2012 883 started to leak oil, seems like its coming from the tank. Any thoughts?



Oil on ground after about 24hours.








Oil around tank rim











Sowing oil around edge of oil tank lid





Showing oil at the base of the side cover

 

Have you checked the level in your tank? If your bike has been parked in the sun odd things can occasionally happen, due to heat expansion.

 

Yep, it looks like the tank seam may be leaking, but it's hard to be sure with the limited visibility of the tank still in the frame.
This used to be a more frequent issue before a pressure relief valve was added to the tank 5 or so years ago. It also was/is much more common in northern climates where the tank was exposed to freezing temperatures, like being parked outside overnight during the winter months.

 

I am in seattle and we havebt had any night colder then about 55-60 degrees, always kept in garage as well. Perhaps the level is to high and the heat (95 on some days) is causing it to do strange stuff? Ill check the level tonight and see where its at.

 

Took it in yesterday and they said it could be the rubber bladder they put inside the plastic tub that holds the oil could be punctured. They said they have never seen that on an iron before. I am taking it in next week for an exploritory and if thats the case, they told me 400 for labor and 250 for parts... Seens insane to me but its a job i doubt i could do my self.

 

I'll admit I haven't looked at the oil tanks on the ~2010 and later bikes, but having a "rubber bladder" inside a Sporty oil tank is news to me.

 

I had this problem recently


you can totally do it yourself and probably should.

here's mine:
https://www.hdforums.com/forum/sport...k-leaking.html

my tank had been sneaking off with my oil for years and i never knew why. then it suddenly got really bad and i saw the oil on the seams....

check:

1. your cap - rubber gasket may have failed
2. fill level - you may have over filled
3. right side of bike - under the oil tank cover. the oil will run down to the left when the bike is on the jiffy.

i replaced my tank because harley corprate was being difficult and the dealer treated me like i was crazy and told my leaking tank was not leaking hand relieved me of $100 for the misdiagnosis. want it done right.. do it yourself.

new tank ran me 150-180 - took about 4 to 3 hours to do total... i dragged mine out to about 6 hours by inspecting everything and treating rust and other stuff i found under all the covers and trim. really easy job.

if you do it yourself, put a good amount of though[t] in to worm clams vs pinch clamps. i stuck with pinch.... i'm glad i did. i had an unrelated catastrophe with a worm clamp on my oil cooler.... would have been a complete nightmare on my oil tank.

 

If that turns out to be the case then i think your right. I just got a good manual and ill review the steps tonight. Seems like this should be a warentee item almost regardless of age... I dont know how this issue could happen except it was a manufacturing defect.

 

call the moco and have at it. they'll call the dealer to check the results. never know.