Hello all. I've gotten a lot of help by reading various threads about DIY service and maintenance, and having just finished mine, I wanted to try to give something back to the list by posting my notes and observations while they're still fresh. Much of this info is available in many other threads... the ideas are from others. I take no credit, I've just tried to consolidate this into one place. Also, I'm not sure how applicable this will be to other models.
Intimidation factor: I'm not a pro, but I do know my way around a wrench. I started by reading as many threads as I could, ordering the ProItalia ad DucatiTech videos, reviewing the service manual, studying the parts schematics, and by the end of all that, I was a little freaked out.
I was able to take my time, assemble the proper tools and parts, and methodically and systematically tackle the job. It took three ~4-hour sessions with the bike which included swapping in MBP collets for the half rings, and removing the cam shaft cover of the vert cylinder, pounding in the intake closer rocker shaft a wee bit, and replacing the gasket to fix a small oil leak there. I noticed a few other problems like a worn boot on the rear brake piston, and encountered some others like roached o-rings on the gas tank quick-connect fittings which I fixed as I went along and slowed me down some. I would expect my next valve / belt adjust could be done in about 4 hours total now that I know what I'm doing. Before starting, I took notes, and wrote out step-by-step instructions for myself which helped. What follows are those instructions edited and commented on with the insights gained from my struggles.
Tools: The specialty tools, while not essential, definitely made the job easier. It's hard enough without having to turn the back wheel to turn the crank, for instance. I used the rocker arm depressor tool, and the crank turning tool with the angle wheel, digital calipers, feeler gauges, and a shim kit, all purchased from the good vendors i found mentioned on this forum. I definitely under-appreciated the need to make the small wooden wedge used to hold down the closer rocker. It is ESSENTIAL. In addition:
• White-Out and a red pen to mark the two cam and crank pulleys when the crank is positioned with the vertical cylinder TDC compression (machined dots are only for horizontal cylinder TDC).
• A set of squishy ear plugs (with string attached) to press into the oil return holes so that nothing falls in.
• Some nylon rope or tubing to thread into the spark-plug hole to keep the valves from falling into the cylinder if the piston is not at TDC and the closer shim is off the stem.
• A 10mm deep-set socket, or a 2" piece of copper or thin-walled stiff plastic tubing to slide over the valve stem and gently tap to knock free closer shims that don't easily slide down exposing the half-rings. (almost mandatory when using MBP collets since they fit so much more snugly).
• A magnetic wand tool to catch the collets.
• Grease to help stick the first collet on while placing the second one.
• A small right-angle cotter pin tool to remove the rocker shaft clip.
• A hand-made wooden tool (~4" long by 1/3" square) to wedge below the closer rocker cam arm to hold the closer fork down while removing/inserting closer shims & collets.*** Until I made this, the job was impossible!!!
• A short length of fishing line with a large washer tied to one end (for weight) to tape to the crank tool when it’s positioned at Horizontal TDC compression, which will then hang down and spool onto the shaft of the tool as it’s rotated and thereby allow the flywheel to be returned to the TDC compression position (as opposed to the exhaust TDC – ie. 360deg off) even if the crank is rotated after the timing belts have been removed. [call me paranoid
]
• A small piece of glass, some 300 & 600 grit sandpaper (get BOTH -- I had to sand one closer down from 2.75 to 2.45mm and I only had 600 grit. 2hours of misery), to sand down shims, if necessary (it will be necessary).
• A laptop computer and microphone set-up (small microphone & iMic USB).
• “Audacity” software to analyze belt vibration frequencies when setting tension.
• Maintenance service manual DVD, Parts.pdf, DucatiTech CD, and ProItalia DVD.
• Rags to catch the oil spill from horizontal lower valve cover.
• Funnel, extra oil for replacing what’s spilled.
• Rags / towels.
• Clamp light, and head lamp.
Parts: I used the EMS 4V 7mm shim kit. I don't know if it's just me, but I used only shims on the small end of the kit. This was expected for closers since the MBP collets lower the closer shim, but it was also the case for the openers. I ended up having to do some sanding. I don't know if this was unique to my bike, or all 695's, or all 2v 7mm valve'd bikes using the shim kit developed for 4V bikes
? When I ordered replacement shims, I ordered extras to cover the smaller-end range. I bought valve cover gaskets and did NOT use them. The metal gaskets are re-usable, and survived fine. I chose to replace my timing belts. The originals were quite loose -- the horizontal one could be removed without loosening the tensioner roller. Yikes. Probably could have gotten away with reusing the belts, but I justified the expense by virtue of all the money I saved doing it myself.
