Help!! My dealer has let me down

[motorcycle_1300]

Recently I noticed one of my head gaskets was leaking a little oil, as it wasn't a lot I continued my planned tour of Nova Scotia while the dealer ordered a set of gaskets (july 1st). I gave the bike to the dealer July 19th, after the usual two rounds of it isn't ready yet, I ordered the wrong gasket set, they gave me the bike back one month to the date after I brought it in.

 

On starting the bike I noticed the Idle was set a little high and could see the windshield visibly shake(never did b4) the exhaust was a little louder than normal and I think I could hear a slight leak. Once I got it out on the road the bike would vibrate, stutter and buck like I was in a too high gear, I can't even acelerate from 5th gear on level ground driving 40mph without downshifting to 3rd. pulled into my driveway and my nieghbor said what happened to your bike it sounds like crap ( he rides a Harley).

 

Took the bike back to the dealer left it another week, returned to be told the shaking and noise was due to a bad rear tire.( admittedly I do need the tires replaced) Remember the bike shakes at idle. if I get the bike rolling downhill at 50mph shift to neutral the bike coasts like it was on carpet. Restart the engine and the shaking starts. This is my thrid Venture so I am pretty sure I know when it is right and when it is wrong.

 

So now what are my options , is there a national Yamaha rep group to escalate service issues?

 

Al

[myminpins]

Wow, sounds like the dealer did more harm than good. Have you used him before? Is he a certified Yamaha dealer?

 

I'd definitely escalate this up to Yamaha (wherever the next step up is) and pursue it. Sounds to me that, basically, your bike is UNdrivable and there's absolutely no excuse for a dealer fixing a gasket to return a bike to you in that condition.

 

What does the dealer you are presently dealing with propose? Do they admit anything is wrong other than the tires? How do they explain the shaking at idle?

 

By the way, next time you're up in Nova Scotia, come by and say hi!!

[flb_78]

What year/make/model?

 

There was a recall about head gaskets for 1 year of the Venture.

 

Sounds like the carbs are messed up, probably need to reseat them in the manifolds, check the vacuum caps, and resync them.

[Sleeperhawk]

If the dealer took the carbs/air plenums off to replace the gasket, sounds like the carbs / air plenums are not seated properly which is allowing air to be sucked in.

 

see this link about removing carbs.

 

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=7830

 

Next link a little more in depth but worth the reading.

 

 

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=24246

[GeorgeS]

Sounds fishy to me!

 

What year, how many miles on this bike ??

 

From your comments, the dealer has added problems from the original small oil leak. ( ie: he has screwed up something on your bike !! )

 

If there is another dealer in your area, I would get a second opinion.

 

I agree with the above comments, " Air Leaks in the Intake system !! " Loose , upper or lower clamps on one or more of the carbs !!!

 

Check all of your Plug Wires !!

 

Check the Clamps, below, and above the Carbs, might be loose.

 

Frankly if this dealer delivered the bike to you in this condition, without doing a test ride after, haveing the top end off to replace Valve Cover gaskets, I do not think much of his mechanic's abilities !!!

I think I would give the owner of this dealer, a piece of my mind concerning his mechanic's work on your bike !!

[motorcycle_1300]

Wow, sounds like the dealer did more harm than good. Have you used him before? Is he a certified Yamaha dealer?

 

I'd definitely escalate this up to Yamaha (wherever the next step up is) and pursue it. Sounds to me that, basically, your bike is UNdrivable and there's absolutely no excuse for a dealer fixing a gasket to return a bike to you in that condition.

 

What does the dealer you are presently dealing with propose? Do they admit anything is wrong other than the tires? How do they explain the shaking at idle?

 

By the way, next time you're up in Nova Scotia, come by and say hi!!

 

 

The dealer is essentially blowing smoke up my Butt. They still claim it is the tires, Once I get the new tires on I will have the owner take it out for a test ride. the head salesman actually rides a stratoliner and was the former president of the local star riders group. I have bought two bikes at this dealer My girlfriend also has bought two bikes there. For the most part the service there has been acceptable up untill the last two years. Took them a month last year to replace the tapered spline in the rear end. we are rapidly heading for 6 weeks on this project. They changed service managers a couple years ago and things have been going down hill.

 

I do still have a 92 venture Royal a 2008 FJR and a 2004 goldwing that I can still ride, but the venture is by far my favorite.

 

We rode the cabot trail this year, and are planning to do the southern half of NS next summer, plans are still pretty preliminary at this point.

 

Al

[Guest Slab_Ryder]

Had same gasket prob. Pro Cycle in Dartmouth sorted it nicely

[motorcycle_1300]

What year/make/model?

