I own a 748, model year 2001, with 108.000 km. I have had the problem many of you already know with the coolant expansion tank (the one below the front section of the fuel tank between it and the Trellis frame, under the ignition lock), but they have not got involved at all. It is a problem quite common with the Tamburini series (916-996-998-748) as far as I have been able to find in many English-, German- and Spanish-speaking forums, and the Ducati representatives in Spain have just told me they are not aware of any other cases in Spain like mine. The problem with the coolant expansion tank, is that it is leaking along mileage, usually around the welding seam that holds the upper and lower housings together. I have been replaced 8-9 tanks, and I have paid in most cases for the part and the labour time. That means a lot of money, but the worst was that I could not start a travel without being concerned about the failure and several times I have had to go back home just after some hundreds of miles. By the way, the local dealer (one of those dealers that make us proud of being 'Ducatisti' and make our brand great) has tried to solve it by trying everything we could think about; along years, they modified the rubber bumpers holding the tank, reduced the coolant level, monitored the coolant pressure, checked the tank cap and its pressure valve, replaced it, sealed the tank around and finally disassembled the whole engine when I reached 100.000 km (60.000 miles approx.), checking the planitude of the cylinder heads, cylinders and so on and replacing every gasket in case some pressure could transfer to the coolant system. The final conclusion is just that the tank itself is poorly crafted. The original ones lasted a long time, the spare parts have a much lower quality. I got my first tank replaced with 25.000 miles, then each time they are leaking sooner and sooner (first ones after 12.000 miles, last ones after les than 2.500 miles). I have researched through lots of international pages and have found many cases where users are fed up, some guys have replaced up to 10-12 tanks and the problem appears again after riding some thousands of kilometers. I find really amazing that Ducati tells me that they have no problems, but I guess that it can be true. I have been contacted by Aftersales representatives and they are not informed about cases like this if a warranty claim is not issued, in most cases our bikes have several years so the customer just pays for a tank replacement and no warranty is issued at all. Why am I writing this message? I am trying to ask at some important forums about this issue, I really hope that if our brand realises they have such a problem they will try to solve it, for sure. As most of us, I am more of a 'fan' than of a 'customer' and want to think that our brand really cares about us. The e-mail address to contact Ducati, Customer Care section, is [email protected] . If you have had the problem, could you please tell Ducati what is happening? I do know that we are a lot of affected people, and we all could get a final solution by Ducati. Nowadays, the only solution that is working seems to be an expansion tank in aluminium, there are 2-3 companies producing them but they are expensive and it is not easy for everyone to get in contact with them. I am probably ordering one of those aluminium tanks but first I would like to get Ducati aware of this issue so we can help other 'Ducatisti' with it. Regards form Spain.
