Ducati Sporting Club UK > Model Specific - Discussion, Technical Problems and Help > 998 / 996 / 916 / 748 > sick 996s

[ss29]

I was doing a trackday on my 2001 996s (3375miles) today and after about 6 laps the oil light came on so i pulled over and shut of the engine,after getting a trailer and returning to the pits i removed the body work and inspected the engine, all clear no oil leaks, so i started it and the oil light went off and the engine sounded fine, after about 5 seconds runing i gave the throttle a blip and i heard a knocking noise ( metal on metal) so i cut the engine again. Help !!!!, doesn't sound good to me and my knowledge of engines is poor, any suggestions on the problem, size of repair job and the cost would be greatfull accepted. Manythanks

[Karl]

SS29, sounds more than likely your big end shells are buggered, if you bought it from a dealer take it back for Warranty repair cause its going to need a bottom end rebuild.
Otherwise there are independents like AJ Racing, Cornerspeed,Sigma, and Motorapido who will be able to do it. Others maybe able to give you an idea of cost.

[ziggi]

Check this post out although this was only a problem in early bikes but worth a read anyway.

[Ray]

Before you wade into an engine rebuild get someone who knows what they are doing to be 100% certain the motor is broken.

It is a long shot but the oil pressure switch could be faulty, they don't always leak when they are broken.

Has the alternator nut come loose, very long shot!

Guido had similar symptoms to you but we did try and cheer him up intially by suggesting it could be one of the above!

Don't wanna give false hope but you wanna be sure before you get the motor in bits.

Don't want to start the great oil debate again but what engine oil are you using?

Ray

[Felix]

Ahhh, you see, Ray, I am covered as I only extra virgin olive oil!

[ss29]

Ray, i'll have a look at your suggestions this evening "heres hoping" but knowing my luck it will be melt down. As for the oil i only changed it 500mls ago with castrol fully synthetic as well as the oil filter. Though i only bought the bike about 7 months ago as a private sale so what was used i don't know, but its last service was with tecmoto at 2500mls.I live in Northern Ireland so finding a good ducati specialist is difficult, unless anybody knows different i would be greatfull of the info.
manthanks for the reply.

[Dukerob]

Is there a bit of a Castrol theme here ? Guy, what were you running in the R ? Just a thought.....

Yours scaremongering.....DR

[Rushjob]

Oy, Rob, behave!

[bostrom998]

Good luck mate......hope it's not the main bearings. Had them go on my Senna two years ago, same sketch, on Indy circuit at Brands dicing with Martin Child and giving a good account of meself, oil light comes on, back to pits, kncking noise and general "not rightness", VERY gentle coaxing to trailer, then despite it being 1 year out of warranty Ducati UK paid for everything. Push them hard despite it being out of warranty, tell them you've recommended loads of mates, you're the ideal profile owner etc etc, i.e. give it large, and the chances are they'll bite the bullet and stump up, for the new engine (if that's what's needed) at least even if you have to pay labour. Push hard, they're keen to maintain image and not have any more nasty reliability stories flying around. Try Luke Plummer at Duc UK as a first stop?

[ss29]

cheers for the advice bostrom998, i'll send them an email anything is worth a try. Did you ever find out why this happened to your bike or is it just one of the joys of ducati ownership.Though i did buy a new 916 back in 1998 and had it two years and did approx 30 trackdays on it and put 5,800mls on it without a problem. When i spoke to the mechanic at the local ducati dealer about the problem i have with my 996s he told me they had a spate of the same problem with 996's last year. Though i must say hearing that didn't make me feel any better !