Agree with gliddofglood - most likely to be a weak battery, it might crank, but that doesn't mean its producing a fat enough spark. I've had this time and again with Optimate, Accumate and other 'battery tenders', on my Ducatis and my Aprilia. The chargers keep the battery healthy, but if left for long enough and if the battery's getting on a bit (like yours) they occasionally will not start the the bike. The answer's a) to borrow a known healthy newish battery from a pal and try it in your bike, or b) put your battery on a car charger for about 20 minutes. My bet's that if you do either, your bike will start immediately. Good luck
On the case.. Will put on my car charger on overnight to see. Still not sure about why the fuel pump doesnt audibly prime but let's try the beefier charge first. Thanks .....
Overnight risks cooking the battery that's already nearly fully charged, a 20 minute boost is all it needs - stick it on the car charger 20 minutes before you want to start the bike.
If you've got a handy hill, try bump starting it. It's what I do to my 999 at the beginning of every season (and some other times if I haven't used it for a bit and the battery is a bit flat). I still think that the best way of charging the battery is riding the thing. And I'm not being ironic (for once).
Charged the batt and even when inst display is reading 13.2v, still no fire or fuel pump priming noise. So.... If the fuel pump is not priming (but the relay is merrily clicking away when I turn on the ignition), I guess it must be one of two issues ... A) the FP is shagged or B) the FP is not receiving a signal from the EMS ecu to say 'switch me on'. Guess the next step is to check to see if the ecu is communicating with the pump. Multimeter across the pump connector but which terminals and what am I looking for... 12v ? After that, remove the FP and check out on the bench ... Anybody have a better plan (please) ?
Thanks for the advice Gliddofglood ... I'm probably 2 miles from my nearest hill. Great for cycling, crap for bump starting !!!
If the relay is clicking then the ECU is negative earth triggering it. This relay controls the injectors, coils and the fuel pump. Under the tank is a 4 way connector that supplies the fuel pump. Give the wires into this the once over as they are known to chafe and expose the core. The +12v feed to the fuel pump from the relay is the Brown and White wire. Use a meter to check if you are getting a feed on this wire. If you are then the fuel pump may be the cause.
Now that Chrisw has identified what the fp wires are, could you 'jury rig' a temp' 12v supply across the pump, via the appropriate connectors to see if you can hear it whirr?
The earth is one of the two black wires into the connector (sorry don't know which one). The other wire pink/yellow? goes to the clocks for the low fuel light.
The plot thickens ... I have the tank raised from the frame so that I can fully access the 4-way connector. I've checked for chaffing and signs of abrasion and all looks nice and clear..... Now the odd bit. The wiring diag says the wires should be Bk-Bn/W-P/Y-Bk. The wires from my pump are Bk-W-Bk-R. This suggests I have an after market pump or simply the wrong one. Anybody come up against the same issue ???
What colours are they bike side of the connector? Pump side will be different. 1 = Brown/White +12v from relay 2 = Black -ve 3 = Pink/Yellow to Dash low fuel 4 = Black -ve
You did check the fuel pump fuse, right? And again after replacing the relay? If the fuel filter gets blocked, because it's not been changed recently, the fuel pumps strain to pump fuel through and they pull more current. This can lead to popped fuses each time the fuel pump tries to run.
Antonye, assume this is the 20A (yellow) located on the face of the batt box. Yep all checks out ok Chrisw, yes pump side... I realised once I'd sent the post that it was possible to have diff colours on the pump but bike side colours do check out with the Ducati wiring diagram. Plan to check the power feed tonight but my multimeter's probes are too big for the micro pin sizes of the pump connector so I have to figure a different approach !
You can run the pump from a 12v feed. I made a harness with a connector and a couple of croc-clips to allow the pump to run continuously and purge the tank when racing. Might be a good idea to try running the pump directly as this will tell you if it's the pump itself or if it's something controlling the pump. Should be easy with a couple of bits of cable using the pin-out Chris posted above.
Checked feed TO the pump and perfect 12.8v - Eureka ! Now going to rig up a 12v supply to the pump and confirm the final diagnosis - I need a new pump ... Be back later ! Can't thank enough for all the support .... Cheers, Martyn
