[Toddy959]

Gday new to the forum from queensland aus. Never owned a duke before, but got my first baby about 2 months ago. Only ever owned jap litre bikes before this. She is a 2016 959 with 3500km on the clock. All services correct and cosmeticaly A1. She has been a little temperamental since owning though. I have noticed as of the last week or so, that when the bike reaches 103celcius in stop start traffic, the fans kick in and she cools just like any other bike...... BUT the orange triangle warning light has been coming on everytime she reaches this point!! As soon as she cools down with fans on it goes away, but as soon as stopped and heated back up, it comes strait back. Surely this warning light at 103 celcius isnt normal? Can anyone please shed some light on what i should be doing,? I only have 2 months of the factory warranty left too, which transferred over from last owner. Have also checked in menu and there a no stored or active codes. Just dont wanna do any major damage to my baby, she is the newest and most expensive bike i have ever owned. If anyone can help, thanks in advance. Todd

 

[Cotonete]

I have seen mine at 104 Celsius and has never triggered any warning lights whatsoever.


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[Dingo]

Hey @Toddy959 , congrats on your purchase and welcome to the Family! About what you're experiencing, it's par for the course - here's what I suggest... try and find this product or something like it - https://www.redlineoil.com/supercool-with-waterwetter - it really works and can drop the operating temp 10 degrees

 

[Toddy959]

Gday dingo, cheers for your reply. The first month or so when reaching these temps in stop start traffic, the warning light never appeared. Thats why i thought odd that its just started. I just replicated this in my driveway on camera to show a workshop. At 104celcius the light came on and stayed on, i cut bike off and started strait away and it didnt come back second time. In driveway idling is the hottest its been, 106 celcius but then fans took it back down few degres. So you think dont worry too much? Your advice will be highly listened too. The lical suzuki dealer sells the water wetter, its the only place ive seen it actually. Hear you guys talk about it often over there on various forums, but musnt be a huge seller here. I will definately try this. I just dont wanna do any damage. Have you or anyone else had theres generic warning light come on around this time? Cheers

 

[Kev242]

Double check your coolant level as well, it is a pain in the arse to see, and probably better off making your own "dipstick" to accurately know the level but this could be the culprit.

 

[DJ Shrug]

There's something wrong, but temp-wise, 104C shouldn't kick out an error. Mine normally runs at 216F (102C) but I've had my bike show "HOT" without orange light error, so there's something else going on.


It seems like you tried to check the codes, but see if you can get it to show the orange light, then immediately (ie. keep the bike hot, don't let it cool) follow the "error indication" steps and check the code. Since the light disappears when it cools down, perhaps if you read it when the bike is over temp, it might show the code.

 

[Dingo]

I've yet to have any light come on. I'm not a good judge of running temps because I use SuperCool - it can only help lower the running temp, can't hurt.
I think @DJ Shrug has a point - something isn't right based on your description @Toddy959 . If it's the sensor itself or a bad connection, I'd bring it in and have them go thru it. One question though @Toddy959 - have you seen any coolant weeping from the weep hole on the left side of the motor, or from the overflow below the engine - when it's at the hottest and the light is on the dash?

 

[Toddy959]

Gday fellas, cheers again for the help. SO I TOOK off left side fairings tonight andYES @Dingo i can see a little hole in one of the crevices on the side of the motor, sort of just above and in from clutch slave cylinder and theres a little bit of bright pink liquid. Is this coolant? Its trail leads to that tiny little hole with no bolt or anything in it. I got my hand in there to wipe some up and it doesnt have a smell. Its a little bit jelly in consistency. Maybe coolant thats cooked on the motor? All help appreciated. Im booked with brisbane motorcycles next week, but would rather try and diagnose and fix myself as most places here in queensland charge heaps and do little!!! Or at least i can go in with this wealth of info and they’ll realise they cant try and blow smoke up my a!s

 

[Toddy959]

Also will try and see if it seeps whilst running in the morning. Unfortunately cant try now as the neighbours wont be to impressed. Just read through other threads and noticed this thing is a problem!!! So now ive got a warning light every now and then and a bloody coolant leak. It definately is just few drops coming out of tiny hole and after checking closer it looks like its around the the hose clamp above this point also. Just contacted last owner about warranty transfer and to see if I’ll have any problems at the shop, and he finally disclosed to me that the place where he purchased ,installed a kit a few months ago for this leak. He never let me know that when inspecting to buy. Oh well silly me hey!!! He rekons his dealer said ducati have sent out certain kits to there dealers to solve this issue. ??? And apparently mine has had this installed!!! But after @Dingo asked me to check, i definately have a few drops of pink in this area. 2 problems to fix now!!! Maybe i should of stuck with the japs, never had these issues with any of them, and they were nowhere near as expensive!!! Just always wanted a ducati since i was a kid, hope it all works out!!!

 

[DJ Shrug]

Yep, that pink jelly is just cooked on/dried OEM coolant. It could be a loose hose clamp or weeping. Coolant weeping is relatively "normal" and might be a warranty claim. I wasn't successful in getting mine fixed, but over time (2 years, 12000 miles), it seemed to have fixed itself. This is the first time I've heard about these kits to fix the issue - not saying it doesn't exist, but the previous owner might be saying things to get you off his case. Regardless, coolant leaking also does not result in the orange error light, there has to be something else going on.

