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Ducati expanding tank ?

7K views 26 replies 15 participants last post by  duc96cr 
#1 ·
Is the expanding tank still and issue in the 2016 DVTs ? I Just heard of it now, is there something I should do to prevent this ?


Bike is currently stored with a full tank and some stabil
 
#3 ·
There is no reason that I know of to believe it is any different than it ever was. I use E0 as much as possible, and always make it a point to not let the bikes sit for any time with E10.
 
#6 ·
As far as I know, the MTS and other recent models should be OK for this.

There are two plastics that the U.S. DOT allows to be used for fuel tanks: HDPE and PA6.
HDPE cannot be smoothly finished and painted, which is why Ducati (and others) used PA6 initially.

Unfortunately for them, one of the two government-mandated plastics (PA6) is not compatible with the government-mandated fuel with ethanol. Yay for government.

This is a problem with tanks that were made to be finished visually; mainly mid-2000's Monsters and Sport Classics. More recent bikes (M696, M796, M1100, HM, etc.) use HDPE for the tank material, and plastic covers for cosmetics. This has posed far less of a problem. I have not heard of MTS bikes having much, if any, of a tank expansion problem.

Don't blame this all on Ducati; the government made this far worse of a problem than it needed to be.

PhilB
 
#7 ·
No issue yet on my 15... and while I do try to avoid ethanol it's pretty impossible around here (only a couple of stations with ethanol free 93)
 
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#8 ·
I haven't had to lift the tank on the bike yet, If it's plastic, then leaving it full shouldn't be necessary and I can go ahead and ride 300 miles, leave a littel fuel / stabil in there and it wont expand on me.

I did remove the charcoal box so it has some extra breathing room, maybe that helps as well.

I don't have the resources to find out who makes the thank but I'll look for a polymer stamp on it if it's plastic
 
#10 ·
I've only read of a handful of reports of -possible- tank expansion since the w/c multis came out, and none to the point the tanks were nonfunctional. One or two reports of broken tabs on tank covers, which could have been from something else, and a few reports of the tank filler looking 'uneven', which to my mind is nitpicking.

If there is still a problem with swelling, it is nowhere near the endemic problem it was with the earlier tanks. I'm fortunate in that I can typically ride year round in North Carolina. But when the bikes have had to sit for a while I've never bothered about how much E10 fuel I leave in the tanks or for how long, and have had no troubles.
 
#13 ·
Expansion will not be the only plastic tank issues. I just tuned a 2011MTS1200 and the tank inserts in the plastic tank spun at the fuel pump flange, no fuel filter change on this one. Inserts in plastic have always had a hit or miss history of spinning, add the fact Ducati uses pre-loctited bolts of who knows what strength and you are going to see plenty of this down the road. Given the longer interval of tunes on some of the new bikes it will be just enough time that the bikes are out of warranty.

Last year it was a hyper with the large rear tank mount, a couple with smaller tank cover mounts that once removed were fine to leave out. But if the fuel pump flange on the bottom of the tank spins on removal or installation it might be cause for a fuel leak at the rear above a very hot exhaust pipe. On the up side they appear to be plentiful at this time on ebay used. Yes you may get one with the same problem but hopefully it is not at the important spots.

Yea! plastic gas tanks
Phil I do agree that this was not Ducati's fault as they did not choose the fuel we run. That said I do not give them a pass as they do seem to know about the fuel we have and have had problems with since 2005ish. I have seen plenty of plastic tank problems with more brands it is what they do with the knowledge that the tanks will be a problem.

BMW moved the pump flange closer to the top of the tank.
Triumph went back to metal tanks
Ducati has started moving back but it has been a known problem for over 10 years now, at what point do they think long term.
Would a 1994 m900 with a plastic tank last 23 years and 250,000 miles?
 
#14 ·
My 2010 tank expanded. First, some of the mounting tabs for the center cover cracked off. Then I got a small crack in the center cover. This was after the warranty was over . After the class action lawsuit was settled no further claims could be made unless you are leaking fuel. Original fuel sender still works though.
 
#15 ·
The 2015 DVT's have a black plastic fuel tank and a painted cover. The cover has fastener slots that allow it to fit even if there is a bit of expansion in the underlying tank, but I don't think the black plastic material is affected by gas and does not expand.

The tanks on the Monsters and my my 1098 are made from a Nylon type material and this is affected by the ethanol and expands as it absorbs water held in suspension by the ethanol. I had my 1098 tank replaced under the class action suit as it grew about an inch.

I've also had the tank on my Aprilia Tuono replaced, under warranty, for the same reasons.

The Ducati dealer, who replaced my tank, had about 12 other tanks sitting up on a shelf. He stated that they air dry them for several weeks before shipping them back to Ducati. When Ducati receives them, most have shrunk back to their original size.
 
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#16 ·
The Ducati dealer, who replaced my tank, had about 12 other tanks sitting up on a shelf. He stated that they air dry them for several weeks before shipping them back to Ducati. When Ducati receives them, most have shrunk back to their original size.
Makes you wonder if you hold onto your expanded tank then when the new one expands you can just swap back... always having one that's 'dried out' enough to shrink to normal size.
 
#18 ·
I had expansion issues w/ my 2007 GT in the first two years. I started putting Seafoam in every tank and not filling it until I was ready to ride (I premix gas and SF). Zero expansion since and it's been 7 years.

If you live in really hot humid climates, this may not work. But for me it pretty much stopped the ethanol/gas separation that causes this.
 
#19 ·
I was using a product called K-100 which seemed to work well, but on the multi I quit worrying about it. I had an e free station near by and tried to keep it full with that, they stopped selling the e free, but a new place has it now, only in 86 octane.

My 1198 tank was hideously warped when I warrantied it.
 
#23 ·
I think he was simply stating that it was common to send a tank back to Ducati and by the time they received it back in Italy it did not look as bad as it was when removed. This is why they did not think they had a problem at first, after sending reps over here and seeing them first hand they knew they had a problem. I highly doubt (hope) that dealers are not recycling tanks, that said if I was footing the bill I certainly would try a used one.
 
#27 ·
Mine swelled about 3/8" in two weeks, with no deformation. Though this doesn't mean it would shrink back in two weeks, it does give a time frame for how fast the tank material can stretch. I had non ethanol fuel in mine and it took a couple of months to shrink back, but if it had been empty and placed in the sun with the cap open it might have shrunk back in two weeks or so. Hence , when the authorities checked the tank it may well have been near normal.
 
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