UK Monster Owners Club Forum » .: Technical :. » Engines, Clutch, Gears » M900 Starter Q

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Old 15-09-2019, 01:30 PM   #1
CarloL
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M900 Starter Q

Bike M900 1997

Just quick Q, sometimes when I try to turn the bike over in the morning after it is sitting up all night , it sounds like the starter just spins up (high pitched spinning sound) as opposed to the crank trying to turn over the pistons on compression

It is completely random if it will do it on hitting the starter button but only consistency is , it happens when the bike is stone cold

She starts up great once warmed up

Maybe it is from a weak battery? Even though I drive it daily , battery needs a charge after 3 weeks (no means of using a trickle charger unfortunately), 2 phase system is not great

I am in the process of upgrading the cables with Exact start cables , nearly twice the guage as the OE

Battery is a few months old, I think I will have to take it out every couple of weeks to charge over night until I have provision to use a trickle charger
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Old 15-09-2019, 03:45 PM   #2
utopia
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That sounds to me like the starter sprag is failing.
It a kind of centrifugal clutch which engages the starter to the engine when the starter spins up.
I can't speak from personal experience as mine has always been fine but your symptoms point in that direction.
I believe its quite a common fault on older Ducatis.
I have no idea why it should only happen when the bike is cold though.
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Old 15-09-2019, 06:06 PM   #3
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Yep, sounds like the Sprag clutch to me too.

It's possibly only happening when cold because expansion of the parts when hot is accounting for the wear that's causing it to fail when cold.

It's an easy enough job to put it right with new parts, but does involve removing the Left Hand Side engine cover, and draining the oil.

Nasher.
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Old 15-09-2019, 07:04 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nasher View Post
..........does involve removing the Left Hand Side engine cover, and draining the oil.

Nasher.
Can be done in that order, but generally less messy if you take the oil out first!
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Old 15-09-2019, 07:48 PM   #5
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thanks

She only has 7K Km on her , turning into a money pit this bike
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Old 18-09-2019, 07:57 PM   #6
CarloL
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Fitted the Exact Start Cables, bike fires up at a wiff of the button , running great , I still have to install the earth and Starter Solenoid to Starter cable(Nut is seized)

Cable from the Battery to starter solenoid is just fitted
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Old 18-09-2019, 08:08 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CarloL View Post
Fitted the Exact Start Cables, bike fires up at a wiff of the button , running great , I still have to install the earth and Starter Solenoid to Starter cable(Nut is seized)

Cable from the Battery to starter solenoid is just fitted
The cables made a big difference - good to know.
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Old 18-09-2019, 08:36 PM   #8
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Provided the original cables are not internally corroded, then just cleaning up the mating faces to bright metal will make all the difference. After all, they did work once.
The connections suffer from Verdigris building up and adding resistance. It comes off fairly easily with a wire brush or some wire wool.
New leads should also be connected to bright clean metal.

Be very careful with the starter motor terminal. If the threaded post turns it could be very bad. Sometimes there is a square on the end of the post to help you hold it while you try and turn the nut.
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Old 18-09-2019, 08:53 PM   #9
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I second what Gazza said about the nut on the starter motor terminal. If the stud turns it tends to rip out the internal cable connections. Safer to use a splitter or hacksaw to cut the nut off the stud then clean it up well before vaselining and fitting the new cable with new nut.
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Old 20-09-2019, 05:38 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr Gazza View Post
Provided the original cables are not internally corroded, then just cleaning up the mating faces to bright metal will make all the difference. After all, they did work once.
The connections suffer from Verdigris building up and adding resistance. It comes off fairly easily with a wire brush or some wire wool.
New leads should also be connected to bright clean metal.
Mr G is quite correct in this however, certainly in my experience of swapping the leads (I made my own up at work) on my 1997 900 the original wires were of marginal cross section, all the terminals were Brass (rather than better conducting Copper) and after the twenty years or thereabouts when I changed them and without properly sealed ends there was always going to be a fair amount of internal corrosion.

I didn't actually measure the resistance before I changed them (I wish I had now just for my own record) but my bike has never started so easily in all the years I've owned it.
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