Ok so bike's back - new gearbox, crankshaft, 1 piston, all rings, all bearings, several other main bits, new radiator (this was probably the cause of the fault - it had failed/was failing and kept running the motor hot - not critically hot but over time, made the oil less effective and started damaging the engine over time - crankcases were tinged yellow on inside). Ducati UK helped a LOT with the parts - thousands in the major parts like the gearbox and piston etc... I had to pay for the labour and the radiator. Decision on whether to write off or not came down to final cost - my part in the end was around 3k, snells the dealer did a lot more than the quoted hours really and I felt that ducati as a brand did their bit by paying for the parts - I got a fast reply to my email from the UK MD which was good and that alone made me pay for the repair as I felt it was a 2 way thing. I also asked for the belts to be changed so hopefully nothing major for another 15k. When the engine was put back together and the dealer called me to say they wanted another 700 for a new radiator it stung a bit more but it was reassuring to find that the temperature was a lot more stable with the new rad and did settle in the high 80-90s but in the lower 50 and 60s. So this "could" ve been the root reason...it was never picked up by me or the servicing dealer during the bike life and to be honest because the temp was never high-high and I only go to an from work on the motorway it was missed... My faith is restored somewhat but badly buckled, its nice to have the bike back for just the 3k and I have decided to keep the bike for a little longer. Roll on summer its nice to have a "working" Ducati again, life's too short to be disappointed about these things sometimes and its how you get through them that matters. On another note the Engine feels bloody great again - dare I say it better than new almost or maybe that's because I aint been riding for a few months... bugs
Glad you got it fixed and that Ducati at least paid for some of the repairs. I had the heads redone on mine which would have been £1,500 and Ducati paid for a goodwill warranty on that as I was just outside the 3 year extended warranty. How much was their part of the bill? PS My repaired engine also let a lot stronger post repair, although I had to fit FatDucs as the low speed stuttering became much worse.
Great News that you are back on the road. Almost everyone says that Snells are a great dealer and from your experience it sounds like they are. Did Snells give you the "failed" radiator? They can be repaired and I've looked at a few that people have been told were shot, when in fact they are fine (for one, ask this forum owner). PS The drama queen was, of course, tongue in cheek.
£700 for a radiator?.. radiators get blocked or leak,both are openly noticable. surely high temps would be logged in the bike software. what a rip off.
Don't keep saying £700 for a radiator, @AndyW has a second hand one for sale....you'll give him a hard on.
I cannot understand who invented the price of £700-00 for a radiator, they make 1000's of these rads at I bet a cost of less than £100-00 to manufacture, it is a frigging joke. but more so! if the rad was faulty, blocked causing over heat over such a long time, ?'s have to be asked of servicing, and if rad should be flushed, or is it flushed as part of service? Got to say I am not overly impressed with some of the reliability of the Ducati's, but reliability is one thing, but to have to fork out £1000's to repair a 4 or 5 yr old bike with just 30k is unacceptable. Oh and they are extending the oil change service to 9k now on the new ones?
Glad your back on the road Bugs, enjoy the bike and try and put the episode behind you, life is to short... RIDE n ENJOY!!!
Had my rad replaiced under warranty. Was found to have a small crack inside a threaded hole on the top somewhere. From memory I think the cost was £400. Although my brain does play tricks on me!
Are you saying the bike temp settles at 80-90 deg now, with the new radiator, or 50-60 deg? Took mine for its 5 year MOT today (a shockingly low 1,800 miles between MOT's - must try harder!) and although only around 10 deg ambient at the time, it was steady at around 67 degrees. Reading this, I'm not sure if I should be concerned or not? Glad you are happy with the outcome - not ridden mine since end of last Sept and was blown away with the bike, almost a surprise, as if I'd not done the previous 23k!
I'm very surprised they are saying that 80-90 degrees would wreck synthetic oil. My BMW car engine runs with a normal middle of the gauge temp of 100 degrees. It's done 13000 miles on the same oil from new and is not scheduled for a change till October. I know this is less than ideal but I'm sure it won't result in a prematurely wrecked engine, maybe one that will do 200,000 miles rather than 300,000. 50-60 degrees sounds low to me, even 67 is less than allegedly ideal for optimum thermal efficiency... Remember, the fans don't cut in till 100 degrees, so surely Ducati must regard anything less than that as within the normal operating range...