 

There was a recall about head gaskets for 1 year of the Venture.

 

Sounds like the carbs are messed up, probably need to reseat them in the manifolds, check the vacuum caps, and resync them.

 

2007 Venture Midnight 40k miles. still under the warrentee

 

One of the other dealerships I frequent suggested is was probably the Carbs, based on my description of the problem.

 

I do plan to tale the bike to the other three dealers within 2 hours and have them diagnose the problem. Then it will come down to a pissing contest to see if the local dealer will cover the cost of repairing the problems he has created.

 

I really appreciate all the input from the guys on this forum, the more info I have the better.

 

Al Petrie

[myminpins]

Pro Cycle seems to really know their stuff - they just charge a lot! I prefer to deal with Toad's but haven't had this bike need anything yet so we'll see. They were awesome with our Honda Shadow.

 

We rode the cabot trail this year, and are planning to do the southern half of NS next summer, plans are still pretty preliminary at this point.

 

Nice!!! If you come down this way, our doors are always open!!

[FuzzyRSTD]

Same problem on my 2007 Tour Deluxe. I took mine to Yamaha of Jackson,KY. The mechanic there did a great job. He told me that there was a technical bulletin on this for the dealers for my yr model. The head bolts where supposed to be checked and properly torgued before the new bikes left the dealer. Mine started leaking at around 1,500 mile I think it was. There is a thread here somewhere I started. These morons should fix this, and if not, find you a better dealer even if you have to drive 100 miles. That is what I did. Jackson,Ky is a long ways from my home. There is a new dealer out on St hwy 801 now. The first thing I did when I went for the grand opening, was to meet the mechanics and the service dept. manager. I felt as if they where responsible folks. This is so aggravating for you and you should seek other support.You should report the dealer to the main Yamaha people.

 

Fuzzy

[motorcycle_1300]

Fuzzy do you by any chance know the number or tech id of the dealer tech note about torquing the head bolts

 

thanks the battle rages on

 

Al:fingers-crossed-emo

[flb_78]

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=53981

 

This thread has the TSB numbers you are looking for.

 

 

My 2007 is still in the shop. As of yesterday, they had not started on it yet. My VIN ends

005681. Here is the TSB info....

 

2007 Yamaha XVZ13CT Cooling System TSBs

TSB Number: 2007015NHTSA Number: 10023799TSB Date: October 2, 2007Date Added to File: February 1, 2008 Failing Component:

Engine And Engine Cooling:Cooling System Summary:

Yamaha motorcycle - 2007 xvz13tf (royal star venture), xvz13ct (royal star tour deluxe), vmx12 (v-max) -- insufficient tightened cylinder head bolts.

[albyzee]

Just by the info you have received here you should become a full member. Believe me these guys are great. So much info that I got that I know I would never had heard of. Always good to know what can happen in advance. It's good to have some info in advance when going to your mechanic and can talk intelligently about whatever problem you are having.

[motorcycle_1300]

You are very right, and I do plan to upgrade my membership. I was just hanging out for a while. Not too long ago I joined a Goldwing forum, and made my first post a couple weeks later, I was given a lot of crap from a couple posters for posting a response to a topic that had been idle for two years. The info I posted was current and possibly usefull to other readers, just the orriginal posts had run their course. I don't mind that they pointed this out to me it was just their manner that was a bit anoying, so here I was taking it slow to see how things shake out.

 

On this forum I have had nothing but friendly responses and some real usefull information. Thank you to all who have posted info and to all who have held their piece when I may have stepped on toes

 

Al

Edited September 4, 2011 by motorcycle_1300
forgot to add a word of thanks

[Yammer Dan]

Did they have a flock of geese on that other forum??? We will give you a lot of crap here but all in fun and throw in some usefull information. We are always rehashing old news but I don't see a problem with that and new info on old problems would be good.

But be warned we have a few geese here too.

 

Anyhow WELCOME to this nuthouse!!

[Yammer Dan]

Ok back to my corner!!!

[motorcycle_1300]

Ok I finnaly got my bike back from the dealer, service manager and shop owner (both Harley riders) says it is running fine, plenty of power, very little vibration. The last two things they tried while attempting to fix the rough running, vibrating, loud etc problems were tires and swing arm bushing(remember the vibration reported was at a stop as well as rolling) Anyway after a short ride it was still obvious, nothing had been resolved, so I decided to do a little troubleshooting on my own. Rode the bike for about an hour, actually to work where I have a non contact infrared thermometer, and measured cylinder temperature. I did this by aiming the thermometer at the hex head bolt on each cylinderthat holds the fake heat sink fins on. found three measuring 150 degrees+ and one only 120 degrees. now this is a watercooled bike and there is obviously some heat transfer between all cylinders. I would guess the right rear cylinder is not firing at all, with any heat there having been absorbed from the other three. I also noted the exhaust pipe from that side was dry so no unburned fuel is getting that far. also no back firing . I would guess this is not an electrical(no apark) issue. Conclusion no fuel at all through the carb, or the intake timming on that cylinder is so far off no fuel is being pulled into the cylinder.

