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froggy
22-12-2004, 01:21 AM
:mad: anyone had a major problem with s4r. mine is 3 months old and has done 1100 miles now. i have dropped a cylinder (front lower). it's gone to duc cov for surgery. it has loads of compression, fuel and chip is all in order??????only thing we noticed was bad scarring from battery acid on the top cover and area around outlet manifold. the gromit around the top coil is perrished...worried about acid inside the casings....

question is...has anyone had such a problem or has any ideas...and what are the parents like when it comes to warranty rebuilds....even if the acid hasn't caused any internal damage it will still look **** and devalue the bike....

answers on a post card or the obvious...

regards FROGGY

sidrat
22-12-2004, 09:06 AM
there have been lots of previous posts here and elsewhere, (usa) about leaking battery problems, seems that the positioning is all wrong (heat, not standing up etc) causes the problem.
Not had a problem myself 8k 16months with the S4R.

I reckon it depends on where the parents are from and whether they will fight the case as to whether you get good service, i certainly do!!

PaulS
22-12-2004, 11:36 AM
As sidrat said there have been a lot of problems with battery leakage on the S4 models (first S4R I've heard about), mostly in the warmer parts of the USA. As the bike is under warranty (and only 3 months old) it should be returned to perfect condition. In my experience Ducati UK can be a bit difficult with warranty claims when it's going to cost them an arm and a leg so be prepared to stand your ground and threaten legal action. Your experience will largely depend on the quality of your dealer and how well they fight your corner. I doubt if the engine internals will have been damaged - sounds like the coil has been eaten.

Albie
22-12-2004, 07:01 PM
As sidrat said there have been a lot of problems with battery leakage on the S4 models (first S4R I've heard about), mostly in the warmer parts of the USA. As the bike is under warranty (and only 3 months old) it should be returned to perfect condition. In my experience Ducati UK can be a bit difficult with warranty claims when it's going to cost them an arm and a leg so be prepared to stand your ground and threaten legal action. Your experience will largely depend on the quality of your dealer and how well they fight your corner. I doubt if the engine internals will have been damaged - sounds like the coil has been eaten.
Why just s4's
Is it because they lay flat opposed to the older type stood up. This is a worry as only just got mine.

PaulS
22-12-2004, 09:27 PM
Why just s4's
Is it because they lay flat opposed to the older type stood up. This is a worry as only just got mine.

I think it's partly because of this and partly because it's now sat on top of the engine - good place to put a battery eh? And Ducati wonder why they are accused of making "interesting" design decisions. To be quite honest I don't know of it happening to anyone else in the UK (but I stand to be corrected) but there were a lot of cases reported on the US equivalent of the UKMOC Forum - as I said, mainly in places that have warmer weather than we suffer. I don't know if they have been having the same problem with the S4R as I haven't been on that forum for a long time. Apparently it has mainly involved FIAMM batteries - mine appears to be a GS branded battery and it's been OK so far (and it's been subjected to some fairly hot temperatures whilst trying to leave after the MotoGP at Donington the year before last, to mention just one occasion). Apparently the Yuasa equivalent (YT12B-GS) is supposed not to suffer from this problem and is what the US guys have used to solve the issue. The problem has generally manifested itself during the warranty period and been dealt with under the warranty. For peace of mind you could have a good look at yours every now and again but I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. But if it does leak it makes a nice mess of the top of your engine!

DesmoDude
24-12-2004, 09:16 PM
I've had my S4R since July and currently have 11k miles on her. The problems i've had are minor but nonetheless inconvenient.

1. Thermostat
2. Break Rotors (front)
3. Hard to find Neutral


Wayne-o

Albie
25-12-2004, 11:45 PM
Thanks for response guys. Think what you say is very logical but you'll be pleased to know that when I first looked at bike they wheeled it out for me to test and it wouldn't start as it had no battery. They put a brand new Yuasa in for me. Hope that will be fine. :D

Bruza
29-12-2004, 01:57 PM
Just one quick pointer....

Had loads of trouble with my 900 and loosing cylinders etc...

Took 2 years almost and 4 new chips to discover that the wiring loom was shot....

Worth a look in my book any time!

froggy
26-01-2005, 03:06 AM
the poorly s4r is quite at home at JRC COVENTRY. they have been most helpful. a reel nice buch of guys.

1st thing, (bearing in mind i didn't buy the bike from Coventry) i turned up at the drop of a hat. they downed tools and tried a multitude of things to get the bike going. all to no avail. we then noticed the damage from the battery. i turned up with my original ECM. we plugged it in and vroom. two cylinders again.

not happy with the damage. the lads at COV have cleaned my bike down and put a case to ducati. ducati have agreed to replace everything from coils to swingarm, engine casings included. i just hope that these parts aren't on back order.

only down side is that no-one can provide me with a bike for the interim 4-6 weeks. i am paying for a bike i cannot ride. ducati say speak to the dealer, the dealer says speak to ducati. best offer from the dealer i purchased the new bike from (3 months ago) is the offer of an ER5 for the day!!!!!!!

just hope the bike comes back like new....many thanks to the guys who replied with advise....it seems the problem is with the battery and where is is housed. this problem will not go away.

1st warnings of a promlem for me was the smell. the bike smelt like hot rubber. my original dealer, on the two times i took the bike and complained about the smell, tried to tell me it was because the bike was new and was a "NEW SMELL" and the next time it was the "CAT" getting hot.........i don't own a cat!!!!!!!

cheers

froggy

Melnie Mouse
26-01-2005, 08:52 AM
Oh dear, how awful, the Suzuki SV650 had a similar problem too.. warranty usually sorts it, but it doesn't say why this could happen..

I've not heard it on any others yet, so hopefully they'll fix yours and it be a one off.

moor-ph0
26-01-2005, 12:51 PM
I have battery acid damage on my cylinder head and possibly barrels. Ducati Glasgow are looking into it - very helpful and friendly bunch of guys - grovel grovel.
Geoff

Gee
16-02-2005, 05:16 PM
Regarding the battery acid problems. Obviously if your bike is under warranty take it back to the dealer. If not you could try a different battery. The standard ones are water filled and laying on their side which is not ideal. You can fit a sealed gel battery. These can be a little bit more money. They are sold dry, you simply push in the gel pack supplied with it and they will self charge in about an hour. Once the caps are forced home they are sealed and being gel filled don't leak.
One thing, you do need to keep a charge in them (an optimate top up charger or alike is great) as if they go flat that stay that way and wont take a recharge. An alarm can suck the life out of a battery in a week if the bike is'nt ridden. Hope this keeps the acid off of your engine and paintwork.

Shauns4
16-02-2005, 05:58 PM
I have read many reports about S4's and S4R's with leaking batteries, so much so I have bought an AGM sealed type to avoid the damage even though the GS type hasn't leaked on my S4.

Basically I think using a lead acid battery horizontally mounted above the engine is a cheap nasty solution prone to go wrong.

The AGM type is supplied fully charged, no filling or anything to do, just fit it. It can't leak and holds it charge must better. Cost £45 - £90 depending which supplier you choose.