Cylinder head nut wrench - Ducati.ms

kaysystems · Jan 5th, 2011, 11:37 am

So...I'm doing my first valve clearance check.....

Checked all the clearances. They're all over the place with less than .05mm on both horizontal closers. So I moved the opening rocker out of the way, removed the opening shim, secured the valve (like LT says), got the half rings removed. The door bell rang, startled me - I jumped, knocked everything and lost the inlet valve down the hole and into the cylinder.

No big deal, as the radiator is off, and the oil cooler, guess the front head will come off too. I'm changing the belts as well - by the way, the cam tensioner bearings have lost their end seals, so need replaced too - ..

Finally, my question --- I obviously need a cylinder head nut tool. Any recommendations? I see that Motoreva make one. Perhaps a thin regular ring/open wrench. The right side nuts seem to have limited access.

Or perhaps somebody knows how to turn the bike upside down and shake the valve into place.....

David

Gearbox · Jan 5th, 2011, 1:24 pm

I thought the piston was supposed to be at TDC on the cylinder being checked in order to reduce the pressure and as a by-product prevent the valve dropping ?

kaysystems · Jan 5th, 2011, 1:30 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gearbox

I thought the piston was supposed to be at TDC on the cylinder being checked in order to reduce the pressure and as a by-product prevent the valve dropping ?

Yes, when checking the clearances, but the valves must be open to be able to remove the closer shim, so the crank must be turned. Perhaps I had it in the wrong position.

David

tonered · Jan 5th, 2011, 2:54 pm

It's much easier to just pull the belts. I've used the harmonic method to set the tension several times now. It is a piece of cake, literally. Plus, it allows you to work easy on the shims.

Have a good one.

ducat · Jan 5th, 2011, 3:24 pm

simple head nut wrench. us a 14 or 15 mm combo wrench (size depends on the size of your head nuts). put the box end in the vice and heat up the shank with a torch about 1/4 - 1/2" out from the box end and bend to aprox 45 deg angle. Heat shank again but this time aprox 3/4 from the first bend. Shank should end up a 90 deg from box end. Now place the open end of the wrench in the vice and heat shank as close to the box end as possible and bend 90 deg. You should end up with a wrench that's shaped kind of like a U. Grind a little bit off the face of the box end to make it thinner so it fits into the nut area of the head easily. Now weld a old socket that fits your torque wrench onto the top of the open end of the wrench. Presto, you now have a dealer service tool knock off.

ducat · Jan 5th, 2011, 3:42 pm

Also you can use this link to see all the service tools for your yr/ model bike in the parts fiche. Ducati Omaha - Ducati OEM Parts Ordering System - Parts Fiche

kaysystems · Jan 5th, 2011, 3:58 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by ducat

Also you can use this link to see all the service tools for your yr/ model bike in the parts fiche. Ducati Omaha - Ducati OEM Parts Ordering System - Parts Fiche

OEM tools were my first choice, then I saw the price.

As I don't have a welder, I could simply bend a wrench like you say, and then use a 14mm hex key through the wrench into a socket. That should work.

Thanks for the details..

Going to try to make a tool to lift the valve into position and get it into the guide. I have some ideas.

David

David

FredSmoot23 · Jan 5th, 2011, 8:31 pm

I bought a 15mm crow's foot box end from Snap-On & ground the box end slightly to get it onto the head nut. Cheap enough and it works fine. Torque wrench fits in the 3/8" drive square hole.

Fred

ducatimike · Jan 6th, 2011, 9:31 am

As Tonered said, "pull the belts when changing shims". You can then keep the piston at TDC and the valves will stop before falling into the cylinder. Very important!
Mike

kaysystems · Jan 6th, 2011, 7:41 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by ducatimike

As Tonered said, "pull the belts when changing shims". You can then keep the piston at TDC and the valves will stop before falling into the cylinder. Very important!
Mike

I originally tried this but couldn't turn the cam all the way round. Thought a valve was hitting the piston.
But it turns out that the closers are TIGHT, so I was feeling friction on the closing lobe. Yikes no gap....not good

Anyway all is not lost. I thought for a couple of days, made a simple tool from things I found in the kitchen drawer and 8 minutess later the valve had been pucked up and fed back up the guide (horizontal cylinder inlet). Re-installed the collets. All is good.

David