Ducati Sporting Club UK > Model Specific - Discussion, Technical Problems and Help > 998 / 996 / 916 / 748 > Aarrgghhhh - Alternator/Rectifier AGAIN!!!!!!

[NickH]

Broken down again tonight - for the second time it's the plastic plug between alternator & rectifier, only a bit worse . When I stopped at West Meon Hut (after a good blast up to Winchester & along A272 ) smoke was coming out from the fairing cutout above the battery.

Unbolted battery tray and found the plastic plug melted again, one wire broken on the alternator side, insulation on nearby wiring has melted and the bike frame was almost too HOT to touch.

Q: As Ducati were not bright enough to make the 3 wire alternator retrofit the 2 wire bikes, has anyone completely replaced the wiring on the alternator i.e. right from the windings? if so what size cross section wire should be used? Is it an easy job to remove the alternator? I guess it should be an easy job for an electrical workshop to solder new wires onto the winding - where are you Shazam?

PS - could be worse on the way back home, the recovery driver's 20 year old son rang up from Spain to say he'd lost his passport, what should he do!!

[Shazaam!]

You don’t need to remove the engine cover. Inside the engine the wires don't touch each other. The approach that I took was to replace the damaged wiring (with a larger gauge to reduce electrical heating) up to where it exits the side cover. I pushed a piece of shrink wrap tubing over each of the wires and into where they pass through the seal in the cover and left the internal portion of wiring alone since they are separated inside the engine. Splice the wires by soldering the ends and using an inline crimp connector.

I also took the oportunity to relocate the regulator itself to the licence plate holder.

You can read the full explanation here:

http://217.199.188.40/xmb/viewthread.php?tid=2042

[Edited on 7-27-2004 by Shazaam!]

[Henners]

PS - could be worse on the way back home, the recovery driver's 20 year old son rang up from Spain to say he'd lost his passport, what should he do!!

Most airlines will allow him to travel back to the UK using the police report of the loss as documentation. Check before flying though.

[rockhopper]

I simply did away with the connect all together. Soldered the wires and a bit of heat shrink. Only becomes a problem if the motor has to come out.

[Nigel C]

just out of interest i had my wires rerouted when the bike was in for it's 12000ml service following a burnt out connector issue the wires were run under the engine an moved out from behind the battery tray and as you can see now sit directly next to the fairing vents