 

I have an appointment with another dealer for tuesday and will wait for his evaluation.

 

On another note last week I got a survey in the mail from Jill Hobbs Manager, Yamaha customer satisfaisfaction Division, asking my satisfaction with my recent warrenty repair.

Nedless to say I did not rate the dealer very highly. I also wrote her a detailed explanation of why the ratings were so low, and asked what Yamaha plans to do to resolve the issue.

 

Al Petrie

 

Current bikes

2007 Venture Midnight

2008 FJR1300

2004 Goldwing

1992 Venture Royale

 

previous bikes

14 yamahas

3 hondas

1 sportster

1 Benelli 250

1 rupp mini bike

[Ryana7769]

Sorry to hear your having all this trouble...just like everything else in life...a few bad eggs have to ruin things for us. Good luck going forward.

Personally, if you haven't yet. I would get in touch with Yamaha corporate...state side atleast. here is the link if you don't have it.

 

http://www.yamaha-motor.com/corporate/contactus.aspx

[N3FOL]

Wish you all the luck and hope you can resolve all the issues on your bike. I hope Yamaha can help you expedite the repairs and warranty coverage work. Keep in touch.

[gibvel]

You say that it sounded like it had a leak. Does it still sound that way.

 

Have you had your head up between the cylinders to see if the carbs are seated properly on all 4 lower intake boots? When you're trying to put the carbs back on you can sometimes think you have them fully seated and they are not. The carb will actually buckle the boot and the carb won't be fully seated into the boot.

 

You could also try carb cleaner sprayed around the boot points to see if there are any leaks.

 

Hope you get it resolved quickly!!

[motorcycle_1300]

well I dropped my bike off to the other local Yamaha dealer. this dealer is just Yamaha, Kawasaki. the previous dealer was a Harley, suzuki, Yamaha dealer, which might explain why they thought a rough running low power vibrating bike was running fine. When I got the bike back from them I measured the cylinder temperatures and determined it was firing on only three cylinders. The new shop called me back 2 hours after I dropped the bike off, told me the bike was running on three cylinders, they then put a carb sync tool on it and determined the carb on the non working cylinder was not pulling any air. So they are going to dig deeper and see why either the valves are not opening and closing like they should, timming or just plain stuck, or why the carb isn't working. my guess is the previous dealer bent a valve stem and it is now jammed in the head. More to come

 

Al:fingers-crossed-emo

[motorcycle_1300]

After sitting at the dealers in Plattsburgh NY for 2.5 months, I picked up my bike still running like crap after the dealer replaced the head gaskets. I did a little self diagnosis and then scheduled the bike into the Yamaha dealer in Williston VT, I just asked them to evaluate my bike didn't tell them what I thought was wrong(only running on three cylinders. within two hours after I dropped the bike off they told me it was running on three cylinders, and that they had checked the carb sync and one was pulling nothing at all. I then asked them to fix the bike. Two weeks later they called me and said the bike was ready. the cam shaft on one cylinder had been torqued so tight that it cracked the cam shaft. they tried to get Yamaha to cover this under warrenty, but Yamaha said the previous dealer had really screwed up the bike, and that Yamaha was no longer responsible for that part of the bike. Yamaha did replace under warranty the fuel pump which just stopped working while the bike was being tested. Total bill for fixing what the previous dealer had screwed up was $750, not chump change but nowhere as bad as I had feared. Next project is to offer the first dealer a chance to make things right by offering to cover the cost of fixing what their mechanic screwed up, baring that small claims court here I come.

 

The bike is running great no shakes no vibration on acceleration, sounds smooth runs smooth. I had forgotten how much more comfortable the Venture was over my goldwing. Still would like to see the goldwing engine and transmission in the venture chasis. Maybe someday Yamaha will offer more of an upgrade than more gigabytes in the Ipod

 

 

Al Petrie

 

Current bikes

2007 Venture Midnight

2008 FJR1300

2004 Goldwing

1992 Venture Royale

 

previous bikes

14 yamahas

3 hondas

1 sportster

1 Benelli 250

1 rupp mini bike

[XV1100SE]

Sorry to hear how much trouble you had. I think part of it comes down to how many Ventures the dealers see. Still.... that is no excuse for them screwing up your ride !