sick 996s
 

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

Yours scaremongering.....DR

Oy, Rob, behave! :lol:

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?

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 !

Main bearings went, no reason as far as I can see, I ride my bikes hard and the Senna had done 6 multi lap w/e's at Nurburgring and c. 20 track days and about 9000 overall before probs...so nothing obvious. Don't take a no from Ducati!

I emailed ducati uk last night so i 'll go from there,as for oil in the future what is best , i take it it there has been a big debate on oil on this forum in the past. for my last ducati i used silkolene pro 4 plus fully syn/ with out any problems, but i'm willing to take any advice for future oil changes. as for the bike i took the engine out on friday and a friend of mine works for the same company as my local ducati dealer and approached there machanic and has got him to do the work for me as a "homer" in an effort to keep costs down. so hopefully in the next few days i will know the full extent of the damage

ducati uk emailed me back and have asked me to take the bike to my local ducati dealer to enable them to access the damage, and see what sort of help they can give so fingers crossed there going to help with the repair.

talked to my local dealer on wed and according to them when they stripped it down it needs 2 con rods (& bearings) and a crank shaft.When i asked him the cause of the failure he couldn't answer me. He told me they had been in contact with ducati and it was in their hands now.So i'm still waiting for a decision so ive everything crossed.And of course the weather is gorgeous and i cant wait to get back out on the red bike !:flame:

Ducati, got back to me on wed and said they wern't prepared to offer any help.So i wrote another email to them telling them of my disgust, so they are now reconsidering there decision, again i live in hope.

Threaten them with a bit of press coverage, both letters to MCN and Bike and to Pronto, write a letter on normal paper rather than email..........

Cheers, just siting down know to pen a letter, any other susgestions greatfully welcome.

AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! STILL NO ANSWER!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have had some contact with ducati they are willing to offer some help but to be honest it falls way short of being any use so it looks like its down to me to fix it out of my pocket. I spoke to a place called sep in kegworth who say they can refurbish the crank and rods for about £180. has anyone had any dealings with them, or is this kind of repair only a short term fix any sugestions are welcome.

I've used SEP several times. Once last year for this very same problem, albeit on a 748, which was also on very low mileage and also on a track day.
Top job and as you've found, very reasonably priced. Did take a while though, due to bearing shells if I remember correctly.

As for the cause, there was nothing obvious with the 748, as to why it happened. Everything was checked and measured and the only thing that reared it's head was the oil pump gears were out of tolerance. This is not uncommon from what I've heard and if the oil is old, or of a low "hot" rating, then the pressure could fall away.
Whilst the motor is apart, measure the backlash in the gears and if it's wide, then go back to Ducati?
I only use 15W/50 in the 4V motors, and am also currently trying 20W/50 in my own bike. The oil pressure when hot seems to be holding up very well when hot.

Yeah and it was my 748 :(

My oil never stopped in the engine long enough to be classed as old ,sometimes it could have been changed with less than 500 miles and always before a trackday.
I did put some castrol in it once but cant remember wether i did a trackday with it in.

The crank started to go after chasing a hayabusa around Cadwell for a whole session,the oil pressure light never came on and the level was correct,it just sounded like there was something loose externally and not like the shells were about to give up,it finally gave up the ghost at Donington after chasing a mille around for 2 sessions.........................and thats where Nelly came in :D

would i do another trackday on it ?

No, i bought a track bike (not a Ducati :( )

Shame really as that was what the 748 was bought for.

I know its strange how things work, because i have a 01 gsxr 600 race bike i use for trackdays and on the day in question i only had the duke with me for woolsy coulter to have a fiddle with the suspension, so i thought a couple of laps can do no harm after all it is one of the best race bikes ever built, the temptation was to much and so 5 laps later aaaaarrrggggghhhh!!!!!!. Mine to was a very light knocking and didn't sound like much, now i now different.Still trying with ducati and were nearly at a settlement if they can just come a bit nearer with some help i'm sure we can both be happy.

The thing is guys this seems to be the norm with the 4 valve Ducatis! If it's not the crank or bearings going it's the rockers! Dont forget the electrical problems that were on the early 916's oh and still seems to be still there on the later bikes.

I'm sorry to be negative but there not fit for the purpose IMO. How can you make a race rep that won't take a track day?

I see DJ has got a paint problem on his frame, i had the same problem and mine was less than two years old and it had never seen rain!

I suspect i will get shot down in flames by likes of, i own one so they must be the best, type people but when are we going to wake up and smell the coffee?

When i part exchanged mine the amount of dealers who openly said they did not want the duc because they have had them in part ex before and had nothing but trouble with them!

I'm not saying there all substandard and IMO the 916 shape is one of the best looking bikes ever but they have their problems which me and you pay for!

Why are rockers and cranks still failing, next time there is a factory trip someone should ask this question.

Mark

I agree mark, at last ive come to a deal with ducati, not ideal but i think it makes the best of a bad situation,so hopefully very soon i'll be back out on the bike while there is still some summer left

i had a new 916 back in 98 and did about 20 trackdays on it and 5900 miles, the only problem i had was the rear hub, but that seems to be common,where as my 996s only got 5 laps i suppose its just a bit of bad luck.

Hi ss29, i'm glad you have sorted it out with Ducati, like you say there may be some good weather left when it is fixed, i hope!

Lets hope you have better reliability this time.


All the best

Mark

cheers mark, Came to a deal with ducati on the parts and posted them a cheque on wed, on sat the parts arrived, one crank shaft complete, two con rods, four bearing shells and a fill gasket set, so its of to my mechanic first thing in the morning to get it put back together ( hopefully sooner rather than later) can't wait to get back out on it after all this time and of course the good weather is just ticking away.

The parts arrived very quickly from ducati,they are now fitted and the bike is up and running beautifully at last ! its been a long wait but worth waiting for:D:D:bouncy: ive got a few hundred miles on it. Thanks to everyone who gave me help and advice along the way, i hope i get the chance to return the favor again many thanks !

no worries mate glad you got her running again:sing::sing::sing: