Some people in this forum had their cylinder heads replaced ( Kirky, Pete1950). Is this a common problem? Did anybody else have them done? What was the mileage when it happened? How did you know they needed replacing?
Just got mine back, my bike had done 12500 miles and I noticed rust and a slight coolant leak on the exhaust manifold studs. Took just over 2 weeks to repair, although the work done covered the major service, which was handy. Had the bike not been under warranty I would have been looking at a bill of just under £3500. I made sure both heads were replaced although there was only evidence of the front cylinder leaking.
Mine were changed at 15k miles. Bike went in for coolant recall (blue to pink) and shortly afterwards the bike started to leak onto garage floor. Now done just over 17k miles and the bike is absolutely flying and smooth as you could hope to expect, although that may be largely due to another ECU upgrade carried out at the same time?
No common but also not unusual, on my 2010 Mutley the heads were changed at 22K, symptoms were that it was difficult to start and when it finally did start there was a lot of steam out of the exhaust as it warmed up after that it ran just fine. It did use about one litre of water over the previous 2 or 3K miles but never leaked any coolant out onto the floor and no leaks visible on the outside of the heads at all. Ducati changed both heads on mine but as it turned out the problem was only on the front head.
On mine, first 15,000 miles no problem, until coolant changed at major service. Then header tank fluid level started dropping and needing to be topped up. Steam seen coming from exhaust at start-up sometimes. Then visible water coming from the rear head exhaust port. On the day I was taking it in to the dealer to be fixed (Metropolis), the engine would not start - it had always started straight away before - so I had to put the bike on the trailer and take it to the dealer that way. The Multi is still with them now, and of course it's August so we know what that means in Italy. It seems the head casting has a very thin section between the water jacket and the exhaust port, which can begin to get micro-cracks or eventually a dirty big crack. Very glad I bought the extended warranty at £300 for an extra year, turns out to have been an excellent buy. If every MTS1200 had to have new heads under warranty, which seems likely, Ducati won't be making any profit on them.
Both heads done at 15K only a few hundred miles after the 15K service which was annoying. Being a June 2010 bike I was expecting it and the early sign was too much condensation smoke at start-up. Then when it smoked after filling up with petrol it was obviously on the way out. Repair carried out in under 3 weeks. I suspect that as it is a known defect, Ducati will have to honour to repair FOC even if out of warranty. I had kept the old coolant as a precaution in case of that event. Bike is now running great and the economy has improved a lot since Motorapido eliminated (well mostly) the rough 3-4K running. I think the bikes with replaced heads will be the ones to buy 2nd hand.
Anyone had this problem on a 2013 MS, or has Ducati put re-designed heads on the latest model? I know the new one is twin spark, but wasn't sure which year that came in.
I think you would have to be extremely brave to buy one of these without a warranty! The day after I got mine back I had to return to the dealer as there was coolant leaking from the water pump, dealer has been great as usual and they are looking at it next Monday, I hope it's just the crappy liquid gaskets that Ducati insist on using, as I'm off to the isle man the following Sunday!
I have just got the bike back today, so Metropolis have done very well. Two new cylinder heads with the old cams and valves etc, new spark plugs, new tail lamp, new larger diameter hoses for the back brake (which feels better than it has ever done), new dashboard (so mileage has dropped from 18,000 to nil), and the electronic steering lock works in a different way. The engine feels smoother, and will pull lower down the rev range without snatching than before. I was very impressed with the mechanic who did the work, though not with the clueless receptionist - who started trying to charge me £150 for consumables on the basis it was a goodwill job, until I pointed out it was not goodwill but extended warranty so no charge.
The first indication was coolant level dropping and then steam from the middle of engine, went into dealer, claim submitted to Ducati and both heads replaced under warranty, mileage about 15-16k. Took two weeks for claim approval and one week for work used bike whilst waiting for approval just kept an eye on coolant level. Had a look at the heads that were removed and apart from some scavenging on the rear head couldn't see anything with the naked eye.
If my bike is a 2012 bike bought new and I have had the pink coolant in from day 1 should I still be worrying about this issue?
yup had mine done at around 19K miles, both heads even when they said only one head. all good now. symptoms are that temp goes through the roof quickly and its difficult to start, arguably there is a little more white smoke coming from exhaust at start but wont be able to tell if its a cold morning. and coolant bottle at the front behind lights empties quickly - within 10 miles. advisable to go to dealer within 50-100 miles or so because else all sorts of other issues could happen due to overheat and not just heads would need replacing. bugs. Still not totally convinced about the coolant story.
I was also advised by a Ducati specialist that the coolant is unlikely to be the cause, he even doubted it acted as an accelerant to the problem, he thought poor design in the head, I'm not sure coolant should be able to eat through a water channel without it being way too fragile on the first place
Way back in the '80's, when I worked in a Mitsubishi Dealership, Mitsi cars started blowing headgaskets and heads with reckless abandon, Mitsubishi couldn't understand why, so they sent a team out from Japan to investigate, as it was only happening in NZ, they eventually found our water was different and it was "eating the gasket material and head alloy's" so a special corrosion inhibitor was developed and was added to the coolant. Problem solved
I've always understood that all antifreeze solutions contain a corrosion inhibitors these days. Perhaps some are more effective than others.
POLL re: Cylinder heads replaced ? Poll added EDIT: oh well worth a try - I'll have to start a new thread to include a Poll. EDIT2: Poll here: http://ducatiforum.co.uk/f6/cylinder-head-replacement-poll-13831/
