M695 Valve "wiggle"

[Ronnie-d]

I just had the 24,000 klm check on my 07 Italian Mistress and discoverd considerable play in the guides. The mechanic who did the valves is a local M/C shop with experience on Ducs.
The 12000 klm check was done by the dealer and nothing was reported at that time.
A lot of wear in such a short time !
I did the belts, oil change, and was going to take it to the dealer (1 1/2 hr from here) to perform the rest of the check, and was wondering if this was a common issue with the 07 M695,  (before talking to the dealer)
Some owners on this board have had this issue, but , how common is it, and is Ducati doing anything at this time.  ?
My warrantee expired a yr ago
I treat my Mistress to living room storage in the Winter, full synthetic oil, and NEVER abuse her.
Nothing but the best for her !

Should I be looking at a divorce from my mistress?

[Raux]

this is a problem with all ducs according to a guy i'm working with. the valve guides are too soft from the factory. they lead to burnt exhaust valves when gaps occur, even pieces breaking off the valves. I've seen several of the valves that have done that in his shop. he's even spoken to Ducati and they said eh it's normal no problem.

He does some motomagic on it with special new guides that last for a long time.

I've been working with him to do exchanges on heads as a service, but he's kind of a local guru. all the local ducati owners come to him for this service. there's a story about  some guy that had tons of port and polish, etc done to his motor for the track. had taken it and started racing this other guy who had Oliver work on his motor. Oliver's bike kept blowing past him and he came up to the guy and said what did you do to your motor? A valve job! that was it. well it included the special guides and some precision work, but no port and polish, not bigger intakes, etc.

needless to say his trackbike business boomed after that.

ok back on topic. some new valveguides and valve work should bring her back to life i think MBP does exchanges with different vavle guide material for the same reason.

[ducpainter]

http://www.blackdiamondvalves.com/products.htm

[BK_856er]

I had my M695 heads replaced at about 5k miles due to the melting paint issue.  Guides were shot at that point.  The new replacement heads had the same "old style" guides, which the dealer replaced with "new style" improved type.  At the 15k mile service I had my non-dealer shop specifically check the guides and everything was still nice and tight.  I didn't really notice much performance difference with the original head swap, so in my limited experience loose guides may not give much grief.  Not sure how common the issue is, but improved guides are available.  It would not hurt to talk to your delaer and/or DNA to see if they can help you out somewhow - if you're the original owner you will have a better chance.

BK

[Ronnie-d]

Summer is comming, so was wondering what to expect to pay for replacing the 4 valve guides with the better material.    My dealer went 'Tits up' last fall, so now I have to realy travel to get stuff done.!!
Anyone else that have had the valve wear problem on the M695
Thanks

[Mr Earl]

Not M695 - M800.  Full set of guides at 12,000 miles, then exhaust guides at ~15,000 miles.  The last replacement was Kibble White (sp?) guides with dis/assembly by Speeddog.  I will soon be doing the Spring tuning, so we'll see how things are (2500 miles later.)  It's frustrating to me that Ducati helps not at all with this.  I asked for help through my dealer the first time around - got diddly.  I'm not the original owner.

This bike is ridden conservatively with synthetic oil changes at 3000 miles.  No reason for this recurring problem except shoddy stock guides.  I try not to think about it too much...

[Raux]

100% shoddy stock guides according to a German guy who is an expert in Ducati motors.
He replaces the guides with a special metal that he sources exclusively, trade secret for him.
He makes the guides at his shop with this special hardened material.
It's harder than the stuff Guy Martin uses and safer for the environment.

Once he does them and his valve work, a lot of racers see significant improvement on the track just from his valve work.

[Armor]

In an engine with valve springs, you would not be able to feel play in the valve guides, unless you removed the valve springs.  I wonder how much play you would feel in other engines if this was checked.  If you are not using oil and the bike runs fine, why replace the valve guides - just because they feel loose?

[Raux]

If you can read German

http://www.italo-teilemarkt.de/main_fuehrungen.html

[chris1044]

Perhaps I'm in the minority of thinking here, BUT....

Your valve guides are already shot....why not just run it until it starts to burn excessive oil, then do them along with a port/polish job on the heads??

[Ronnie-d]

Yeah Chris, I thought of doing that, but I would realy be bummed if I had serious problems early in the riding season. 
It would take forever to get it fixed, with all the work that the shops get when riding starts aroud here!

[Ronnie-d]

Not M695 - M800.  Full set of guides at 12,000 miles, then exhaust guides at ~15,000 miles.  The last replacement was Kibble White (sp?) guides with dis/assembly by Speeddog.  I will soon be doing the Spring tuning, so we'll see how things are (2500 miles later.)  It's frustrating to me that Ducati helps not at all with this.  I asked for help through my dealer the first time around - got diddly.  I'm not the original owner.

This bike is ridden conservatively with synthetic oil changes at 3000 miles.  No reason for this recurring problem except shoddy stock guides.  I try not to think about it too much...

In all the bikes I have owned since 1969, I have NEVER had any thing as serious /expensive to happen to any bike I have owned.  The hazards of owning a Duc I guess............Yep, I try not to think about it either!!

[He Man]

my valves were wiggling at the 6,000 mile check or roughly 10,000km. it was pretty bad. had it done under warranty and its been good since. supposedly they used new guide materials.