Please has anyone here managed to actually get a view of the crank oil gallery plug inside a desmodue with the top end of the engine still together? I.e. Good enough to see if it had backed out. I have read about using a borescope or small dentist type mirror and viewing through up through the oil strainer area, but from an initial look this appears to be fully shielded from the bottom of the crank, which makes sense as it is part of the oil flow and pressure circuit. I haven't seen a first hand account so, is it a popular myth, or has anyone actually done it for themselves, and can tell how, and where to look? It would be really nice to have peace of mind that it's not on its way out, especially while there is time to fix it before spring, but probably not worth stripping the top end for without some evidence of a problem (none so far, fortunately) Thanks in advance !
I can't see any way to remove or replace that plug without splitting the crankcases so... worry not unless you want to replace the main bearings anyway
It's not about fixing it without splitting the cases - and you're right; that isn't possible. It's about checking it without stripping it. I spotted the plug on my 996 was loose and wearing on the main bearing by luck while I was refreshing the top end, and up to then it had held for 54,000 miles (that maybe answers your points too, expired road racer) so, you can maybe better understand why I don't want to rely on luck alone...
TBH no I don't better understand why you don't want to 'rely on luck' but understand the reasons for your worry better. 54K miles on an original bottom-end is pretty impressive on a big Ducati twin with a shared big-end journal regardless of any subsequent posters that come in and tell you they've done 2 million miles on their old Supersport and run it on cooking oil. The fact is shit will go wrong as and when it goes wrong and there's little you can do about it if you haven't inspected and measured all the bearings, clearances, pre-loads, and end-floats on the bottom end and then re-checked them on a regular basis and get each oil change analysed looking for any increases in various alloys and steels to give some hint as to which bearing(s) might be on their way out, even then it's no guarantee against failure - which you just have to fix as and when they come around. IMO your choice is strip it or forget about it. What's the worst case scenario if it fails on you compared to a main bearing failing on you? Not a lot different I'd say. You know the score I'm sure - if the engine's making a new/funny noise then it's time to investigate immediately before making things possibly worse/more-expensive. If it's bugging you so much that you just can't live without knowing then just take a head off and pull a cylinder up on its studs and have a look in the case - obviously try and ensure you get the piston around TDC for the cylinder you decide to lift before you start.
All very interesting, I'm sure, but not that helpful in answering what I thought was a relatively straightforward question: Can anyone confirm from personal experience if you can visually check the gallery plug without stripping the engine? If the answer is yes, it makes sense to me to do a simple visual check at oil changes as preventative maintenance. If the answer is no I will do what I've done so far and check the oil strainer for alloy swarf at oil changes and not worry about it. It's not bugging me in the slightest; it is what it is, but if I can do something simple to spot in advance something that could wreck an engine, then why not?
Jon, I have read that the small mirror method is possible, however, have not tried this myself. When I rebuilt the engine last year the plug was indeed visible by pulling a barrel off. What I may suggest is purchasing a cheap flexible camera off eBay such as the one pictured. It runs off my tablet and has lights on it. You would be able to put this into the strainer hole and probably give you a better image than a mirror. Cost me about 5 quid. You hear the stories of these backing out but mine was in there really tight as it was aluminium punched around the edge so it was pretty good. I replaced it though as the 2 smaller plugs on the crank were a mess, someone had chewed up the allen key hole so I drilled them out to install new, I then had to replace the larger plug to get all the shavings out. I punched the edge and used thread lock. It's not moving. If you can check it here it'll give you piece of mind. Just found the little mirror attachment too. Came with it. If my engine hadn't just had an oil change I would test theory out.
WTF!? I tried to answer your question - I know of no way of checking what you want to check without lifting the cylinder - as stated...
Thanks DQ. I've got one on its way, just wondered if anyone had managed it or found a different route. Just peering in to the strainer housing doesn't look promising as it appears to be fully shielded from the crank.
Sorry Air Duck, no offence intended. It seemed you thought I was looking to replace the plug in-situ and implying I was worried about something I could not control when I was just looking for confirmation of a simple visual "is the plug wearing on the mains" check which is something I certainly won't worry about but can easily control if, indeed, it turns out to be possible. I'm actually with you: I doubt it is possible, but maybe someone has managed it, and can inform those who would like to know.
You can see it through the opening of the vertical (and probably the horizontal) cylinder but you can't access it without splitting the cases. I wouldn't be removing the cylinder just to look though so unless you find 'shavings' in your oil, it's probably OK.
Hi Mk9. Yes, I got one and tried every which way from the coarse oil strainer cavity, the oil filter recess and through the sump plug hole, but I could not find any place where I could get a view of the gallery plug without taking off a cylinder. It may still be possible, but I didn't succeed. As there was no evidence at all of alloy shavings on the strainer screen on the 900ss, and I was just checking as a precaution, I am just going to run it until I have a reason to remove the top end, and will check it then. In contrast, the coarse screen on the 996 had been a real swarf factory last year despite only the first mil or so of the loose gallery plug being turned down, as you can see in the pic, so if that is typical behaviour, it looks like it gives a good bit of warning well before it gets terminal and you lose oil pressure. Cheers, Jon
Thanks Jon, I wasn’t sure how evident a loosening plug would be, however re above it seems to give a fair warning!, I change my oil annually so will now just keep an eye on the strainer, it seems a safe enough method of checking given the amount of debris generated (although not 100% I suppose), shame we have to even consider it, a ridiculous design failure, but maybe at a push we can put it in the Ducati “character” box
