rectifier issues in the 21st century. And clutch slave cylinders as well...
You are not wrong, and when they do, diode/regulator packs are about £10 - 15 and take 20mins to swap out the back of the alternator - half tempted to use one! I might dig the potting compound out of the ducati unit, I'm an electronics geek and intrigued to know what component is failing, both units I have exhibit the same fault.
this thread may help - just FYI, you may have already seen it. https://www.ducatiforum.co.uk/threads/916-charging-system.84480/#post-1807162
Third reg/rectifier unit turned up and it works fine. Wires don't reach though (yes they are correct length), should they pass up behind the battery carrying plastic cage as there doesn't seem to be room? What way should the wires be routed? Tried googling, couldn't find a good photo
Brilliant thanks very much, I can see what other things are wrong as well now, starter solenoid wrong way round for a start... Regarding the upper picture, there's a drain pipe that is routed through an eyelet on the front of the crankcase, is that the from the fuel tank? There's a T-piece under the tank but no drain pipe attached? Is there a factory manual download available anywhere? This sort of info would be amazing, I've only found the basic owner's type manual for download.
The drain pipe on the stator side is for coolant over flow. Get the Haynes manual. And/or LT Snyder's.
Reg, see attached, also this might be useful MY99 https://www.dropbox.com/s/4epnd4vdcj193cg/1999 996.pdf?dl=0 or MY00 https://www.dropbox.com/s/47mswoflqoo2gv7/2000 996.pdf?dl=0 or MY01 https://www.dropbox.com/s/3s3bunro32cl59v/2001 996-996S.pdf?dl=0 the cabling layout pictures are at the end of each book the layout for the other pipes is within the relevant section The drain from the tee piece under the tank runs down the LHS of the horizontal cylinder over the left side of the starter motor, there is a cleat for it and a grommet on the tube that sits in that cleat usually fixed to one of the generator cover screws close to the generator output cable seal. If you have an overflow it is usually located in the same area but is routed from the header tank in front of the tank down the LHS of the frame to the back of the secondary water tank
brilliant thread keep the updates coming. im learning a lot and want to take mine apart just to build it up. ill likely end up with lots of bits on the bench though
I have the scabbing on my frame in places and it annoys me. I like my bikes patina but these scabs are all around welds etc. Its only surface and flaking paint, its not serious. But I'd like to do my frame but I dont want to over restore my bike as I like the war wounds as they are all mine. Besides, I'd get carried away and before I knew it I'd be into it like a money pit. If anyone has a recommendation as to what type of paint is best to keep it as oem as poss and whom, I'd appreciate it. I'm going to break down the 916 in the summer and keep it in as big a chunk as possible. Ie front end complete, rear end complete and engine complete with only the frame getting a full strip down. All my mechanicals are in great knick as Ive mostly removed most of it over 20 yrs and greased it all up.
i know the feeling when you see the scabs on the frame only too well! i had my 996 done by DW Automotive in Bristol, Del who runs it is a top bloke and has made his way through dozens of 748/9*6's (although not sure if he's based a bit far for you), pic below of mine. Problem was, once he did the 996, i ended up stripping my 916 ready for painting, once you see them coming back all spic and span all you notice is the other parts that need doing! @regcheeseman keep the pics coming mate, the best threads IMO are these sorts of resto's
I'm having exactly this issue, the scabby frame is staring me in the face, I promised her that it wasn't 'another project', I could touch it up, but to do properly it needs to be stripped to the frame and whilst the engine is out.....and before I know it I'm stripped every bracket and every single fastener and re-plating them. Maybe I will put it back together and ride it....
I agree Reg, but if we dont do it now it will only get worse. That is why im going to strip mine in lumps. Front end, rear end and engine. My engine is a tight little unit. Has had a full monty and the galley plug work done in past. So no issues there. My forks are ohlins fg43. The rears been in bits, greased up and reassembled. So i dont have any real issues. Maybe engine paint but i like its patina here. I dont plan to change that. So im convincing myself at this juncture, that it is frame only. As part of a planned preventative maintenance schedule for a 22 yr old bike ive had for 20 of those yrs. Am i kidding myself? Maybe.
Slowly going through bits and pieces, removed the quickshifter and made good all the hacked into wiring, removed the headlights to inspect the wiring behind, diagnose the neutral light and repair the thread that isn't holding the upper fairing/mirror mount in place. A few corroded terminals cleaned up and a helicoil fitted to the fairing stay mount. When the lights were out I noticed the black surround on the headlight lens was chipped and flaking so couldn't leave it like that so a bit of satin black aerosol sprayed into the cap from the can and a fine paintbrush resulted in a fairly tidy result. With the headlights refitted I turned my attention to the carbs and wondered if it would benefit from a throttle balance, as it has always gave great results on my previous inline fours, I cracked open the take off plugs and left it there as it was getting late and playtime was over for this evening.
Tonights stupid question from the resident newb... My Termis are wonky, my OCD is having a proper spaz out. Both cans are rotated a few anticlockwise degrees from horizontal when you look at the back of the bike. Figured I can slacken all the mounts and then bolt it back up straight. Problem is the mount on the cans, the bracket that bolts up to the subframe, one can's bracket is inboard on the subframe mount and the other is outboard on the subframe mount - which one is correct? Bonus question, oil is leaking up through the oil pressure sensor, I need a new one, what do I order without paying ducati parts tax, i bet it's a cheapo automotive one from a fiat panda or something... This one - Vauxhall Agila A - Corsa C/D 1.0 1.2 Z10XE Z12XE Engine Code Oil Pressure Switch 2.45 on the eBay
