Ducati Sporting Club UK > Model Specific - Discussion, Technical Problems and Help > 998 / 996 / 916 / 748 > 748 Won't Start

[Wulfie]

Just a note,
Tried the big screwdriver trick, and it cracked up straight off, ran like a demon, incidently the bike has historically always been "slow" on the starter even when the battery was brand new, despite having no issues starting the bike. When the solenoid was bridged the starter was spinning like a Bosch Washing machine on overdrive so I'm thinking that a new solenoid would be the best course of action next rather than the actual starter switch...

[Rushjob]

Great that you've narrowed it down, it makes sure you only end up swapping the bit that's causing the problem.
Now just before you buy a new solenoid, it might be worth undoing and cleaning the two terminals on the solenoid itself and seeing if that has any effect - if not then it's fairly obvious that the sol is fooked.
You'd be amazed what high resistance due to poor connections can do and the smoke you originally mentioned suggests something was getting rather hot.
At worst, a replacement solenoid should not set you back too much, I've seen them on ebay for not much more than £20.

[Wulfie]

Thanks,
Thats what I had planned to do so it's great to hear a bit of similar thinking. Not being an electrical wizz it can be a bit daunting.

Cheers

[skidlids]

Originally Posted by Wulfie

Just a note,
Tried the big screwdriver trick, and it cracked up straight off,

Good news
The old tricks work well