OK, confession time - the bike is actually a 2004 S4R, which as you will know has a 996 engine but I wanted to double the number of people who can bring their collective knowledge and wisdom to bear. Last night I was riding along without a care in the world when the bike suddenly just died without any warning as I was powering off a roundabout onto a slip road. No coughs or splutters or gradual loss of power. - just one minute it was fine then suddenly it was kaput. It turns over but won't fire. I've taken the timing covers off and the belts seem fine. There's nothing sticking out of the crank cases that should be inside them. I suspect it's an electrical issue because while the fuel pump primes (or at least it buzzes and there's loads of fuel in the tank) and the engine turns turns over, even when I spray loads of Easy Start into the airbox it doesn't even try to fire up. I also pulled the plug lead off the rear cylinder and fitted a plug but I don't seem to have a spark though it was difficult to tell because the battery was pretty flat by that time and was struggling to even crank the engine. I haven't pulled the spark plug but instead nicked the one from my DT175 to use for the test because I can't get a long reach plug socket on the hex of the plug. 17mm seems too small and 19mm won't fit in the hole. What size socket does it take? IIRC I once had to grind the walls of a socket down in order to be able to fit it down a hole in order to get on the plug but I can't remember what bike that was. I haven't tried the front cylinder spark plug yet because I wasn't able to get the plug cap off without stressing the wire so I need to undo the the oil cooler in order to create more space before I have a go at that. However, I suspect that it will be as dead as the rear cylinder or else it should have ignited the Easy Start. The fuses in the little holder on the OS of the bike are all intact. Thoughts? Thanks.
Zhed's dead, baby.....Zhed's dead. Sorry, couldn't resist that... I suspect an electrical fault for the reasons you quote. It would be interesting to see what the sparks are (not) doing...charge the battery and see if that makes a difference to your investigations...
Charge battery to full and try again. Could be charging system is t working as it should or something connected to it
The spark plug socket is 5/8 or 16mm. A normal deep socket will suffice. Spark, fuel, air. If it has all 3 it should do something. As it doesn't fire with easy start I would suspect spark. Crank sensor springs to mind.
You have the wrong plugs in the engine. The only way you can get them out is with a thin wall spark plug socket or you have to grind down a bit of the outside edge of the socket to fit right down on the plug. (experienced opinion) Check all the relays and fuses associated with the ignition side of things including the yellow one near the battery Good luck. I hate electrical gremlins
If it turns out to be the yellow relay, this is a direct replacement. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HELLA-4R...p2349624.m46890.l6249&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0 It's not a standard 5 pin 40 amp relay as is for sale at Halfords etc. Those have one pin 87 and one pin 87a. The yellow relay has two pins 87 which is quite different. I now have 2 of the Halfords type relays for sale
Once it's turned over a few times, get a plug out and see if it's wet or at least smells heavily of fuel. This would indicate that the fuel delivery is okay in terms of pump priming and injectors providing flow, then you can focus purely on making sure you are getting some spark.
Thanks. I haven’t got the plugs out yet for that very reason (socket won’t fit down the hole) so I pinched the one out of my DT175 to use for the spark test but by that time the battery was flat and so was my booster pack. I’m off into that London to look at a boat now but when I get back later battery and booster will be recharged so I’ll have another go at it.
Since the fuel pump primes it's not the relays. If there is no spark and no injection it is most likely the the crank sensor that has packed up. When the ECU gets a signal from the crank sensor it should turn on the fuel pump relay. This also enables the sparks and injectors. Check to see if the tacho needle flickers when the engine is cranking?
I’ve had another thought. The speedo (but not the rev counter) packed in recently, possibly due to water ingress as the bike lives outside and there was condensation under the “glass”. I remember hearing or reading that some of these late model early Monsters have an immobiliser unit inside the clocks assembly and I’m wondering if that might have gone screwy. Or have I just dreamed that up?
Good point Shed. The S4 had a separate immobiliser, the same as the ST4s but for the S4R it moved to inside the clocks. So water ingress could indeed have screwed up the immobiliser. You could contact @chrisw and see if he has an ECU with out the immobiliser function that you could borrow. This would confirm whether the immobiliser is the cause or not.
If I were to buy another set of clocks off the Bay of E would the bike work or does the immobiliser need to be synced to a chip in the key or something similar? If not, is there a way of bypassing the immobiliser?
The keys are linked to the immobiliser on your clocks. Replacement clocks would need to be virginised, if that's possible and programmed to accept the existing key. But if that's possible at all it would be a main dealer job. Your easiest option is to get the ECU reflashed to delete the immobiliser requirement. Such an ECU will allow the bike to run whether the clocks are there or not.
I read your posts earlier , then remembered that I'd posted about this in the past No need for any grinding so long as the outside diameter of the socket you buy is suitable , which is why I recommended the one from Teng Tools . Note : - it relates to 916 engines but highly likely to be the same for you https://www.ducatiforum.co.uk/threa...-socket-grinding-required.72354/#post-1419264 PS- the link to the seller is now dead
Update. Definitely no spark. No flickering of the tacho needle on attempted start up. The clocks are defo fkd. The tacho needle swings round when the ignition is switched on while the speedo needle is just frozen at the 70mph mark and the LCD displays are scrambled, with many parts of the digits missing. I removed the clocks and took the front cover off and there was water inside the unit. I’ve not tried any further dismantling than as shown in the pic as I can’t see how it all clicks together and I have a lifetime of experience plus an honorary PhD in taking stuff apart but then not being able to get it back together again afterwards. As the speedo function was dead and the LCD displays likewise I’m going to need a a set of clocks anyway. Presuming I can get hold of a set, where can I them get them flashed to remove the immobiliser function please?
