The old girl still runs!

[RSVECTORFREAK]

I decided it was time to freshen up the clutches on my 05 with some low mileage ones from Hibshman.(Thank you very much by the way!) tossed in my ulmer kit and did a little testing! Slight over rev but i was running down a packed road so I expect it to tone down on trail conditions. Here's a short clip!https://vimeo.com/112459272


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[Vectornut]

It's funny about the carbed Vectors. Back in 2006 on the lake with perfect, perfect conditions, I hit 112 mph on the speedometer. The radar gun said 105 mph in that same run. And, I continually get 20 mpg. We are finding that when Yamaha added fuel injection, mph dropped below 100mph and gas mileage also suffered.

 

[4strokeluvr111]

These Vectors are still gonna want to run when the frame is falling apart!

 

[Redbeard]

The 973 carb is an underappreciated engine.

 

[Roger]

My 2007 RS Venture, with that 973 was a lemon.
Never ran/started/idled properly.
After 2 years of shop maintenance, the shop did a "Leak down" test, and discovered the engine had issues.
They disassembled the engine and discovered a cracked exhaust valve, which hammered the crap out of the head, and ruined the sleeve as well.
They weren't sure if it was covered under warranty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After several legal threats, against the dealer, and Yamaha, they fixed it under warranty, and I traded it two years later, to the same dealer, because it started to act the same again.
Two winters ago, a friends 973 started to act the same.

Sorry folks, they are NOT indestructible!

If they have a hard time starting, won't sit there on their own idling, or tend to just shut off when coasting to a stop,
the engine is done!

 

[RSVECTORFREAK]

Sounds like they failed to change the bad cam tensioner!! Those about the only ones i heard go down besides turbo's and NOS sleds!


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[pdiddy]

My '05 has been solid. Luckily, being a frequent watcher of this site I knew to get the tensioner replaced right away. In hindsight, Yamaha was 2 additional model years before updating the factory build part. That's a pretty lame-#*$&@ response time. To top it off there was never an official recall - just a dealer service bulletin. Owners never got an official warning from Yamaha about this. Pretty clear that Yamaha calculated a good percentage of sleds would make the warranty period before trouble set in.

 

[4strokeluvr111]

My 2007 RS Venture, with that 973 was a lemon.
Never ran/started/idled properly.
After 2 years of shop maintenance, the shop did a "Leak down" test, and discovered the engine had issues.
They disassembled the engine and discovered a cracked exhaust valve, which hammered the crap out of the head, and ruined the sleeve as well.
They weren't sure if it was covered under warranty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After several legal threats, against the dealer, and Yamaha, they fixed it under warranty, and I traded it two years later, to the same dealer, because it started to act the same again.
Two winters ago, a friends 973 started to act the same.

Sorry folks, they are NOT indestructible!

If they have a hard time starting, won't sit there on their own idling, or tend to just shut off when coasting to a stop,
the engine is done!

Roger - nobody here said they were indestructable. ANY sled regardless of brand can have issues and yours was one of them. You had the same challenges with your sled as I had this summer with my new (now departed) garden tractor.

The 3 cyl Yamaha motors (both 973 and 1049(?)) are as reliable as any sled motor that has ever been built. IMO...top 5 for sure!

 

[Roger]

Sounds like they failed to change the bad cam tensioner!! Those about the only ones i heard go down besides turbo's and NOS sleds!


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No, it failed because it was a lemon, right from day one, like I previously said.

 

[RSVECTORFREAK]

It sounds like it left you with a bad taste in your mouth about that motor! Mine fortunately has been great from day one! I've updated just about everything on the sled except for the motor! (Except cam tensioner) I still trust it for solo rides!


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[Roger]

Yamaha is the absolute worst company out there for fixing issues that are theirs to fix, and not standing by defects in their designs and parts.

Changing exhaust gaskets? What other brand in the history of snowmobiling requires these to be changed all the time, at your cost?

A track went on me, no studs, 600km. It was delaminating. Not my fault, not Yamahas, the manufacturers. No warranty. The track looks brand new.

My present snowmobile. The power steering doesn't work if it's real cold out and the sled has been parked overnight outside. All the painted parts of steel are rusting, all the front suspension parts, the rear bumper.
Yamahas excuse for this? My problem. They say it is from corrosion, from trailering it.
This snowmobile has never scene a trailer!

That folks, is my last Yamaha snowmobile, ever!

The next one will be a YamaCat.

 

[4strokeluvr111]

Yamaha is the absolute worst company out there for fixing issues that are theirs to fix, and not standing by defects in their designs and parts.

Changing exhaust gaskets? What other brand in the history of snowmobiling requires these to be changed all the time, at your cost?

A track went on me, no studs, 600km. It was delaminating. Not my fault, not Yamahas, the manufacturers. No warranty. The track looks brand new.

My present snowmobile. The cruise doesn't work if it's real cold out and the sled has been parked overnight outside. All the painted parts of steel are rusting, all the front suspension parts, the rear bumper.
Yamahas excuse for this? My problem. They say it is from corrosion, from trailering it.
This snowmobile never saw a trailer!

That folks, is my last Yamaha snowmobile, ever!

The next one will be a YamaCat.

Bad track? Happened to me........

Your sled has cruise control?

After all the heartache, why not look at another brand? Life is too short.