Critique my oil change skills

[blue tiger]

I now have about 1600 miles on my 08 s4rs (Tricolor FTW!!!) and am going to change the oil on my own for the first time. I will explain how I will do it and the good people here at the REAL monster website will chip in and explain where I have went wrong.

1. Go for a little ride to get things warmed up.

2. Using an approprite size allen key carefully loosen the drain plug and drain old oil into oil tank for recycling. Clean drain plug.

3. Very carefully using proper size allen key loosen the 4 fasteners holding the mesh oil screen cover in place. Pull and twist to remove cover. I am a bit unsure as to what size fastener is holding the screen in place or where it is located. A little help here would be great.

4. Clean oil mesh screen with kerosene and/or compressed air taking note of any metal shavings etc.

5. Remove oil filter.

By this time everything will have drained out and we can reverse the steps.

6. Fill new filter with oil / oil the gasket and reinstall.

7. Reinstall the mesh screen and very, very carefully tighten the fasteners holding it. I believe I will use a little plumbers tape on the allen key to increase it's contact area and help in preventing a stripped screw. Does this part require a crush washer ?

8. Carefully reinstall the drain plug allen head screw and retighten to factory torque specs.

9. Fill with fresh oil to top line of sight glass and pat myself on the back.Run bike and check for leaks.

The biggest question I have is what size fastener holds the mesh screen in place and where is it located. I figure it will be obvious when I get the cover off but you never know. I could also use the torque specs on this. The torque specs for the drain and cover screws are pretty easy to find so I imagine I can get those on my own. I have viewed alot of online how to's and though helpful they are generally all specific to the 2 valve models and don't go into the Testa motor.

Thanks a million

[roy-nexus-6]

Check out this Ducatitech video - very useful.

re step 6, before you reinstall, have a look inside! 

[El Matador]

Sounds good!

only addition is,

-when you take out the old filter, make sure the O-ring gets taken out too. Things can get pretty ugly if you leave it in there (think oil shooting all over your rear tyre at 80 mph)

[CairnsDuc]

May I also add,

I never fill my oil filter completely, just to 2/3rd's of the way I have read in a number of service manuals for both cars and bikes that filling the oil filter will cause an air lock in the pump.
I don't know if it's true or not, but I have read it in enough manuals over the years to think it must be an issue.
It's also mentioned in Lt Snyder's Manual.

After running the engine when the job is complete, wait about 5 mins and recheck your oil level.
 

[BastrdHK]

When refilling with fresh oil and bike is vertical, not on side stand, fill to the bottom line b/c engine and oil will be cool(below operating temp....top line is recommended oil level at operating temp).  When bike is hot the oil should be between the two lines.  Good luck!

[Slide Panda]

my 'edits'

6. Smear oil filter o-ring with touch of old oil, fill to 2/3rds and install to hand tight +1/4 turn

7. Yes, there will be a crush washer

8. Also a new crush washer is needed in this step

9.  Fill, run the bike briefly and recheck level. 

[corey]

Anybody know what the part no. for the K&N Filter is? (s2r800)

[Slide Panda]

KN-153  Anything made by ducati in the laster decade or more takes that filter.

[Grio]

Sounds good!

only addition is,

-when you take out the old filter, make sure the O-ring gets taken out too. Things can get pretty ugly if you leave it in there (think oil shooting all over your rear tyre at 80 mph)

Yup...good advice.  Happened to me and I was very lucky not to have dumped the bike.  I'm still cleaning hte oill off to this day.

[poseur]

Check out this Ducatitech video - very useful.

Is that video still available anywhere?

Thanks!

[Spck31]

Ducatitech.com "HowTo" Ducati Oil Change

[Latinbalar]

So call me a rebel but i have yet to change that crush washer. before i replace the plug i clean off all dirt and then wipe down the oil drain hole .  I have about 17,000 miles on the bike and never had an issue with leaking.

[corey]

So call me a rebel but i have yet to change that crush washer. before i replace the plug i clean off all dirt and then wipe down the oil drain hole .  I have about 17,000 miles on the bike and never had an issue with leaking.

rebel

seriously though, i was able to get 20 of them for like 5 bucks at my dealer... so why not?

[DucofWestwood]

i'm gonna add a comment about something that threw me off when doing my first oil change, and that is the location of the oil screen (aka oil mesh filter).  the pics in the shop manual were misleading b/c they showed the engine casing with the electrical wires removed, which is not exactly what you see when you look at your bike.  below is a pic of what you see on the bike.  note the oil screen plug is just below the sight glass and has a black electrical wire attached (which i believe is the oil temp sensor).  so you have to pull that wire off, and then use a socket to get the big bolt off (i think it's a 21mm bolt), and then use a 14mm hex wrench to pull the oil screen out.  maybe it's obvious to others, but it wasn't to me.  thanks to SCDuc for the guidance.

[Cloner]

It's a four valver, folks.  He said S4RS!  The prescreen is in the sump on deep sump Testastretta and later four valvers.

The drain plug is beside the sump and a new crush washer should be used when you change your oil.  It's not mandatory, but it is prudent.  Ducati's part number for that washer is 852.5.026.1A if you want to buy one.

By the maintenance manual the prescreen doesn't require attention until the bike's 15k mile service.  That said, if you just want to check it for your own personal gratification.....

The four bolts that hold the sump cover onto the sump do not use crush washers.  Rather, there is a gasket between the cover and the sump.  Clean the gasket and reuse it, or replace it as you like.  I've never had trouble reusing one.  These bolts can be a bear to remove, as the heads seem to be made from some sort of soft cheese.  The last time I serviced an S4RS (three weeks ago) I had to drill the heads off of three of the four bolts.  Hopefully this won't happen to you, but if it does, it's no big deal as long as you have a right-angle drill.  I'd replace them with better bolts if it was my bike.  I think they're M6 x 12 or M6 x 15, button head cap screws but I can't remember the length for sure.  The factory bolts have a washer face made into them, but the replacements typically won't.  That's OK.  

Once the cover is removed you can remove the prescreen.  I haven't pulled one out, but the pictures in the manual conveniently show the right crankcase half removed and the technician pushing it out, which leads me to believe that the o-rings' tension holds it into the case when the cover is removed.  They don't show any tools being used to remove the prescreen.  Clean it and reinstall.  Replacement of the o-rings isn't required unless they are damaged.  Just to clarify, no crush washers on the sump bolts in step seven of your write-up, just the gasket between the sump and sump cover.

Hard to believe it took three years to pile on 1,600 miles!  Did you mean 16,000?  If that's the case, it's best to check the prescreen.

You'll also need to do lots of other things if it's 16,000....like change the belts, check the steering head bearings, change the coolant, etc.  The shop manual details all procedures that should be undertaken at 15k, and most of them are actually worthy of your attention!