Rev limiter settings

PomGP · Feb 1, 2015

Hey guys.
Happy Monday

My bike has done a really strange thing all by itself

I went out for my regular Sunday morning breakfast run yesterday and the rev limiter seems to have reduced it's ceiling from about 11 000 rpm to 7500 rpm.
At first I thought maybe it was an issue with traction control and but the roads were hot, dry and dust free

She is still pulling like a train, so it is not in "limp" mode

Any ideas????

Ta

zippy49 · Feb 2, 2015

Are you sure you haven't got it set to "Urban?" If not, then it's time for a dealer visit.

PomGP · Feb 3, 2015

I have booked the bike in for a diagnostic test on Monday, I will report back when I find out what the deal is

PomGP · Feb 8, 2015

The plot thickens - No errors on the diagnostic other than an immobiliser reset.
Still the same but now popping and backfiring badly on the overrun

Waiting to hear back from the Ducati factory

PomGP · Feb 17, 2015

8 days later and the answer from the Ducati factory is "uhhhhhh we don't know????"
It sounds like an expensive warranty claim coming to me

ECU gone bananas??????

If I was the mechanic I would simply whip the ECU out one of the demo bikes, plug it in and see what happens, but why be that logical?

Bruder · Feb 17, 2015

And burn another ECU! Did you send your ECU to Ducati Bologna 100%No! It's more a problem of Ducati South Africa or better with the
representative of Ducati how to deal with the problem and send Infos to Bologna!

PomGP · Feb 18, 2015

Bruder said:
And burn another ECU! Did you send your ECU to Ducati Bologna 100%No! It's more a problem of Ducati South Africa or better with the
representative of Ducati how to deal with the problem and send Infos to Bologna!

Strangely enough so far I have had excellent service from Ducati SA. It has been on an equal par with my experience with BMW SA, and worlds apart from the usual lack of interest I previously had with any of the numerous Japanese bike agents I have dealt with in the past.

I believe the issue with bike is purely electronic, maybe a sensor or ECU problem, what is worrying me is the fact that I am being told that the factory does not know what is wrong.

Remember I am 5000 plus miles from Bologna, in a third world country where efficiency is a luxury and not a lifestyle. If they sent the ECU to Italy it probably would never get there

The Ducati dealership in Johannesburg is huge, at any one time they have at least 50 new bikes on the floor, although it is relatively new here the brand is not, and they are trying to build a client base & market based on the Harley type model of lifestyle" I think the problem is that the dealership is overstaffed in the sales department and understaffed on the technical side.

Regardless I hope I get my bike back before the weekend, it's mid summer over here with temps in excess of 30 degrees centigrade each day - Its riding time

appliance821 · Feb 18, 2015

Keep us posted. It would seem the main advantage of basing the electrics around digital modules is that they're plug and play. I hope they just slap new units in, send you on your way, and figure out the issue on their own time.

PomGP · Feb 19, 2015

appliance821 said:
Keep us posted. It would seem the main advantage of basing the electrics around digital modules is that they're plug and play. I hope they just slap new units in, send you on your way, and figure out the issue on their own time.

Hey man so do I, but to date I still have no idea what is going on.
I think I will pay them a visit tomorrow. the weekend is nearly here and I want
my bike back

Bruder · Feb 19, 2015

@appliance821

How do you know it's so simple???

If you don't know the problem it's more plug and burn and do you know how much a ECU costs?

Gruss Steffen

PomGP · Feb 19, 2015

Hey guys I did not intend to start any arguments here.
Chill and have a happy Friday

kuksul08 · Feb 19, 2015

I've had good luck with Ducati NA. Hope you have a quick solution.

wheelieboy1 · Feb 20, 2015

I hope they can get your issue fixed. I'm interested to find out what it is. There have been a few comments on the possibility of "frying" another ECU if the dealer takes one off of another bike and puts onto yours, but that's probably not going to happen. I manage 4 fleet trucking repair facilities that repair $140K trucks with $30K engines and we sometimes have to do this when the diagnostic software simply doesn't show a fault code or indicate any of the parameters are out of spec. If the dealer fears damaging a good test ECU from another bike by testing it on yours, ask them if take the ECU out of your bike and test it on another bike. If the other bike has the same symptoms, you know the problem is in your bike's ECU. If it works fine, you know you have a wiring, coil pack or other sensor issue. I'm assuming the dealer checked all of the basic mechanic issues such as contaminated fuel or restricted fuel delivery to make sure that there is nothing mechanical causing the issue. I know this sounds crazy, but I would even have them test your battery and charging system to make sure they are good. The ECU has to have a minimum voltage to perform. Looking forward to hearing what you find.

