My 1198 of 2010 started having engine problems. Since 100 miles or so I started noticing random cuts in the power delivery, which I first associated with wrong actions of the traction control. At the beginning the cuts were very short (much shorter than a second). Then suddenly they got more frequent and longer, and I barely managed to do the last 20 miles to home since the engine even stopped completely a couple of times. The problem seemed more frequent at higher revs/throttle openings, hence I thought to the injectors: I unmounted the one of the vertical cylinder (which is more easily accessible) but it was clean and functional. I replaced then the fuel filter (which I suspected stuck), and the ignition coil of the horizontal cylinder (whose electrical wire got cut some time ago by the radiator fan and I suspected a bad repair), but nothing helped. I noticed some oil around the spark plugs: could it be that the oil shorts the high voltage? Next, I am thinking to put back the original ECU (which I changed with one having DTC and oxygen sensors disabled) and to replace the relays (one of which was already replaced once). Is this a known issue? What else would you look at?
Look for a tiny fracture/split in the high pressure fuel delvery line - had an identical fault on a BMW Brick and only found it by accident.
Thanks @bruno22rf for the suggestion! I will check it again next time I take apart the fuel tank. Today I started with something simpler: putting the original ECU and replacing all the three relays, but the problem remains. I also read out the original ECU (which has O2 sensors enabled) after a short bumpy ride and got these errors: P0230: no signal P0170: no signal P0135: too low P0141: too low The ODB code appear to mean [https://www.obd-codes.com/p0230]: P0230 --> Fuel Pump Primary Circuit Malfunction P0170 --> Fuel Trim Malfunction (Bank 1) P0135 --> Oxygen O2 Sensor Heater Circuit Malfunction P0141 --> O2 Sensor Heater Circuit Malfunction Everything points to a problem with the fuel pressure (right?). What puzzles me is that when I turn on the key the fuel pump engine clearly turns on for a few seconds (making the typical noise), and then the fuel surface in the tank is very still (no waves on it at all). If there was a broken tube inside the tank I would expect to see some waves and to have the fuel pump turning on as soon as the pressure drops (btw: is this how the pump is supposed to work?). What is the normal pressure of the fuel between the pump and the injectors? Maybe I could build an adapter to measure it... Replacing the pump is very expensive (~700EUR) since it requires replacing the entire flange (part #11 in https://www.bike-parts-ducati.com/d...rbike/2010/1198/1198/FUEL-SYSTEM/124/45/0/124), so I will leave that as a last resort. Online there are kits to replace the fuel pump (like the "New Intank EFI Fuel Pump & 300KPA Regulator Ducati Superbike 1198 / 1198 SP 2011" on ebay). Has anybody experience with them? Can anybody explain how the fuel pump system work? Is it turning on and off under normal operation? Is it keeping a constant pressure? Is the pressure kept constant by that thing which seems to be a spring-loaded mechanical valve?
Correction: after clearing the error message list on the ECU and making a small test ride all error messages were gone -they must have been from the time when I was dealing with the broken relay and with the O2 sensors. In the meantime, I concluded that: * it is not the fuel pump: after immersing the pump alone into in water bucket, it gave 5+ bar of pressure and a regular operation * it is not a leaking fuel delivery: all parts are even air tight up to 5 bar * it is not the valve limiting the fuel pressure: it opens at about 3 bar * it is not a voltage drop before the fuel pump: the voltage is stable at 12.9 at low rpm, and at 12.5V at higher rpm (had to drive with a voltmeter taped on the dash..) * it is not the side-stand switch (as it was in another post): shorting it did not help * it is probably not the fuel injector of the vertical cylinder (since I cleaned it already) * it is not the coil of the horizontal cylinder: replacing it did not help Out of despair, I decided to unplug the ignition coil of the horizontal cylinder (which is easily accessible) and run on a single cylinder (which btw. makes funny sound...and gives much less power). The cuts disappeared and the engine run very smoothly!! Drawback: I set the exhaust on fire because the unburned fuel ignited in the exhaust! Fortunately I could extinguish the fire coming out of the pipes by blowing nervously on them.. but will never try it again! Now I know that the problem is with the horizontal cylinder only. I will try next to replace the spark plug (which looks quite black -suspecting carbon fouling http://www.ngk-sparkplugs.jp/english/techinfo/troubleshooting/03/index.html ). If that does not help, I will finally look at the horizontal fuel injector... or what else could it be? Side note: when turning the key on, the fuel pump runs for a couple of seconds but then it is switched off by the ECU until the engine is started. The fuel pump has no pressure sensor or feedback loop.
