Hi all, Just got back from a ride out tonight, and whilst out, my engine temperature fluctuated wildly, from 97/98/99 and sometimes 101 to 103c whilst maintaining speed, to 106/109/111 whilst waiting at traffic lights. However, on a couple of occassions and not all the time, whilst pulling away up a hill slowly or waiting on a slight incline or pulling away the engine temperature suddenly rockets & twice I've had the engine temp high warning light come on tonight. But as soon as I start making progress etc, it suddenly drops from 120 down to 110, 105, 103 then down to 101, 99,96,91,87 before stablising at the first figures in the above paragraph (97/98/99 to 101 to 103c) I'm absolutely baffled what could be causing it, I will be checking the coolant in the morning and I can understand a slight variation between 1 & 2 degrees, but to swing anywhere between 10 & 4/5 degrees is confusing me. What could be causing it?! Fan comes on, but it's fighting a losing battle when idling.
Defective temperature sensor ? If you have an infra red thermometer you could confirm the engine temperature & compare that to your readout.
Thats what I initially thought, as well as possibly low coolant in the system. If i had no coolant in the system my engine would have rocketed right up quickly & stayed there. Unfortunately I don't have an infrared thermometer to compare readings.
So just got back from the garage, turns out that the top radiator was stone cold on arrival instead of red hot. And that, somehow, it lost half its coolant...
They are not engine temperatures but coolant temperatures. As long as oil temperatures are within limit then there is little to worry about.
If your rad' is short of coolant? Then it must have gone somewhere, my money's on it being a failing head gasket unless you can find an external leak. Steve R
I'm hoping it's not that, the mechanic did say that it may have put a load into the expansion tank and then let it go when the bike got really hot. Is that possible?
I had a similar problem few weeks ago on my (otherwise super-reliable) Kawasaki Ninja of year 2000: it turned out to be a faulty radiator cap (which has two valves: one to let over-pressure go to the external tank, and one to suck into the radiator the cooling liquid from the tank). This caused the radiator to run half empty, hence decreasing the cooling power and having random contacts between the liquid and the temperature sensor (hence causing the temperature reading to jump abruptly). If this is the case, your coolant tank should be over-filled -it's a quick check.
The mechanic had a look at it yesterday and did say that the top radiator was stone cold on arrival, where it should have been red hot & that half the coolant had gone, possibly into expansion tank and then thrown out. I'll be keeping an eye on it in case it happens again, and the garage knows I'll be bringing it back incase it goes wrong again.
So, the coolant has disappeared again. Have escalated this with Ducati HQ as clearly coolant does not go in the space of a week unless there is serious mechanical failure. Hoping to get a response out of Ducati for this, as now my bike is off the road until fully fixed.
I've mentioned that to the garage, as well as the water pump. They're taking it in on the 5th October for a full investigation. Seems likely it's the gaskets (as you said).
I'm experiencing the same erratic temp display behavior on my 2012 1199S. God I hope I don't have a failed head gasket (or two)! If this were the case---I'd be seeing white exhaust as the bike burns off coolant and sends it out the exhaust cans, right? Is a head gasket something a DIY guy like myself could tackle? Would there be tale-tell signs around the edge of the faulty head gasket--? How do I verify water pump functioning? I hear the stock plastic impeller is prone to failure. I have heard of a metal impeller replacement-- I need to disrobe the bike of its fairings and have a look at the radiator and expansion tank--- The fact that the temp display would rise wildly and rapidly when moving slow, but ran normal when at speed, makes me believe the sensor is faulty. No way the coolant temp would vary that much, that quickly--right???? Greg Austin TX USA
the temp sensor is up high in ‘the squirter Unit’ yes… that’s what it’s called, if coolant is low or there are air locks it will read all over the place, but it won’t read hot if there is no Coolant, it’s actually likely to read under. the thermostat could be sticking also. It’s designed on the Panigale never to shut fully so that if there is a failure some coolant still runs around the radiator but it can cause havoc. I’ve just replace the water pump on and the squirter on my 899. for reference my 899 in the uk summer runs in the mid 80’s and mid 90’s in heavy traffic. The temps you are seeing are more like the Panigale v2 I had, that horrible thing ran at over 100 degrees most of the time (blame euro 5)
I guess the pin protruding from the top of the squirter unit may be the source of my lament...ffs another example of VAG parts quality.
Confirmed. Squirter unit has failed. £137 from Snell for information. Access is a pain. Will need to remove/relocate/bodge the plastic thing on lhs with ecu, coil and MAP sensors in. Why didn't the bastard stupid ducati designers put a wire block from there to the loom that goes to rear? Honestly, do designers ever work on their own fucking bikes?
Not always the case quite a few head gasket failures involve the cylinder pressure leaking into the coolant galleries and pressurising the cooling system, causing the overflow catch tank to fill up and eventually overflow.
