sled died this weekend

[DT]

Well, I got to tow my Viper out of the woods Friday night. It all started when my buddy and I, while snowmobiling in the UP, had to drive over to a dealer in Saulte Saint Marie to buy/replace his Vector's broken secondary spring. While there, I talked to their service dept about my Viper's high idle misfire/burble and general junky tune. They told me they'd like the opportunity to look at it and would work with Yamaha if necessary to fix it and get this resolved. So the next day, I rode the sled over to the dealer to let them hear it and make sure they understood what it was doing before I left it with them- because this dealer is 6hrs from my home. When the mechanic came out to listen to it, the engine cranked over for 10-15 seconds and wouldn't start. It was the first time it had ever done that, but the next turn of the key, it started like nothing was ever wrong. The mechanic proceeded to high idle it and made it burble then went and got another mechanic to hear it also. Both admitted never hearing a Viper do this before. So I agreed to bring it there the next day and leave it with them for service. On the ride back to the hotel, we stopped for a 10 minute break, trail side. When I went to start it, it would only crank but not start again. This was only the 2nd time doing this. Engine temp ~160, plenty of fuel, cracked the gas cap loose, verified fuel pump ran, engine cranked over normal but just would not start. We let it cool down and messed with it for 1/2 hour before giving up and towing it out to a main road for rescue. As intended, the next day we did took it to the dealer; but now it won't start also.

In 26yrs, I've never had a sled leave me stranded due to an electrical/fuel problem that I couldn't fix trail side. Plenty of mechanical failures but most of them self induced. Needless to say, at this point I'm not happy with this Viper. I might be a little more tolerant of this latest issue, if it wouldn't of had its ridiculous burble and hard starting crap since day one.

I'm hoping this no-start is somehow related to the burble but I won't get my hopes up. I'll keep y'all updated-

PS; I like to type

 

[mtotguy]

Did you check for spark? If it did have spark I'm wondering if maybe you have some water/ice in the fuel.

 

[DT]

Thanks but no I didn't check them. Plugs aren't very accessible on these sleds to check and it was around 8:00 at night so I didn't want to start disassembling the sled on the trail. The engine didn't "hit" once while we cranked it over for the 1/2 hour. Fuel or Spark, I'm thinking something's fried.

We had ridden about 50 miles on that tank of fuel before it quit. The sled was running great up until then. Possible but I doubt it was water.

 

[cannondale27]

When you were cranking it was the guage lit up and functioning?

 

[DT]

Yes, the gauge lit up normal while cranking and when I stopped cranking it took a few seconds to go blank like always. It didn't show any codes, but I don't know if needs to be on a certain screen to see them. FWIW, after cranking it for a while, the headlight was starting to come on.

 

[cannondale27]

Hopefully just the plugs. Good info.

 

[Sevey]

I am no mechanic, but I bet this isn't as simple as plugs. These engines aren't fickle 2 strokes. This has to be - computer messed up or something in the programming. My buddy has a Viper that acted up on a cold day and he never did get it going. Despite warming the engine with a hair dryer and being careful not to crank and flood it. It just didn't feel like firing until about 5pm later that day - voodoo. I hope you get someone that can solve this.
MS

 

[cannondale27]

No the sled doesn't have feelings. Fuel,spark,compression and timing and it will run. Nothing different or magical. Always start with the simple things.

 

[TOMBOB]

If you left the the sled at Chippewa Motor Sports it in good hands. Dennis and Pat are some of the best
in the business.

 

[DT]

I'll post back when I hear something from the dealer.

Yes, I left it at Chippewa. I like a road sign I saw during this trip that said, "buy where you ride". If these guys do me right, I know where I'll be spending money next time.

 

[Mike P]

I'll post back when I hear something from the dealer.

Yes, I left it at Chippewa. I like a road sign I saw during this trip that said, "buy where you ride". If these guys do me right, I know where I'll be spending money next time.

Update?

 

[DT]

As far as the dealer goes, the short story is; they had it for 5 weeks and wouldn't tell me jack crap about what they did or didn't do. They just changed the spark plugs, claiming they were fouled, and told me it was ready to be picked up. When I went to get it, the service manager told me I should probably carry a tow rope with me just in case...

 

[Hammer70]

No the sled doesn't have feelings. Fuel,spark,compression and timing and it will run. Nothing different or magical. Always start with the simple things.

Awesome call people seem to forget this and overlook

 

[DT]

Awesome call people seem to forget this and overlook

Throughout time, when something could not be explained, it has been passed off as supernatural. So until we get a concrete reason why some of these Vipers run so bad, lets call it Yamaha voodoo.

 

[09nytro]

As far as the dealer goes, the short story is; they had it for 5 weeks and wouldn't tell me jack crap about what they did or didn't do. They just changed the spark plugs, claiming they were fouled, and told me it was ready to be picked up. When I went to get it, the service manager told me I should probably carry a tow rope with me just in case...

That's not very good service ... kinda tells me that there not very confident in their service techs ....