[Ducati] 95 900SS still not starting -- ignition problems continue

[Harlyn Jenkins]

Okay, kind of a strange suggestion, but I ran into this with my 96 SP.
After fighting "won't start" deamons, I tracked it down to the carbs.  When
I took them apart, one was FULL of gas.  It wasn't draining at all, and so
it was in perminant flood mode, and I couldn't get the stupid bike started.

Not sure if this is the problem, but might be something to add to the "check
if everything else fails" list...  I am sure someone on the list has an easy
way to check if that might be the problem.

Harlyn 

-----Original Message-----
From: ducati-bounces at ducati.net [mailto:ducati-bounces at ducati.net] On Behalf
Of Chris Waltham
Sent: Thursday, June 29, 2006 7:35 AM
To: ducati at ducati.net
Subject: [Ducati] 95 900SS still not starting -- ignition problems continue

Hi guys,

Last week, my bike wouldn't start -- I'd turn the key and get lights on the
dash, but as soon as I hit the starter button the lights would instantly go
out and the bike wouldn't even crank.

I figured it was a fluke, as it seemed that the battery terminals weren't
making good contact with the leads feeding the electrical system on the
bike. I re-connected the leads to the terminals, and off I went. The next
day though, on the ride home, the bike dropped onto one cylinder.

As I mentioned in a previous post, only the rear spark plug was firing.
Strangely, the front spark plug would fire once when you turned the ignition
to "On", but if you hit the starter button it wouldn't fire at all. I called
my local Ducati shop and they suggested swapping the ignition modules left &
right -- if the problem switched from the front plug not firing to the rear
plug not firing, then I had a bad module. If not, maybe a bad pickup. So, I
swapped the module, and the problem swapped with it -- so, bad module.

One thing I did notice on the bike is that, just above the coils (which are
still fine, I hope!) is a big sticker saying "WARNING: Do not disconnect
battery leads when engine is running!". That got me thinking -- it's
probably exactly what happened, i.e. I would have been riding home and the
battery lead might have worked its way loose
(again) for a second. Would this have the capability to fry the ignition
module? Would that be what the sticker is warning against?

Anyway, I got a replacement module from Mark from Wounded Duc and threw it
on the bike this morning. I connected everything back up (including a much
better system for securing the battery terminals), and the bike STILL
wouldn't start. This time, though, it sounded a lot healthier when it was
cranking -- it sounded like both cylinders were firing, which is different
to how it sounded before I'd swapped in the replacement ignition module
(i.e. when it was only starting on one cylinder). The bike did backfire
once, and I could smell gas; so I'm sure it was getting fuel.

I tried starting it with the choke on and off, and with giving it a little
throttle and not giving it any -- but no dice. It seemed to be cranking at
the correct speed, so I don't think the battery is flat.
Any ideas on what it could be? I had to go to work in a hurry so I didn't
get time to see if both plugs were actually firing this time...

FWIW the replacement ignition module I got from Mark was from the same model
900SS, so it should have the same ignition curve.

Thanks guys,


Chris

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