Trouble starting the V4S

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Nadsy

Nadsy

Joined
Aug 22, 2019
Messages
113
Location
Australia
Hi Guys,

Has anyone else had trouble starting their V4 in the morning? It only started after my first service, and at first it seemed to coincide with it having been ridden in the rain, but the last two mornings have disproved that.

In the last 6 weeks, it's probably happened once or twice a week, with it becoming more frequent.

I've been told to charge the bike, and add some injector cleaner, but a) the bike does 80Kms a day (with 50% highway), and cranks with no trouble during the failed starts; and b) it gets a fresh tank of fuel every 2.5 days.

It just sounds like it's not getting fuel. I've tried someones suggestion of opening the fuel cap to see if there is a lock somewhere in the system, but it doesn't seem to work. Somewhere between the 6th and 15th crank, it will come to life, and may not be a problem for a week. I always try with a closed throttle first, and then try various combos of throttle.

Anyway... the actual question is has anyone else had this issue, and if so, how was it solved. I am going to take it in, but I just know it's going to be one of the 'we can't reproduce it' issues.

Cheers,

NAds.
 
Are you starting in first gear with the clutch in or in neutral?

Sent from my SM-G977B using Tapatalk
 
n8V4 said:
Are you starting in first gear with the clutch in or in neutral?

Sent from my SM-G977B using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Always neutral in the mornings. Only time I start in gear is after filling up (or situations where I've just parked, and the bike is already warm). Never had trouble in gear when warm.

We're running weather at 20 - 30 C here at the moment. When I first got the bike, it was 0 - 8 C, and never had an issue.
 
Mine is often hard to start when cold as well. Usually takes two attempts, three on a rough morning. I leave the trickle charger hooked up anytime it's parked up more than overnight

Sent from my SM-G977B using Tapatalk
 
n8V4 said:
Mine is often hard to start when cold as well. Usually takes two attempts, three on a rough morning. I leave the trickle charger hooked up anytime it's parked up more than overnight

Sent from my SM-G977B using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Righto,

I'll give the trickle charger a go tonight given it's happened 2 mornings in a row.

Ta mate.
 
I had the same problem starting in the morning since I changed the exhaust and I removed the charcoal canister starts first time every time I think it’s the old mapping new upload for akra slip ons it’s a different bike.
 
besides possible electric issues e.g. due to damaged/torn wiring shorting to ground or corrosion (are all connectors properly seated?), how ‘vivid’ does it crank?
Like barely making each crank or swift/lively?

The latter could be due to a partly damaged/ faulty Lion battery ?
What’s the voltage of battery before after initial cranking?

Have your dealer also check condition of its sparkplugs. Contaminated plugs indicate pour fueling/ combustion. While checking plugs they could also check compression per cylinder to validate proper sealing of valves in -seats. If combustion issue carbon residue on both plugs a/o valves (-seats) will be found. Both together with moist environment commonly results in pour cold starts.

Good luck hunting this vague issue possibly even having multiple combined root-causes.
 
before it potentially lets you down/stranded, let your shop look at it....make sure your roadside assistance is up to date.....keep us informed :)
 
RdashP said:
besides possible electric issues e.g. due to damaged/torn wiring shorting to ground or corrosion (are all connectors properly seated?), how "˜vivid' does it crank?
Like barely making each crank or swift/lively?

The latter could be due to a partly damaged/ faulty Lion battery ��?
What's the voltage of battery before after initial cranking?

Have your dealer also check condition of its sparkplugs. Contaminated plugs indicate pour fueling/ combustion. While checking plugs they could also check compression per cylinder to validate proper sealing of valves in -seats. If combustion issue carbon residue on both plugs a/o valves (-seats) will be found. Both together with moist environment commonly results in pour cold starts.

Good luck hunting this vague issue possibly even having multiple combined root-causes.
Click to expand...

Hey mate,

Thanks for this. Yeah, the cranking seems solid. I can go five minutes cranking about 10 - 15 times, and it still cranks solid. I will check the voltage next time.

After parking it up at work for 8 hours, it's never missed. Just in the morning.