Haven't been active on the site for a while and I've just read this thread. Disappointing to say the least, I'm sure many high output manufacturers these days do cut corners and I can spot things on the multi that, for the price should be better. Among the long list of warranty work I have had done, the corroded engine case springs to mind, a new one will set you back a mere £500!!!
The bike definitely warms up slower and runs cooler - at least so far in the few days I have had it. Say 55 when initially warm then hovers around mid 60 - still gets up to 80's in traffic but comes back down. I *think* before it used to be 69-80 and 90s - I have always been paranoid about temp because I had the cylinders done due to the coolant about 1-2 yrs ago, but I still didn't pick up the temp.. dealer showed me pictures of the engine cases all yellowed...maybe the sensor was also faulty...dealer did say oil lost viscousity so that cannot be argued with. its a difficult one because it was the approved oil in there and never had any rad issues before but it does sort of explain issue and strange that it occurred over such a long period of time - I do only really use the bike to go to and from work - 15 miles motorway mainly - so maybe if I'd used it more in traffic I would have noticed it earlier but maybe with regular oil changes it prolonged the effect.
From the engine point-of-view, you should expect to see indicated oil temperatures between the gauge midpoint and three quarter mark with occasional excursions to full scale. That’s how the manufacturer selects the gauge mid-point. If the oil temperature is too cool the oil viscosity is higher so you will loose power due to pumping losses. From the oil point-of-view, you need to maintain lubrication and a high enough viscosity when hot to produce an adequate oil pressure. If the oil temperature is too hot, the oil oxidizes and breaks-down more quickly. That’s why you should run a synthetic oil, to give you a safety margin against oil breakdown. A regular oil will begin to lose its film strength at temperatures above 220°F (105°C), while most full-synthetic oils can be safely used at temperatures as high as 300°F (150°C) before lubrication-related damage becomes a concern. As a rule-of-thumb your oil temperature should be kept below 240ºF if you want to change petroleum-based oil at the recommended intervals. For every ten degrees above 240°F, cut your oil change interval in half. Race car builders usually design for oil temperatures between 230°F and 260°F in order to get the best power. Above that range, engine reliability and oil life becomes a factor in racing. The above is by self-styled Ducati guru Shazaam. Your problems sound very odd. I can't see how the temperatures you are talking about would cause a decent, modern, fully-synthetic oil to break down. It just doesn't make sense. Also, the temperatures you are seeing now seem far too low - below the normal operating range of an engine. It almost sounds to me as though they left the thermostat out...
Mine's an early model and I heard all about the radiator issues at the time but mine still has the original, it does worry me and I've got a big trip planned for September but I'll make sure I get good cover. I've done about 20k now, mine runs at about 70°C on a clear run... Oh and I never had the heads replaced either, just the coolant change...
Hi Bob ! Where you been...?? Mine too is an early 2010, no coolant or overheating issues, not done as many miles as Bob granted but all in order still neverless
Hi Mark, I was fed up of hearing too much doom and gloom mate! Hope all's well with you and still enjoying the Multi like me? Had to get a new battery the other day - 5 years ain't bad though. Thought you might have upgraded by now...
Yes I know what you mean! There not all bad are they!! Still loving mine, I might cast my eye over the new DVT when SMC get one in for a demo, but it will need to be pretty good for me to change Ive gone all retro and just bought this to have a play around on....
Bob, funnily enough, my battery died last night (5 years old also) as I was about to go out on it. Worked the day before when getting MOT'd, first use since Sept, but has been kept on a maintainer all its life. I did feel the turnover was laboured on Tuesday, but last night it was just click, click, so I'm guessing it's dead? What did you get, I am thinking about an Odyssey or similar as a mate had good results on a GS?
My turnover has always been laboured! Much to my mates amusement! But never let me down until this year - I don't have power to my shed so as much as I hate it I have not been able to leave it on a battery conditioner over the past few winters. Mine was just clicking and as much as I tried charging it she wasn't having it. A mate of mine suggested putting it on an old fashioned charger to give it a good boost - new chargers are a bit easy going on batteries these days but I couldn't risk it starting and then getting stranded out in the middle of nowhere! I ended up getting one of these: Products | Powersports | Powersports AGM | 512 901 019 | VARTA Apparently made in the same factory as Yuasa but just rebranded - it was about £50-£55. I've heard the Yuasa ones are very hard to get hold of at the moment - none in the country.....or there weren't. The Varta has the same cold cranking capabilities as the Yuasa but has a slightly higher capacity at 12 mAh instead of 10
