[apehair]

I figured I should put some of this stuff into one thread instead of posting a bunch of different ones.

Flying Bulldog helped me wrestle the bike off the engine and then lift the engine onto the jack.

No big surprises taking parts off the bike. A couple of dumb mistakes, including spilling an awful lot of coolant, but no major stumbling blocks.

Next up:

1. Remove the heads and replace the head gaskets
2. Remove the cylinders and replace the base gaskets
3. Replace the belts
4. Remove the stickers (Flying Bulldog insisted)
5. Reassemble.

ape

 

[Rubber_Duc]

Really excited to follow threads like these, can't wait for detailed updates/pics!

 

[Danbuc]

Cool, I like watching these motors get fixed up

 

[Serious Black]

Er........That oil leak in the 4th pic. Mine had one just like it and it was coming from the vertical cylinder exhaust cam bearing cover. The screw was loose.

 

[apehair]

Er........That oil leak in the 4th pic. Mine had one just like it and it was coming from the vertical cylinder exhaust cam bearing cover. The screw was loose.

Serious, I've been thinking about this. My operating assumption has been:

1. 01 bike with 300 miles - gaskets have dried out from lack of use
2. Oil on crankcase - base cylinder gasket is causing it
3. Leak is big. In just a couple miles of low-rpm riding, the crankcase
is covered in oil
4. I need to pull heads and cylinders, and replace gaskets
5. It's winter, so better to fix this now than during riding season

The process of pulling the heads and cylinders is complicated and may be above my ability ... still reading the literature.

Before I proceed, do you or any of the other guys on the list think I'm making incorrect assumptions? Is this "better safe than sorry" approach misguided?

Thanks,

ape

 

[tricklidz]

TRICKLIDZ

 

[apehair]

TRICKLIDZ

Thanks for the link, Tricklidz. I'm currently reading the Clymer's manual for instructions on removing the heads and then the cylinders, with the ultimate goal of replacing the base cylinder head gasket. On both cylinders.

I'm worried about messing up the valve timing. And then figuring out how to adjust them again. Your blog has good notes, but do you happen to have a link to detailed procedures?

Thx,

ape

 

[Serious Black]

Thanks for the link, Tricklidz. I'm currently reading the Clymer's manual for instructions on removing the heads and then the cylinders, with the ultimate goal of replacing the base cylinder head gasket. On both cylinders.

I'm worried about messing up the valve timing. And then figuring out how to adjust them again. Your blog has good notes, but do you happen to have a link to detailed procedures?

Thx,

ape

If it was me and the roads were ice free I'd take her out and get her good and hot, come home and remove the fairing, stick her on the padock stand and let her sit at idle for 5 minutes and watch for the oil leak.

If it is the circular cover on the end of the camshaft then it's 2 screws and a new 'O' ring. These covers are removed for access when doing the shims so it is not above the realms of possiblility that the 'O' ring is shagged.

 

[apehair]

Will removing the tensioner & idler pulleys affect cam timing?

In the section that explains how to replace belts for the 748, the Haynes Manual has this caution:

Do not rotate the camshafts or crankshaft while the timing
belt is removed ... serious engine damage.

It doesn't suggest locking the cambelt pulleys with that special locking tool or anything else. So, three questions:

1. Do the cams just stay in place once I remove the tensioner pulley?
2. I'd image the same would be true once I remove the belts and idler pulley. Is that correct?
3. Once I remove the head, will the cams continue to stay aligned with the cam pulleys, or do I have to lock the cam pulleys in place?

What I've done so far (see attached images):

1. Removed the cam covers
2. Installed the crank turning tool
3. Turned the crank and discovered that there are TWO timing marks, 90 degrees apart.
4. It takes several turns of the crank to align all the timing marks
5. The vertical head timing mark says "V" on it. The horizontal says "O."

