Coolant engine leak

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Fanigale

Fanigale

Joined
Jul 27, 2015
Messages
6
Location
switzerland
Hey guys I'm hoping I'm not the first to have this problem. Not meaning I hope you all have it. Anyway, just getting my baby ready for a track day when I seen all the normal signs of a coolant leak. Pink fluffy crap from usual spot. I cleaned it up and went for spin to see could I pin poo. The leak. And it's coming from engine case. Many other threads here but not on the case like mine. Am I screwed is the question.. Will I need to change the gasket or what View attachment 32169
 
I have been down this road..... the dealer was clueless and in fact if you search this forum you will see my comments and disappointment with Ducati.

They tried to tell me that the panigale‘ V twin was designed to leak and I posted their corresponding mail to support this comment,,,Really ! a hot as hell motor with a coolant leak normal? When I explained coolant under pressure boils at a higher than 100 degrees they send the owners manual of the more expensive model ..with me having the base model.

i fixed the leak after the dealer had it back 4 times search this forum .....
 
Captain Greg said:
I have been down this road..... the dealer was clueless and in fact if you search this forum you will see my comments and disappointment with Ducati.

They tried to tell me that the panigale‘ V twin was designed to leak and I posted their corresponding mail to support this comment,,,Really ! a hot as hell motor with a coolant leak normal? When I explained coolant under pressure boils at a higher than 100 degrees they send the owners manual of the more expensive model ..with me having the base model.

i fixed the leak after the dealer had it back 4 times search this forum .....
Click to expand...
Hey Greg what did you do to fix it? Was it coming out of the engine case like mine?
 
Fanigale said:
Hey guys I'm hoping I'm not the first to have this problem. Not meaning I hope you all have it. Anyway, just getting my baby ready for a track day when I seen all the normal signs of a coolant leak. Pink fluffy crap from usual spot. I cleaned it up and went for spin to see could I pin poo. The leak. And it's coming from engine case. Many other threads here but not on the case like mine. Am I screwed is the question.. Will I need to change the gasket or what View attachment 32169
Click to expand...
 

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According to your first picture, your leak is not where your arrow is, it is further back. It is hard to exactly pinpoint where the leak is due to clarity of the picture. Look for the highest spot where you see wetness/coolant. Liquid will not flow uphill unless blown by the air while riding, even then it will be most likely atomized (many droplets everywhere)
 
Bo13R said:
According to your first picture, your leak is not where your arrow is, it is further back. It is hard to exactly pinpoint where the leak is due to clarity of the picture. Look for the highest spot where you see wetness/coolant. Liquid will not flow uphill unless blown by the air while riding, even then it will be most likely atomized (many droplets everywhere)
Click to expand...
In the 2nd pic you'll see as I said that is bubbling out from the case joint. There's another arrow. I cleaned it all out and took her for a spin to check the leak point. And you'll see it there clearly
 

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I have it happening in the same spot. A Ducati tech/friend said not to worry about it if it’s not puddling on the ground below when stopped. I listened to him and I’ve never had a problem.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Why would you think that coolant is leaking from the generator-to-engine case mating surface? If you have coolant coming from the generator cover you're in for a world of hurt. In all likelihood, unless the coolant is leaking somewhere from the squirter unit assembly above, the coolant is probably being expelled from the weep hole. Should that be the case, it's true, Ducati has indicated that that is normal. It's hard to imagine, however, that any manufacturer would tell you that your vehicle is supposed to leak.
 
Khmer1199, do you have any more data on the “weep” hole as to what it’s for? Is it an indicator of a pump issue? 20k miles on the 1299. Never a drop of oil or water.
 
endodoc said:
Khmer1199, do you have any more data on the “weep” hole as to what it’s for? Is it an indicator of a pump issue? 20k miles on the 1299. Never a drop of oil or water.
Click to expand...
Ditto... I'm at 20,000+ miles and have never experienced a problem either. All water pumps have weep holes, and it is true that the design intentionally allows for the normally small amount of coolant being drawn through the pump seals to escape. If it wasn't allowed to do so, you would trash the greased pump bearings. An excessive amount of coolant exiting the weep hole, however, indicates that the bearings have already been compromised. It just sounds odd when a manufacturer tells you that your new vehicle is supposed to leak. :) It may have been Captain Greg that posted the attached memo referencing the same.
 

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cc3c250e99ffb1bbe3390ad5bf6a0c03.jpg


Comes from there, as they mentioned above.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
The weep hole on all water pump housings are to advise that a seal has failed and you can fix it
the leak in the pics from the OP is not there it’s possible at the thermostat housing (plastic part ....that has since been changed to a diffrent part number and a diffrent plastic)
the thermostat pin pushes through top oh housing making a small hole causing the leak as the bike cools.
so they fixed it eventually
the other place it likes to leak and is a real ...&&&@#$r to see with all fairings on is is water pipe clump just below but fwd, It seeps there, I had to replace this clamp ...quite easy to do when both bottom and mid fairings are off

hope this helps.
 
