Snow made my ducati sick :( wont run right..

[djkus]

Had to travel home on thursday there in temperatures around 1degree c... i had put in 100ml of silkone pro fst on wednesday thinking that would make it run a bit smoother in the cold...
was ok on way to work.. but on way back was v cold!

anyway... had to keep reving it at lights to stop it from stalling again, looked like smoke/steam was coming from under engine.. maybe a small hole in exaust, or maybe just the rain hitting it...

got it home, have not started it till yesterday (saturday). took about 5 mins to get started... and then it wont rev beyond 3k revs.... choke on, or off.

oil light is on, but i suspect that the sensor has got damp, as its sort of flickery.

doesnt sound healthy... may just be the coldness, but dont wanna start it again until i can be sure the oil levels is right.

cnt see in the wee window, sort of misty witht he cold..

any ideas?

any manual way of checking the oil?
I know.. im stupid, but dont want to make my duke sicker than it is...

thanks v much, paul

[A Yerbury]

try it now? milder today.

[djkus]

had a look in the window for oil level, cant see coz of condensation.

ill give it a go in a few mins here when i go out. apart from stalling at lights and feeling a bit rough in the 1degree c weather it at least went....

didnt apear to yesterday...

what oil should i get for it? ill maybe get some to top it up a little.. can do no harm i guess.

[A Yerbury]

had a look in the window for oil level, cant see coz of condensation.

ill give it a go in a few mins here when i go out. apart from stalling at lights and feeling a bit rough in the 1degree c weather it at least went....

didnt apear to yesterday...

what oil should i get for it? ill maybe get some to top it up a little.. can do no harm i guess.

it can if you overfill it, I use halfords 5 40 synthetic oil, big bottle currently on special price (maybe)

[MotoNik]

had a look in the window for oil level, cant see coz of condensation.


Usual Ducati mayonaise, caused by low temperatures and condensation on the inside of the crankcase. Nothing to fear - don't top the oil up, it won't have used any.

Also the "smoke or steam" you saw would have been caused by rain or moisture hitting the exhaust pipes. Nothing to worry about.

Go and start it up and let it run for a while, that'll get it nice and warm.

Nik

[djkus]

ok thanks for advice, halfords up the road from me, ill take a run up later to see what they have.

oh, might seem like a silly question, but how would u know uve put enough oil in it ...before it starts to overflow? lol

ive not done it yet, was serviced not long after i got it so this be the first for me.

[djkus]

ok, i went out there.. started bike in a couple of mins... got it going and left it running on low revs... just reving it so it didnt stall...

after a few mins of that i was able to turn off choke and it sat idling on 1k revs as usual...
was able to rev to 6k with no bother in garden there.. which it wasnt doing yesterday..

sounds normal too..
i guess the cold just got to it.
was able to turn engine off and restart it first/second time.

thing is.. oil light is still on.. i KNOW the sensors are crap.. mine usually doesnt work at all, doubtfull that the oil has somehow magically disapeared coz of the snow aint it. lol

when refilling oil levels is there a way to check how much it needs before just pouring some in? id like to get some and put a little in.. that way i can ignore the dodgy oil light.

going to wash bike now and get it ready for covering for a month or two till coldness goes away (wishfull thinking i know)

[nik_the_brief]

Have you been checking the oil level whilst your bike is on it's sidestand? If so you'll certainly not see any oil in the window!

Just hold the bike upright and you should be able to see the level of the oil through the window despite the Monster mayonnaise. It can be quite awkward so get your mate/other half etc. to look while you hold your bike upright. (I usually sit astride mine to hold it upright then bend down to look but it's a bit uncomfortable).

If you can't see it then the level is certainly too low, should (obviously) be between the max and min lines.

As for the FST - sounds like you may not have used enough matey. 1% is okay when the weather is not too bad but mine needs a 2% mix (300 mil per full tank) when it's particularly cold and damp.

[slob]

As Nik said, don't add any oil at this stage if you can't see what's in there, it's unlikeley to have used any. The oil pressure sensor is the thing with the wire coming out next to the oil filler, just unclip the top, pull it out and dry it off if it's wet inside.

[djkus]

yeah, i think i did put the fsk stuff a bit weak, went for a 1% mix, ill put another 100ml in , going to get some super unleaded for the craic soon anyway, heard its slightly better than normal unleaded for that sort of thing..

as for oil thing.. ill have another look when wifey is home to hold the bike up.

ducatis are as sensitive to cold as old people it seems. lol
my first duke winter :)
at least ill be prepared for next years..

[djkus]

hi, took bike out fora spin there, got 2 mins from my house and splut splut splut... sounded like it was backfiring, little bit of smoke from exhaust too... turned round to go back to my house, after a minute it went away. oil levels are ok. bike running 100% now, went to get some fuel and started first time.

running just like it was in the summer now.

perhaps some crap got into the fuel or something.. or the silkolene wasnt mixed right..

i dunno, but its working 100% now..

strange it spluttered and sounded like a comedy clown circus car before it got better though eh?

oil light has now gone off, must have been moisture in it..

strange eh?
putting it awaty for winter now..

what u think was the spluttering?

[spacemonkey]

Water in the fuel?
Maybe it caught a cold, like me. I'm coughing and spluttering all over the place, and definitely not running right. Today my head is so bunged up I have had a headache all day without any relief. Anything i do makes it feel worse. Great, must have sinusitis. Probably going to die. Wonderful...

[Fosse Foxfight]

OK, djkus.......you need to bear a number of facts in mind.

Never believe any signal or warning that your Ducati gives you that is conveyed by a wire. Ducati have developed the Totalandutter****ingwank Wiring System. This system utilises water in the electrical circuitry to tell you lies, make your engine not start, prevent your starter motor from disengaging when the engine is running, tell you the side stand has come down just when youre going into a left hander, make your OS rear and NS front indicator flash at the same time when your turning left and other such jolly japes. The philosophy behind the wiring system is that if youre wiring sucks in as much water as possible then the road around you will get dry thus enabling safer riding.

The oil level window utilises similar technology as the wiring loom, but what happens here is that once you have ceased riding the machine needs to dry out the wiring loom of its total capacity of 8 litres of water and it achieves this by hygroscopic absorbtion, (or is is adsorption?...I can never remember) and it then deposits the water in the sump, the oil window is then used to osmotically transfer the water to the outside air. Its all very clever as you can see...however until it is perfected it means your bike is shi.tily unreliable except in temperatures exceeding 15degC and 20% RH and unless your engine is at operating temperature you can never see the oil level in the window. So........get it out in April, put it away at the end of October and store it in sillica gel when you're not using it.
Finally oil......now dont get all touchy Yerbs, but using own brand oils is a lottery. Halfords Tescos etc. oils are NOT supplied by one supplier but by the cheapest at the time. Therefore the specification on the container is not reliable. The last time I saw a gallon of Halfords it was about 25quid? The recommended Shell product is about 33?....Eight quid saving compared to the possibility of engine damage from a sloppy batch that gets broken down by your gear train and is no longer able to provide the neccessary lube to your mains or big ends?...nah, get some good oil.....

Hope this helps

ta ra