Starter solenoid problem *UPDATE*

[howley]

My starter solenoid had been playing up intermittently over the past year. Basically it would just click when the starter was pressed. I replaced it with a ducati replacement part very recently, and today, it 's playing up again! The battery is charged, and when I hit the starter, the solenoid just clicks. What can the problem be? Surely it can't be the solenoid.
If its of any consequence, it's raining today.
Bike is a '94 m900.

Any ideas/thinking aloud would be appreciated.

Luke

[22080]

Bypass the solenoid by going from heavy wire to heavy wire on the solenoid. Make sure the bike is in neutral!! No start the problem is not the solenoid. Do check the connection at the starter, they corrode. Be careful, the lug on the starter is easy to break. Also get the battery load tested just to be sure.

[64duc]

Originally Posted by howie

Bypass the solenoid by going from heavy wire to heavy wire on the solenoid. Make sure the bike is in neutral!! No start the problem is not the solenoid. Do check the connection at the starter, they corrode. Be careful, the lug on the starter is easy to break. Also get the battery load tested just to be sure.

Check all the connections on both battery cables. hit 'em with a wire brush even if they look clean.

[howley]

My mate the sparky had a look over the bike and tested a couple of things. We narrowed the problem down to the connector between the cable from the battery and the cable to the solenoid. Sure enough, once we got the connector open (it was stuck, we had to break it open), it was fried in there. I'm going to get a newy and let you know if it solves the problem. We tested the solenoid and the starter motor and they are both ok.
Pretty confident!

Luke

[howley]

The problem was at the connector. I ended up getting a separate lead made up to go to the solenoid, since the male part of the connector was going to have to come from italy. I trimmed down the old connector to remove one half. Only problem is I already bought a new connector :-\
Hopefully the shop will take it back.

Luke

[Moleo]

Howley,

I started having the same problem with my 2005 S2R after only 18 months. I originally though it was the battery, since I was riding the bike seldom in the winter. Recently, I have been having serious problems that seem to improve by NOT riding the bike. For example, the problem went away. For a couple weeks, I commuted with the bike no problems. Then I set out on a 1100 mile trip and by the end of day 1, I was having trouble where I would need 5+ tries to get it started. On day 2, it was intermittent and I had trouble maybe 25% of the time. The morning of day three, the bike would not start at all, and I needed to pop the clutch every time to get it started. Two weeks later, after not riding it, the problem is gone. After talking to one of my buddies, he said that possibly there is a problem with the ground wire building up charge and not dissipating. This makes sense if you consider the cummulative effect of worsening while riding more and vice-versa while the charge could dissipate slowly through the frame and air over time. Having said this, do you think that I may have the same problem as you? You mentioned that the part comes from Italy. In this sense I am both blessed and cursed, since I live in Italy. You would be surprised to know that buying parts here is really no easier, and the bikes and parts actually cost more after you add the European taxes. Italians don't like to hear that Ducatis are cheaper in the 'States!

-Moleo

[Norm]

Howie - I always tell them to use a thin wire & hold it really tight.

[howley]

Moleo,

In the end mate I needed no parts from italy, just some stuff from the auto electrician. Its possible you have the same problem as me. My symptoms were similar in that it was an intermittent problem that seemed to sollve itself after a break (but sometimes not).
You can test various parts of the system with some heavy cable. If you have a multimeter its even better.
I'm no auto electrician, but I'll run you through some tests to try to diagnose the problem. I'm assuming the setup is the same on the s2r as the m900.



These are not really steps. This is to be carried out when the bike isn't starting.

1. with the ignition off, run your cable from 1 and touch it on 5. This should turn the starter. (If not I guess you have an earth fault or a problem with the starter motor terminal or the motor itself, but this doesn't sound like the case).

2. Leave one end of the cable on 1 and run it to 4. This should start it also. If not you have a problem with the lead from 4-5.

3. Leave one end of the cable on 1 and run it to 3. Turn on the ignition and hit the starter. If it turns you have a problem between 1 and 3, if not, the solenoid could be at fault. Check the lead from the starter switch is plugged into the solenoid between the terminals.

3.1 If you suspect the solenoid, cable between 3 and 4. If it turns the soleniod is at fault.

4. If you have narrowed it down to a bit of wiring you can check each section with the multimeter. Check the resistance from one end to the other. Infinite resistance means a break somewhere.

I did this and ended up narrowing it down to the connector. To test the connector poke your multimeter probes into the wiring at 2, and on the lead on the other side of the connector. Hope this helps

Norm I used one side of a bit of white household electrical wire stuff (my sparky bro calls it 'twin').

[Norm]

Oouch!!

[howley]

About what?