Rocker Arm Flaking

[Shazaam]

On bikes with 4-valve heads, the rocker arms have simply not been reliable. A good number of them flake-off their chrome plating before the time of their first service at 6,000 miles and that often can result in scratched camshaft lobes if not caught in time. The rocker arms in 851/888's and pre-1996 916's typically lasted 80K miles with no problems. 1996 was the year when Ducati began to outsource the rocker plating to subcontractors and problems began.

Ducati basically concedes that there has indeed been a rocker problem in the past, but has repeatedly assured us that things have been fixed. They also point out that the rocker problem will be covered under warranty, even if you're outside the warranty period, (if it's not a race bike or an SPS/R.) So, when you have this problem, just work with your local dealer who will replace the damaged parts. If you're out of warranty, you usually will have to pay for the labor cost only. Keep in mind, however, that the replacement has to be done by an authorized Ducati dealer in order for the cost of parts on an out-of warranty bike to be covered.

They're not just being good guys here. From a legal standpoint, if there is a known manufacturing defect, warranty period or not, the manufacturer is responsible to sell you goods that can perform up to the standard expected when purchased - no matter how long after purchase.

There probably have been 17 rocker design iterations over the years. For 2001, Ducati announced they were now using an improved rocker design that is also compatible with earlier year engines. The new 2001 opening rockers can be identified by a small dot punched on the side where they fit onto the shaft. Unfortunately these rockers fail in exactly the same way. So even if you have a 2001 or later model, make sure that when you have your bike serviced at 6K miles, that they remove the cams (25 minutes labor, you pay) and inspect the rockers since any damage cannot be seen otherwise. The flaking starts as small little patches and if you catch early you can avoid cam damage. Time your last major service before going out of warranty to make sure they’re checked, so your replacement labor charges will be covered.

To play it safe, and to make sure that Ducati doesn't balk at replacing your rockers, it's a good idea to keep adequate records to show that you've adjusting the engine valve clearances to Ducati specs on schedule, and used a lubricant that conforms to Ducati's specification in the owners manual.*There have been instances reported where some Ducati dealers have tried to make the owner feel that they have somehow abused the bike and then charged them for repairs.

The rocker arms have a hard chrome coating to increase their wear resistance where they contact the cam lobe. The opening rockers are more likely to be affected but occasionally the closing rockers flake as well. The closers don't take anywhere near the abuse as the openers.

There has been a lot of debate about the reasons why the chrome comes off. The answer is likely a combination of inadequate chrome thickness and the unusually long time needed for the oil to reach these parts during a cold start. In normal circumstances, a good synthetic oil would leave a surface film that is adequate lubrication until oil flow is established.

There's a correlation between a lack of oil and rocker failures. For example, the horizontal cylinder exhaust rockers sit in a oil bath and rarely fail. Most often, failures are seen in the more distant vertical cylinder rockers, especially on the hotter exhaust side. For the 1999 model year, Ducati increased the size of the oil gallerys to the heads to try to solve the problem.

There is a hope that the new testatretta engines with their plain bearing cams and having significantly shorter oil lines coming directly up the right hand side of the engine, would help reduce the 90 second-or-so lubrication delay encountered with the earlier engines. Time will tell.

I don't think Ducati knows the definitive answer. If they did, the problem would’ve been corrected years ago. If it's any consolation, this type of problem is not unique to Ducati. Other manufacturers have had rocker hard coating issues in the past. Honda, Kawasaki and Suzuki, to name a few.

Replacing a failed rocker with another having the same potential for failure doesn't make a lot of sense, so some owners have installed Megacycle rockers, stock rocker arms that have been machined down in thickness to allow for a greater thickness of chrome to be applied. Others say that the Corsa rockers are the ultimate fix, but others say no.

The Megacycle fix is to grind the rocker/cam contact area back .035 to .040 inches and then build back up with a hard nickle-chrome boron alloy brazed onto the rocker, then grind the repair back to factory specs.

http://www.megacyclecams.com/

[yellow blur]

At the risk of pissing someone off: As I’ve stated before - in my case there is NO WAY even the best of chrome could stand up to the rotary file abuse - i.e. The Camshafts -All 4 in my case. Mine had such a course “Finish” (I use that word lightly) all they could do is grind the hell out of the rockers. Another Duc Drowns http://www.ducati.ms/forums/showthre...t=73773&page=3

DNA couldn’t blow me off fast enough about this issue, and IMO is trained in denial - at least that‘s all I‘ve ever got from them - needing to pummel answers out of them because they don‘t want to deal with you if they think it will cost them $.

“I don't think Ducati knows the definitive answer“. They know full well there’s more going on with this issue - how could they not? I think they know a thing or two about physics, but it boils down to $$$$$ - it costs money to actually fix the problem on thousands of bikes correctly, So they “Used to” (I was told by DNA they no longer honor this extended warranty) change the least expensive part (the rocker) - and only if the mechanic did actually do his/her job correctly. The dealers used to be paid in full by DNA for parts and labor - but they stopped doing that as I understand it, so for awhile there was an incentive for them to look closer.

Just throwing in more victims (rockers) won’t necessary do much unless the worn rocker smoothed the cam lobe finish out enough to lessen the damage to the new rocker - from what I’ve seen anyway. You’ll be faced with the continued problem if the cams are not polished. They cover the cams with a Moly (black) coating, but the surface under this coating is as you see in the attached photos. This is NOT chrome transfer - it IS the cam finish. Included is the same cam polished. The first 2 are rocker and matching cam lobe. They don’t quite match up if it were chrome transfer do they?

Not saying there wasn’t a problem with rockers. From my understanding the final step was not done (just like the cams didn’t get a finish grind/polish) as the chrome was not stress relived so it was brittle. That last operation cost money so they cut that step.

One of the worst rockers that failed on mine was the Horz. Head - Left Hand Exhaust Opener - one that is supposedly bathed in oil on start-up, so I don’t agree with that theory either. It was a Camshaft finish issue that pretty much took out all my opener rockers and was working hard on the closer rockers also - which I also replaced. The engine had just under 5K with what would have been the 5th oil change, by me, using Amsoil 20W-50 motorcycle oil starting at 230 miles indicated with the first flush oil change using Mobil1 15W-50. Doesn’t matter what oil you use if the cams look like mind “Did”!