Im hoping I can find some answers. I will be as brief and to the point as I can. I have a 1998 warrior that bent the valves. I took it to the local shop, they tore it apart, told me that it needed everything new in the head, and also needed the cylinder bored and honed as well as new rings. The carb also was completely rebuilt.

This took a total of 5 months for whatever reason. When I took it in, it did not have the seat on it and therefore there was a hole in the top of the airbox.

They told me everything was completed the final bill at almost $900. I went in today and paid the money. I was waiting for 30 minutes for them to bring my quad and nothing. I went around back to take a look and saw two of the technicians working on it. They finally brought it to me and it sounded terrible, a knocking from what sounded like it was coming out of the top end. Tons of smoke coming out the exhaust, and would barely stay running. The guy told me that since it had rained the past few days as they were closed on Sunday and Monday that the airbox was full of water and my machine was hydrolocked. He told me they took the spark plug out and turned the engine over and water shot out of the spark plug hole. When they finally got it running, it was really blowing smoke. I told them it sounded terrible and he wanted me to take my quad. I went to give it gas and immediately it would bog and die. I told them that it definitely was not acceptable. I then noticed that the choke was on, so I turned the choke off and now it would not even stay running by itself. The technician told me all was fine and that it just needed to burn out and that the noise was everything seating itself. There was fuel leaking out of the carb as well. I told them I was not taking it and they said they would look at it when they got a chance.

My biggest question is what would you do in this situation. They have my money and my quad. They promised me the thing would run like new with everything in the head replaced, as well as the work done on the cylinder. I think that since it hydrolocked, isnt there now permanent damage done? Im really at a loss since I have not had much luck with them, and now knowing that they knew and told me it was hydrolocked, and still tried to give it back to me.

The funny part is that two seperate employees walked by and thinking I was dropping the machine off for repair, told me how bad it sounded and man that was alot of smoke coming off it.

What to do, what to do.

 

You need to speak to the service manager tomorrow and get a priority issued on getting your ATV out of the shop, this week.

If he is unresponsive, only then should you take it up with the store owner or store GM. Usually when you go to the big guy first, you will forever pay for it every time you visit again,...IF you plan to visit again.

Lastly, I can tell you that regardless of the issue of the seat not being there....THEY are responsible for protecting your ATV within scope of reasonable limitation. They took in without a seat, therfore it is THEIR stupidity for leaving it uncovered in the first place.
The ONLY way I could see this being put on your shoulders would be if you told them you were picking it up on Friday, or any other day, but yet didnt show up. So then it got left uncovered. Then and only then would I be worried about the outcome.

But either way, I would definatley ask to have priority put on it being fixed ASAP. Especially after waiting 5 months already. The average wait time for any job calling for more than an hours labor is 9 days. Thats been an industry average from all reserch firms for the past several years now. Sounds like your local dealership is in dire need of some mechanics....or better ones.

 

What he said^^^ I hope this goes well for you, but somehow I don't see that happening. 5 months??? That's ridiculous. 9 days, as mentioned, seems like a reasonable time for that type of work, not 5 months.

Good Lucks.

 

Also, if they tried starting it before they drained any of the water out, they could have bent the new valves. Who knows, maybe they are shady and never even replaced the valves at all? I'd be highly suspicious if it were me. Did it look as though the top end was even apart? New gaskets, etc. ???

 

They had a bag with a set of valves in it along with some gaskets and a bunch of other parts, but who knows, they could have had those laying around already. They tried to start it, and then realized that there was a problem. Thats when the technicians came out and were working on it. I have video of it on my phone, 4 of them to be exact. They have been all kinds of shady thus far in dealing with them. I wish I would have just picked it up months ago. The problem was that it started out as a $170 repair, and then it went to "we also need to repair this and then it will be fixed". Did I mention that my perfectly good battery and my perfectly good starter are both toast now as well? They replaced my battery without my consent and charged me for it. The starter is going to go out very shortly, but I cannot blame them for that I guess. Just sucks that it was perfect when it went in and now it is not. Also for the balance, they tried to charge my card without my consent, before I was able to verify the repairs. I was lucky that my magnetic strip was damaged and issued a new one about 1.5 months ago. All in all it has been a horrible experience. My concern is that they may be able to make it sound better running wise, but I think that there would be other damage I need to be looking for and have them fix. They are definitely shady, as the mechanics obviously knew that hydrolocking would cause some damage, and it sounded terrible in the head, and also had tons of smoke, and would not stay running. Yet they brought it to me with a smile anyhow and wanted me to take it home. I appreciate the replies and will talk with them today to get this fixed. What kinds of questions should I ask when I talk to them. Should I have a compression test done when I get there to find out if something is wrong? IT should have perfect compression with the new valves and new rings and honed cylinder, correct? Although I am not sure what that compression should be.

Thanks,
Corey

 

My buddy had a similar situation about a month ago. After a crash he had a new frame on his banshee, when he picked it up it ran OK at the dealer but when we got home it wouldn't start. He took it back an hour later and they said there was water in the carburators and charged him another 500 bucks to fix that. He through a fit and talked to every manager in the place but they said since it had left the lot it wasn't their responsibility. He had to have the repairs done on his dime.

 

I am so glad I have video as well as did not take it. It really pisses me off that they knew they hydrolocked it, had technicians out there removing the water and attempting to get it running, and then tried to get me to take it home. The last response was from a technician that told me to just take it home and ride it for awhile and it would all clear up, that way they did not have to deal with it. I called and talked to Yamaha this morning and they said they would try to help resolve it as well with them if they chose to not do the right thing. I highly doubt that they will though. Afterall, they knew they damaged it and still tried to get me to take it claiming all was fine. Just to go and ride it and it would clear up. Very shady.

 

Just got off the phone with them and they said they cannot even look at it until next Tuesday. Not sure what to do now.

 

Go and pick it up and count your losses. Go over tonight and ask to speak with a manager or whoever is in charge. Is this at a dealer? Explain to him the situation and how it is completely UNACCEPTABLE. Tell them it took them five months to do a weeks' worth of work and it still hasn't been fixed correctly. Now they are making you wait longer because of thier own screw ups. It's their fault it wasn't running correctly when you were told to pick it up, it should be THEIR PRIORITY to fix your machine ASAP because you've already waited long enough. Now they want to make you wait another week till they even LOOK at it. That's great, all the water that's in there now will be great for the inside of your engine. The oil needed to be changed yesterday, when it happened, not next week. This will only lead to more problems. Explain that your sick and tired of waiting for them to fix your quad. You paid them for the work that has been done already and it's not even fixed correctly. Make sure they know you'll be spreading the word about how they operate their business and that you won't be recommending them to anyone for anything. After your experience thus far, I wouldn't want to deal with it any longer. Your already out your $900 and I'm sure they will try charging you for fixing THEIR F-UPS. If they dont' want to take some action IMMEDIATELY, load it up and say see ya later. Find someone else to fix it.

 

Just got off the phone again. They said that its my fault since they let me know that all machines are stored outside. I told them that was not the point, the point was that the tech, not me, started my machine with the airbox full of water and that that is how they accepted the machine and it is not their problem. Not sure what to do now, they said they are going to take a look at it tomorrow for now.