OK guys need help S4RS

[ScottS4RS]

OK so my commute this morning went terribly wrong. I had been noticing that when I really rolled it on lately, the bike seems to cut out a little in higher RPM's. I was thinking it may be clutch, because it just didn't seem to be delivering all the power to the ground. I am rethinking after this morning. I was headed to work this morning and the bike started cutting out and running like hell. The check engine light came on and it steadily ran worse and worse. I could add as much throttle as I wanted and it still wasn't catching RPM's. Towards the end I was barely getting it to roll at 20 MPH, I pulled over and it died. I tried to start it up again and I could here it try to turn over, but it didn't move a piston on bit (I literally bought a new battery on Tuesday). I hopped off and noticed the CAT was glowing red hot. Ended up having to catch a ride after an hour with no luck. Engine will still not turn over at all.

PLEASE HELP! I depend on this thing as a commuter.
Bike only has 7300 miles on it

[ScottS4RS]

I just bought this bike a couple hundred miles ago. Did I blow it buying a Duc to commute with?

[philb]

I don't know what your specific problem is, but I do want to reassure you that a Ducati can serve perfectly well as a daily driver.

I've been riding my M900 daily for 19 years so far.

PhilB

[caferacermike]

Originally Posted by ScottS4RS

running like hell. The check engine light came on and it steadily ran worse and worse. I could add as much throttle as I wanted and it still wasn't catching RPM's. Towards the end I was barely getting it to roll at 20 MPH, I pulled over and it died. I tried to start it up again and I could here it try to turn over, but it didn't move a piston on bit

My first concern is that this is a liquid cooled engine, every symptom sounds to me like overheating. I hope like hell it didn't get so hot it froze a piston. Blow a head gasket and warp a head? Please no.

Is the bike home? Can you pull the spark plugs to see if it will turn over without compression? Check the status of the coolant. Might want to drain the oil into a clean pan and check for water contamination. If not contaminated and caught in a clean pan you can just put back into the bike.

The glowing converter makes me wonder if something in the exhaust got clogged. That will seriously reduce power and the exhaust could certainly get red hot. I don't see why that would prevent the engine from turning over.


With the plugs removed and the rear wheel lifted, can you turn over the engine using the transmission in gear (like 4th or higher) and use the tire for leverage? The power put to the tire will spin the chain and thus turn over the engine if in gear. Your wording of "won't turn over" and "red hot" worry me that you are trying to say the engine is locked up. Just want to rule that out.

[tex-mex]

It sounds like a fuel pump has died or you have clogged fuel filter or both. If you fried a motor there would be smoke pouring out the back of the tail pipes and it would smell real bad.

[ScottS4RS]

OK so I'm not proud of it but I took it to the shop. Turns out the issue may be two fold. First my voltage regulator was bad. $130 for the part which isn't great, isn't awful. Second...I had taken my exhaust down to just 2 tips on my udder, and apparently that will cause me a lean issue with the lack of back pressure. I won't get it back until Tuesday-Wednesday for the voltage regulator issue. The shop has a dyno and has shot me a price of $550 for a power commander and dyno time to build a map.

What do you guys think?

Thanks for the comments

[caferacermike]

If you need a new regulator you should search the forums for the one "Capo" recommends. It's a better regulator than the one Ducati purchases and fits.

And yes changing your exhaust around can cause issues. I just tried to tell someone this same thing about some slip ons they want to get but are convinced it doesn't matter.