[2020.09.06, correction: the cause was not the injector as wrongly stated below. See following post.] Finally, it was a faulty injector on the horizontal cylinder! I bought a replacement online (type IWP189 -this code is printed on the plastic of the original one) for just ~30EUR instead of the astronomic price of ~300EUR for the original Ducati part. The photos below show the original (faulty) injector on the left, and the cheap new one on the right. They are almost identical, but the injector holes are a bit closer on the new one and the plastic has slightly different signs on it. Has anybody experience with such cheap injectors? Will they last long, or are they expected to fail soon?
Update: the problem has returned, and hence the cause was not the injector of the horizontal cylinder as I wrongly stated above. The test run which let me think that everything was OK lasted only five minutes (because of heavy rain). During a longer drive this week the problem reappeared. I am now suspecting a faulty regulator/rectifier ("regrec"), which I had to replace already once. What makes me think so are the following hints: * Before the five-minutes successful test ride I had charged the battery with an external charger. * Checking the ECU for errors (after the reset described above) produced a long list of new errors which make no sense at all to me (like P0115: too high, P0335: no signal, P0230: no signal, P0120: too high, P0505: no signal, P0120: too low). This may be due to under-voltages of the ECU (low voltages cause digital circuits to produce random errors). * After re-charging the battery and disconnecting the regulator I could make a new 5 minutes test ride without any problems. * The first time that the problem became very serious was shortly after a long break at a fuel station: when the bike is parked the regrec, which sits just above an exhaust pipe, can be invested by very hot air from the pipe and cook, I guess. Btw: it took so long because the fuel station was almost empty (the car before could not even tank) which led me to think having tanked dirty fuel, and hence having a problem on the fuel delivery line. * The engine was cutting more often at higher revs, where the alternator produces higher voltages and could disturb more almost-blown diodes/transistors in the regrec. My current hypothesis is that the regrec produces at random times quick short-circuits (too short to be detected by a household voltmeter) lowering the voltage below what the ECU requires to function properly. I ordered now an oversized regrec (an FH012AA), but unfortunately not produced by the Japanese Shindengen (too pricey). I will move the regrec to a cooler location similarly to what described in https://www.ducatiforum.co.uk/threads/mosfet-regulator-installation.68657/ . However, I will place it under the left fairing ahead of the radiator, next to the fork (as inspired by the image below). I will then report.
At this stage I really don't exclude anything anymore, not even Panigale's voodoo power to finally force me to bring the bike to their dealers, or to see a Ducati's psychiatrist.
The reason I suggested it is because the 1098/1198 do have history here. When you mentioned oily plugs it sprung to mind. I had a 1098R and went through 3 cracked pistons. I finally bit the bullet and replaced with Pistal hc pistons.
That's crazy! I really hope it is not something so serious. So far I could not notice anything strange on the mechanical side, and I really hope that a failing piston would give a little bit of warnings before blowing up everything? Crossing fingers...
@Andrew: The dash stays on. Also, no error light turns on. Thanks for asking! Also the first time that my regreg died the dash stayed on, but the "motorcycle diagnostics" light (orange) turned on. The failure of the regrec was however much more sudden and violent than this time (assuming that also this time the regrec has failed -which I do not know yet since the new one did not arrive yet). Back then I attributed the failure of the regrect to the newly installed lithium battery. Did you experience similar problems?
Update: it wasn't the regrec either. The problem seems worsening for higher engine temperatures. Next in line: the crankshaft position sensor (CPS), referred as "engine pickup" in the 1198 manual, as inspired by https://www.ducatiforum.co.uk/threads/random-no-spark-issue-leaving-me-stranded.79961/
Update: it wasn't the crankshaft position sensor either. In fact, I bought a new one, set a gap of 0.75mm, but nothing. It did not help. I am tempted to have a ride with the laptop attached to the CAN bus and dump every single message passing across the bike, as explained here: https://pulsesecurity.co.nz/articles/ducati-can-bus Or what else could I try? Any ideas? HELP!!
Have you fitted a new injector/coil/fuel pump relay? This is a 2 quid part and should be part of everyone’s service schedule.
Could be many things as usual, if you have checked all ignition related connectors, I would probably re-check the repaired loom to the horizontal coil or even replace it. As cut-out is only brief I guess you haven't been able to determine if one or both cylinders are cutting out?
Simple really. The ecu switches the pump relay for a predetermined time at power on, about 2-3 seconds. This pressurises the system to get it ready for starting. When the engine turns over, under the starter or under its own power, the crank sensor generates a series of pulses. These tell the ECU that the engine is rotating so it switches the relay back on, providing power to the pump, coils and injectors. The ECU also uses the crank sensor signals to time the signals to the sparks and injectors. The crank sensor and fuel pump relay are the two parts of the injection system most likely to cause a complete failure. FYI injection pressure is usually 3 bars and is maintained by the fuel pressure regulator. There is no pressure switch.
