Know your warranty and what Yamaha doesn’t do.

[Turboflash]

And now the big 3 all have JIT manufacturing! It was either learn to do that, or go out of business.

 

[cannondale27]

I believe you guys are correct in the JIT theory but it doesnt make it right. I would trust only one guy at my dealership to do a engine from top to bottom and not under the time constraints of working in a dealership shop. I believe with the 16 Viper engine and Turbos alot of dealers sent the motors to Ulmer to be redone. Thats a smart move. Now if Yamaha had a couple motors. Maybe 5 that could be in the pipeline to help speed up the process along with a dedicated rebuild place or two like Ulmer who could commit to it then maybe a guys season could be saved. I remember that thats what they did when they recalled the crank on my 98 SRX. Some of the people got new cranks and most got rebuilt ones from the guy in Greenbay. Either was fine. It happened pretty quick but really if the bad luck of a engine failure happens its a pretty good odds that season is over. Its possible that Yamaha would do this if there was a known issue and a high failure rate. Not seeing that so dont think it will happen. Alot of things are not clear ever whether its dealer or corporation doing things even to the customer. Many times dealer will not say who is footing the bill because they dont know either at the time. My buddy who had first year Polaris 850 had the engine go. He lost one weekend riding. They supplied him with either a new 850 or a 800ProS with studs to use while waiting for engine. Guy wont ride a sled without studs so he rode the ProS a few weekend till they got a new motor and put it in his sled but that was a known issue. He never did find out whether the dealer got compensated for the use of sled. Doesnt matter. He was very happy and justifiably so! That dealer has a lifetime customer now for sure. I guess just pointing that out for those looking at sleds. Should be looking at dealer also. Whats their history? Its not hard to figure it out nowadays.

 

[Turboflash]

I sometimes referred to it as "almost just in time" LOL.

 

[1nc 2000]

Just have your dealer get it from cat and bill yamaha. Outsourcing at its finest.

 

[ClutchMaster]

I believe you guys are correct in the JIT theory but it doesnt make it right. I would trust only one guy at my dealership to do a engine from top to bottom and not under the time constraints of working in a dealership shop. I believe with the 16 Viper engine and Turbos alot of dealers sent the motors to Ulmer to be redone. Thats a smart move. Now if Yamaha had a couple motors. Maybe 5 that could be in the pipeline to help speed up the process along with a dedicated rebuild place or two like Ulmer who could commit to it then maybe a guys season could be saved. I remember that thats what they did when they recalled the crank on my 98 SRX. Some of the people got new cranks and most got rebuilt ones from the guy in Greenbay. Either was fine. It happened pretty quick but really if the bad luck of a engine failure happens its a pretty good odds that season is over. Its possible that Yamaha would do this if there was a known issue and a high failure rate. Not seeing that so dont think it will happen. Alot of things are not clear ever whether its dealer or corporation doing things even to the customer. Many times dealer will not say who is footing the bill because they dont know either at the time. My buddy who had first year Polaris 850 had the engine go. He lost one weekend riding. They supplied him with either a new 850 or a 800ProS with studs to use while waiting for engine. Guy wont ride a sled without studs so he rode the ProS a few weekend till they got a new motor and put it in his sled but that was a known issue. He never did find out whether the dealer got compensated for the use of sled. Doesnt matter. He was very happy and justifiably so! That dealer has a lifetime customer now for sure. I guess just pointing that out for those looking at sleds. Should be looking at dealer also. Whats their history? Its not hard to figure it out nowadays.

Yamaha has gone full circle, they are running on their reputation and probably have the worst warranty in the business. None of this would have happened 20 years ago, fact!

money money money

 

[cannondale27]

Just have your dealer get it from cat and bill yamaha. Outsourcing at its finest.

A really good dealer could make that happen with alot of time on phone. Have seen it myself with shocks and ECU. There are still actual people at Yamaha that do care about your limited ride time.

