Thanks for posting the bulletin. I've got a copy saved on my computer but for some reason I wasn't able to upload it to photobucket.
Now that we are seeing some '05 & '06 sleds with blue paint. It makes me wonder if the orange tensioners were from a different vendor and subject to a manufacturing flaw? Could it be that Yamaha sourced the tensioners from two different places and they don't know which sleds they were placed in? The bulletin makes no mention or reference to a recall. It just appears to be a notice to service personnel that the part was updated and to not use the old part even if it tests OK.
Now that we are seeing some '05 & '06 sleds with blue paint. It makes me wonder if the orange tensioners were from a different vendor and subject to a manufacturing flaw? Could it be that Yamaha sourced the tensioners from two different places and they don't know which sleds they were placed in? The bulletin makes no mention or reference to a recall. It just appears to be a notice to service personnel that the part was updated and to not use the old part even if it tests OK.
grizztracks
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there seems to be some confusion but regardless of the the dot color I took it as "all 05 to 07" three cylinders have the potential for tensioner failure.
AKrider, I downloaded the bulletin as a pdf file which I don't think photobucket excepts. I opened the pdf version, centered what I needed on my screen then pressed the print screen key. I then opened microsoft paint and went to edit, past. You can do some editing in paint then save it as a jpeg file for photobucket.
AKrider, I downloaded the bulletin as a pdf file which I don't think photobucket excepts. I opened the pdf version, centered what I needed on my screen then pressed the print screen key. I then opened microsoft paint and went to edit, past. You can do some editing in paint then save it as a jpeg file for photobucket.
Nytrosnox
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Ive been keeping track of all the talk about the chain tesioner and I to have a 05 Vector orange dot and a 06 Nytro with a blue dot. I might wait till I hear noise and hope Yamaha will cover. Just dont want it in the middle of the season. Intrested to hear if anyone has herd the noise yet. Maybe this is just a small amount of tentioners like someone was suggesting, hoping! 
06vectorgt
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Nytrosnox06 said:Ive been keeping track of all the talk about the chain tesioner and I to have a 05 Vector orange dot and a 06 Nytro with a blue dot. I might wait till I hear noise and hope Yamaha will cover. Just dont want it in the middle of the season. Intrested to hear if anyone has herd the noise yet. Maybe this is just a small amount of tentioners like someone was suggesting, hoping!
Anyone who has gotten this done on their 05-06 should consider themselves lucky - It is not covered according to Yamaha Customer Service in Ca. My Yamaha Dealer has also called his factory contact and was told the same thing.
Yamaha should be ashamed of themselves as a Company!
Look what Polaris is doing for people with the 800 issues! Way to treat your customers Polaris!
Good luck to all!
SRX Maine
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Just wondering if I can start the machine with the primary clutch off the motor to find out if my noise is clutch or chain?
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I was told by a Yamaha mechanic to run without the clutch to listen for noise. I would warm up engine to operating temp first, that way your not playing with the choke and fast idle etc.
This sounds so familiar to the Jackshaft problem they had. Two different vendors.
My post from yesterday was incorrect. I was looking at the picture vector06 has in the thread "What's your tensioner year and color." I have very similar blue markings. However, grizztracks has the bulletin posted showing where it should be. With a mirror and a good light I spotted the orange dot. It is on the tensioner itself facing the rear of the sled and towards the center of the sled. Very,very hard to get a look at. 06 Nytro w/ORANGE DOT!!!!!
Yeah, I posted on the other thread to. I definitely should have removed the side panel. I bought a small, $11 dentist type mirror from Napa as my normal one was too large. I probably spent 15 minutes trying all types of angles looking for dots. Then... there it was and I didn't want to believe what I was seeing. I was hoping it was some high temp silicone but no... the orange dot of death. It was located on the chaincase side of the tensioner, on the bottom of the flange. My sled was built in 5/04 #317.
So now what? I've changed my opinion on just running my sled and waiting to hear some noises because I KNOW I'll be hearing all kinds of noises of impending, catastrophic doom to my motor.
I'm guessing you are supposed to wait until the sled makes noise and take it in? Seems like Yamaha is taking care of the sleds. I'll start really checking into it once we've got snow on the ground.
So now what? I've changed my opinion on just running my sled and waiting to hear some noises because I KNOW I'll be hearing all kinds of noises of impending, catastrophic doom to my motor.
I'm guessing you are supposed to wait until the sled makes noise and take it in? Seems like Yamaha is taking care of the sleds. I'll start really checking into it once we've got snow on the ground.I am also hoping to here an update from Bradford. I was hoping a Yamaha tech, who has done this before, would chime in. I am very comfortable replacing the tensioner if I know it is a in/out deal. I want to know for sure that nothing can fall out of place when tensioner is removed.