Your picture is perfect example what I was talking about when I said to look for highest spot where he sees wetness/coolant...no coolant above and fair amount below...
 
I’m using the Febur thermostat bypass which has a nice sensor retention setup instead of that spring clip. The unit is welded aluminum. Also wondering if the metal water pump gear which has quite a bit more rotating mass than the plastic piece would be more problematic for the bearing
F8C90DA9-1271-4FD3-A719-ECB595163687.jpeg
 
Don't get confused about the weep hole. While an excessive amount of coolant exiting the hole can indicate a problem, it's true purpose is to allow the small amount of coolant which is drawn past the water pump seal by capillary action during normal operation to be expelled so as to keep the grease in the bearing housing from being washed out. Should that occur, then you will have a problem. If a small amount of seepage such as that shown by SickDuc is observed, it shouldn't necessarily be interpreted as a sign that failure of the water pump is imminent.

Endodoc... I think I could do the aluminum bypass... a little piece of mind compared to the plastic housing, and in my location, my bike's already registering the coolant temperature when keyed on cold. How much did that set you back? The metal water pump gear... the possibility of it having an impact on the service life of the water pump can't be discounted, huh? I don't think that anyone would tell you that the potential wasn't there. Did you install one? What about the pump idler gear? Is that metal as well? Personally, while I know the OEM nylon gears are often frowned upon, they serve a purpose, or two, or three. Some might consider them a design attribute. They allow Ducati to optimize the vehicle's power-to-weight ratio (a primary objective in the construction of any superbike), minimize production costs, and equally, if not more important, the nylon gears provide a weak link in the chain. If the nylon gears disintegrate, you run hot and have to pick nylon teeth out of the oil pan, but you can overcome that... not a problem. What happens if you run a metal pump and idler gear and the water pump fails and seizes? The possibilities are endless. Will the metal gears give, or will the primary drive gear continue to turn the gears against a seized pump until the engine case on the inlet side of the pump sustains irreparable damage? ...perhaps not the most likely scenario, but possible.
 
The Febur kit was $185.00 when I got it. It came from HSBK. Agree on the pump gears and for the same reasons. My motor came with metal pump and idler gears and I purchased a couple of spare sets for some projects. That being said there are a lot of bikes out there with relatively decent mileage on them with plastic gears with no issue so I would definitely say that it’s not a “need to have item”. I was thinking that the RS engines use a different pump with the metal gears but I have a new RS pump and it’s identical to the stock one including the bearing #. The only thing I could think of that potentially differentiates why some have issues and some do not is heat but that I don’t think has been proven. I did mod the cooling system when the bike was built so it has always run under 200. There was some chatter about the plastic gears deforming somewhat at high RPM and at high heat cycles and that is what obviated the metal setup for the R/RS applications.
 
endodoc said:
The Febur kit was $185.00 when I got it. It came from HSBK. Agree on the pump gears and for the same reasons. My motor came with metal pump and idler gears and I purchased a couple of spare sets for some projects. That being said there are a lot of bikes out there with relatively decent mileage on them with plastic gears with no issue so I would definitely say that it’s not a “need to have item”. I was thinking that the RS engines use a different pump with the metal gears but I have a new RS pump and it’s identical to the stock one including the bearing #. The only thing I could think of that potentially differentiates why some have issues and some do not is heat but that I don’t think has been proven. I did mod the cooling system when the bike was built so it has always run under 200. There was some chatter about the plastic gears deforming somewhat at high RPM and at high heat cycles and that is what obviated the metal setup for the R/RS applications.
Click to expand...

Good tip... thanks. $185.00 is right inline with the cost of an OEM squirter. The pictured return side looks about right, but the inlet to the pump looks a bit short in the photo... does the kit allow you to retain the original hoses?

I spew out Nylon, but actually, I'm not sure if the gears are constructed from Nylon, POM, or some other plastic. Nylon and POM both offer good resistance to heat, but gear degradation as a result of heat/heat cycling, shock, vibration, etc., will occur nonetheless. I've also heard talk about high RPM gear deformation before... mentioning an excessive vibration load which may be exerted upon the gear teeth at high RPM. Like you mentioned with the heat, I don't think the deformation theory has been proven either.

Same pump, same bearing... someone must have determined that it's within the design limits of that pump/bearing combo to be able to accommodate the additional weight of a metal sprocket. All things being equal, I would think that the service life of the pump may be shortened, but perhaps someone has also determined that it won't be shortened to an appreciable extent.
 
With as many of us having our water pumps go out, this should either be a service bulletin for warranty or a class action lawsuit to get these replaced for us.
 

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