One of the things that freaked me out was that I was going to screw up the timing during the process. I wanted to make sure I understood the set-up well enough so that I would be able to avoid that at all costs. Here's the summary of my findings:
Important concepts:
1. With the belts on, aligning the flywheel timing mark (visible on left engine side through window), and the three belt pulley dots to their corresponding marks places the HORIZONTAL cylinder at TDC compression.
2. Once the belts are off, it is possible to rotate the crank/flywheel 360deg to the exhaust stroke TDC, and then re-mount the belts with the flywheel timing mark and belt pulleys’ dots all properly aligned, which would result in no spark at TDC compression, but rather the ignition spark occurring at TDC exhaust.
3. Rotating the crank tool 270deg counter-clockwise from Horizontal TDC compression, places the Vertical cylinder in TDC compression.
4. Rotating the crank 450deg (90deg + 360deg) counter-clockwise from Vertical TDC compression, places the Horizontal cylinder back to TDC compression again.
Once I realized the above, I felt comfortable adjusting the valves with the timing belts off. Now that I've done it with them off, I can't imagine doing it with the belts on unless you're just checking the loaded / unloaded gaps and everything with the closer gap is perfect. (Even then, a measured closer gap of 0.00 doesn't mean there isn't any binding). If anything needs to be adjusted (or if you're replacing the half-rings with MBP collets, there's no substitute when setting the closer gap to 0.00 than feeling minimal binding when rotating the cams by hand with the belts off and the opener rocker slid to the side and then sanding a few thou off the closer shim and having the binding disappear. Bliss.
Preparation & Set-up: I thought I could get away with leaving more stuff on the bike. I struggled. I swore.
Finally, I just ended up pulling stuff off the bike until I could see and get to everything easily. ie: gas tank off, not just propped up, air box off, etc. Surgeons call this "exposure". It involves a little dissection. 20 minutes would have saved me 2 hours if I had realized this up front.
• Remove the seat, shift into neutral.
• Remove the gas tank. Don’t worry about which port/tube is “IN” and which is “OUT”, they're interchangable. Check integrity of quick-release o-rings.
• Disconnect the battery (negative side first).
• Remove the battery & tray.
• Remove the airbox.
• Remove the battery mount frame. (nearly impossible to do with the airbox on... don't bother trying).
• Remove the flywheel inspection cover & crank tool port.
• Remove the timing belt covers. (short bolts at cam pulley ends, long bolts where covers mesh, medium bolt at the bottom of the horizontal cover)
• Remove the spark plug from each cylinder.
• Remove the vertical cylinder valve covers.
• Save metal gaskets and reuse.
• Place rags below the horizontal cylinder lower valve cover.
• Remove the horizontal cylinder valve covers.
• Put the squishy ear-plugs in the vertical cylinder oil return holes.
• Attach the crank tool with the degree wheel to the crank.
• Use White-Out to highlight all machined timing dots on all three pulleys and the corresponding marks on the engine case.
• Rotate the crank using the crank tool counter-clockwise until all machined pulley dots, as well as the flywheel arrow are aligned with their corresponding marks.
o The horizontal cylinder is now in TDC compression position.
Note: the next set of steps got me comfortable with the various timing marks and rotation of the engine. I won't be doing all these machinations the next time I adjust the valves, but I'm glad I did this time. Now that I know what I'm doing, instead of rotating only counter-clockwise, I rotate the engine backwards (clockwise) 90deg to lift the vert piston up to stop the vert valves from falling into the cylinder.
• Tighten the nut on the degree wheel to align the flywheel mark to 0deg TDC.
• Use White-out to place marks on the specific timing belt teeth that correspond to the machined marks on the pulleys/engine case. (this is not possible with the vertical (ie. inner) belt on the crank pulley side.
• Tape the weighted fishing line securely to the shaft of the crank tool.
• Rotate the crank tool counter-clockwise 270deg.
o The vertical cylinder is now in TDC compression position.
