Only running on 1 cylinder
 

Hello eveeryone I am new here and new to Ducati's. I bought my first Ducati on saturday a 748BP 1996 with only 8200 miles. Now I know the weather was really wet and I've been warned about Italian electrics and wet weather but I had to get the bike home from Ilfracombe, so I had no choise but to ride it. Anyway 25 miles doen the road everthing was going great just had a nice bit of road in front of me so wound it on a bit in top gear just to see how it would pick up and as I hit about 100mph bam sudden loss of power down onto one cylinder. I pulled over and the bike cut out it would start again but only run on the rear cylinder. So AA'd the bike home put it in the garage with a heater to let it dry out. Tried to start it on sunday but still the same. Got home tonight and replaced the spark plugs (nice big spark on each) but still can't get the front cylinder to fire. I did notice that there was fuel in the airbox and also dripping from the front down pipe. I am now at a loss as to do next so could someone please help. Thanks

Well, I can't help you with the bike unfortunately but plenty here can and will.

In the meantime, it's your shout at the virtual bar :D YAY

I'll have a water because I'm off to the gym, but when I get back I expect a Crown lager to be waiting for me.

Welcome to the club :D

HI there and welcome to the DSC

i'm sure nelly will be along in the minute to help out !


but i had one last week on a breakdown that did a similar thing ! and it was the rod from the rear butterfly that connects to the front butterfly had come off !

remove right hand pannel open throttle and see if the connector rod opens both butterfly's

might not be your problem but worth a look !

and mines a REDBULL and vodka cheers ..........mav;)

No idea what your problem is with the bike but i'm not sure its a good idea to test for sparks by taking the plugs out. I dont think the ECU likes it very much!

Worst case is that the cam belt to the front cylinder has broken..:(

Shame...As mad mav said...ask Nelly!...
I'm sure that someone will give you a spot of help! Where's Luigi (?)when you need him??? He's in your neck of the woods I think!
Oh! by the way Welcome to the club, stick around you'll get stacks of help and advice...Mines a Drambuie if you're buying!:roll:

If you need help in your neck of the woods as well as Louigimoto I can recommend Rob Jones a mobile bike mechanic from Radstock and also a fellow Ducati rider. http://rjracing.co.uk/

If you end up calling him tell him Kev Ellis said to try him.

Just for the hell of it here is a pic of Rob lined up at Castle Combe alongside Mike Smith from Yate (Defo your neck of the woods) and yes a Cresent Suzuki

Nice one cheers for the advice, got husband on the case as well so we'll make some calls and let you know how we get on. Just want to ride it properly and see what the Ducati thing is all about!!! :sing:

Harley Trackdays around Cadwell, sounds like fun when is theirs, could pop along and watch. Mind you none of the Harley riders I know from around here would be there including Senna3's brother in law. :P

Fuel in the airbox and running down the front pipe doesn't sound too good.
As already mentioned, the belt could've snapped/jumped?? Take the front belt cover off and have a look see.
Also take the front plug out and see if you've got any compression? If you haven't got a gauge handy, just try and feel if there is a good shot of air being blown out of the plug hole.

Just before you lost power did your bike make any strange noises like back-fire or anything? If you come to a dead end trying to fix it you could try Alan at AJ Racing, he`s not far from you at Charfield.

Hi Chaps and Chapesses
Hope you don,t mind having a none Duc rider on here but I'm Kiwi Chick's other half and therefore been doing a bit of work on the bike myself. OK so the problem is the cam belt did snap but looking down the inlet port the valves are intact and seated properly the only thing is the 2 pullys are very tight compared to the rear cylinder. So I'm thinking that something in the head has seized causing the belt to snap. I have now dropped the engine out and will have a go at taking the head off over the weekend to have a look see.:puzzled::puzzled::puzzled:

Sorry peeps where me manners? Thanks for all your help so far and to come hopefully. Now where did I put that spanner:sing:

Nasty business
I would be surprised if it snapped due to something seizing but either way the head will have to come off to inspect how bad the damage is. If the valves are intact they may well be bent.
Keep your eyes pealed on flea bay for some second hand heads. But as you say first step is to whip her out and have a look.
Hope it gets better from hear on in Mate
someone with moor knowledge than me will be along shortly

Kiwichick ... braai boy ... I like bbq's myself :D

Good to see more antipodeans on this site.

:D

Probably much easier to take the head off with the engine in the frame i would have thought!

My guess is that the idler pully has seized which has caused the belt to break. Becasue there are no valve springs (only a light helper spring) in theory it should be possible to turn the engine over by hand (with the plugs out). When the belt broke i think its likley therefore that it didnt stop with all four valves closed becasue there isnt much spring pressure on the cam to make to turn that little bit more. So i think that the piston has clouted the valves good style which has bent something in the head which is preventing you from turning the cams. You need to run the valves along a piece of plate glass to see if they are less than obvioulsy bent.

Has the bike been standing for a while? Has it has a recent belt change? Do the belts have white writing on them (old glass fibre reinforced ones) or red writing (newer kevlar fibres)?

Did it come from a dealer or a private seller? I'm guessing private because you are having a go at fixing it your self.

I'd guess you've bent a valve or two. That's why the pulleys are tight, the clearances have gone on the rockers.
When the head is off, check the valve guides as they are known for splitting.
Check also the conrod play. There will be some side to side and possibly even a little "rock" but you don't want any radial movement.

I've got a couple of 748 head s lying around if there is a lot of damage :cool:

sorry that your first experience is not all good - you will find that ducati people are always keen to help out, just look at it as another way of "bonding" with your machine - mines a steinlager at the bar.

the bike has been standing for a while 75 miles between last MOT and current. The belts have no writing on at all but I suspect they are the originals as there's no mention of them been change in the history. It was the first thing to do when I got it home just didn't quite make it that far :)
Nelly thanks for the offer on the heads I will let you know when I take it apart on Sunday hopefully.
I dropped the engine out cause my mate has a better workshop than me and it will also be a good oportunity for Kiwi Chick to give it agood clean.

Sorry to hear about your woes not a good start to Ducati ownership, at least its not the middle of summer and causing you to miss out on good riding weather.
Hopefully you will have it fully sorted by the time the decent weather arrives.

Got head off last night and it would seam we were lucky. The piston did hit the valves but not enough to go terminal. All the valves are intact just slightly bent and the guides seam to be straight. So I'm on the hunt for valves, collers, valve stem oil seals and a gasket set. Never know might just have this thing running by the weekend :smug:

Braai Boy - Welcome - didn't your other half say you bought it recently?

I'm guessing it was bought as a private sale, If it 'twas from a shop get them to sort it - it won't be cheap Duke's aren't - fit for purpose warranty etc........There are some good sites on e-bay for spares try this one....
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Ducati-Part...p layZ2QQtZkm

Anyway good luck....mines a large JD and coke - we ALL love Harleys here as well.....:barfy::barfy::barfy::barfy:

Right then the lastest is that I now have all the new parts and had the new guides put in yesterday, so tonight will be spent bolting it all back together. It's just a shame the wife won't get a chance to ride it before we go away. Oh well should give her something to look forward to on our return.:roll: