Ducati Sporting Club UK > Model Specific - Discussion, Technical Problems and Help > 998 / 996 / 916 / 748 > The Love Affair Has Ended - Gearbox has gone

[Jasper]

Alternator nut or clutch nut,maybe?May not be all doom and gloom.Bad luck mate.It never rains.........................If there is anything i can do to help,let me know.

[Guido]

Thanks folks,

Dropped oil tonight and stripped the clutch. Magnet on drain plug does not seem to show adverse signs of 'shrapnel' over and above what would be expected after an engine rebuild 2k miles ago. (see attached image). Not sure if that's good or bad. I thought perhap more on the side of 'good'

Clutch is bone dry but it's not a normal ramp & ball slipper. Just has 3 ramps with no balls, but the ramps are bone dry with no sign of grease of lube. Still doesn't explain the gearbox noise though....

[Felix]

Guy, give me a ring at home when you can.

[marksduc748]

can you tell us any more such as:
is the rear wheel spining free when in gear??
was you riding it when it happened??
is it hard to find any gear?? running or not.

not good running it till you find the problem although now youve dropped the oil you wont be. hope all goes well and theres light at the end of the tunnel.

I would start with the clutch

[skidlids]

Blast haven't got sound on my home PC at the moment will have to check the vid tomorrow at work.
When my mate Simon Knowlson suffered gearbox problems last year at Castle Combe while leading the SoT race on his 748RS he lost the gears, Alan of AJR was present at the time and diagnosed a broken spring that only cost a couple of quid. How much work is envolved in replacing it I have no idea hnce my suggestion of talking to the experts.
Senna3's gearbox locked solid on the 916 Strada at Cadwell and now only has the first 3 gears try changing to 4th and the box locks up and stalls the engine. Probably cheaper to get another engine.

[Ray]

GC,

Checked the instructions for a four ramp slipper and it says it needs to be lubed. I can't see the three ramp design in your bike being any different.

Ray.

[Edited on 4-8-2005 by Ray]

[Simon Reed]

Guy,i've been there mate !,as much as we all lovem,when they go wrong,get ready with the cheque book !

i know this will upset a few but,gerra K5 thou,job done !

[disco stu]

Guido,i had a 748,now a sp1 turn key,fires up no issues,i now the duke is a looker and has that certain something,but i could not go on throwing money at it,and serious money it was.
The honda is just as good and so reliable

[Guido]

Originally posted by marksduc748
can you tell us any more such as:
is the rear wheel spining free when in gear??
was you riding it when it happened??
is it hard to find any gear?? running or not.

not good running it till you find the problem although now youve dropped the oil you wont be. hope all goes well and there’s light at the end of the tunnel.

I would start with the clutch

Full story is as;

Did Cadders track day - no noticeable problems at all with clutch or gears. Took bike home and dumped it in the garage.

Following Sunday replaced all road items such as indy's, lights/number place etc and road bodywork. Got wifey on the back and set off on an 80 mile jaunt.

Within ten miles I noticed after changing gear (at this point didn't know which one) as I opened the throttle, the bike lurched violently off and on (in a kangaroo stylee as if you had a fuel blockage etc). It eased as I opened the throttle more, disappearing completely over about 5-7k rpm. I thought it was strange but carried on as all seemed ok.

As I went through the gears after leaving lights/roundabouts etc, I noticed it did the same again disappearing as the throttle was opened more (it only happened straight after clutch lever was released and the throttle opened after changing gear). When we stopped for an ice cream, I checked the back wheel, chain and sprockets thinking one of these might have come loose after the Cadwell thrap and a year of the bike sitting idle. Nothing untoward was found here.

We set off on the final leg of our day with the lurching on a particular gear change continuing. I started to monitor it and found it was 4th gear that was giving the problems. On the upchange from 3rd I got the lurching as the throttle was opened. This kept disappearing as the power was fed in enabling me to achieve the normal 10krpm-11krpm gear change into 5th and 6th. if appropriate.

When I got home I again checked the chain/sprockets for piece of mind despite knowing it couldn’t be this if it was only in one gear where the probs were being experienced.

The bike was put away for the night leaving me perplexed. I took it to work the next morning checking things along the way. Same symptoms continued. I also noticed finding neutral upon stopping was more awkward than normal (i.e. down to bottom and one ‘snick’ up normally does it). Took me a few attempts to get the green ‘N’ light on. After work I met one of the lads who rebuilt my engine. He was unsure it was the box as of course the bike didn’t make the crunching noise when I started it for him in the garage and went thru the gears. He suggested topping up the oil to ensure the box was getting enough lube as it was a little lower than normal. We then greased and adjusted the rearset and gear change mech on the bike before he said to take it out for a run. I went out for 30 minutes and during this time found that the bike would not pull through 4th at all now. The lurching and crunching remained despite engine revs or throttle position. Gears 1-3 were fine and 5th & 6th also were fine.

I returned home extremely despondent looking at another year without the bike knowing it would entail a “motor-out” exercise if and when I could afford it..

That’s bang (literally) up to date.

Gc

[JPM]

Sounds like the alternator nut might be loose, had a similar thing many years ago from your description, but without seeing it, stripping it down my guess is as good anyone's

Good luck with it Guy, and don't give up on it just yet