Hey guys, So I just bought a 2000 996s that hasn't been ridden for 3 years. It was running very hot at standstill, and pretty much 5° less when riding. Got to the point where I thought enough is enough and stopped riding it. I could hear a leaking sound from the left hand side of the engine whilst riding it. The next day, I took off the coolant pipes and flushed the rad and pump etc etc, it was full of dirt, and I mean FULL. the coolant had almost all evaporated too. Found a small hole in the water pump outlet pipe, replaced that, and started to refill. Left it for about an hour, then noticed small drips of coolant coming from the exhaust manifold where the pipes join above the swingarm. The bike hadn't been run all night long, so it was all cold. Pulled the spark plug from the vertical cylinder and found coolant on top of the piston. Nothing in the front cylinder at all. Now my question is this, is this the water pump seal leaking, or a head gasket? I have no water in my oil at all either. Really hoping it's the pump seal. Cheers for the input.
Bugger, we really hoping for it to be the pump seal. It was running perfectly the day before, no popping or misfire, plenty of power, the plugs look perfect. But when we filled up the coolant, it drips very slightly out the rear cylinder exhaust joint. Ducati mechanic here will pull it to pieces tomorrow for me, so fingers crossed. Thanks for the info guys, it's a stunning bike, and I got it super cheap here too.
True, but I live in Thailand , and things like this are like gold dust, or importing them usually costs more than the part itself. Still, let's see what they find tomorrow.
I had a head gasket failure on the vertical head on my 916. It leaked all down the back of the cylinder but no coolant got into the engine. If it was leaking through the pump you would expect coolant in the oil or oil in the coolant so likely head/gasket related.
I sold my 2016 Hypermotard 939 to get this. It's a different world, but my god I love it. Now just got to get the bugger running properly.
So yes the gasket was fried, along with a small mark on the head. Getting it welded, machined and a new gasket fitted. Will be back on the road in 2 weeks. Getting new belts done at the same time.
Id also have the other head off ... sods law saying will be back on the road and the other one will go. Also the faulty head will have a different compression ratio if its being skimmed ... and yes get all the valves done and lapped back into the seats and don't forget new valve stem seals ... one last thing make sure the correct amount of Antifreeze goes back in
Makes sense to do a full proper job while it's in bits. Do it well and do it once, then get on and enjoy it.
That's kind of the idea, get it all done whilst it's in pieces. We don't really need anti freeze in Thailand, a cold day here is 26°C more worried about keeping it cooler.
Anti freeze contains corrosion inhibitors that if used would have prevented the damage you are now seeing
Unfortunately, this has probably been filled with well water. So soil, dirt sand you name it. They've already taken the entire cooling system to pieces and flushed it. Will do it again when i get it back, but will soak it in white vinegar overnight before it's flushed again.
So here's the corroded head. In all fairness, it's not as bad as I thought it was going to be. Its far from perfect but should have a few years left in this head yet. New gaskets and sealant should do the trick. What are your thoughts guys? Replacing the heads is pretty expensive for me really.