• Use White-Out and the red pen to mark all three pulleys where they correspond to the marks on the engine case.*** (Critical for setting the gaps on the vert cylinder once the belts come off!)
• Make note of what appears in the generator cover inspection window. Is there another flywheel timing mark? [Yes]
• Rotate the crank tool counter-clockwise 90deg and align the flywheel timing mark in the inspection window.
o The horizontal cylinder is now in EXHAUST TDC position.
• Make note of the flywheel window and pulley cams’ timing marks relative to the engine case. Same as before? [Flywheel window - yes, Pully cams' timing marks - no]
• Rotate the crank tool counter-clockwise 360deg and align the flywheel timing mark in the inspection window.
o The horizontal cylinder should be in TDC compression position again.
• Unwind the fishing line on the crank tool shaft. (it should have gone around twice).
• Remove, inspect and label the horizontal belt with an “H”.
• Mark vertical belt tooth corresponding to the machined dot on the crank pulley with White-Out if not previously done.
• Remove, inspect and label the vertical belt “V”.
Valve measurement / shim replacement: (Repeat the next section 4 times, -- once for each valve.)
• *Rotate the appropriate cam pulley so that it places the rockers in the TDC compression position (ie. for the horizontal cylinder’s valves, align the machined dot with the case mark; for the vertical valves, align the White-Out – red pen dot with the case mark).
• Load the closer rocker arm by pushing down on the closer shim itself by hand, if there’s no movement, try using the closer rocker tool and push down to overcome the helper spring. There should be no play or movement. If there is, it’s loose. If not, but it’s still possible to rotate the shim, it’s probably in spec.
• Attempt to slide a feeler gauge between the closer rocker arm and closer shim. Spec = 0.00 to 0.05mm (both intake & exhaust).
• Confirm the measurement by first measuring the opener gap while pushing down the rocker arm, and then subtracting the same measurement without pushing down.
• Calculate the (loaded) – (unloaded) gap: Spec = 0.00 to 0.05mm
• Note the spacers’ positions on each side of rocker arm retention clip.
• Remove the rocker arm retention clip.
• Turn the cam pulley, and slide rocker arm over.
• Remove the opener shim.
• Spin the cam pulley and assess for binding. [Note: for each cylinder, both intake and exhaust opener rocker arms must be pushed to the side for the cams to spin freely when checking for binding-- also, if binding is felt, don't forget that it may be the "other" closer that hasn't yet been checked causing the binding, you may need to remove it before you can fully assess the first one you're working on. Once the first closer is perfectly set to 0.00 with no binding, though, you can leave that one on while checking the second one.]
• Raise the piston to TDC for that cylinder by turning the crank tool as appropriate.
• Use the wooden wedge tool to hold down the closing rocker arm.
• Slide the closing shim down the valve stem to expose the collets (tap with copper pipe tool if needed).
• Remove the collets with magnetic tool.
• Slide the closing shim off the valve stem (rotate the crank tool as needed to allow valve to lower).
• Measure the removed closing shim using the closing shim measurement tool.
• Calculate the appropriate closing shim size to achieve spec.
• Select the appropriate closer shim size (sand down as required).
• Replace the new closer shim.
• Use grease to hold the first collet in place, then slide it around to the rear of the valve stem.
• Place the second collet onto valve stem.
• Raise and rotate the closing shim to seat the collets.
• Remove the wooden wedge and release the closer rocker arm.
• If using MBP collets, snap the closer arm against the shim to seat the collets on the valve. ***(if using the stock half-rings, this step probably isn't necessary, however, I found that it was impossible to get a consistent measurement unless the closer was well seated against the MBP collet which was impossible to achieve until I started snapping the closer rocker onto the bottom of the closer shim. You don't need to compress the arm all the way down, just a quarter inch or so, then let it snap up. I discovered this the first time by accident, then once I started doing this, my measurements became much more reproducible. It didn't seem to harm anything valve-wise, I hope.
YMMV.)
• Rotate the cam pulley again, and check for binding. Snap rocker arm again once or twice and see if the binding disappears.
• Once closer is set to 0.00mm clearance and to just to the point where the binding disappears, replace the opener shim.
• Rotate/jiggle the cam pulley and slide the rocker arm back in place.
• Rotate the pulley cam to align the appropriate dot for TDC compression for that cylinder.
• Measure the opener gap with a feeler gauge. Spec = 0.10-0.15mm (both intake & exhaust).
