Bike simply will refuse to start if left outdoors overnight in sub 10 degrees temperature. No errors. Also no problem starting if stored indoors (even if not a heated space). Video of all the sounds it makes failing to start: This has only gotten worse over the past few years. It used to struggle a bit, then it took 30secs of trying, today you can keep trying for 5mins and it just wont start. Bike has done all regular services at authorized Ducati workshops I know its not the battery. Ive changed to a lithium one and there was no difference. Fully charging the battery even outside the bike also makes no difference Starter was changed to a 27040107A Denso one 4 years ago Workshop has opened the starter clutch and found no issues of wear - they suspected it was the issue based on the free spinning sounds Workshop has done a general look around and found no real issues. Workshop found horizontal cylinder has low compression and blame it on this. Blast the engine block with a heatgun for a few mins and it will start (fairly sure simply waiting wouldnt have started it, but wouldnt swear on it. Done this a few times now) However it has no problem starting right away if stored indoors, so I'm not happy with the compression answer. I suspect it has to do with cold + humidity, but no clue what could be going wrong. Any kind soul has some ideas what could be wrong? I dont have indoor storage and have been fighting with this every morning for the past 2 years.
When it was at the dealer did they check the data coming from the various temperature sensors? A temp sensor may not throw an error fault in the ECU because its 'working' as far as the ECU sees it ie there's no short circuit or open circuit on that sensor's circuit. However, the sensor itself may be faulty and giving an erroneous reading, ie, telling the ECU its a different temperature than it really is, which causes the ECU to dose either too much or not enough fuel and thus the bike won't start. I had an issue on a multistrada 1200 once, the ECU didn't show any faults but on closer examination, when looking at the actual data coming off various parameters of the bike, the intake air temp sensor was reading -40c when the ambient temp was 16c. As a consequence the ECU was dosing too much fuel and it was hit and miss the bike started. Once the intake air temp sensor was replaced all was good. Also, it does sound like the starter clutch is on its way out, perhaps due to all the long start attempts.
A set of larger section starter cables will definitely help as it will increase the starter churn speed. I don't think this will necessarily cure your problem though.
Run a jumper cable from the battery negative to a good earth on the engine or frame. See if that makes a difference. If it does run a secondary earth cable from the battery negative to one of the visible bolts of the starter motor. If funds permit, consider beefing up the whole HT battery cables with an available kit as suggested above.
Sensor readings suggestion is interesting. I dont have a clear picture of what the shop tested when troubleshooting, as they only reported what was off. I assume there's no way for me to test that myself? But Ill try contact them and see if they remember. I like the jumper cable test, Ill give it a shot in the weekend and report back. Thanks
They may have just connected it to DDS to check for faults and seen none present so assumed everything is ok. The technician has to go into the parameters page and see if there’s any anomalous readings coming off the various temperature, air pressure and MAP sensors.
You'd think this is what a Ducati 'technician' would do first off, as an elimination exercise! I guess if the spreadsheet doesn't tell them to...
