S4 Oil Leak

[Bob Dixon]

My S4 is leaking oil!
The rear of the back cylinder is leaking oil from the base gasket. Has anybody encountered this before? My first reaction would be to torque down the head/ cylinder but it seems that a special tool is needed because a normal torque wrench won`t fit . Any thoughts or suggestions? Ultimately I may have to lift the head amd barrel and fit a new gasket but obviously I want to avoid this if possible.
Bob

:mad:

[peteS4]

your about to get a lot of posts on this mate..... it seems a lot of people had this very same problem............. i think my s4 was the only one not to have suffered from it.............. only to then be smashed up by a stupid tart with no lights on pulling out in front of me !!!!!!!!

[nino cataldo]

hello mate,
Seems to be a common problem, so I,m told by the guy who is repairing mine
at the moment( not this very moment ) he reckons they get six or so a year to do. Having it done at preditor motor sport in welwyn Garden city,they are charging £120.00 + £ 35.00 parts which are gasket/oring and new stretch bolts these can only be used once apparently.
Hope this is helpful to you. I hope mine is ready for the dsc trackday at rockingham on friday!
rgds Nino.

[PaulS]

Mine too. Started after bike had done about 2k miles. Repaired by dealer under warranty and has not returned after doing another 4k. There were numerous cases reported on the (defunct - I wonder why?) Monster forum on the Ducati website and also on an American Monster forum. My dealer reckoned it was due to insufficient sealant being used at the factory. I've also heard it was due to a duff batch of sealant or unused oilways that needed blocking off. None of these reasons is entirely convincing as it seems to have affected S4s built over a couple of years. Apparently it has occurred in other bikes using the 916 engine but not as frequently. Its always the rear of the vertical cylinder.

Nino - let us know how you get on at Predator - have you used them before? Are they any good? I believe they are ex-Ducati North London - the place near Hatfield/Welwyn that went bust quite quickly?

[Scotty]

humm my S4 has leaked oil from rear cylinder since about 800 miles or sumit
was ment to get it fixed before mallory but the seal that came into the dealer was nackered
this happened with us 600 couple o years ago
was about £200 for us dealer to fix up for us

[DesmoDom]

Just had mine done on Thursday, as has been said already, it's a common problem, not only the 916 engine but also the 996. What I was told, was that it was a wrong type of core plug in the oilways, causing a pressure build up, leading to the leak at the base of the rear cylinder. Buggered if I know, it took a day to fix and it don't leak no more, so I'm happy. :D :D :D

Baz

[peteS4]

what did i tell you............. not a huge problem, if your bike is new, ducati will fix it, if not, its not that much.......... some did, some didnt.............. dont panic about it but do moan about it to ducati..... good luck fella

[nino cataldo]

F.A.T.O Paul s. Well my bike is now fixed by colin at predator motorsport, said it took him 5 hours. I was expecting to pay the aforementioned estimate of £ 185 or there abouts but was a bit pissed off when they gave me the bill of £ 282.81 comprising of: £ 120.00 labour (£40 per hour ) so labour wise they stuck to the quote. The total for materials and consumables jumped from £ 35.00 to £120.69 this consisted of: Top of gasket set £104.68 and 4 things that I can't read that came to £28.67 and 1 other thing £ 4.93 can't read that either. When I questioned them about the huge difference, the explanation was " Ducati parts are expensive" and " I don't where you got £35 from ". Well I didn't XXXXXXX dream it up! I must have Mug written on forehead. Anyway I'll see how it goes,as for predator motor sport all I can say, without being rude, is not very professional. There you go I had my moan.
well You did ask.
rgds,
Nino.

[PaulS]

Thanks for the info on Predator. Sounds like they charge much the same rate for labour as Bob Hill and give out the same sort of bull**** as your typical Ducati dealer so I don't think I'll be using them based on your experience. Over £100 for a gasket set sounds extortionate even by Ducati standards. Would be interesting to know what the Ducati dealer price for the gasket set is. It wouldn't surprise me if they've loaded the price on the parts to make up for the extra two hours it took over their estimate. The last service I had done at Bob Hill's cost about £100 more than they told me. They reckoned I had been given the ex-VAT price but I'm sure I asked if the estimate included VAT. But then they've got your bike and therefore you over a barrel. It's their loss in the end as I won't be going back.

[Rockhopper]

Why dont you people take your bikes to the guys who support web sites like this and the Ducati Sporting Club site? Membership often gets discounts on labour and parts. www.cornerspeed.co.uk is a good example. Both my bikes go there for stuff i cant do, he always sticks to his quotation no matter how much longer than expected the job takes.