• Turn the cam pulley, and slide rocker arm over.
• Remove and measure the opening shim.
• Calculate the appropriate opening shim size to achieve spec.
• Replace the opener shim with the appropriately sized one (sand down as necessary).
• Rotate/jiggle the cam pulley and slide the rocker arm back in place.
• Rotate the pulley cam to align the appropriate dot for piston TDC compression for that cylinder.
• Recheck (unloaded) opening rocker gap: Spec = 0.10-0.15mm
• Recheck (loaded) opening rocker gap.
• Confirm that (loaded) – (unloaded) gap: Spec = 0.00 to 0.05mm
• Replace rocker arm retention clip (between the spacers as it was).
• Move to the next valve and return to step*
[ ] Vert. Intake [ ] Vert. Exhaust [ ] Horiz. Intake [ ] Horiz. Exhaust
Timing Belt re-assembly & tension adjustment: This was probably the coolest thing... I can't believe that a cheap mic can pick up the harmonics so reproducibly! It took some doing to get it just right, but the whole process made me proud to be italian. Elegant.
• Reconfirm that the flywheel mark is still aligned with the arrow in the generator inspection window.
• Align the machined dots on all three pulleys with their corresponding engine case marks.
• Replace the vertical timing belt.
• Snug up the vertical tension roller and tighten it.
• Reconfirm that the flywheel mark is still aligned with the arrow in the generator inspection window.
• Reconfirm that the machined dots on all three pulleys align with their corresponding engine case marks.
• Replace the horizontal timing belt.
• Snug up the horizontal tension roller and tighten it.
• Reconfirm that the flywheel mark is still aligned with the arrow in the generator inspection window.
• Reconfirm that the machined dots on all three pulleys align with their corresponding engine case marks.
• Gently rotate the crank tool counterclockwise, and ensure that the engine crank turns freely.
• Turn engine crank several times.
• Place crank in TDC compression for the horizontal cylinder.
• Tighten the horizontal belt to spec using the microphone and acoustic software (record several "twangs", then use “Analyze” menu & “plot spectrum” function; set to “Spectrum”, “4096”, “Hamming”, and “log”) on the laptop to determine dominant oscillation frequency.
Spec = 110 Hz*. (see below – location 23).
*Note: Ducati has updated this spec for the M695 from 145Hz in the service manual to 110Hz as per the service bulletin.
• Place crank in TDC compression for the vertical cylinder.
• Tighten the vertical belt to spec using the microphone and acoustic software on the laptop to determine dominant oscillation frequency.
Spec = 110 Hz.* (see above – location 22).
*Note: Ducati has updated this spec for the M695 from 160Hz in the service manual to 110Hz as per the service bulletin.
Final reassembly:
• Replace the belt covers (Short bolts at cam pulley ends, long bolts where covers mesh, medium bolt at the bottom of the horizontal cover.)
• Remove the squishy ear-plugs in the exhaust valve oil return holes.
• Replace the valve covers reusing metal gaskets.
• Replace the spark plugs and wires.
• Replace the battery mount frame, drip tray, and reconnect the battery (positive first, then negative).
• Replace oil lost when removing valve cover.
• Replace the airbox, gas tank (Don’t worry about which port/tube is “IN” and which is “OUT”, they're interchangable.), and finally, the seat.
• Reset the clock, check for gas leaks when the fuel pump fires up, reset the "Maint" indicator if it is on by holding the left button and keeping it held while turning the key until the needles are finished dancing.
Next, test ride... then beer. Do not reverse the order of those last two steps.
Final comments: I realize some of my steps are redundant and unnecessary, and I'm sure I've stepped on several toes, and people are going to come out and write "you don't have to do this" or "it's better to do it this way"... That's not my intention, this was just a record of my thoughts & observations. Everything I've written here is one way or another posted or written somewhere else, I've tried to synthesize all that info with my own "first-timer" experience. It looks easy when the heads are off the bike. It's not easy. I have to say, I was intimidated going into it, and now that it's over, I have a certain sense of relief and accomplishment that tells me that it wasn't easy. It certainly isn't impossible, or beyond someone with a basic understanding of engines, knowledge of tools, and minimal hand-eye coordination, so I hope this will be helpful to someone taking this on for the first time. The next one will be soooo much easier.