I would argue till im blue in the face :frown: for them to prove how the exhaust had caused a mechanical item like a valve to drop and destroy the engine
And David has said that the engine ticked over for a while...just some more speculation here, I wonder if the red switch or the ECU might have died?
I said 'Oh dear me' because instead of going into Colchester my mate took his bike to Carl Harrison......that's the easiest way of putting it. AL
+1. A dropped valve would have been very vocal, the poor running beforehand indicates some sort of electrical hoo-haa, not a blow-up.
That is really shitty, so sorry to hear of your plight. Just a thought, Although the battery is showing 12 v at rest , whats to say the charging system isn't Kaput and its not achieving normal running voltage? A dropped valve wouldn't have allowed the motor to tick over after you stopped and it would have sounded like a skeleton wanking in a biscuit tin! The ticking noise when you hit the starter would be the solenoid engaging, and it does seem like low voltage. My 996 was VERY prone to this on start up with anything other than a full battery charge. Alternatively, a poor earth or other connection deep in the loom? Although its after the event, trying to roll the bike in gear would definitely determine if it were a seized engine. My money is on some sort of electrical shenanigans. Hope so anyway.
Maybe....it could be any of the above as I haven't had confirmation from the dealer yet. The tickover was "brief" ...30s maybe. How long does it take to roll to a stop, kick the stand down, then jump off? Voltage? It was 12.6v...perfectly normal. It only went down to 12v over several hours and having tied to start it many times. QDs could easily have masked some of the noise, but the bike did become very noisy...VERY noisy. Rolling in gear? It doesn't. It's locked solid, as confirmed by the Tech yesterday, hence his initial diagnosis. QDs? Shouldn't be a problem...dealer won't be mentioning it I'm sure...I've nothing bad to say about Parkinson's or the tech. I think he's pretty good. I'm not saying Carl isn't better...he may well be...but as the bike is in warranty and you need dealer servicing to maintain the warranty, it is pretty immaterial. The Tech reckons the valve broke but didn't "fall" (drop) immediately. As soon as I stopped and blipped the throttle is did drop, and puff (of black smoke) siezed immediately. We shall see.... It's all speculation at the moment, but the basic fact is that it suffered major power loss and had extremely poor (and noisy) running, then stopped. Now it won't re-start, even though all the electrics seem to be fine. It could be a poor earth, that could explain the 0.6v of discharge when holding the starter button in, or it could be something else as with the number of sensors and other electrical gubbins on the bike it is always possible that it is something electrical... Here's hoping. Ideally, the tech is wrong and it is a blown fuse that I missed (or something "simple" like the poor earth). Then I can have the bike back and just enjoy it...of course apologising profusely to all for having blown up a totally insignificant "malfunction". That is my hope. Failing that, the bike is under warranty, so will get fixed eventually...
Ok, here we go.... The bike DID drop a valve but it was on the seat. 2/3-1/2 of the valve has gone in the front cylinder. Ducati are replacing: (front and rear) - Cylinder head - Valves - Rocker arm - Piston - Barrel - etc.etc.etc. approximately £5,000 of parts at retail value, plus about 1 week of labour. All covered on the extended warranty. I'm also having the side casings (generator and water pump covers) replaced due to flaky paint. The order has been put in to Ducati as an "Urgent", but we are still looking at about 4 weeks off the road, depending on how long it takes to get the parts. It shouldn't happen, but I'd say that is £300 well spend on extended warranty! Now, I guess I'll have to run it in again!
I wouldn't have thought so... mine is one of how many Multistradas out there? If they keep going "pop" then "yes", but if it is just a few, then I'd say "no". Shit happens, and it happened. Fortunately I took the warranty. The bike will get fixed so no disaster. What was a disaster was when the camchain tensioner failed on my Firestorm... that wasn't in warranty when the valve dropped and destroyed the front cylinder! It was about £1k to get a "new" engine plus carbs, and then fit it. Now that WAS a disaster as I had to pay....Ducati are paying here, so whilst it is a pain in the backside at least the parts are ordered and the bike will be fixed.
The Testastretta/Pantah engine has been in all Ducati bikes pretty much for over 20 years - nearer 30. They are reliable. There might be weird electrical issues on Ducatis, but the basic engineering is really trustworthy it seems to me. I haven't had any engine issues in nearly 30 years of owning and riding Pantah engined bikes. They don't just drop valves for no reason - rather what the whole cambelt and desmodromic valve gear is designed to avoid.
well that's probably why it kept running (albeit very very badly) for a bit. On my Firestorm, it seized pretty quickly. Anyway, it will all come out in the wash...
I agree with the others what you describe does not sound like a dropped valve. I have been lucky (sic) enough to drop a valve on A 916 and an MGTF and they both made a racket and stopped very quickly. The MGTF destroyed its engine I have also had rectifiers pack up on the 916 and a renault car and both had the same symptoms as you describe. Should have read on shouldn't I