Port-Parts
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I have watched this post too long not to put my .02 cents in here so here goes. To date I have yet to personally see a tensioner fail on one of these sleds and firmly believe that the percentage of failures of these happening is so small that is why Yamaha has addressed this as nothing more than a tech exchange to dealers to advise them of something to look for when servicing these sleds. 99.9% of owners will never have to deal with this other than the worrying that some have been doing on this forum. If this problem was a widespread issue Yamaha would be addressing it in a much different manner. This is not currently an issue like loose front ball joints on 08 Nytros or like the delaminated idler wheels on many 06 models where the percentage of failures was very, very high. Those issues were handled with what Yamaha calls a 90 code which authorizes the dealer to repair them regardless of warranty status. I hope this helps put this problem into perpective for some.
Port-Parts, that is great info, but doesn't ease my mind. I ride with a guy who has an 06 Rage w/ 5500-6000 miles. Last season something broke in that area of the motor-thru the case. He had heard a noise, stopped at the next dealer, they looked it over couldn't figure out what it was. 20-30 miles later it was done. I don't know that it was ever determined what actually broke. I do know it was out of warranty and Yamaha did nothing for him. IMO when the first valve adjustment is around 12,000 miles- Yamaha needs to be seriously addressing these situations. We may be making a big deal out of nothing, but I bought this for great mileage and durability. And if I can replace a part for under 200 dollars-that may save me 2000-3000 dollars. I may kick myself for not doing it! Just my .02 cents
grizztracks
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I somewhat agree with Port-Parts that the chances of a failure is probable small but we as consumers spend a lot of money on these machines. If there was only one failure it still would concern me. Most of us can barely afford these toys and definitely can't afford an engine replacement due to a realitivly inexpensive part failing. If I don't change the tensioner on my 05 Vector and it fails I doubt Yamaha will do anything to help. Like AKrider said "So now what". Do you wait? It may never fail but if it does will you catch it before the motor is destroyed (thats if you can hear it over the clutch). or due you replace it now and have a little piece of mind the next time you head out for a days ride?
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I think we need to think of this as a risk assessment..... Here is the background on risk assessments:
When assessing a scheme's level of risk, we will consider two factors:
1) How likely is it that an event will occur ?
So I would say that we need to know how many of these have actually failed. I doubt Yamaha would be willing to reveal that but I wonder if someone surveyed the dealerships,,, assuming they would be honest. Or perhaps, we should actually conduct a survey and ask a few things... 1) Does you sled have the orange dot 2) Have you had the symptoms of this problem 3) Did your incur engine damage
2) What would be the impact of the event
It sounds like if this part fails and you don't catch it in time, you have toasted your engine and it will cost you e.g. $2500 to replace it.
So... can someone who has been following this topic for along time please take their best guesstimate on how many reported and how many engines blew ? e.g. 3 out of 600 engines blew. Which means that 0.5% is the likelihood of this is occurring.
When assessing a scheme's level of risk, we will consider two factors:
1) How likely is it that an event will occur ?
So I would say that we need to know how many of these have actually failed. I doubt Yamaha would be willing to reveal that but I wonder if someone surveyed the dealerships,,, assuming they would be honest. Or perhaps, we should actually conduct a survey and ask a few things... 1) Does you sled have the orange dot 2) Have you had the symptoms of this problem 3) Did your incur engine damage
2) What would be the impact of the event
It sounds like if this part fails and you don't catch it in time, you have toasted your engine and it will cost you e.g. $2500 to replace it.
So... can someone who has been following this topic for along time please take their best guesstimate on how many reported and how many engines blew ? e.g. 3 out of 600 engines blew. Which means that 0.5% is the likelihood of this is occurring.
Attachments
I recall Yamaha was very pleased that in 2005 there was not a single motor failure on all the Vectors sold in Canada. I believe the Sled Talk Blog mentioned it and I seem to remember seeing an ad for it.
As part of the poll, I'd add in something about milage. It would be good to know when the issues start cropping up. I remember last winter asking Hondo if his tensioner was replaced and he said it was. I think his was replaced around 7000-9000 miles.
I agree that we may be blowing this out of proportion BUT it is still disconcerting to see the bulletin . I was bummed when I saw the orange dot. On the other hand, the first place I heard of this issue was here on the forum. I know there were lots of complaints about the idler wheels and I've not had any issues.
As part of the poll, I'd add in something about milage. It would be good to know when the issues start cropping up. I remember last winter asking Hondo if his tensioner was replaced and he said it was. I think his was replaced around 7000-9000 miles.
I agree that we may be blowing this out of proportion BUT it is still disconcerting to see the bulletin . I was bummed when I saw the orange dot. On the other hand, the first place I heard of this issue was here on the forum. I know there were lots of complaints about the idler wheels and I've not had any issues.
