My brother has an 08 Rincon that is under warranty until the end of November. Recently if he applies the left brake (cable) the rear end/transmission makes a grinding noise. I have not heard it myself, this is what he is saying.

He took it to the dealer, they heard the noise and said they will look into it. Well they can't find what is causing it and said Honda doesn't want to pursue anything. They also say the noise magically disappeared. They told him that they documented the problem, so if something breaks after the warranty period that they would still cover it. (I think that is crap and don't believe it).

He is going to pick it up today and take it to a different dealer. Is this a good direction.

Let me know what you guys think. The dealer he took it to was the one we both bought our Rincons from last year.

 

Could be one of those things that is hard to find until the problem gets worse, especially if it stopped making the noise like they say. If they will cover the problem after the warranty is over, I'd want something in writing.

Taking it to another dealer may not be a bad idea, there are good mechanics and then there are great mechanics, getting something fixed depends on who looks at it.

 

I can't see how a brake can affect the transmission - I'd check the brakes which I guess the dealer would at least have done

 

If I was you I would investigate it further myself before bringing it to another dealer. Sometimes bringing it to a dealer is just a waste of time. Your brother and you need to get together and see if you can't find the souce of the noise.

 

He went to pick it up last night and asked to ride the machine before he signed off on anything and asked if he could find the noise that they have something in writing for him before he left. This of course gets the owners attention.....

My brother and the owner go out to test ride...My brother notices right away that the machine is in 2wd. I guess it makes the noise more frequently in 4wd. So he switched over and the noise was noticeable write away. The owner apologized and told him to leave it there and they will have another look.

After knowing that it has something to do with the 4wd, could it be that the 4wd is not completely engaging/disengaging so when you hit the brake it puts enough torque on the drive shafts to cause the splines to slip. He said it is a very noticeable grinding noise. I thought maybe it could have something to do with the 2wd/4wd switch (for the lack of a better word). Your thoughts???

 

It could be a lot of things. Possibly stripped splines on a driveshaft.

Now that the dealer knows that the machine has to be in 4x4 and can recreate the problem, I wouldn't think they would have any problems inspecting the quad and diagnosing the problem...

 

Many dealers will document a problem. Later on it is proof to their district service rep for a good will warranty after the normal warranty expires.
Run across a few strange issues that have stumped the local Honda dealer where I used to be the senior tech. The units made their way into my shop to figure out.
A few were front final drive clutch issues although one had a simular problem as the Rincon in question. All I can say right now was it was wierd. Ended up being the rear brake rotor took the brunt. Look at the design. The outer part is 'riveted' to the iner part of the rotor. These rivets had eather worked their way loose or wore from harmonics and or was just plain old a bad rivet stamp when the part was manufactured. I replaced the rotor and the noise went away. I also informed the customer I wanted to inspect the front driveline for something out of balance, as the quad would only make the noise in 4WD when it was brought in. They needed it for calving season so I never was able to get to the source of what caused the issue. Follow up phone call left me with a report the unit was working great since it left the shop, repaired

----- Gimpster -----