PomGP · Feb 20, 2015

Thanks guys.
I am sure that Bruder does not mean to come across as looking for a fight, I can fully appreciate that English is not his first language as I live in a country where we have 11 official languages, and sometimes things are lost in translation.

I have been looking at some schematics for the bike and it has more sensors than a 747

There is however a sensor that picks up the revs and the ignition timing on the left crankcase I wonder???

I sent a mail to Ducati in Italy this morning regarding the issue, and I must say a very nice sounding young Italian lady phoned me within an hour to discuss the matter. She was going to contact the dealer direct and speak to them about it.

Fingers crossed for some riding this weekend

kuksul08 · Feb 20, 2015

PomGP said:
Thanks guys.
I am sure that Bruder does not mean to come across as looking for a fight, I can fully appreciate that English is not his first language as I live in a country where we have 11 official languages, and sometimes things are lost in translation.

I have been looking at some schematics for the bike and it has more sensors than a 747 There is however a sensor that picks up the revs and the ignition timing on the left crankcase I wonder???

I sent a mail to Ducati in Italy this morning regarding the issue, and I must say a very nice sounding young Italian lady phoned me within an hour to discuss the matter. She was going to contact the dealer direct and speak to them about it.

Fingers crossed for some riding this weekend

I also got a call from a lady in Italy before

They are really on top of that!

The way Ducati works apparently is the dealer diagnoses the problem and just reports it to Ducati, and then they tell the dealer what to repair replace and have to authorize everything first. Kind of a slower process but it keeps people from abusing the system.

Bruder · Feb 20, 2015

@PomGP

I don't look for a fight

the important think is to get your bike on the road! The most comments didn't help at all to solve the problem. The only and really only good comment are from wheelieboy1 and kuksul08 for know!

In the German Ducati Forums they really pushing much, much harder what I'm doing that nothing at all. The solution that the important thing to get the bike on the road or better the DUCATI no matter what!

Ask NiceweatherManni I'm sure he can confirm this!

Gruss Steffen

ferdi · Feb 21, 2015

PomGP,

i hope Ducati and your garage can sort out the problem soon.
There is nothing sader than a bike which does not run.

PomGP · Feb 21, 2015

Bruder said:
@PomGP

I don't look for a fight the important think is to get your bike on the road! The most comments didn't help at all to solve the problem. The only and really only good comment are from wheelieboy1 and kuksul08 for know!

In the German Ducati Forums they really pushing much, much harder what I'm doing that nothing at all. The solution that the important thing to get the bike on the road or better the DUCATI no matter what!

Ask NiceweatherManni I'm sure he can confirm this!

Gruss Steffen

No worries bud, no offence taken at all.
Got the bike home yesterday, still no joy, stripped a few things in my garage and found that the motor drive for the exhaust valve is not working

appliance821 · Feb 21, 2015

Bruder said:
@appliance821

How do you know it's so simple???

If you don't know the problem it's more plug and burn and do you know how much a ECU costs?

Gruss Steffen

The issue is unknown - the bike is heavily controlled by digital modules - swapping then in systematically could reveal the problem or eliminate a possibility. It seems one of the main advantages of modular design.

Of course - if they have discerned a burned out unit, the issue is elsewhere - has this happened?

gatdammit · Feb 23, 2015

Plenty of guys removed or disabled the exhaust valve with no issue. I would disconnect the lead to it and try that. May want to remove the butterfly plate but I think it fails to full open until power is applied.

As for the swapping donor bike components for trouble shooting, the military does that religiously. If a box or system goes buggy and there's no associated trouble code or symptom, we swap parts from known working aircraft. It's a valid link in the troubleshooting tree.