Battery acid on my engine - (bad, DNA, bad)

[infoage1]

[quote]I'm a bit confused...

I was under the impression that this problem was with the unsealed batteries (the ones you can add water to) and not the sealed units.

Thanks Infoage.

Here I was thinking that I was safe from the acid bug! OK, I'me headed out to get a new battery ASAP!

Anyone have any suggestions/advice/opinions?

[quote]Thanks Infoage.

Here I was thinking that I was safe from the acid bug!

[Speeddog]

Higgie & Fillmore talked about sealed batteries in this thread -

http://www.ducatimonster.org/cgi-bin...307937;start=2

Yuasa YTX9-BS and Hawker Odyssey PC625, respectively. However, they have early model Air-Coolers, so their battery app may not be right.

I think us S4 guys need to keep in mind that our batteries lay on their sides, it may make a difference. It may be the freakin' problem.......But all of us on this thread have the late model frames. You guys with the air-coolers, are your batteries laying on their sides?

I'm going to check around for battery apps....

[ScottRNelson]

The overflow tube came loose on mine and I now have acid damage all over the left side, but it's my own fault. I'll have to get it repainted one of these days.

my take on the s4 battery placement is that it is suffering from overheating... i don't believe it has a thing to do with being maintenance free rather than the standard type. the battery sits on it's side right on top of the rear verticle head... there is less room on the 4v machines than the 2v machines for airflow and cooling. the 4v machines i'm aware of all have their batteries on the right side of the engine and are covered by fairing... this is one of the issues with why i feel the s4 needs a bit more thurough design effort. i believe the heat from the verticle head melt's/softens the battery housing allowing the contents to leak all over the engine.

i agree with infoage's statement that ducati north america is not being very forthcoming with problems associated with this motorcycle. it has been over a year now of me trying to get dna to address my overheating issues politely. i am now being forced to solicit legal representation. my motorcycle has sat for over two months now and not a wrench has been lifted to fix it.

this is why i have been so vocal about the issues with my s4. it's not to bash ducati's, rather it's to bash dna lack of concern for their customers, and an attempt to make others see there are issues with the S4.

folks that spend nearly 13K or more on a motorcycle should not have to put up with this type of bull_S_H_I_T.

To answer an earlier question.

The early 2 valve air cooled Monsters have the battery (unsealed) upright on the back side of the airbox. As Scott Nelson mentioned they have a breather tube that if it comes loss (very likely) it will spill acid down the left side of the bike.

[fastmonstr]

Who else has had similar battery problems with their Ducati and what was the resolution?

Tom

I've got the same problem om my S4. Valve cover,side cover and slave cylinder, all stained from the acid.

I'm waiting for authorization from DNA to get it fixed. It is a sealed battery, so I think there would be no questions about warranty.

in theory, it should be possible to install a sealed battery in any orientation. the problem i'd guess has to do with it's location. i tend to agree with mark that maybe the rear cylinder on the s4 runs hotter than on the 2v'd bikes and is just too much for the battery?

personally, i'd recommend waiting for your warranty to expire before doing anything proactive. if it boils over, then woo hoo!!! use the warrantied labor time to degree your cams since they're pulling the bike apart anyways

rather than swapping batteries with another that may just have the same issue if heat is in fact the culprit, i'm figuring on installing a heatshield under the battery tray. then maybe slip a couple small rods between the tray and battery to encourage airflow/cooling?

[mdozier]

strati, markv -
do you think it's a combination of low qual batteries and environment? or primarily environment?

i'm thinking of the location and it might be tough to heat shield from convection off the cylinders - maybe trap heat more than shield?

i like the idea of a shield under the battery, it would be nice to know, for the ones that failed, did they appear to be overheated from below or external source? or swolen from internal failure?

...worried -

tx-m