Engine problem. Corsaro Avio

[erol avio]

You haven't heard from me for quite a while as the bike has been going well until I decided to give it the 20,000km service, just new plugs, new oil and filter and general check over. But something bad happened which I can't track down and now it is unrideable. From cold the motor starts normally but when it gets up to normal temperature and I close the throttle the result is a torrent of backfiring and the motor stops. It will only start again with plenty of throttle and as soon as it is closed the same thing happens. Ive checked all my work repeatedly and can't find where I've messed up. No kinked breather pipes of sensors dislodged. So if anyone has an idea I'd really appreciate it.

[twisty]

sound like flooding of the plugs if you have to keep the throttle wide open to get her going. Unusual in that normally the engine doesn't tolerate an open throttle to start due to the stepper motor. You haven't by any chance adjusted the throttle adjustment at the handlebars as this will flood the engine if too much adjustment is acting on the throttle bodies at startup.

Take the plugs out and have a look , probably sooted up which will give you the misfire. Heat them up first before putting back as it helps. Whilst you have the coil sticks out , put an old spark plug on to earth and check for a spark on each coil stick , that way you start eliminating potential causes.

Change the clocks to show battery voltage , that way you will see if its ok when it is running and whether there is enough power when cranking . Sometimes they will crank , but the voltage for the spark is too low.

With key to off position , set kill to off, then hold down button on speedo and turn ignition on still with kill switch off.. This will let you into the diagnostic menu, which will tell you if you have any obvious faults.

good luck

[erol avio]

Thanks Twisty for your prompt advice. I checked out your last two points in my shed and the battery came up 11.8 and the diagnostic display said no errors. So I plan to take it for a run and when the problem recurs I'll check the diagnostic straight up which is more likely to give me a result. I should also mention that over the last month the engine has been reluctant to start on first stab of the button, a bit of a carry on with one cylinder going and the other chiming in intermittently but then on the second try it fires up normally. If I can't sort it myself I'll give the local Ducati shop a try as a lot of the electrics are similar and the mechanic there is a sympathetic type of person.Cheers from Erol

[twisty]

you just need a can of wynss dry fuel or some meths in the tank, its the stepper motor or injectors, usually due to condensation or water in the fuel from the tank.


A good blast will clear it out.

[DaveH]

You haven't heard from me for quite a while as the bike has been going well until I decided to give it the 20,000km service, just new plugs, new oil and filter and general check over. But something bad happened which I can't track down and now it is unrideable. From cold the motor starts normally but when it gets up to normal temperature and I close the throttle the result is a torrent of backfiring and the motor stops. It will only start again with plenty of throttle and as soon as it is closed the same thing happens. Ive checked all my work repeatedly and can't find where I've messed up. No kinked breather pipes of sensors dislodged. So if anyone has an idea I'd really appreciate it.

Coil sticks or another faulty lambda ... mine was exactly the same. Now runs perfectly with the lambda consigned to the rubbish bin. You need to disable the lambda in the ecu map if you are junking it altogether though.(Ducatidiag + license)

[erol avio]

Thanks for suggested fix Dave. The bike is at the Ducati shop at the moment being diagnosed without success so far so I'll show the mechanic your words tomorrow and see how we go. Cheers from Erol

[Chips1953]

How did you get on with the fixing of the front cylinder firing?
Mine is similar at the moment.

[erol avio]

Just to recap, the main problem with my Corsaro was the engine shutting down aftern it had warmed up completely. After much investigation by my man at Ducati Noosa, he was able to establish that the culkprit was a faulty RPM sensor, which he temporarily replaced with a similar item from a Streetfighter and bingo no more shutting down issue. He then moved on to the fault that he found in the motor running extremely lean up about 20% throttle opening. He told that the ECU is nonadjustable for mixture strength but he has made enquiries with an electronics expert who can supply a gizmo that installs between the Lambda and the ECU and can facilitate enrichening the mixture at the critical engine speeds by supplying false information to do so. So I expect to get my bike back within a week, but not until he is completely happy with the outcome. I will let the forum know the result. Cheers to all. Erol

[jedforce]

Hi,I have replaced my lambda sensor three times on my Avio, all with similar symptoms-not idling,rough running,excessive fuel consumption,each time the problem was rectified for a short time (under 1000km).The last time I managed to get the bike home and it started reluctently and then ran perfectly without me doing anything,I havn`t taken it for a ride as it`s too unreliable and my son refuses to stop work to deliver extra fuel to some remote roadside location....I now am working on a de-cat pipe/slip-ons to get rid of the sensor and a PC III is in the mail! I might be brave enough to ride 140 km and give it a run on the dyno before I make any changes to see the difference

[jedforce]

...oh,I was in Noosa last week bored as and kept thinking I wish I had a bike to ride

[DaveH]

Just to recap, the main problem with my Corsaro was the engine shutting down aftern it had warmed up completely. After much investigation by my man at Ducati Noosa, he was able to establish that the culkprit was a faulty RPM sensor, which he temporarily replaced with a similar item from a Streetfighter

Ahhh yes... the RPM/Crank position sensor---- replaced that as well on mine so it could also have been contributing to the problem

[erol avio]

Hi all and seasons greetings, Received my bike back from Duck shop just before Xmas and is now better with replacement of RPM sensor with Ducati part. Also to address the lean running up to eighth throttle the mechanic installed an O2 Optimizer (from Dynajet) between lambda and ECU and it has done the job. Nethertheless the motor has an occasional fit of coughing which clears up after a few seconds but sometimes I have to switch it off and restart it and it runs perfectly again. Annoying. I wonder what will happen next! Cheers from Erol