Exhaust Valve problems on First generation Dual Spark Engines

[duque]

Anyone else ever hear about problems with bad quality exhaust valves on the '03 Dual Spark engine. My M1000 is going through its 12K $ervice, and the exhuast valves need to be replaced. The service manager says it is a common problem with the first batch of Dual Sparks. Anyone else ever hear about this?

[jiro]

What kind of symptoms can you expect from this? Does the engine have to be opened up to know if the valves are bad? I have an 03 so I may have a 1st batch. Who is servicing your bike, may I ask?

[ducpainter]

Read your post and asked a tech buddy. He has seen some guide problems, but not valves themselves.

[Vinnie]

Hi I recently had my bike serviced and the dealership is saying my exhaust valve guides are bad. I also have a 2003 ducati monster 1000. My question is when I replace these valve guides how long will they last before I have to change them again. It's way to expensive to keep having these replaced. Do you have any answers or experience with this?

Vinnie

[Capo]

Use these and they will last a long time

http://valvetrain.kpmivalvetrain.com...ain-components

[Vinnie]

Thank you I will keep this in mind. How long will it last?

Vincent

[Capo]

Should be good for 50*K.
Take a look at your valves, if the stem is necked down close to the head, check that this necked portion does not enter the guide with the valve closed. If it does shorten the guide.

Here you can see a ported head where the guides are flush with the port.

[Vinnie]

Thanks So much. I appreciate it!!!

Vincent

[alibaba]

FWIW:
A very large and well respected Ducati dealership sends all of its valve guide problems to a local machinist who was for over 30 years associated with one of the most famous tuners in the racing world. I had the opportunity to discuss this Ducati valve guide problem with him and the following was his response.

For what it is worth ......................

“Repairing Ducati valve guide failure has kept me in business the last few years. The problem is not wear or burning oil but the valve sticking in the guide. Especially the exhaust valve. This is caused by valves with “waists” in them.
That is, the diameter of the valve is smaller (or waisted) just under the head than the rest of the valve stem. When the valve opens, this narrower diameter leaves excess room for the flame front to enter the inside of the guide as well as the outside. This excess heat causes the valve guide to not only expand externally, but to constrict internally. This shrinkage causes the valve stem to stick in the guide. “

(When you heat a material with a similar configuration to a valve guide it not only
expands the exterior but the inner diameter will shrink.)

“I have seen this problem on the M696 models, sometimes right off of the showroom floor. For what ever reason, if this problem is going to occur
it usually happens in the first few thousand miles. After 3,000 miles I should
be safe.

The fix is to remove the guides and replace with a quality product like Kibble White and trim .100” off the bottom of the new guide. That is the amount that
is exposed in the stock guide by the “waist” of the valve. Now, the stem will completely fill the inside of the guide eliminating the flame front from entering
the guide and overheating it.”

[Nitram]

According to an article I read in a German board (www.diva-dibologna.de), there initially was a problem with the valve guides on the 1000DS engines. The problem could cause lack of compression in the cylinder and/or excessive oil consumption.

The problem was apparently solved by using a new material in the manufacturing of the valve guides. The new material was introduced in the production of the engines from December 2005 onwards.

The following models should not be affected, from and including engine numbers as stated below:

Super Sport 1000 starting with engine number  LAB6030179
Monster S2R 1000 starting with engine number  RAB026287
Sport Classic Sport 1000 starting with engine number  WAB6026147
Sport Classic Paul Smart 1000 starting with engine number  WAB6026193
MTS 1000 starting with engine number  VAB6027428

I don’t think you should trust the above listing of engine numbers too much though, since the author of the German posting also states that Ducati are not themselves quite sure in what engines, they used the flawed valve guides.

In my opinion if your bike runs well and doesn’t have an excessive oil consumption then enjoy your ride and find something better to worry about. If it becomes a problem, deal with it then.

Regards from Denmark – a small country in Europe – covered in snow.

Martin