Whilst I was fitting a new battery I decided to do an Oil change at the same time. Here are a few tips that I can pass on to others who wish to change their own oil. The oil filter is partially hidden in the crankcase which makse removal access difficult. I managed to remove the OEM Ducati filter using the strap type wrench shown in the attached picture - The rubber band type wrench & the chain wrench were not able to unscrew the old Ducati filter. Tip - Fit a replacement K&N filter (Equally as good if not better than the Duacti one) which has a hexagon nut on the filter base. Makes the next Oil filter change so much easier. I used Silkolene Pro 4 10W-40 Race Oil as I was unable to get the Shell Ultra over here in France. Cost me 69 Euros (58 quid) for 4 litres so not cheap but looks to be high spec & good quality. Dont - forget, warm the engine first before dropping the oil & clean the drain plug & gauze filter screen before filling with fresh oil. Hope this helps.
Silkolene has been mentioned on this forum several times and it seems that oil consumption often increases when using it. I too have used Silkolene in my 748SPS and the oil consumption has been very high when using it for trackdays. I think you will find others have noted the same. Ducati filters are known to have problems on certain models with leaks and some minor distortion, another good filter is Hi Flo. Often a simple jubilee clip tightened around the body can be used to knock the filter round enough to loosen it by hand. I hope this adds to your own thread.
and i wouldnt warm the engine oil first as all you are doing is running the old oil around the engine.......what you want to do is leave it to drain overnight so what does make it back down to the sump comes out.
Oil Change I always warm the oil before I drain it out on an oil change because at the higher temperature the oil viscosity is lower and it is more fluid. Therefore it flows more easily. This is also what is recommended in the ST service manual - see picture below. Draining cold overnight just takes longer to achieve a similar result - Horses for Courses I guess.
heres a 1098R manual for checking the engine oil Why do you check the oil cold? Because all the oil has run back down to the bottom of the sump during the cool down period if you checked the level when hot it would be misleading as a lot of the oil would still be up around the engine...... So changing the oil when its cold and a true reading of all the oil in the sump you'll get more of the old oil out rather than it being up around the various bits of the engine..
Hi andyb, Looks like we have a difference between a ST 916 manual & a 1hotR Mine recommends checking when hot !! Interesting LOL I still like getting the oil as thin as possible before draining. Works for me on cars & bikes
check the oil level when cold is a given , warm oil to run through for change , thinner flowing oil carries particles with it , leaving it drain cold will leave particles on surfaces , fill and check oil level , then again after twenty mins .
Peter - I also check my oil level when COLD as eveything has settled down and the Oil is not thermally expanded in volume due to high temperature even though my manual suggests checking warm. I agree - HOT oil gets rid of more of the crap due to reduced viscosity and easier drainage flowing
Isn't multigrade oil thinner when cold and if so is any harm done if you do your oil and filter changes when the engine is cold?
ariel - Agree multigrade oils offer two viscosities at different temperatures which is why they were introduced. My manual calls for fully synthetic oil which by its very nature is free flowing when cold. However I still recommend warming the engine through before an oil change as it ensures more of the sludge & deposits are in circulation. Here is Shells recommendation for Aero engine oil changes - something that I am closely involved with in my job - [h=3]When I drain my oil, should the engine be hot?[/h] Yes. This can be very difficult on some aircraft, but it is recommended. The reason for changing oil when the engine is hot is to avoid the settling of dirt and water in a cold engine. When the engine is fully warmed, then drained, a higher percentage of contaminants are drained away with the old oil. When the engine is drained cold, more of these contaminants remain in the oil in the bottom of the pan, which results in more contaminants mixing with the new oil.
Its interesting that this should come up just now, as I have just recently modified my oilchange procedure. In the past I've always done it with the oil hot. I usually get close to burning my fingers when the hot oil gushes out on removal of the sump plug. But, thinking about it, I've come to the conclusion that its best to do it when the oil is cold, as long as the engine has run up to full temp within the previous few hours. My current thinking is that draining the following morning is a decent plan. My reasoning, apart from the desire not to scald my fingers, is that when the engine was previously hot, the oil was thin and able to drain down fully to the sump, carrying all the entrained contaminants with it. These contaminants will not settle out of the oil and lodge on the floor of the sump very quickly as, no matter how hot it is, oil is still a high viscosity fluid. On the other hand, starting the engine and warming it up before draining the oil, redistributes the oil (and its contaminants) around the engine where, despite its reduced viscosity when hot, it will still cling to all the component surfaces and drain down relatively slowly. As long as the contaminants are still in suspension in the oil, I reckon a sump full of cold oil drains better than an engine smeared throughout with hot oil. Best situation would be a long day's run in warm conditions, park up in the early evening, drain the oil before going to bed or early next morning. Just my (latest) personal opinion though.
Drain when cold, as stated, as all the hot oil is at the bottom of the engine already (after being hot at some stage) Water will be the first out , if any separation takes place, as it's more dense and less viscous.
Why has nobody mentioned here about two other important steps, 1, fit new sump plug washer and 2 a smear of grease on the rubber seal of the new oil filter. The later I feel most important, It will help seat and seal the new filter and aid removal on next oil change, makes a world of difference when removing next time. Avoids the picture you see in post #4 I always change oil after the engine is fully warmed up and use a vacuum pump to suck oil through the oil fill hole, this gets at least 95% of the oil out, so when i undo the oil drain plug i hardly have to catch any oil, makes it a breeze to change oil and easier to dispose of the waste oil.
When I bought my bike back in nov 08 it had 7,000 miles now it has 107,000. I use any fully synthetic 5w-30w and car filters Fram 2839 or Mahle oc5, change the filter and oil every 6000. I change it when cold and fully drained into the sump. Oh and I don't warm the bike up before riding off and keep it to 30 until out of town, then ...... I am also involved in aircraft maintenance and the oil is changed when cold
