[steve__d]

I've been doing it every oil change. A dealer said totally unnecessary. Do ever second or third change. It obviously isn't a big deal to do. But have to get a spare crush washer if the OE is damaged.

BTW, I'd think copper would be so much better vs aluminum. They can be annealed if needed, and good as new.

Steve

 

[ELK]

I have been told by two Ducati mechanics not to bother.

Have you ever found anything?

BTW, copper in direct contact with aluminum can damage the aluminum (aluminum is very anodic to copper).

 

[spikey1973]

BTW, copper in direct contact with aluminum can damage the aluminum (aluminum is very anodic to copper).

darn i knew this.. good to be reminded!

 

[Strega]

The principal reason for the screen is to capture large non-magnetic particles such as aluminum shavings and adhesives that are present after initial machining and assembly. You should expect to see and remove this debris at the first one or two inspections.

Subsequent inspections will still offer up some/few particles, but there is little concern that their presence on the screen will restrict oil flow, so the need for inspecting the screen diminishes with time.

There are some early bikes (1989–2002) that experienced problems with the aluminum oil gallery plug backing-out causing a lot of aluminum shavings to be deposited on the screen, so if you have one of these bikes I suggest inspecting more frequently. It will save your engine if you see this symptom.

Early bikes also experienced problems with rocker arm chrome (also non-magnetic) flaking and being deposited on the oil screen so inspecting the screen for these bike yields useful information. (see photo below)

Here’s how you tell the difference between chrome and aluminum particles:

Battery acid is dilute sulfuric acid H2SO4

Chromium is soluble in dilute sulfuric acid

chromium + sulfuric acid yields chromium sulfate + hydrogen gas

2Cr + 3H2SO4 > Cr2 [SO4]3 + 3H2

So, all that you need to do is to put the flakes caught by your oil screen into a small amount of acid drawn from a lead-acid battery. If you see hydrogen gas being rapidly given-off and the color of the flakes darken to the violet hue of chromium sulfate, you’ve probably got flaking rockers.

 

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FWIW, my '99 manual says to clean it every 20,000km/12,400miles.

 

[Turbomart]

Anodic corrosion is not really an issue in an oil system. The OEM uses copper washers on the oil lines to the heads anyway.

 

[bradblack]

i clean them every service, pretty easy to do on these. the deep sumps i avoid as much as possible.

 

[SS904]

I guess it depends on the bike. I have two DQ engines to service. One is old enough to worry about the oil galley plug backing out, both are susceptible to flaking rockers. Either potential problem can be caught by looking at the sump screen debris, neither would be caught by looking at what is stuck to the magnetic drain plug. Too easy to do. Why skip it? If you see it a simple cleaning step, I guess, why bother. If you see it as a diagnostic tool, then it makes more sense.

 

[duc96cr]

Easy to do, so if you would feel better knowing you had taken a look, do it.