V4 oil leak

Joehruv4 said:

Just left the dealer and was found to be the output shaft aswell. They dont have the parts so I'll have to pick it up next week

Click to expand...

Any news on your bike??

Do they have to replace the output shaft?
Mine is still leaking a little bit and the dealer is waiting for the new parts since 2 weeks........

m3chanix said:

I have a 2018 V4S with only 270 miles on it. My output shaft seal is also leaking oil. Did you find that the seal was damaged based on it being defective from the seal manufacturer, or was it damaged due to improper installation by someone on the Ducati assembly line, or was the seal damaged by imperfections in the output shaft itself such as scratches, marring, pitting etc?

I'm sending a letter to Ducati, because this absolutely unacceptable quality control. I smell a potential recall....

My bike is at the dealer being repaired under the warranty, but never-the-less I don't want the same issue to re-occur only days or weeks later.... Thus the need to understand the true root cause.

Picture of the leak
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1pSr6BMDMpCM0iAU8eQNj5Qfxmw9vLmHT

Click to expand...

any news on your bike??

I believe there are now updated parts for this.

They replaced the seal... said it was updated seal and a different spacer. Fingers crossed ashes good... dealer is 7 hours away

Joehruv4 said:

They replaced the seal... said it was updated seal and a different spacer. Fingers crossed ashes good... dealer is 7 hours away

Click to expand...

i am waiting for 3 weeks for the new parts.........

Joehruv4 said:

They replaced the seal... said it was updated seal and a different spacer. Fingers crossed ashes good... dealer is 7 hours away

Click to expand...

Can you please check for me on the service protocol the article number of the updated parts? It would be very helpfull.

Thanks a lot

Not good...Still more issues...

Ducati Panigale V4S Transmission Output Shaft Seal Leaking Oil AGAIN!!!

After 3 weeks of driving my new 2018 Ducati V4S off the dealer showroom floor my transmission output shaft seal started leaking oil. The bike spent 2 weeks at the dealer. They replaced the seal with a new one. After another 2 weeks the new seal failed and oil started leaking again. I have been in contact with Ducati of North America concerning this matter. I have provided them with full details including images. As of today 6/15/2019 I have to bring my bike back to the dealer to have it repaired once more. The lemon law is now going into effect. If the seal fails for a third time then Ducati must buy my bike back at the full price I paid.

This is the information I have provided to the dealership for the third seal replacement.

We’re dealing with one of three problems

1. A defective seal, where possibly the chemical make-up of the seal is incorrect ultimately resulting in cracking or splitting under the applied conditions (friction, vibration, heat). Although, the fact that you mentioned you’ve never seen this problem before and that my bike has already destroyed two seals in 6 weeks likely means that perhaps it’s not the seal, but rather the output shaft itself. If it was a defective seal you would have likely seen this issue with other V4’s as well.
2. The output shaft itself has a surface with defects in it, scratches, marring, roughness creating abnormal friction/heat causing seal failure.
3. The transmission output shaft is out of round (machined incorrectly) or out of balance, either of which, would create an oscillation effect placing the seal under abnormal stresses for which it was not designed. You can test for this by removing the chain and sprocket and holding a straight edge next to the shaft while it’s spinning at different RPMs (this will test both a defect in shaft machining as well as unbalanced oscillation).

Pictures of failed seals and oil leaks
When I receive the second failed seal from the dealer I will take a photo and post.

Those who mentioned it was the output shaft itself, did the dealer have to take your entire transmission apart and replace the output shaft itself? How long did this take? Did they do a good job? Any issues after you had the new shaft installed?

PLEASE if you are having this SAME OIL leak issue PLEASE contact Jacob Trump from Ducati of North America (NA HQ)
Jacob Trump
Customer Service Manager
Ducati North America
448 E. Middlefield Road
Mountain View, CA 94043 USA
Phone 888-391-5446
Ducati Customer Service [email protected]
You can reference the case by John CASE: 00279651 [ ref:_00D0YYIYa._5001vxDz59:ref ]

Joehruv4 said:

My front brake went soft...

Click to expand...

Okay, here's the deal with the Panigale V4.. They packed so much power into this thing that the engine produces more heat than nearly any other bike on the market. The central ABS control unit is located above the engine and the manifolds, so it is subjected to a tremendous amount of heat. As such you'll notice that on the V4 your brake fluid (front and rear) turns black in about 1-2 weeks. When the fluid is subjected to such temperatures heating and cooling etc, bubbles start forming, as it cools moisture is pulled in etc. All of this combined will result in your brakes going soft. Essentially, you need to flush your brakes about every 2 months or so depending on how much you ride and what the weather is like where you live. If the bike didn't have ABS, this wouldn't be a problem.

PTFE Seals, an interesting fact...

