Ducati parts bin starter on my 696, gutted

So as directed by you kind gentlefolk I have started a separate post on this issue. Went to start up the bike for the first ride of the year and bike wouldn't turn over. Checked the power all the way down to the starter and all looked fine. Battery is healthy. Had the starter removed and disassembled and this is what has been reported...

'there are 3 faults with the starter, the oil seal to protect it from the engine oil has gone, one of the brushes has lost connection from the brush wiring, also the rotor is so worn to the point its the worst wear I have ever seen. As soon as I had opened it there was the distinctive smell of burnt electrics, there is no repair possible with this unit..'

The bike has done 5k miles in 6 years mostly 50-100 mile weekend runs, garaged it's whole life and pampered where possible, service every year regardless of mileage, only drinks unleaded super etc, etc. You get the picture.

I'm now faced with a parts bill of £370. I don't know why this has happened nor if it will happen again if I throw £500+ at it? Someone suggested West Country Windings any opinions? Perhaps someone can recommend a breaker that might have a sound unit?

I'll try to get a picture up, laptop has developed a random fault and can't upload on the phone. Grrr

Yo Kameloil

Found these on e-bay, they may be of interest to you.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-HQ-Duc...UAAOSwu4BV4N8I

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-STARTE...oAAMXQqExRmjoE

Good luck, I hate leccy probs!!

[alan c]

Well spotted Taff.

I just spoke to Shuffy as he had problem with starter motor on his S2R 1000. He fitted a replacement from Electrex world as much cheaper option, worth giving them a call.

[Nasher]

Originally Posted by Kameloil

the oil seal to protect it from the engine oil has gone,

Is this a trusted mate doing the work or a paid mechanic?

'Gone' is an expression that doesn't have any place in a report on a customers bike. Worn, broken up, or damaged is what I'd expect to see from anyone who knew what they were doing.

Also, he should be asking the question why so much wear has occurred in such a small amount of use, at least asking if you have to turn the bike over for long periods to start it.
Or is he hoping to charge you to change it again in two years time?

Nasher.

[Darren69]

Originally Posted by Nasher

Is this a trusted mate doing the work or a paid mechanic?

'Gone' is an expression that doesn't have any place in a report on a customers bike. Worn, broken up, or damaged is what I'd expect to see from anyone who knew what they were doing.

Also, he should be asking the question why so much wear has occurred in such a small amount of use, at least asking if you have to turn the bike over for long periods to start it.
Or is he hoping to charge you to change it again in two years time?

Nasher.

Does he mean it's missing altogether perhaps?

[Saint aka ML]

Playing devils advocate here but if you only do 5k miles in 6 years depending on conditions of storage and the 5k miles when used it motor will get damaged

It gets wet, never has time to dry and corrosion starts, that would make it overheat and work less efficienlty very quickly which would lead to burned out motor.

Also motor replacement is a quick job so it should never reach 500GBP for repair.

I have a 999 starter motor (2k miles from new) and older SS motor if you interested.
Both purchased for below 50GBP on ebay.
I keep them as my Monster that I do not use that often eats them often.

Taff thanks for the links, I’ll follow up to see if I can get an Electrex model that fits the bike, seems like the best option. Alan thanks for the cross check on what Shuffy used.
Nasher The guy I use is a very competent mechanic that has worked on Ducati's for many years. Where I live I’m 120 miles from the nearest Ducati dealer so rather than go to a Honda or Triumph dealer I’ve used the most qualified guy I can find.

The point about turning the bike over is an interesting one. I (still) assume my bike is difficult to start and all Ducatis are like this. It takes 3 or 4 starts to get her going and it’s the reason I fitted an Optimate originally, to ensure a full charge and no drop whilst I try to get her going. I have to fiddle with the fast idle lever to get her going most times. Does this mean that I have stressed the starter motor 3 or 4 times more than normal? If it does and I’m the weak point then that is a relief as we’ve found the problem, user error However I feel that perhaps the unit has never really worked well so there may have been an underlying issue all along.

Labour is estimated as an hour strip down and an hour to refit. I think that’s reasonable considering he came out to me twice, once to check it out originally and a second time to strip it. 10 miles each way.

Darren I’ll ask about the oil seal and my only concern here is if this is something Ducati would consider as a warranty issue? Ultimately I wouldn’t expect to have to change out a unit that is 10% of the bike value at 5k miles.

Saint the bike is kept in a garage and rarely sees wet weather, it gets cleaned with a hose and bucket and a spray of FS365 to dry. Then back inside before getting a dust sheet and back on charge. Short of tucking her in I’m not sure there’s much more I can do.

I’m interested in starter motor that fits my bike, a 696 ABS from 2011 otherwise it’s an eBay level risk. I don’t want to add any additional fettling/engineering to allow fitment so would like something that is plug and play. Please advise or PM me if you prefer.

Again thank you all for your comments.

Tried everything to upload a picture but failed

[Darren69]

You can't upload photos direct to the site. You have to load up to a hosting site like Photobucket or Postimage and then paste the link here.

Oki doki so here are the links via Postimage, photobucket wouldnt set up an account for some reason?

Mechanical carnage, anybody want to hazzard a guess whats happened here?














posted image

[Dirty]

Seems to me something has got loose and done the damage. Ouch!

£370 for a starter! Hells teeth.

I have serviced a lot of monster starter motors, but never seen anything as bad as this. Could be that someone might have fitted the wrong spec. brush set that didn't fit in the holders properly, which would explain the state of the commutator.

[Dukedesmo]

Originally Posted by markh

£370 for a starter! Hells teeth.

Indeed, and to have failed/been bodged at this low mileage seems a bit odd. My 916 is 19 yrs old, done almost 50k miles and the original starter is still going strong.

Don't know what a starter costs but assuming £80 (electrex) and that it wouldn't take more than an hour to swap it over, I wouldn't expect the bill to be more than £200 at the most.

[Blah blah]

+1 for Electix World, £82 for a new starter, sometimes ebay isn't cheaper.... Is it that difficult to remove and replace yourself?

[utopia]

At 5k miles in 6k years, I wouldn't have expected the starter to have needed any replacement brushes yet. My 750 has done 22k miles on the original, untouched starter. Always starts as soon as I touch the button too.
Having said that, the brushes in yours do look to be canted at an angle in the holders, as if they're too small. Maybe they have been replaced already (with the wrong ones). If so, that would be premature though and would suggest some other fault being the root cause.
I'm assuming that the bearings are still ok, otherwise your mechanic would have mentioned it.
His report seems to be very "proper" actually .. but the price to put it right is a bit stiff to say the least. He's certainly correct about your starter being beyond repair anyway.
If it was my bike, I would possibly get hold of a used starter, maybe replace the brushes and fit that.
But if the Electrex unit can be had new for £80 odd quid, that sounds like a better deal.
I suspect that you'll never know the true cause of the problem, but my guess would be that it is limited to the starter itself, and replacing that will very probably be a full cure.
On the other hand, I would be slightly loathe to fit expensive, genuine ducati parts, just in case there is some unknown issue which takes the new one out too .. although I kinda doubt that would happen.

You learn something new every day.
I didn't know they used 4 brushes.
Previous starters in my experience have only had 2.