Sounds like you were pawned off a potentially bad bike, especially since the previous owner didn't tell you these things upfront. Tough to say whether or not this is a "Ducati" issue and you potentially could have similar issues with literally any other manufacturer. Don't be the minority that makes poor reliability and Ducati synonymous to the masses, its certainly not the case in the current generation of Ducatis.

 

[Toddy959]

Yes i know problems are widespread in all brands, didnt mean to bag ducati, i love em!!! Just stressing out now and second guessing my choice. I was so close to pulling the trigger on a new r1, but the duke kept in my head and i couldnt get her out!!! Haha. Hopefully all works out and i can stop stressing. One thing i forgot to mention too is that the bike hasnt missed a beat or played up in any way. Have leaks and a warning light, but bike still appears to be running flawlessly!!! Will report back there findings and will also enquire about this (kit). Thanks again for advice and some reassurance. Im also reminding myself that on forums you always hear people venting and reporting problems, this is just a minority .

 

[Dingo]

@Toddy959 I wouldn't get your panties all up in a bunch about the weeping, that hole in the side of the engine "is there for a reason." I agree it sucks the previous owner didn't tell you Everything about the bike - I believe most if not all of us on the forum have seen some bit of fluid, however small an amount like in my case, come from that hole, or worse like @DJ Shrug's case. The fluid coming from other locations might just be a clamp. Be sure you can replicate the light going on when you bring the bike to the shop for service - it's hard to diagnose a ghost in the shell. I find it hard to believe the bike isn't spitting fluid out the overflow when it's near overheating...

 

[Toddy959]

Bout to go for a ride this arvo, will see if any fluid pours out when warm. Hasnt overheated yet.........i think. Gets up to 103-106celcius max and fans take it back to 99-100celcius. I believe these are normal operating temps??? Just so happens that the warning light has started to come on around this time+temp. Related, im not sure.... will see what happens this arvo. Got a 50km ride to go pick something up. In the city in traffic too. Will see how she goes and report back. Its good to get advice from blokes who have or have had these machines. The advice is much appreciated. And the knickers arnt in a knot...,,,yet!!! Haha

 

[Connor_ctk]

[assuming you know where the radiator is] A picture of your radiator would help. If there isn’t a radiator guard on the bike I’d expect lots of dents and things on the radiator. Maybe shooting some compressed air in the radiator could get any dirt off and increase the air flows surface area. If you are still having problems I’d just drain it which is on the left side and fill it back up with a bottle of waterwhetter and the rest with water.

 

[Toddy959]

Quick update fellas, bike went into shop this morning and i just got a call from the ducati tech that worked on my bike. All fixed and picking up in morning!!! Yeahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!! He said something to do with the programming was causing the generic warning light. 2 codes why light lit up. Stop light and exhaust fault codes. I think he said something about exhaust servo or something like that. Will double check the paperwork when i pick up tommorrow. Programming fixed it up and codes cleared now. Just want to say thanks again for the help and advice fellas!!!! Also asked about the few drops of coolant that come out here and there out of that little drain hole thingy and they said from all the bikes they work on, its very normal. So on the weekend im going to buy and put this watter wetter in also. Is most of it pre mixed or concentrated? Add anything else or strictly watter wetter only? Or engine ice if i can get it? Sorry, its not a huge product over here, so cant get much advice off mates ect. Thanks again and safe riding men!!! Todd

 

[Toddy959]

Also @connor ctk, she’s had gaurds put on radiators, top and lower since day one. So they in perfect nick.

 

[DJ Shrug]

So on the weekend im going to buy and put this watter wetter in also. Is most of it pre mixed or concentrated? Add anything else or strictly watter wetter only? Or engine ice if i can get it? Sorry, its not a huge product over here, so cant get much advice off mates ect. Thanks again and safe riding men!!! Todd

It's an additive so you're not running a whole lot of it. For Water Wetter, its 1 oz. per quart of water; I'm sure it's similar with Engine Ice.

Also @connor ctk, she’s had gaurds put on radiators, top and lower since day one. So they in perfect nick.

Don't forget to check and clean it once in a while, you could have a rock lodged between the radiator and the guard that eventually grinds through the radiator.

 

[Connor_ctk]

Drain the radiator. Buy a bottle of water wetter, poor the whole bottle in, top it off with hose water.not worth the stress over measuring it out. The less the water’s surface tension is equal better results

 

[Dingo]

@Toddy959 - this is all you need, in volume, to replace most all the stock coolant in the system. Drain all of the stock coolant out that you can, and simply pour all of that in. It's pre-mixed so no need for anything else. I don't suggest getting Only "Water Wetter" and filling with tap water - you want the all-in-one solution that has distilled water.


edit - if you want to drain absolutely all stock fluid, including fluid still in motor, add another small 12oz bottle of

.

 

[Kruz]

There's something wrong, but temp-wise, 104C shouldn't kick out an error. Mine normally runs at 216F (102C) but I've had my bike show "HOT" without orange light error, so there's something else going on.

To be honest, I never pay much attention to my coolant temp, an ignorance is bliss kind of thing I suppose; but started checking it this morning after reading this thread. Ambient temperature was 82 F with very high humidity and a 90 F heat index. I flogged on it pretty hard for about ten minutes and I was at 189 F. Another 10 minutes of spirited riding and I was in the mid 190 F range.

I got into traffic and slowed to a crawl and temp seemed to stabilize at about 214 F.

It sounds pretty normal for these, they do seem to run a bit hotter than the typical Jap sportbike though, they're typically in the low 180 F range while out beating on it at this ambient temp, so about 10-12 degrees F warmer for the 959.