The seal is not PTFE it is Viton FKM, so it does require lubrication during install. PTFE seals are installed dry.

m3chanix said:

After 3 weeks of driving my new 2018 Ducati V4S off the dealer showroom floor my transmission output shaft seal started leaking oil. The bike spent 2 weeks at the dealer. They replaced the seal with a new one. After another 2 weeks the new seal failed and oil started leaking again. I have been in contact with Ducati of North America concerning this matter. I have provided them with full details including images. As of today 6/15/2019 I have to bring my bike back to the dealer to have it repaired once more. The lemon law is now going into effect. If the seal fails for a third time then Ducati must buy my bike back at the full price I paid.]

Click to expand...

Dear m3chanix,

My dealer told me that, it is not an official recall, but there are replacement parts to solve this oil leakage in the Ducati service online area. (under the menu Tips&tricks.)

The updated parts will be installed on my bike this or next week.

Same issue here. Bike has 300 miles on it. Smh

Updated - Ducati Panigale V4S Transmission Output Shaft Seal Leaking Oil

Got my bike back from the dealer on 6/18/2019
On the third seal now...
Rode 45 miles and so far the seal isn't leaking yet.. It took 2-3 weeks for last two seals to start leaking so I'll post-back an update in about another 2 weeks unless it starts leaking before that.

Here's what the dealer did this time around:
1) Removed the shaft collar and polished it.
2) Removed the spring from the seal and cut off some of the length. Then they reattached the spring. This is modifying the seal from it's engineered design; however, they claim this is an old mechanic's trick that usually always works. Essentially, this creates a tighter seal on the output shaft collar. You would think that with a tighter seal the friction coefficient would be too high, creating too much heat and damaging the seal or causing premature failure. When they installed the seal they lubricated it with grease. Ducati has no instruction for lubrication and neither does the seal manufacturer. I'm not really sure whether grease should be used and if so what kind or oil etc.

Either way, I'll keep you guys posted. If it fails this time the bike will officially be classified as a LEMON and they'll have have to buy it back from me at full price.

What is the part number for this seal? Having the same issue.

#15 in diagram
Part Number: 93042221A
Description: Seal Ring
Not sure why this website shows 3 different parts…93042221A

You will need this tool as well D 88713.3508
Tool Part Number: 887138864
Description: Seal ring driver tool

m3chanix said:

#15 in diagram
Part Number: 93042221A
Description: Seal Ring
Not sure why this website shows 3 different parts…93042221A

You will need this tool as well D 88713.3508
Tool Part Number: 887138864
Description: Seal ring driver tool

View attachment 30315View attachment 30316View attachment 30317

Click to expand...

Hi m3chanix,

Thank you for this info. Was your issue resolved after the last attempt?

Also, it might take a month or so if I am going to order this part on my local Ducati dealer, do you think a similar seal ring with the same dimensions, ( I researched this are the dimensions 40x62x7), would work? I might be able to order one of these:

OR

Thanks

m3chanix said:

2) Removed the spring from the seal and cut off some of the length. Then they reattached the spring. This is modifying the seal from it's engineered design; however, they claim this is an old mechanic's trick that usually always works. Essentially, this creates a tighter seal on the output shaft collar. You would think that with a tighter seal the friction coefficient would be too high, creating too much heat and damaging the seal or causing premature failure. When they installed the seal they lubricated it with grease. Ducati has no instruction for lubrication and neither does the seal manufacturer. I'm not really sure whether grease should be used and if so what kind or oil etc.

Click to expand...

As you stated, this will create higher wear on the seal surface.

My buddy's R1 leaks here as well...he just wipes it off before tech and periodically...he's not had an issue....

Yea...I know...it shouldn't leak-

v4power said:

Was your issue resolved after the last attempt?

Click to expand...

Yes, my issue was resolved and I have zero problems now. Not a drop of oil.

Definitely order a Ducati part. Ducati of Omaha is a great website. They can get you the part in 1-2 weeks (that's been my experience). The only problem is that they list 3 different parts in their online store for this... I would probably recommend buying all 3 then return the other two. Or email them to find out why they have 3 parts listed. 231A may be the upgraded replacement seal against the original 221A part number. Ducati's parts catalog doesn't reflect the part number change and the price seems too low, so that's just a guess. The dealership told me there was a spacer behind the Seal that wasn't installed properly from the factory. They removed the spacer and reinstalled a new one. I don't see any such spacer in the parts diagram, so I'm not sure about that. If you remove the seal and and you see a spacer there, just make sure it's properly seated. Also, note that this is covered under the warranty and you should be able to get this fixed for free.

93042221A - SEAL RING
Regular price: $17.10

93042231A - SEAL RING
Regular price: $9.11

93040221A - SEAL, OIL 35X52X7
Regular price: $32.08

Welcome to Ducati ownership. Congrats on using money that could have made a down payment on a home (or purchased a loaded Sedan) on a leaking rattling Italian motorcycle. Don’t expect it to get any better and don’t expect Ducati to back their product all that well. Enjoy.