1200 DVT Front Brake Fluid Reservoir Leak

I thought all Ducati's did this - is it at the cap o-ring as on previous models?

 

Think most of them do it to agree. It must be something to do with the venting of the reservoir ( and the vibes if the engine) as i have tried different makes of caps and it still does it.

 

Hello,

This leak occurred in my MTS 2012 and now in my 2015 DVT too.
It seems that the rubber-gasket is deformed (convex shape) and does not do correctly its venting function.
In both cases, I removed the cup, cleaned the spilled fluid and I finally installed the rubber gasket again in the correct position and problem solved; until today.

Best Regards

 

I'm toying with rizoma fancy pants replacements. Look cool as hell.

But then I fear they may leak too. Anybody experience with them?

 

The system is a sealed system, once the rubber gasket goes on, followed by the cap, nothing should leak. The rubber gasket is designed to allow for fluid expansion, the air gap above the gasket will vent, but no fluid should come out. If it was not sealed, your brake fluid would absorb moisture and would get spongy very quickly as the moisture content, in the brake fluid, rises.

 

The caps tend to get overtightened, sometimes to try and stop them leaking....... Now they're plastic, overtightening distorts them and they don't seal well. Look at the gap between the cap and the lip on the reservoir, it should be parallel all round. If it's overtight, the gap is closed local to the screws.
Strip it down, clean the rubber gasket and refit. Just nip the screws up. If it still leaks, you'll need a new cap

 

I had this, took to my dealer Saturday and they replaced the cap under warranty, will keep an eye on this so how it goes.

 

Just got this problem on my dvt after 1700 miles. Booked into dealer next week to be checked over and fixed - hopefully. Another quality control issue on a premium priced motorcycle!

 

I just had this as well, 11600km on my DVT. Was driving down the highway at about 110km/hr and brake fluid starts flying out of the reservoir. I did my best to wipe it away with my glove but some still ended up on my paint. Pulled over and removed the lid, inspected (nothing seemed abnormal), put it back on and it was fine. Took to the stealership the next day and they said the spray on the paint was "hardly noticeable". It is quite minor but I made sure I had a record of it in there in case my paint comes off down the road.

Their tech took the lid off, sucked some fluid out, and replaced with fresh fluid. He put on the service order that it was slightly overfilled. Funny thing is, HE is the one who would have overfilled it since I haven't changed anything but the oil. I had my tires done at 10000km so I am wondering if he buggered something up pushing the pistons in or something.

At any rate, I ordered the billet Ducati Performance caps. I think they are a little less prone to flexing compared to the stocker plastic one. I hate giving the stealership more money but I think this time it will actually solve a problem.

 

I fitted Rizoma cap to my brake reservoir and it made no difference. Think they really need a new reservoir as this must distort too.

 

When the tyre was changed the brake pistons had been pushed back to allow the callipers to come off. So the fluid in the callipers had been pushed back up the line through the master cylinder into the reservoir. If the reservoir was already near to full where does the excess fluid go? It leaks out past the seal.

 

Surely, if it's filled to the correct level when the pads are new, there can't be to much fluid in the resavoir when the pistons are pushed back ?

 

Depends whether it's been topped up since.

 

But why would you top it up, unless there's a leak ?

 

Mine also leaked , nor sure how they fixed it but it doesn't leak............for now

 

As far as I know it hadn't been topped up. It had only been at the dealer for the initial service and for the tires. Next time I am just taking my rims in instead of the whole bike.

 

Mine leaked, so they replaced the cap under warranty. It still leaked, so they replaced the reservoir and cap under warranty. No more leaks (so far).

 

All my Ducati's suffered this type of leak, most recently a monster 1100 and 1098 Streetfighter. I replaced the caps with some aftermarket parts and made sure the rubber gasket was seated correctly. Quite why Ducati and their dealers can't do this themselves eludes me.

 

Never had thankful with my 3 ducati over the last several years.