Take it to some non ducati specialist and see how you get stitched up.

[PaulS]

Why dont you people take your bikes to the guys who support web sites like this and the Ducati Sporting Club site? Membership often gets discounts on labour and parts. www.cornerspeed.co.uk is a good example. Both my bikes go there for stuff i cant do, he always sticks to his quotation no matter how much longer than expected the job takes.

Take it to some non ducati specialist and see how you get stitched up.

Predator are supposed to be a Ducati specialist staffed by ex-mechanics of a now defunct Ducati dealership. Bob Hill's is my local franchised Ducati dealer and therefore I've used them whilst the bike was under warranty. I've been happy with the work their mechanics have done but not with the cost and service side of things. Nino and I live just north of London. Cornerspeed are north of Nottingham - not really very practical. If anybody knows of any reliable non-franchised Ducati specialists in my neck of the woods then I would be glad to hear about them. The sponsor's of this site don't do servicing (the one that did packed it in a while ago) and I don't visit the DSC site so I wouldn't know - perhaps I'll have a look.

[Northman1]

Perhaps we should maintain a list of 'preferred' Ducati specialists recomended by the membership for good work at a fair price.

Some Ducati 'franchise' dealers are just into highway robbery. St Neots Motorcycles being one of them. Recently my girlfriend had a minot tumble off her Monster 620, broke gear lever, bent handlebars. St Neots then quoted 300 quid for the repairs!!

We got the parts and did it ourselves, natch.

[nino cataldo]

Bob the robber Hill quoted me £360.00 for the same job and said it wouldn't go over that. But did that include the vat? I don't think he likes me after I test rode a 999 & sat in his office to discuss finances. He gave a price and I said I would get a comparison from my mate at Colin collins, he got a bit upset, he remembers things like that.
Out of interest I will get a price for gaskets and bolts etc. **** myself of a bit
more.
The preferred list of Ducati specialists sounds a good idea.
Cheers chaps.
Nino.

[Duke John]

Unless I am mistaken the only parts that you need to do the barrel base oil leak is a head gasket at £35ish (the thin metal type) and a few minor gaskets and "O" rings at about £3.00 the lot. A top end gasket set is available and is about £100, but covers both cylinders and includes all the rocker cover gaskets etc etc. The barrel base gasket is more of a shim really than a gasket and can be re-used, but a new one will be another 3 quid sir.
Like I say I could be mistaken as I haven't actually had an S4 in bits yet, but if you live near enough to Leeds, yours could be the first! I done plenty of other 8 valve motors and don't think there's a major difference.
Hopefully then I can be added to your list of preferred independent Ducati engineers.
Cheers
John Cellier aka Ducati John

[berto]

:eek: Yeah mine went too but under warranty so who cares???

[Bob Dixon]

Many thanks for this useful and informative contribution........
Bob

[berto]

;) Always a pleasure never a chore!!!!!

[retskcid]

I was told, was that it was a wrong type of core plug in the oilways, causing a pressure build up, leading to the leak at the base of the rear cylinder

I noticed tonight when i switched off (after a long run) a leakage at the base of the rear cyclinder, which found its way down into a small puddle on the ground. Then I fired back up and hardly anything, is this to do with the pressure build up during a long run?

[Nickj]

IE's do it too.. I LOL as it leaks down towards the chain I figure some extra lubes not hurting anything. Its such a slow drizzle it doesn't affect the oil level, infact might be a positive thing as you do look just to be sure.

[retskcid]

I agree, I know of a couple of leaks but I have been monitoring the oil level and the leaks seem very minor. Tonight however, was the first time I have seen serious dripping.

[DevilBoy]

I had this exact same thing on my '02 S4.

Asked my local spanner monkey to take a look at the big service.
He narrowed down the problem, and as its only a small puddle, and doesn't massively increase over time, he said don't worry about it.
He gets loads of 916 Duc's in, and seemed to recognise the problem well.

That was a year ago, and the leak is still small. I clean up the oil everytime I wash it, and keep an eye on the oil levels.
If It doesn't start p*$$ing oil out, I'm gonna leave it I think.
Save myself £300!

[jerry]

Predator are called that name because they are sharks ,you have been ripped off!

the job is a 5 hour job I have done it on 4 8v Bikes now and the only parts needed are the head gasket and maybe a new base gasket and some O rings ,threadlocker and a grub screw for the redundant oil way that is the cause of the problem and needs blocking.

I hate liars and con mercheants.

[madhatter]

Hmmm....can't say I've noticed this yet, but reading this thread it looks like it is only a matter of time. Perhaps my 600 mile round trip to North Yorks and back this weekend will do the trick?