Help. !DES icon w/ CEL on 13’ Panigale R

Hello gang, wanted to see if anyone knows how to address this issue. As soon as I turned on the 2013 Ducati Panigale 1199R today, a !DES icon popped out with the CEL stayed on after I fired on the engine. It had no issue last week when I was riding it for 30 min. Besides those errors, the bike seemed normal. I checked all suspension electronic connections and fuses. They all looked good as well. I also disconnected the battery cable and reset the ecu; unfortunately, those 2 icons still showed up on screen. The bike has less than 1300 miles. Any suggestion?

The DES flag suggests that there's a problem with either a front or rear, rebound or compression, circuit. I'm not sure, but if you have MelcoDiag there's a chance that the captured DTC can help narrow down the source of the error (font, rear, rebound, compression). You might also try going into the dash to see if there's anything that seems to be amiss.

Thanks for you input. I disconnected and reconnected all the front and rear suspension plugs. And I did check the dash. I was able to adjust the compression and rebound for both front and rear. But the des error still showed. I will call the dealership tomorrow.

Although you haven't isolated the problem between the front and rear, you could take a look at the connector to the BBS. The rear suspension feeds directly into it and several have noted various problems which have originated in this area, often the result of moisture/condensation in the connector. Remove, inspect, and clean the connector. Even on a bike that's running perfectly, experiencing no problems whatsoever, it's not at all uncommon to remove the connector and find condensation present, albeit somewhat difficult to detect with the naked eye. And while a small amount may not present an issue. an excessive amount will obviously be problematic... worth taking a look at. In any event, post what you come with.

Thanks for the suggestions. I will give it a try tomorrow.

Inspected and cleaned all connectors today. Still no luck. Will take a short ride this weekend and see if the computer can reset itself. Since the fork oil has not been replaced from new for last 7 years, they are definitely over due. Would it possibly cause this fuzz?

You've inspected and cleaned all relevant electrical connectors, including the BBS, and no luck, huh? Although more labor intensive as the nose fairing must be removed, the connector to the dash pad can be checked as well... the front suspension componentry feeds directly to it. With regards to the problem, the condition of the fork oil is a nonissue. Again, I would imagine that diagnostic software, such as MelcoDiag, may help to narrow down the location of the failure. I don't have the electronic suspension so I can't confirm one way or another, but I would think that the DTC's pertaining to a DES failure would have been created in such a way as to allow service personnel to differentiate between front left rebound/compression, front right rebound/compression, and rear rebound/compression failures. That information would at least put you on the right path. Worst case (before running to the dealer), break out a meter and the electrical schematic and ring out the wiring.

Khmer1199 said:

You've inspected and cleaned all relevant electrical connectors, including the BBS, and no luck, huh? Although more labor intensive as the nose fairing must be removed, the connector to the dash pad can be checked as well... the front suspension componentry feeds directly to it. With regards to the problem, the condition of the fork oil is a nonissue. Again, I would imagine that diagnostic software, such as MelcoDiag, may help to narrow down the location of the failure. I don't have the electronic suspension so I can't confirm one way or another, but I would think that the DTC's pertaining to a DES failure would have been created in such a way as to allow service personnel to differentiate between front left rebound/compression, front right rebound/compression, and rear rebound/compression failures. That information would at least put you on the right path. Worst case (before running to the dealer), break out a meter and the electrical schematic and ring out the wiring.

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Thanks for the suggestion. I will try to take the nose fairing off this weekend . I have read another post about a loose connector causing the DES error. Any tips on how to remove it?

ed03feng said:

Thanks for the suggestion. I will try to take the nose fairing off this weekend . I have read another post about a loose connector causing the DES error. Any tips on how to remove it?

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Which connector are you referring to... and are you referring to the wiring harness portion of the connector or the portion built into either the fork or the shock? With a multi-meter and the electrical schematic, you can remove the connector from the dash pad, open the connectors at the fork (slide the weather boots out of the way and carefully open the connectors), and check for wiring harness continuity. Likewise, at the rear, open the BBS connector, the rebound and compression connectors for the rear shock, and verify wiring harness continuity. Should the problem turn out to be in the wiring harness, you'll have to determine what corrective measures should be taken and proceed accordingly. If the problem is with the shock assembly proper, I don't know what repair options are available, and should the problem be in either of the forks, I don't believe replacement components are sold individually, but rather the complete fork cap must be replaced. It is possible, however, that individual replacement components may be purchased through Ohlins... you'd have to check. More than likely, your problem is in the wiring harness/harness connector, either one of the forks, or the shock... meaning that It's unlikely that there's any issue with communication as your bike isn't experiencing any other problems... information is being communicated between all nodes on the network.

I was able to remove the nose and check all connectors on the front shocks, the connectors from the rear shocks to the bbs, the connector from the wiring loom to the front screen, and the connector to the BBS. Here what I noticed. When I disconnect the connectors on the front forks and the screen as well as the connectors of the rear shock rebound/compression, the DES error still showed. When I reconnected them and disconnected the connector to the BBS, the DES error no longer showed but just the BBS error. Does it mean that the issue being rear shock?

That could be indicative of a problem with the rear shock, but if you still have the bike apart... with the BBS disconnected (only BBS error on the dash), remove the connector from one of the forks... does it produce a DES error? If yes, you may be on to something, in which case, try to validate your suspicions before tearing into/servicing the shock. I don't have the electronic suspension so I'm unfamiliar with what's observed during normal operation. For example, if you adjust the rebound or compression, front or rear, can you hear the actuators operate? Even if you can't, you should be able to change settings from one extreme to the other and manually exercise the suspension to determine if the shock is responding (harder to determine in the front of course as you have two forks). If the answer to the above is "no" (no DES indication appears on the dash with the BBS disconnected and a connector removed from one of the forks), then it may be due to the manner in which the nodes have been designed to communicate/process errors. Should that be the case, diagnostic software may again prove to be a useful troubleshooting aid. I'm not trying to sell you on diagnostic software, but there are times when simply being able to read the DTC's will prove invaluable.

Thanks for the suggestion. I will give it a try this week.

Tried your approach of disconnecting the bbs and the front fork connectors, the des error did not pop up but just the bbs error code. Guess I have to get the bike to the dealership for further diagnosis.

Yeah, that's why I asked... the manner in which errors are processed then suggests that after you originally disconnected the BBS and observed that the DES error disappeared, that that alone may not be enough to confirm a problem with the rear suspension, nor does it eliminate the possibility of the same. We know that all the DTC's are stored in the BBS and that the BBS is an integral part of error reporting/processing. The observation that you shared by taking the BBS out of the loop and noting that a BBS error showed on the dash suggests that another node (perhaps the dash pad) processed that error. Some other errors (perhaps "CAN LINE" or "UNKNOWN DEVICE") may be processed similarly. That information may be good to know... something to thing about anyway... thanks for sharing. What about the other observations... can you hear the actuators operate when the settings are changed? When you maximize/minimize rebound/compression settings, can you confirm their operation by exercising the suspension? That should be very easy to confirm in the rear. The front may be more difficult to confirm as the failure of the rebound or compression circuit in a single fork may be more difficult to discern. In any event, the dealership will be able to read the DTC's and narrow down the source of the problem. Let us know what you come up with.

I can hear the actuators working on both front and rear when I changed the setting. I will take a short ride tomorrow and see.

Just a quick update for everyone. After taking to the dealership for a week, they were not able to diagnose the root cause. They said it would be either the harness or the bbs unit (duh...). Now what?

Wow, just wow "CERIFIED / FACTORY TRAINED..."
and that is diagnosis after one week in dealership!?