Ducati Sporting Club UK > Model Specific - Discussion, Technical Problems and Help > Sport Touring: ST4 / ST3 / ST2 > Dropped a half ring down an oil way

[Derek]

A friend of mine withan ST2 has just dropped a valve half ring down the oil drain way on the rear cylinder (he forgot to plug the hole).
He hasn't turned over the engine, has drained the oil and is about to remove the rear head and barrel. Any one got any idea where it is likely to have ended up and the besy way of retrieving it. I suspect a small magnet on a stick could be useful. The less he has to strip the bike the better 'cause I'll end up helping him.

oh dear oh dear oh dear ...

I'd phone Nelly at Cornerspeed if I were you ...

www.cornerspeed.co.uk

[Iconic944ss]

There are some magnets that u can buy that are mounted on telescopic rods - some DIY stores sell these now.

Also - there is a retractable claw type device for retriving lost items. It looks like an old camera remote shutter cable with a push button at one one and the claw at the other. I got mine via my works but I think is a engineering accessory really.

Good luck - Frank

[rockhopper]

When we were doing the head gasket on my dads old XJ6 we managed to drop one of the cam shaft locking shims down the chain tunnel. We reckoned that it would probably sink to the bottom of the sump so we left it there. Never had a problem with it.

Not suggesting you should do this with your bike of course.....

[nelly]

It'll more than likely end up in the sump, but as it's baffled it could well sit there for ever and not get collected by the sump plug magnet.
It could be too heavy to get carried by the oil flow around the sump.
It could end up against the mesh filter??
Before pulling the heads, I'd pull the mesh filter and use one of the magnet tools and have a good "probe" around as far as you can though the sump drain hole and the where the mesh filter comes out of.
There could be a very slim chance that the through way where the head and cylinder meets is small enough to catch the half ring?? They aren't that big and will have an o-ring squashed up in there to. If you could get a magnet down here you may be lucky?

[rockhopper]

When i did the head gasket on my Rover 214 i dropped a small bolt into the depths of the cam cover. I was tempted to leav it based on our experince with the jag but something made me get a torch and take a closer look. The bolt was trapped betwen the cam belt and the bottom pully. God knows what would have happened if i'd started it up like that. Still it took me over one hour to fish it out.

I guess my point is that if your sure the ring has ended up in the sump then i would leave it there.

[Jools]

Long ago in another age in a faraway land (actually it was Wales in 1986) I was navigating in a rally car on the Welsh International Rally. We were second in class, catching the class leader and with three stages to go clawing back a 20 second deficit at about 4-5 seconds a stage. We had a good chance of reaching the final stage within 9 or 10 seconds of the lead and since the final stage was a tarmac stage (at Pembrey), and we knew we'd already knocked lumps of time out of the other guy on every tarmac stage thus far, we had a fair chance of stealing the class win.

It was not to be. On that third forest stage from the end the car suddenly lost oil pressure and the cockpit filled with blue haze. We dived under the bonnet and saw, to our dismay, a gaping great hole in the crankcase casting. Although it was just above the oil level, even the finest application of reams of gaffer tape couldn't stop the oil sluicing out all over the exhaust on right handers and by the end of the stage we were out of oil, virtually seized, out of contention and out of time for the next time check.

A post mortem showed that somebody, at some stage in the engines life had dropped a 10mm nut into the sump and not bothered to remove it (or maybe overlooked it or maybe didn't even know it was there). We knew that because we found half of it in the sump and fragments of it lodged on the exhaust. The conclusion we came to was that it must've been picked up in the oil and fired through the crankcase by the crankshaft batting it at the side like a bullet.

The conclusion - no matter how long and fiddly a job has been caused by dropping stuff (and we've all done it) you've got to get it out - all of it.

[Derek]

I got a text from my mate last night saying he has got it out.
I haven't spoken to him yet so don't know where he found it but I think he pulled the cylinder to get it. So no damage done, just a lot of what work, but given the potential for disaster it just had to be done

[rockhopper]

Yep, thats good.

[M900Dom]

No Ducati mechanic should ever be without a set

Loop the string round the outside of the head, then you cant put the covers back on with the plugs still in place

It happens......

HTH
Dom