I had a tough to find oil leak on a '22 FXLRS. Final solution was to stuff brown paper towels in different places around the motor and ride for a few minutes, then examine the towels. Found the source after stuffing around the top of the rear pushrod tubes. No doubt, there are more sophisticated solutions, but sophistication is in short supply in my garage.
That is good to know thanks for letting me know how you found your leak. I have paper towels and no dye yet maybe i could try that. Not sure where rear push rod tubes are or where that towel would be. Hopefully I can find my leak in a simple and fast way as well.
Probably not scamming, but incompetent. Or if the bike is old, it could be leaking in several areas, and although they fixed those leaks, they didn’t get the biggest one. As motors age, things loosen, and gaskets deteriorate.
Thanks for the reply, it seems the consensus is everywhere I posted that it's probably just incompetence and unlikely to be a scam. My bike is a 2005 Sportster 1200 C so about 20 years old. The issue is that it doesnt seem like the leak has changed at all, though im just measuring by how much appears on the cardboard under the bike. Is there a better way to measure how much is leaking?
In addition to all the good information provided and where to look.
I am pretty sure you have a plastic oil tank.
Remove the seat, use a flashlight and check the seam running around the top of the oil tank for a leak, normally they will just weep if a seam is compromised.
Also look at any of the hose connections you may see.
Thank you for the recommendation, and as well the big clear easy to read picture, makes it easy to understand what im looking for. Will take a look under the seat and see if my oil tank is plastic but I think it's metal/chrome off the top of my head, and check seams and hoses.
Thank you for the recommendation, and as well the big clear easy to read picture, makes it easy to understand what im looking for. Will take a look under the seat and see if my oil tank is plastic but I think it's metal/chrome off the top of my head, and check seams and hoses.
I've seen metal oil tanks develop cracks as well as the plastic ones, so don't rule out anything until it's been inspected.
Look closely at the photo (side view) with the drain plug. What do you see????? I see what looks like the drain plug O ring shredded and hanging down. THAT WILL LEAK OIL.
Thanks for the tips. I'm hoping if I do try to find it myself that I will be able to find it. Have to look into where to get the dye first. My bike is a 2005 Sportster 1200 Custom. Some people seem to ride with a bit of oil seepage, but im not sure, i think the amount it dripped on the cardboard in that picture in one night seems like a lot. Yes diagnosing or even getting info that can help diagnose in the beginning probably would have made this whole thing easier, will see if i can do that successfully myself. Thanks for the welcome and the tips.
Look at night or in dark garage. Cleaned up, even without dye, you can find it.
If you been getting maintenance done by someone, it could be from the filter.
you feel that its safe to drive you bike when it is still leaking oil? Is yours leaking more then mine? The picture is from it sitting in the garage for one night.
It's safe to ride, it's just spotting and marking it's territory, it'll just smoke a little.
And you just have to check it more often. Yes mine weeps more than yours.
I wanted to ride on my bike on a clean slate with everything clean and working properly. I've gotten that a lot posting in other places with people saying all harleys leak etc but from what i understand sportsters are not supposed to leak at all. I just got the bike a few months ago and never tore down the engine. worked on cars but never bikes. Is the engine hard to tear down? Worried if I take it apart i wouldnt be able ot put it all back together, or when i did put it back together, it wouldnt run. I've heard about the deoderant trick before so may look into that esp if it helps me find the leak.
In your shoes I’d invest in the time to find the leak. It may take cleaning it really well several times and a little patience. Likely it’s a single seal or gasket.
Harley’s are wonderfully simple motors that are very simple to work on. An evolution engine sporty can be worked on with very few specialty tools. For the most part basic sae tools will get it done. The factory manuals are far better than car manufacturer manuals. They try to provide you with most of the information needed to repair anything.
Thank you for the reply, it's good to know that it is not as hard to find a leak on a sportster. That should mean that the mechanics at the shop shouldnt be having such a failure rate of diagnosing and repairing the leak though, which is wat is confusing/frustrating to me.
Not trying to be a wise ***, but when you are a "hands-off" kind of bike owner, you will be destined to this kind of stuff forever. In all fairness, I grew up in an era where you HAD to work on your own bike or you could never afford it. You don't have to become a master mechanic, just an interest to learn about your bike, some tools and a shop manual. The education and confidence you gain adds to the riding experience IMHO.
07-28-2024 | 04:25 PM
