998 998 Cam Timing Marks

This week I got round to changing the belts on my recently bought 998. I had done the oil and filter a couple of weeks ago and needn't have bothered as what came out was as clean and green as the fresh 300v that I put back in. But at least I know its right now. I went to a workshop in Stoke run by a couple of friends to use one of their benches and get some education on the belt change once I had stripped off any bits in the way. I was really glad of their help because none of the cam timing marks lined up how I expected. No matter how many times I turned the crank and lined up it's timing marks the dots on the cam wheels never lined up where they would have on a non testastretta head. A quick search on the Web turned up a video that helped by showing how to line up the camshaft bolts on the horizontal head and we marked the belts and cogs from there on in. But why don't the timing dots line up from the factory? Did they use cam wheels from the older engine with the new heads and couldn't be arsed to change the timing marks, or did we miss something.
Anyway thanks to Ben and Sam at Motohub in Stoke for use of the bench, tools and moral support.
The bike ran like a dream for 10 miles on the way home before remembering its a Ducati and died on a steep climb 5 miles from home. We had given her a couple of quick test rides and all was sweet but the o rings on the quick release fuel pipes had not taken well to being disturbed and had started to piss out a load of fuel making me think that maybe things are best left alone!

 

It turns out that it wasn't just the o rings but one of the male quick fit connectors had developed a crack. 2 new males and 2 females ordered off ebay to (hopefully) get it up and running again. I will sort out a better set up over the winter, these plastic bits are sure to get brittle again sitting on top of the upright barrel as they do.
What would be a pain on a bike used for everyday transport is just another day at the school of Ducati ownership on a fun day out bike. ️❤️

 

After writing that I'm wondering if I can simply put a thin layer of insulating material between the couplings and the rocker cover?

 

That sounds like a good long term solution, where did you get the metal replacements from?

 

Thank you gentlemen.
The plastic replacements are on the way so I will use them for now and then do a proper job with the metal parts over the winter with a few other little mods.
Please be patient as I expect I will need more training as these issues pop up over the next few months.

 

Well that was fun. The new quick connectors arrived from exact fit so I set about putting them on. I don't know what had been used to seal the threads on the old female couplings in the tank but they wouldn't budge and I ended up carefully smashing them to bits and then cleaning up the threads in the tank. Now for the easy bit I thought, but oh no my life is never too easy. The fuel pipe was too old and hard to expand enough to get the new male connector ends pushed in. I finally accepted this as fact at 4.30 and had to dash down to a local agricultural supplier to buy a length of fuel pipe. I just made it and at the moment all is dry again under the tank subject to a test ride tomorrow.
I now have one original decent male fitting left over if anybody is in need of one f.o.c. ️

 

Great idea, I'll copy that.

 

The test ride went well for the first 15 miles but then my world slowed down to a crawl as the bike popped, banged and refused to pull. I eventually managed to creep home on an almost closed throttle and retired to the pub for some liquid inspiration. Life and a weekend in Somerset got in the way until today but I'd had time to think about possible causes and my first thought was that maybe I had partially trapped the breather tube and when it got proper hot it had collapsed under vacuum causing fuel starvation. I rerouted the breather pipe and took her out for another test ride without getting too far from home and bingo, 30 miles without a hitch, pulls like a train and I'm rapidly falling in love with this bike. Hard to believe its only 136bhp.
Fingers crossed for a good few trouble free miles.

 

I agree that there is no real need for any special tools for changing the belts or setting the tension despite all the advice to the contrary out there. I have done an awful lot of reading up about how to go about the job and it seems there is an awful lot of bullshit put about to create a mystique that it's a specialist job only.

 

Thanks. Yep, she's a rolling project now but everything on hold until we get the dreaded salt on the roads again. ️

 

Well that wasn't the end of the story. The bike cut out on the way back from the Italian day at Bridgnorth, no warning it just died. I read up on the accumulated wisdom on here and fitted new plugs and fuel relays which I thought cured it, but after a few miles it was misfiring and struggling to pull. When it cooled down it would start again but on a test ride it soon went sick again. More reading on here and I ordered a new crank sensor, bit of a beggar having to draln the coolant to fit it and stone me the bike was even worse, refusing to even run now.
I threw a hissy fit and dumped it in the naughty corner for a few weeks.
I decided to have another look at it today and with the tank connections in place but with the tank eased back a bit I could see that the injectors were barely spitting anything out. So tank off, fuel pump out and everything blown through with the airline, including the bung in the end of the return line in the fuel line base that goes back through the pressure regulator. It could possibly have buggered it but the bike wasn't running anyway so nothing to lose. Screwed it all back together and hey presto, one running sweet as a nut 998. Only done about 8 miles to test it and plenty of ticking over to warm it up beforehand but I think I've cracked it.
At least until the next drama.