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Starting problem :(

12K views 36 replies 9 participants last post by  simonlai795 
#1 ·
So over the Summer my monster 796 has been progressively getting weaker to start, even though it's on a tender every night. Finally a few days ago, it won't start at all. The starter compresses the motor once, then no more gusto. I thought it was the battery, even though it was reading 12.6 volts... charged it... tried to start... no luck. Bought a new battery, installed it, charged it... no luck. I am about 180 miles from the nearest Ducati Certified tech, and I don't have a trailer... It has a warranty on it, I just don't know how to get it to the service center. I live on a dirt road so push starting it isn't even an option, just slides... any ideas of either how I can fix it myself, or get it to a shop for cheap?
 
#9 ·
Thank you for the link! I managed to borrow a friend's trailer and truck, dropped it off at the shop today after taking an unplanned day off work. I'll let you guys know what the shop finds, they were a bit perplexed when they first got it.
 
#10 ·
Batt Hi is due to a faulty voltage regulator. To be exact it is the rectifier section of the voltage regulator - it is charging in AC current instead of DC - this will boil a battery resulting in a overheated battery.
The regulator is located just behind the right side cowl panel ( just above the horizontal cylinder head ).
 
#11 ·
Thanks for the info! I suspected that could be the issue since that's really the only thing in between the battery and starter. Over the winter I may just order one to have on hand for next time. Testing the battery I already got pretty good at taking off the panels and getting the fuel tank lifted... I also found out at the my last valve service the tech didn't put the screws back in that hold the tank to the frame... little unhappy about that, but glad I'm finally digging down into the bike to find these things out for myself.
 
#12 ·
So I heard back from the shop. They said it is a faulty starter, and they also said they can't fix it because Ducatis require special tools they don't have... so once again, I'm back to having to find a trailer again, to take it somewhere else so I can try to get a bike with a 3rd party warranty on it... fixed... this is becoming very troublesome, it's the first time I've had a bike completely crap out on me within a year of owning it. I'm so far not impressed with the Ducati experience.
 
#14 ·
Do you have a link to your guide please? I am not afraid to do it myself at this point. But the 40 miles away shop has refused to do service on it, so essentially I have a worthless warranty because whenever the bike breaks I have to trailer it 200+ miles to get it fixed.
 
#15 · (Edited)
Huh? Only special tool I can think of would be the cover removal tool. A handy person could figure out how to make their own quite easily.

When installing the new starter, use a very thin wrench to stop the starter body terminal from twisting and damaging the internals.

Can you share just how the shop came to the decision that it was the starter?

Courtesy of 1UB:
http://www.ducatimonster.org/forums...nk-dirty-starter-motor-how-clean-starter.html
 
#16 ·
The Batt Hi in the dash tells me that it is the regulator. You could have a problem with the starter but that would be a whole other issue.
I wonder how they tested the starter ? - did they use a induction amp meter to do a load test on the starter because if not then the test is not going to be accurate.
have you tried to use a fresh fully charged battery to see if it turns over and starts - if it does then it is not the starter
and as far as tools - all they would need is to take a strip of flat bar - drill two holes in it to align with the crankshaft access cover and bolt the flat bar to it then use a shock puller to pull the cover off - once the cover is off - it is simple to remove the starter. - but as I said before - I have my doubt`s due to the code in the dash.
 
#17 ·
Thanks again for your input! I honestly don't think they did anything to test it. I wish they would have just been upfront to me and told me they couldn't work on it, and I could have dragged it further down the road when I had the trailer the first time. I did buy a fresh battery and made sure it was charged up, I tested it, and the result was exactly the same as the video I posted. Battery reported 12.6 volts, tried to start, starter turned the engine once, Batt Hi error appeared. The fact that the starter turns at all is perplexing to me. I am not taking that shop's diagnosis as any type of authority... when they told me they only work on metrics and domestics and I said, "It is a metric", he said, we meant japanese metrics... *facepalm*. I have a trailer scheduled for wednesday... I'm determined to get my money's worth out of this dang warranty!
 
#20 ·
just watched your video and I am quite surprised that your bike cranks not in neutral? or is it in neutral. Didnt see the neutral light though. Mine wont even crank if it is not in neutral. happened to me and I was nervous that my battery is dead. charged it full but nothing still, then i noticed that i am not in neutral so i shifted to neutral voila! started strong.
 
#21 ·
Your bike should crank if your sidestand is up, and the clutch is in. The sidestand has a killswitch attached to it.

As for an Update: The starter is indeed fried, the incompetent shop diagnosed it correctly, so I have to change their name to the scaredy-shop. Here's a new question for everyone: Is it common for these bike's starters to fry on a bike with less than 10,000 miles on it? If so... how do I rig it so that's not true anymore? Also, it won't be fixed for a few weeks, and since I live in Minnesota, that means riding season will be over by the time it finally starts, so I'm a lot cranky about that right now.
 