Ta
 
I had this issue when I first got my V4 and it turned out to be bad gas. Only happened when the bike sat for a while (mornings, end of long work days) and I had recently gotten gas at a particular gas station. Figured out it was because their gas is ...., ran seafoam through it and never got gas there again, problem never resurfaced throughout the 7k miles or so since.
 
My V4S Corse has 2000kms and has just started doing this. Last 5 days it takes 5 - 10 mins to get going. Battery cranks well all the time, just for some strange reason, decided when it's cold (about 14-18 Deg C) it's not going to go.

When it finally runs, it splutters and sounds like it's running on 2 or 3 cyl and has real bad throttle lag

Going through the dealership now for other issues but this is a new one for me...

If I find out, I'll post an update, good luck with yours... :)

ps - 98 RON fuel replaced regulary. When it does warm up, starts everytime after the obg couple of revs
 
RobP69 said:
My V4S Corse has 2000kms and has just started doing this. Last 5 days it takes 5 - 10 mins to get going. Battery cranks well all the time, just for some strange reason, decided when it's cold (about 14-18 Deg C) it's not going to go.

When it finally runs, it splutters and sounds like it's running on 2 or 3 cyl and has real bad throttle lag

Going through the dealership now for other issues but this is a new one for me...

If I find out, I'll post an update, good luck with yours... :)

ps - 98 RON fuel replaced regulary. When it does warm up, starts everytime after the obg couple of revs
Click to expand...

I don't dare to say this is your problem and it will be your solution, but this is what i was adviced: use 95 RON in the V4. The engine has very high compression, and in combination with high RON, it can cause trouble starting.
I noticed this as well, previous winter. I only fuel 95 RON now and never had any issue since
 
Thanks for the info @realnuts, I'll take it onboard and give it a go - Cheers :)
 
If you're running 98 RON, then I reckon this will definitely be the issue. It's been discussed by a fair few people on this forum as well as facebook pages.

When I had my V4S, I put 98 RON into it from day one, thinking that the higher octane is obviously better for a performance engine. My bike would always struggle on a cold start, it would splatter and sometimes not turn over for 2-3 minutes, then it would finally fire up and be fine until the next cold start. I finally called my Ducati dealer and he said that a few people had the same problem and to just run it on 95 RON and that'll fix the cold start issue. I thought that he was just giving me a stupid solution that wasn't going to work.
So I filled up with 95 RON and my bike fired up instantly. It had never started up with such ease before. I never had a cold start issue from then
 
Funny you should say that... recently my goto Caltex servo stopped serving 98ron, and replaced all 98 bowsers with e10. I went to the nearest BP, and put ultimate in it.

this’ll sound stupid... the BP felt like I lost a bit of power (in the same riding config, it felt like I was riding in too high a gear). However, for the first tank in a while I didn’t have starting issues. After the tank of BP, I decided to try Caltex 95ron. 3 tanks in, it’s started first time every time, and the power ‘feels’ better than the BP.

fingers X!!
 
I think all these issues would be solved by having your bike’s ECU flashed with something like BrennTuning which has worked well for me, or some other tuning alternative.

it should be specific to whatever exhaust you have on the bike, yes even stock

Also might want to consider removing the EVAP canister

I remember when the 2020 BMW S1000RRfirst launched and ppl we’re having idle and cold start issues. Not to mention 40+hp loss in the midrange. ECU software tune took care of all of that

brentuningmoto.com

2018-2019 Ducati V4 / V4S / Speciale Handheld Diagnostic Tool (Stage 1)

Remove your restrictions with a BT Moto and unlock your Ducati V4 / V4S / Speciale with our handheld flasher.
brentuningmoto.com
 
I went out to start my Speciale for a quick ride over the holidays. Hadn't been started for a few weeks. Took a lot more attempts than I thought it should have to start and stay running....so many I was worried about running the battery down. I always use the high octane stuff and it's 100% gas, no ethanol.
 
What octane number is the bike tuned for from the factory? I don't think most places in the world have 98?

I have been using 98 and it's a pig to start in the mornings. I takes 3 attempts at least with the bike in neutral to get it going. Even then it only just kicks over and takes 20seconds of nearly stalling again to settle at idle.

I'm going to try 95, just interested if there is a noticeable drop in power.

Sent from my SM-G977B using Tapatalk
 

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