Bike won't start, argh!

[felixduc]

Hey guys.

My 94 Ducati M900 won't start.

I've tried it both the standard way, in N, full choke, and the first time it backfired on me loudly a couple times, then nothing but the churning of the starter motor.

I tried rolling it down a hill and bump starting it... the engine flubbed unenthusiastically a couple times then died when I tried giving it gas.

Right now, it won't do anything. Just a faint whirring from the bowels of the bike.

When I leave it sitting for a good 10 minutes or so, the starter motor will operate again, but the damn thing just won't turn over.

The bike's in immaculate shape, and while it's always been tricky to start, it's never been this bad.

It has a stage 2 jetting (for Phoenix AZ), and I'm in Boulder. I could point to this, but it's been running fine for a week now.

Any ideas? I don't know where to start. Battery is brand new.

[Mista Black]

my dad always says to check the easiest things first.... does it have gas in the tank?? i've seen "broke" bikes that didnt before....

[Mr. Turbo]

I'd check the fuel lines from the tank, and if it has a fuel pump check to see its spinning. I'm in boulder if you need a hand.

[felixduc]

Hey John,

Everything looks good, although the battery might be dead.

Seems dead in the water.


I'll be here all afternoon if you have a few minutes to swing by--i'd really appreciate it.

624 Marine Street #3 (6th and Marine, on the hill...)

720-308-9132

[Hoopty]

Well if the battery is dead, it's not going to start too easily. LOL Charge the battery, then you can start to check other things. Do you smell gas when you try and start it?

[felixduc]

well, we jumpstarted it.. i did manage to run the battery dry.

it cranks and cranks and cranks, with little puffs of exhaust coming out the back. so it's getting fuel, and it appears the electrical is OK, but no spark.

I found, on the right hand side of the bike (if you were sitting on it), a small little chord, with an end that looks a lot like a spark plug, happily dangling, apparently not connected to anything.

we couldnt find ANYTHING to suggest where it might have been connect to. i thought maybe it was a ground, so i held it against the unpainted swingarm with the tip depressed, but that didn't seem to make any difference. it has two wires in its rubber casing, both wrapped in yellow rubber, and one of them is severed.

any idea what this is? Haynes hasn't helped yet, but I'll continue to study it.

[rybo]

Well,

if it looks like a spark plug wire then it probably is something like that. I would guess the ignition unit or coil got disconnected.

If you've cranked it for awhile now with gas it is probably flooded too. Take the plugs out and dry out the cylinders with compressd air. High pressure is not needed, just a good steady flow. Clean and dry the plugs too. While you have the plug wires off test one to see if you have spark that far by grounding it to something and cranking the engine. If you have spark there then reassemble, charge the battery and have another go at it. If you don't start tracing wires backwards and I'll bet you come to the one you found. Roconncet and try again. Monsters tanks are easy to remove and prop up, check under it for where your wire should connect. Also remove the seat cowling and see if you find your connection point there.

At this point I think it is simply a problem of working backwards from the spark plugs. If you were jetted for somewhere else and the bike has been running here it may not have been running well and the plugs eventually fouled enough to prevent ignition.

Best of luck to you! Be sure to let us know how it all turns out!

Scott

[felixduc]

John (Mr Turbo) graciously came down and checked the bike out with me...

It looks like an altitude issue. The bike is jetted for sea level (or close to it), and is running way too rich.

It looked like both plugs were fouled -- they were black, and smelled of gas. One was even wet.

I'm going to track down plugs now... with some luck I'll be able to ride tonight!

[swademaster]

It looked like both plugs were fouled -- they were black, and smelled of gas. One was even wet.




It was probably flooded like scott said.