yamaha vmax 150 powerhead failure

[davidlrea]

I have a Yamaha 2000 vmax 150 oxy66 that suffered a bearing failure on the 5th rod (at least its second from the bottom) at the crankshaft. A real meltdown! I paid the dealer to investigate and he stripped it down and showed me the parts. The boat is used for skiing and tubing. I live in Ontario Canada so only use the boat for 2-3 months in the summer. To date I've had zero trouble and always had dealers winterize the boat. I had one oil warning alarm light prior to failure and we immediately filled up the oil reserve which wasn't empty.<br /><br />I took the parts and remains off the dealer and am “thinking” about the best approach<br /><br />My question:<br />1) Is this common; it seems pretty early for this kind of failure after only 4 summers<br />2) The dealer says 5K to fix of which 80% is parts. Is that reasonable?<br />3) Is a remanufactured block a better bet than fixing the crank, the rod, etc plus new bearings, rings and gaskets?<br />4 A friend suggested the fix and sell approach on the principle of where there's fire there's likely more fire; any comments.<br />5) Is there much hope of joy from Yamaha<br /><br />Any thoughts welcome; Dave

 

[PAkev]

Re: yamaha vmax 150 powerhead failure

Dave, <br />First of all, welcome to the board. You will find a lot of helpful info here and twice as many opinions.<br /><br />Your misfortune is a tough nut to crack since you are just beyond the warranty parameters. However, this is why manufactures don't warranty their motors any more than when realistic breakdowns like yours begin to occur.<br /><br />I believe it is unrealistic to expect the dealer to provide the service for nothing so you can probably count on paying at least a grand for their rebuild labor expenses (20% X $5K). However, it is likely to have them in your corner since they have also provided routine service to the motor over the past few years. As far as Yamaha goes, they may give special consideration to a well written letter that explains why you believe the other $4K in parts should be adjusted if the dealer can also substantiate all service record documentation.<br /><br />Good Luck and let us know how you make out.<br /><br />Kevin

 

[walleyehed]

Re: yamaha vmax 150 powerhead failure

I'd think the first step would be to determine what CAUSED the failure...this doesn't just "happen". There's OMC engines from the 70's out there chugging away that have never been touched, as I'm sure there are Yammys, mercs, the whole crew.<br />There's more to the story if the dealer says 5K to O/H.<br />I would guess the other rods, bearings and pistons don't look well either, which would lead me to believe we had an oil-related failure-"lack-of".<br />Was there ever a high-temp light or horn???

 

[WillyBWright]

Re: yamaha vmax 150 powerhead failure

1) Not common. As a rule, Yamahas are about the most reliable motors out there.<br />2) You'll need a crank, rod(s), and piston(s). Possibly a block. $5K sounds a tad high, but these things aren't cheap.<br />3) A reman is your best bet. They're rebuilt by people that do that all the time. Most mechanics only do a few a year and few shops have the tooling remanufacturers do. Then there's the guarantee. Many remanufacturers offer a year, most dealerships only 90 days or so.<br />5) Not much. The motor is 5 years old. Most manufacturers discontinue offering warranty coverage on unsold new units after 5 years. But then there's a thing called Customer Satisfaction Adjustment that could give you a break on some of the parts. That's usually reserved for motors that are no more than a year out of warranty.<br />6) If an oil warning sounds in the future, put the oil in the gas. If it's a false alarm you might foul a few plugs. If it's real, you'll trash the motor without lubrication.