 

[ClutchMaster]

A really good dealer could make that happen with alot of time on phone. Have seen it myself with shocks and ECU. There are still actual people at Yamaha that do care about your limited ride time.

It’s pretty sad when Arctic Cat can get you a motor faster than Yamaha, they are the manufacturer of the dam engine for crying out loud.

Honor the dam warranty in a timely fashion for cryin out loud!

 

[ClutchMaster]

Making some mechanic rebuild a new motor, they are parts replacers, not engine mechanics.

 

[cannondale27]

It’s pretty sad when Arctic Cat can get you a motor faster than Yamaha, they are the manufacturer of the dam engine for crying out loud.

Honor the dam warranty in a timely fashion for cryin out loud!

You are not listening. Its the dealer. He has to know who to call and has to have a good relationship with Yamaha. Is what it is. Has always been that way. We got a Yamaha ECU reflashed by Arctic Cat and approved by Yamaha within a hr. Also got approval from Yamaha for replacement parts for more than one shock to be fixed rather than replaced with Arctic Cat parts since Yamaha never carried those parts. Maybe I am spoiled but I know there are many other dealers out there that get the job done.

 

[cannondale27]

Making some mechanic rebuild a new motor, they are parts replacers, not engine mechanics.

YOU would not trust anyone to work on your motor. Right? Neither would I. So really what good is a engine warranty other than for parts? Chassis and drivetrain is a different story.

 

[cannondale27]

Making some mechanic rebuild a new motor, they are parts replacers, not engine mechanics.

Not all of them. You know that. Is some really talented people out there. Might have to get them to do the work at home but the talent is there and everyone has to start somewhere.

 

[Dr. FeeLGooD]

We would all be better off if Yamaha concerned itself about quality and customer care over producing junk just in time.

 

[20/80]

Dealers do not approve anything that's under warranty the Yamaha Reps do, most but not all dealers have a red sealed mechanic approved competent and trained by Yamaha to do the warranty work, this dealers Mechanic had to be Yamaha approved to do the engine work for the Rep, problem is did he do the work or a shop monkey under his supervision which happens a lot.

 

[74Nitro]

Well in december 2003, I was at a dealership and there was a 2004 model RX Warrior that siezed up with less than 30kms on it(oil pump shaft snapped). We called Yamaha in Toronto and they said pull the engine, we will be there with a new one. The territory service rep showed up with complete engine in crate.
Another thing about warranty. NO manufacturer is under obligation to warranty an engine that has been tuned. Kinger, I think you mentioned that yours was tuned right from new. I understand that tuning most likely had nothing to do with your issue, but consider yourself lucky that they didn't tell you to go pound salt. I had a customer buy a brand new Winder from a large dealer in London Ontario and bring it straight to me for tuning before riding it even once. I made it very clear that if anything went wrong neither myself, Yamaha, nor the dealer may be on hook. It was his baby.
One other thing about dealerships. They may have have two or three mechanics, but only one may actually be VERY good. But he can't do everything. The other problem dealerships face is KEEPING that very good mechanic. Often times dealerships can't compete with wages of other local business. If anyone thinks your local dealership is making a LOT of money - think again!

 

[Mooseman]

I don't believe this JIT BS. When Phazers first came out, they were blowing up motors all over the place and all had to be replaced. There has to be replacement blocks but they're being too cheap now to replace them, downloading the responsibility to dealers. Car makers, even Japanese, replace complete engines on a regular basis. It happens. Sleds are no different. They're not perfect. If JIT was a real thing, there would be no replacement parts at all.

And please, red seal approved mechanics? Probably just a regular small engine mechanic that passed an online course or someone who knows how to read Yamaha's totally disjointed repair manual. I can believe that some dealers would send their engines to Ulmer as they're probably the only ones with real experience. Hell, I'll probably wind up fixing my own blown head gasket instead of buying a new sled.