Recently, I noticed that one of the hose (the longer one) to the oil cooler touch the SC-Project WSBK exhaust manifold. Right around the area where the pipe is now very BLUE in color, meaning it was heated to at least 500 degree CELSIUS not Fahrenheit but CELSIUS meaning 932 Fahrenheit...
I check the spec Goodridge Stainless Steel Braided hose and even their highest quality model only resist up to 500F or 260 Celsius...
Well, this really made me worry so much that I don't want to turn on my engine again before I found a solution...
Because although from the outside of the hose, I cannot see any burn mark or deterioration, but inside the stainless steel braided... it is possible the PTFE hose (in case Ducati use PTFE hose) is already weaken and could burst oil anytime...
I really don't want to see fire hazard from a burning hot oil onto an even hotter exhaust manifold...
So since last night I was looking for the right solution...
Initially, I am looking for any kind of adapter from Ducati very unique double O-Ring fitting to AN style fitting so I can replace everything easily with Goodridge hoses.
BUT... I could not find any except there are 2 fittings that look close enough in Goodridge latest catalog... which are
Their 960 Plug-In fittings from their HIGHEST and LATEST Ultra series line:
or their 711 Plug-In fitting for their XF line of hoses which until just maybe 2 or 3 years ago was their top of the line hoses.
I actually use the G-Line XF910 Kevlar/Aramid Braided hose for my Setrab Oil Cooler and Fuel Line on my Supercharged Honda Fit project a few years back.
Not only they are the best quality at that time, they also look GORGEOUSLY EXPENSIVE (which they are)
But of course, now Goodridge have the newest ULTRA line, I find this oil cooler hose issue to be the PERFECT excuse to try it..
The difference it the ULTRA line have even higher working and burst pressure to the Stainless Steel inner rings at every valley on the convoluted PTFE hoses.
The ULTRA line also have an even larger inner bore even if the AN value is the same compare to the XF series so they can flow more.
But in order to make sure the hoses and the fitting works, I need to take the current hoses from the bike so here are the steps:
First, I did try to "adjust" the angle by loosening the nut that hold the hose to the oil cooler and I did manage to make the hose have about 5mm to 7mm gap with the exhaust manifold...
So in case I cannot make the Goodridge hose works, I can still use the stock Ducati hose... eventhough I think I might need to replace this hose every few years or so because they are exposed to this kind of crazy heat from the manifold.
Next step is to drain the oil,... it is a brand new Motul oil that I just filled maybe 1 or 2 months ago... so I am not throwing it away and will reuse it
:
Then loosen the Nut on the oil cooler, but protect it with 3M painters tape so no scratch:
Next, I took off the small nut and fork holder that hold the other end of the hose to the engine block (I did not take pictures) so I am now able to take out the hose:
I did check at Ducati Spare Parts Catalog and find that the O-Ring on each end was different... I am curious (that is why I have to take out both end of the hose)...
and turn out the diameter of the fitting going into the oil cooler and the fitting going into the engine block are DIFFERENT
:
Still this does not provide me with enough information... sooooooooo.... I need to do a "DESTRUCTIVE ANALYSIS"
:
Yeah, time to DREMEL:
So I use cutting grinder to cut both side of the Crimp:
Then pry it apart:
Exposing the PTFE hose inside:
But the fitting was still tightly stuck to the PTFE so I cut the PTFE layer and finally manage to take out the fitting.
What surprise me was that the Stainless Steel use for this braided line was still "magnetic"... a higher quality Stainless Steel is normally NON magnetic:
Oh, the first fitting I took off was the 90 degree fitting going into the engine, so I decided to test on whether the current 135 degree fitting (or 45 degree depend on how you look at it), will be good enough to avoid hitting the exhaust manifold:
Continue below: