Thinking about powder-coating your case covers? Here are a few tips/instructions for removing the case covers that you might find helpful…
1) Drain the oil.
2) Drain coolant (water pumpers).
3) Remove coolant hoses from water pump (water pumpers).
4) Loosen the bolts holding the timing sensor (at the front of the cover), and pull out the sensor (put the sensor in a zip lock bag and hang it from the bike).
5) Remove bolts from alternator cover – there is one “hidden” behind the large washer for the clutch slave cylinder! In an area separate from your work area, lay the bolts out in the pattern of the cover so you know which bolts go where for re-assembly.
6) Remove the crank shaft inspection cover.
7) Bolt on the case puller (I bought a steering wheel puller from Advanced Auto for $13) and remove case.
For powdercoating, remove all spacers, bearings, oil seals, etc. Take photos so you remember where they go (or use a shop manual).
9) I left the stator hooked to the bike and put it in a zip lock bag and hung it from the bike).
10) I had no luck finding less-expensive bearings on-line of exactly the same spec. I ended up purchasing all seals and bearings from a Ducati dealer. They’re not that expensive. Here’s the inside of the alternator-side cover. For water pumpers, like my desmoquattro, you’ll need to replace the two water pump bearings, and the alternator bearing.
There’s a c-clip below the washer holding the water pump rotor in place. Take care when removing this, its quite small.
I ended up using the clutch-side cover from a testastretta motor I picked up off eBay. The testastretta cover is shown on the right, and the OEM cover off my Monster on the left.
Here is a pic of the inside of the desmoquattro cover and the oil seal from the testastretta cover beside that of the desmoquattro seal. The seal from the testastretta cover has a larger o.d. In addition, I had no luck pulling either the seal or the brass bushing from the oil pressure sensor recess on the desmoquattro cover. The testastretta cover was easy.
11) Purchase fiber gaskets from ca-cycleworks.com. They are easy to use and triple bond is somewhat messy. I also used Hylomar gasket dressing with the gaskets.
12) On the alternator side, be prepared to file down the shim for the timing sensor. On a desmoquattro S4R, the air gap between the sensor and the gear is 0.6-0.8mm. Since the gasket is thicker than a film of triple bond, you’ll need a thinner shim. Ducati sells shims of 0.6, 0.8 and 1mm thickness, but I needed a 0.4mm thickness, so I filed mine and measured the thickness with a micrometer. Also, don’t forget the o-ring in the recess for the timing sensor!!
13) On the clutch side, detach the oil pressure sensor, remove clutch cover (if you’re running one), dismantle the clutch and remove the case cover. You might need to coax it with a rubber mallet. Make sure the o-ring for the oil delivery hole remains in place. The o-ring is the green type which is clearly visible at the bottom of the engine casing once the cover is removed.
14) You’ll need to remove the circlip which retains a washer and oil seal (garter spring type), and the oil pressure sensor and crush washer. Also remove any oil plugs on the exterior of the cover.
15) Upon re-assembly, there is no need to use a seal driver to re-fit the oil sight glass! I ended up using a small hobby brush and applying triple bond to the recess in the case, and pushed the sight glass into place with my thumbs. I then turned the cover over and used the brush to even out a ring of triple bond between the sight glass and the inside of the case cover. Be careful here. On the inside of the cover, there’s a hemispherical stop against which the sight glass seats. If you push unevenly, it will leak.
16) When removing the large oil seal in the center of the clutch-side case cover, use a heat gun to expand the aluminum just a bit. I used a 3.5” steel pipe as a drift, and it came out easily. If you’re careful, you can re-use it. Just make sure to note the depth and orientation prior to removal so that upon re-assembly you have the correct fit. Also take care not to loose the garter spring on this seal.
All done:
