Oil leak

[Singh_Chicago]

Today I rode the G5 for first time at higher speed after buying from previous owner.  driving at 35 to 50 and max 50 miles per hour (around 25 miles) and noticed a stream of oil leak near cooling fins where aluminum and black fins meet on top side near spark plug.... is this head gasket leak ? should I tighten the head bolt just by little bit touch.

Forum experts please advise
Thankyou

[Ducati Scotty]

How many miles on the bike?  That sounds like a head gasket leak.  The head is supposed to be retorqued at 500 or 1000 miles I think.   No it's not, I made that up   You can check the torque.  DO NOT go past specified torque.  If it leaks at specified torque it needs repair. 

The valve covers come right off and the valve cover gaskets are reusable.  You may need to pop the rockers to get to all the head bolts.  I'll post the torque specs you need later.

Scott

[Singh_Chicago]

Thanks Ducatti, it has 5600 miles on it. I will retorque the head bolts first, please do let me know the torque specs later. Hopefully it might be fine after retorque.

Regards

[Ducati Scotty]

Head bolts torque to 25nm or 18.4 ft.lbs.
Rocker cover bolts torque to 10nm or 7.4ft.lbs.
If you need to pop the rockers off to get to all the head bolts they also torque to 10nm or 7.4ft.lbs.

You'll need to remove the fuel tank to get to them.  Be careful removing the line from the plastic tube coming from the fuel pump, snapping it off is a $200 mistake   Plug that with a 1/4" or 5/16" vacuum cap.  Put a cloth over the front of the tank before you lift if off to prevent chipping the paint on the nacelle as it comes up.  Pay attention to the throttle cable routing before you take the tank off so you can put it back the same way.

The rocker covers come right off.  The bolts are different lengths so pay attention. 

There are 6 cylinder head nuts and I think some of them are down in recesses filled with oil.  Easy enough to find, just put the socket down there on an extension.  If you're in warranty and this doesn't fix it just get to the dealer.  If you're out you'll need a new head gasket and exhaust gasket.  Once the tank is off remove the throttle body and the exhaust.  After that it's super easy to take the head off.  Don't drop any nuts down into the engine

Scott

[mattsz]

The head is supposed to be retorqued at 500 or 1000 miles I think.

?!?

Scott, where do you find this info?  Now that is definitely something that my first service "dealer" didn't think about doing, or even mention.  Is this something I should be thinking about doing at 1600 miles if I don't have any leaks?

[JVS]

Never seen/read that anywhere either 

[BRADEY]

Royal Enfield has a very famous tag line:
"Royal Enfield makes mechanics out of ordinary men"
So if you guys keep working on your bike, you will be Ducati Scotty in no time

[gremlin]

......The head is supposed to be retorqued at 500 or 1000 miles I think......

That might be true for an engine with a soft-copper head-gasket, but, I believe the UCE comes with an MLS gasket (multi-layer-steel).

If my B5 needed retorque, I'd be on the phone with the dealer.

[Ducati Scotty]

True, the UCE has a MLS gasket.  I'm not sure where I read it, I can check my manuals.  Maybe it was something for the older bikes but I could swear I remember reading it.  Also, I figured it was something that most people would never do and that would never really cause any harm because the engine was built so well, kinda like the first valve check on most modern bikes that many people skip.  When I checked mine it was absolutely fine.  Still, I'll see if I can find the source.

Scott

[Ducati Scotty]

Oops!  I looked through the manual and re-torquing the head on a UCE is never mentioned in the maintenance schedule.  Pardon my error, I've corrected the above post.  I think it's accepted practice on the iron barrels to check/re-torque the head on all major services so I just did it on my UCE somewhere early on for good measure, and it didn't need any tightening at that time.

Wow, so embarassing! 

Scott

[Singh_Chicago]

Scotty, I was almost going to invite you for having vacation in Chicago and staying at my home 
On the same topic- what happens if you overfill the oil in UCE ?

I used to work on big main engines on tanker ship (6 - 7 engineers have to work contiously for 8 or so hours for changing one liner) and we were not able to find one hammer after assembling the engine back, everyone got worried and this one cadet engineer took that hammer to his cabin to fix something. Lucky enough that we did not have to open the engine back. So as Scotty said, dont forget the nut inside.

[JVS]

Oops!  I looked through the manual and re-torquing the head on a UCE is never mentioned in the maintenance schedule.  Pardon my error, I've corrected the above post.  I think it's accepted practice on the iron barrels to check/re-torque the head on all major services so I just did it on my UCE somewhere early on for good measure, and it didn't need any tightening at that time.
Scott

Hey, nothing to be embarrassed about. It's the input from fellow peers and members such as yourself that assist other newbie riders as myself (and experienced ones too!) to have a thorough idea of what to look for/what to do in case we miss out on something important. 

[Singh_Chicago]

+1 - Totally agree with JVS.

Scotty- What happens if the oil is way above the mark in UCE ?

[Ducati Scotty]

Well before we define overfull we should define full.  You should get your engine hot, not warm, hot.  Then stop it and park the bike on the centerstand on a level surface.  Let it sit for five minutes and then look in the sight glass.  If you can see any oil at all that's adequate.  Most folks fill to the center mark, some fill to the top mark.

At the top mark some of these bikes are just fine, some are overfull.  If you fill it that high you'll know which you have very shortly.  If a UCE bike is overfilled it will spit all the excess oil out through the breather line and into the oil air filter box.  No harm done but it makes a hell of a mess and you may need a new air cleaner element.

Scott

[Arizoni]

I think you meant to say, "...and into the air filter box.  No harm...."