You left the ignition on by the looks of it whilst re connecting the sensor. I suspect that is why the reading didn't change when you plugged it back in. It's possible that the ecu/dash takes a snap shot reading of the sensor at ignition on to determine the starting mixture and doesn't re check unless there is a power off or until the bike starts. Just a thought, but sensor sounds dodge. I had a bosch water temp sensor go bad on my Aprilia (proof that German parts can be pants). Bike would tell me it was overheating at power on or that it was cold in traffic. Aprilia updated it for a Nippon Denso part. So it's a totally plausible scenario for your situation.
I can only guess it's cost, my terminals cost much more to manufacture due to the pure oxygen free copper used, and also the cable is higher speck as well as the crimp method used. Fully sealing the system helps the deterioration but also adds cost. The cable thickness on some later Ducati models are the same as mine (unlike the OTT size of the American kits) but it's rigidity when stressed/bent causes increased resistance also - my cable is designed for high vibration systems in the railway and underground system and it's weave designed to prevent this stress. They buy off the shelf, conventional parts and crudely have them crimped together (commodities that generally are purchased on cost / 1000 over anything else) The OEM cables I have seen don't appear to have much copper in them from feel either. I would expect new bikes with everything working to start for a while, possibly until out of warranty - but any deterioration leaves them struggling more and more. You would get a perfect Bell curve if you plotted my sales over age, with the 999 being in the centre, 996/916 and 1098/1198 being similar but lower numbers, slowly diminishing as less of the older bikes are used - also diminishing as you approach newer models (purely due to the deterioration of the poor quality open crimps I think).
I did yeah, that wast just to confirm that it would start twice and that the sensor wasn't causing an electrical issue. I did fully turn the bike off and back on with the sensor re-plugged in though and it still said "LO". I know the ECU must update the temp before it starts, as when I turned the bike on earlier it was sitting at 57, and it slowly worked its way down to 51 over the course of a few minutes - I left it deliberately to see what would happen to the reading. Just went out to try again, sensor is saying 55 degrees engine temp, but it started perfectly as soon as I pressed the button... Unplugging and resetting, it starts exactly the same way, but the temp goes to "LO" I'm very surprised at the battery actually, this is a lot of beating it's taking starting this thing, and it's not a big battery.
Went out out to try again and when I take the engine temp sensor out now, the fans come on full, I get an error code and the bike wont start... :Banghead: Multistrada for sale
I'll probably try trade it in at either Ducati or BWM depending what they both have in stock. Trade in value is higher than the outstanding finance at least. I do it sometimes out of habit from previous bikes, but it doesn't do anything in this case. For the final update. Bike is going into Ducati tomorrow morning at opening time. Turned the bike on this morning, cold start, 50 degrees reported on the dash, 2 degrees ambient temp, struggles to start as per the video. 12 hour shift in work, go to start it, reported temp is "LO". Press the starter and exactly as before, 4 revolutions and it fires up. At this point I'm now even more annoyed because I wont be able to replicate the issue to the Ducati guys tomorrow and they'll likely just give me the bike back in the same state I give it to them in. I already said I hate this thing right? An S1000R would go down a treat right now...
Leaving the bike with them overnight will give them a cold start. However, you know what the problem is. The ecu is setting itself for a warm engine and cold air start. The problem is almost certainly with the water temp sensor. Replacing it should fix it and just cleaning up the contacts may do the trick. The sensor is probably the same as fitted to loads of a Fiats, so should be cheap enough.
I managed to get it to them fairly early, the problem is that it fixed itself the night before... So they couldn't witness the issue no matter what they done. It's started 4th revolution every time since. On the upside, the adhesive pad which sticks the rear light onto the underside of the top part of the rear seat pod fairing has become uncoupled and now my rear light rattles over bumps. Yay! At least can put "Sending emails to Ducati" as a hobby on my CV to bulk it out...
