Oil leaks should be relatively simple to fix right? Unfortunately not always, as was this case with this 2015 Ducati Panigale R.
It is not particularly uncommon for bikes to develop oil leaks between the engine case splits however when the design of the motor, and bike for that matter are as complex as this Panigale R, it turns into a mega job.
A leak that appeared to be coming from the front cylinder head gasket, was actually coming from the cylinder liner o-rings and silicone gasket. So not only hard to diagnose but this meant that Jools had to roll up his sleeves, spin his cap backwards and get to some serious work.
Cylinder liner your ask? The cylinder liner as it is known is actually the cylinder which houses the piston and is pressed into the crankcases. On the Panigale the crankcase split is a vertical one as shown below.
The job is not only a big one, it's complex, requiring a lot of specialised tools and equipment to execute, not to mention the expertise! Luckily we've got all that covered and Jools ain't half bad either 😉
Refitting the cylinder liners is a delicate process, ensuring there is no damage to the o-rings when they are pressed back into the crankcases and that the silicone gasket is done correctly. A mistake here would lead to the entire job having to be done again if it was to fail the dyno test. Cesar was on hand to give Jools the assistance he needed.
The beautiful desmodromic (Desmo) top end is truly a work of art from an engineering perspective but does require more expertise than your average valve clearance job.
Talk about a massive job for a pesky oil leak. Fair to say Jools formed a close bond with this bike (Rhonda) by the time she was rebuilt and ready for her next track day with Eddie.
Oh! And what would any job like this be without the final dyno run in and heavy load test to make sure everything is spot on. Sound up!
