Unsure as to which cylinder it is running on. I'd rather they just replace both though (obviously). If the coolant has been in there too long and damaged the front, surely it would have damaged the rear too? I did ride it home pretty hard the night before, it was my birthday and I was on a promise Still, if it was going to go at some point i'm glad it's done it nice and early into my 12 month warranty. After only 2 weeks of riding they've said they will do everything they can to get me back my bike ASAP. Will be over 3 weeks though.
The stuff about the types of coolant is pretty much a red herring. The problem is that a batch of cylinder heads was made with too thin a section of metal between the exhaust port and the coolant passages in the head casting. When the bike is new everything works just fine. Then fine cracks start to appear in the problem area allowing a tiny bit of coolant to seep into the exhaust port. The cracking gradually gets worse, leading to more coolant loss. Steam is visible in the exhaust at start-up, and coolant needs topping up more frequently. Then the engine begins to run roughly or on one cylinder, with much steam and smoke visible. Changing to a different type of coolant is like putting a plaster on a broken leg. Eventually the bike needs to have a new pair of cylinder heads fitted - all the cams, valves, etc can be transferred across. You get hundreds of miles of warning that this needs to be done. Ducati have been pretty good at doing this under warranty, or extended warranty, or on a goodwill basis so far, but we may speculate that eventually they will cease. A five year old bike is pushing it for goodwill, but still worth a shot.
That's why I didn't initially want a 2010 but this one was too good to pass up. I've only had the bike 2 weeks and it was running fine. P&H are doing it all under my warranty with them. I guess they will try and get Ducati to stump for the parts to lighten their hit. There is a £1000 parts limit on the warranty but it's so new they said they'd cover the lot. I'd hope they'd do both heads though and I will be mentioning that when they call to confirm it is the heads.
They did both heads on mine, even though only one was showing the symptoms. "" Ducati Multistrada smoking on start up
Christ! That's really smokey. Mine wasn't doing that at all. I'd have noticed that. I am getting an oily steam out of the exhaust. Left an oily deposit on the tyre. Whatever it is, I have a 12 month warranty so I'm sure they will do it properly.
The front head on mine developed a porosity into the exhaust port. Both heads were replaced, completely covered by Ducati. The bike was then 3 1/2 years old with 22,000 miles on it.
I got to see the heads after they came off and to be honest the leak didn't look like a crack. There was a tiny pin hole in the LH exhaust port about 25mm - 30mm down the port from the valve seat. The pin hole had an area of bare metal around it for a radius of about 3mm - 4mm where coolant had washed off the carbon. It may well have been a crack but it certainly didn't look like a crack, although it's pretty academic.
Just had an update. Sound's like the rocker arm came off and ate the engine. New rockers, gaskets, pulleys, belts, bearings, seals, spacers etc... Yay for warranty!
The bike will be ready to collect today. Engine in and working fine. Technician is going to take it out for a test ride to make sure everything is working fine. I have some cathcing up to do and some shiny things to fit now she's back. Priority one is the bleed nipple mod to the ABS unit.
Newbie here. I've been torn between early Ohlins equipped bikes ('cos I like the idea of electronic suspension) and a sub 2000 mile 2013 bike (with the twin spark engine) but with 'normal' suspension for a week now. I really can't afford (justify) a newish skyhook model and a 14000 mile one that I rode and which had been commuted through winter felt shagged. This thread (sent to me by Eddie Deguello) and this one from Andy B 1200 - Probably Not Porous... | Ducati Forum have made my mind up. I will go for the newer bike. Interestingly, CMW in Worthing are selling a lovely early Ohlins bike for £9795 with under 2000 miles on it. I have not ridden the bike, but I have seen it and it's a minter. However, when I enquired they said they were selling it on behalf of a customer and it would not have a warranty... Think I'll give that a miss.
Good choice. Only got mine because of a 12 month warranty from P&H. Was just on the way to collect it when they called to say don't bother. It's now got a cooling issue. Also the technician working on it doesn't work weekends so Monday now. Fuming isn't the word. Needed to go to Brighton this weekend and the car costs a fortune to park. Just had a row with the missus over it because we both left work early to go and collect it. No loan bikes were available when I asked. Overall feeling pretty shitty about the experience so far.
They do seem good. Massive though and busy so a victim of their own success in that you wait a while for a workshop slot. My cylinder heads just took an age to come through from Italy and today's cooling issue really buggers my weekend up. No loan bike stings a bit as I had the bike for about 2 weeks before it went bang.
They need to expand their workshop really, I've got to wait nearly 3 weeks to even have my throttle recall looked at...
Exactly. Ridiculous considering the size of sales. Shows the priority. Was a long term Hyside customer and couldn't have been happier there. P&H though, when doing the typical bike chit chat buying the bike, I got the sense I wasn't really being listened to. Saying that though the same guy remembered my name when I brought the bike back on a recovery lorry. He even rushed it into an earlier service slot for me.
I wouldn't be happy about that, surely they hav a technician there who can fix a bloody coolant leak..? I don't think that dealer is trying very hard to keep you a happy customer from what you have gone through!!
Don't know if it's a leak, they said a cooling issue. Apparently they have tried sensors and software so far. Monday they are taking it on a long test ride to see if it clears?!? This problem only appeared following their engine rebuild from what I gather. Possibly an air lock in the cooling system?
