After reading several reviews and a US based and very informative thread on the subject of oil and the different variants available, along with their pros and cons, I decided to plump for Redline's 15w50 'PowerSports' high Ester based oil. Managed to find a UK distributor and gathered together a new filter and O-rings, new drain pan, funnels, 3bond sealant and a titanium drain bolt and crush washer. In addition I got a box of nitrile gloves, a 5 litre measuring jug and some scales, as the general concensus seems to be weighing the oil that comes out, is a better indication of how much to put back in. Albeit ultimately a guide. I'll deal with the oil service light using the OBDStar unit, once I have refilled the engine. Filter housing came off surprisingly easy using 3 M8 x 1.25mm bolts. Oil is pretty dark for a bike that's only covered just over 600 miles. Little if any metal particles were on the drain plug when I removed it, so not much to see there. The filter itself, again nothing unusual was evident, and it's already been consigned to the bin. I will leave the engine to drain overnight before I fit the new filter and button the bottom end up. Obviously there will still be an element of residual old oil in the oil cooler and lines and in various other nooks and crannies within the engine but that probably amounts to less than 250ml, so I am not that concerned about it. Hopefully by the morning it will have passed it's incontinent stage and I can crack on.
So after allowing a full 24 hours for the engine oil to drain, I weighed exactly what came out and it came to 2321 grams. Poured the exact same amount of fresh oil into a measuring jug with the scales zeroed out and refilled the engine. The volume for the weight was 2.7 litres After another hour or so, the sight glass was showing over the max line, but I knew this would come down once the engine was started and oil circulated throughout the engine and new filter. I let it run for a couple of minutes. Now I have to wait a few more hours for the oil level to settle and top up as needed. I also reset the oil service light with the OBDStar and cleared some errors codes that were on the system from when I had disconnected the indicators during the build project and some old errors from when the original non-compatible DMS module had been fitted. Here's the new titanium, drain plug fitted, along with a new crush washer and its threads smeared with 3bond sealant. Torqued to 14Nm. Oil filter cover is a surprisingly tight fit. New O-rings fitted and a smear of fresh oil on them to prevent them binding as the cover is tightened. The three M6 bolts were torqued to 10Nm (plus a dab of Loctite 243) Other than that, it's just a case of refitting the fairing lowers and job done.
New o-rings you say? I must be on my 10th filter now and I haven’t changed them I’ve just had a word with myself… Yep, I’ve got a measuring jug like yours. I’ve marked where I fill it to ~2.7l. I stick it in then fire it up. Then leave it overnight and check sight glass next day. Always bang on. Is that your OE cutting oil btw? Doesn’t look too priddy…
Yep first oil change. Pretty dark for 684 miles. Ah well it's out now. No nasties in it or on the mag plug. Ran some of it over my fingers with a torch and nothing showed up.
Hi just a quick question. Do you use the standard torque amount when using the 3bond sealant or do you adjust it?
Out of interest, what volume of oil is listed in the owners or workshop manual for an oil and filter change on the bike. Does that call out 2.7 litres as well?
I file all instructions in the bin. Unless it’s a flat pack chest of drawers from Ikea. It’s like splitting the atom putting those fuckers together. When you drop the oil and filter contents ~2.7 litres comes out. So I put 2.7 litres back in. * On a serious note I would stick to the recommended torque settings for the filter and particularly the sump plug. The sump walls feel about as sturdy as tin foil.
I just wondered what difference there was between the total oil quantity in the engine/gearbox as stated by Ducati against how much is drained during an oil and filter change, so following your response, downloaded the 2024 owners manual for shits and giggles and that states total oil and filter quantity is 3.4 litres, so either that’s wrong or there’s 0.7 litres of oil (20% of total quantity) hiding somewhere after the oil and filter had been thoroughly drained. The owners manual also says that you need to take the bike to a dealer for an oil change….so no guidance or torque figures in that tome! I’d hazard a guess that someone’s drained the oil, changed the filter and then put three or more litres in before checking the sight glass, and a pain in the arse to remove excess oil. As to using recommended settings, one concern with Ducati workshop manuals available to the public is that they don’t seem have any form of revision service, so data errors don’t get corrected, with the older paper manuals advising this in the introduction. I’d imagine there is a more robust revision service now the manuals are electronic, so a dealer always has the latest data when accessing on line, but a bit difficult for the public to access this data without contacting a dealer directly. Industry wide, it seems to be all about capturing the aftermarket, so more and more challenging for a home mechanic to perform what used to be considered routine maintenance, but at least you can use your tools for flat pack assembly.
I doubt the oils rad drains, that’ll hold the rest. Just done my SL and only took about 2.8l. Oil level is between high and low
Possibly a good point well made!, a quick look on line at a photo of the V4 oil cooler shows inlet and outlet unions about half way up the triangular body. However, for the 900, the owners and workshop manual both state oil and filter capacity is 3.5 Litres, and oil cooler lines enter and exit at the bottom of the cooler, all of which is well above the level of the sump. Oil system schematic shows oil exits the pump, travels through the cooler and returns to the crankcase via the lower of the two unions before passing through the filter and then round the engine/gearbox. I'd imagine (but don't know) that the oil cooler will drain through the oil filter housing when the filter is removed. If left to drain for some time then I'd also imagine that oil will leak past the static gears on the oil pump and back into the sump, so removing any oil hiding in the supply side, especially with a few miles on the pump and hot (thin) oil. Not looking to make a science project out of this, just slightly surprised that maybe 1/5th of the previously run oil may remain in the engine during an oil and filter change.