More pics in a bit ....

ape

 

[apehair]

Pictures of Camshaft and Driveshaft alignment marks. In the first two pics, the camshaft is aligned in the sight glass, but the belts are not. In the last three pics, everything is aligned on both sides of the bike.

ape

 

[Serious Black]

Here's what I did:

1. Set the engine up on the timing marks.
2. Check which cylinder was at Top Dead Centre with the valves closed (horizontal I think?).
3. take off the belt on that cylinder.
4. Turn the engine over til the next cylinder is at TDC (270 degrees clockwise, once again if my memory is still in working order after 4 beers and a glass of champers!)
5. Take off next belt.
6. Turn the engine til the cylinders are both around half way down the bores.
7. Fart about turning individual camshafts over until your heart is content and marvel that you can do it with your finger. Aren't these engine amazing!
8. Obviously if you feel any resistance then something may not be as it should be so stop and check.

Happy new year folks, hope everybody has a good one..........hic!

 

[apehair]

Thanks, Serious. Sounds like you had a great New Year's Eve.

The way Flying Bulldog explained it to me, as long as I have the crank and pulley marks in the correct location, the cams will not move when I remove the belt. But since I plan to remove the heads and cylinder, anyway, I ordered two of those pulley locking tools to keep the cam pulleys (and therefore the cams) locked.

Once they arrive, I'll remove the heads and cylinders. That should be in a week or so.

ape

 

[Ducati 748 Delaware]

748 engine

Great pic's, keep it going, very interesting.

Happy New Year

 

[Serious Black]

Yess, a very pleasant new year it was.

You might find this useful if you haven't already found it:

916 Belt Change - Ducati Up North

The trick with the Tippex on the belts is a good idea.

 

[ProphetPVD]

Ape, I ride my 748 ONLY when the weather is absolutely beautiful, and clean/maintain it religiously during the winter. I thought my engine was clean, until I saw yours. Am getting serious wood looking at the pics of your tear down...

 

[Ducati 748 Delaware]

I Agree

That's a pretty piece of metal your showing.

I'm stripping mine down today to try and get it up to your level. Very Nice.

 

[apehair]

Yess, a very pleasant new year it was.

You might find this useful if you haven't already found it:

916 Belt Change - Ducati Up North

The trick with the Tippex on the belts is a good idea.

Thanks, serious. Picked up a couple of tips from that site.

ape

 

[apehair]

Ape, I ride my 748 ONLY when the weather is absolutely beautiful, and clean/maintain it religiously during the winter. I thought my engine was clean, until I saw yours. Am getting serious wood looking at the pics of your tear down...

Prophet, I don't deserve the praise. The bike is an 01, but only had 300 miles on it when I bought it a couple of months ago. So it hasn't had much chance to get dirty, LOL.

I wouldn't mind taking the engine out of the bike and cleaning it each winter, though. Now that I've done it, it doesn't seem as daunting. We'll see if I feel the same way after I put it back together!

I've always kept my bikes pretty clean. Not quite up to the standards of Flying Bulldog, who lives nearby, but I always found the results worth the extra work.

ape

 

[apehair]

Clarification: About those timing marks

While I wait for the pulley locking tools to arrive, I figured I'd try to post pictures in-line. Hope this works.

It turns out that there are two alignment marks on the crank. Here's the first:

And here's the second:

As you can see, they're identical. And they're 90 degrees apart on the crank. When you're on the wrong one, the pulleys on the other side of the engine are not aligned. Here's the vertical cylinder cam pulley:

Here's the crankshaft pulley:

You have to turn the crank a few times to get both sides of the engine aligned. It's not as simple as just choosing the other alignment mark on the pulley.

Just make sure you don't mistake one of these for the alignment marks:

My 748 had a bunch of them, and I have no clue what they're for. Maybe Ducati drilled holes to lighten the crank, LOL.

When everything is aligned on both sides of the engine, the pulleys look like this. Vertical cylinder cam pulley:

Crankshaft pulley:

ape

 

[apehair]

How do you post images in-line?

Well Hell. That didn't work.

Anybody know how to post images in-line?

ape