#24 ·
after been researching for the past week most say Denso starter is more reliable then the OEM. but i havent been able to locate one around here, and ducati here wants rm2100 (close to $600) just for the starter alone. so i bought a used one off ebay which he said only has 1500km so its basically new if he didn't lie.
 
#26 ·
That's a good idea! I loved your guide on how to get to the starter/stator, thank you so much for doing that.

I just don't get it... how can Ford put a starter in their ranger that costs $70 and lasts 250,000 miles, but Ducati can't get one to last 10,000 miles for $600? Makes no sense.

I've resigned that riding season is probably over for this year, I blew all my money this month getting a receiver put in my car so I could tow the bike around to a half dozen shops that all said they're too afraid of the "special tool" needed to pull the stator cover. The Duc tech at the dealer 130 miles from me is "in training" till the end of the month... so the plan currently is to tow it down there for a warranty starter replacement in a few weeks... see if I can keep the old starter and tinker with rebuilding/cleaning it over the winter... then I'll have a spare starter if it works! The goal is to have as many spare parts lying around as possible. I already changed the voltage regulator for fun, so I have a spare one of those too.
 
#28 ·
Oh I know... That's good advice, if I didn't blow all my money on that receiver/hitch/electricals to drag the bike around, I would do that... but $120 (used starter shipped in 5-7 days) + $40 (1 gallon of oil) + $10 (K&N 153 filter) + $6 (Gasket maker) adds up to about $200 after it's all shipped here (there are no local stores with these kinds of items)... Or... wait 2 weeks, and pay a $50 deductible and have a brand new starter, and oil change... moneywise, I'm ahead if I do the warranty, and I'm only behind the do-it-yourself schedule by about 10 days... normally it would be faster but the tech is off at school... I can drag it 180 miles and get it done sooner, there's a shop in Lakeville, MN that will do it... but that's 16 hours of driving to get a bike fixed... there and back, there and back again. Having a job really gets in the way sometimes :wink
 
#29 ·
So here's an update: I still don't have my Monster back. A shop in Monticello MN charged me $99 to tell me that it was a bad starter when I already told them that it was a bad starter. They have a Ducati certified tech there so they're supposed to be fixing it and sending the info to my service contract but it sounds like they're going to be lazy and skip that step. There is a local guy building a new starter for it now, the shop said that the factory starters are complete crap for this model and far too expensive. Again, I have to wonder how a company can build a bike with a terrible starter motor, and no one's raised a huge stink.

I emailed Ducati USA about it, and they asked me to send them a copy of the title? I said no thank you. They were still informed that their starters have issues though... these are just electric motors, they should last a very long time, not 10,000 miles... I'll let you know what the final money damages are when I get it back, but as it stands, it looks like this is going to turn into a possible legal battle in the end. So in short, don't buy a service contract... do all the work yourself... and be happier.
 
#30 ·
And the resolution: Western Contract Group service contract paid for the repair. The shop did a great job on the bike, the tech even caught a couple things that I saw were missing when I took the fuel tank off the first time, so he replaced some missing screws. They used a locally manufactured starter motor that looks really nice, and starts the bike instantly, no chug vroom, just click-vroom. My biggest complaint was the amount of complaining the service manager did about running the bill through a service contract, but in the end it all worked out and cost me $50 total. So even though it took 6 weeks, bike is back and running again, and there's a few more appropriate riding days left up here in Minnesota, so life is back to being good! Thanks for following my crappy story about a crappy starter motor!
 
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#32 ·
.....They used a locally manufactured starter motor that looks really nice, and starts the bike instantly, no chug vroom, just click-vroom. .....
You would be doing the community a service by providing details about the "locally manufactured starter motor" such as name of manufacturer and possibly their contact information. I believe the only options we had before were to buy an oem starter new or a salvage one from a breaker.
 
#31 ·
That is a sad story , my friend. Once again reaffirmed that working on your own bike is the way to go. All that running around time could have been spent slowly and carefully doing the job yourself and the money would have been better spent on the proper tools . Just a hint : There is almost always a step by step video on YouTube for just about anything.
 
#36 ·
Simon, I'm in Bangkok (just up the road from you), my mechanic suggested I start looking for a Denso Japan replacement starter motor for my Monster 796 as the original is apparently on the way out (still working for now after 20,0000km). I will be in Europe and USA later this year so can buy from anywhere :) You said you found one on ebay. I'm not clear which Denso to buy and I assume 795 and 796 have the same starter, so, do you have a Denso model number or any other info to help me buy the correct thing?
 
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