The problem that I see with what was posted is that it is still up to the owner to try and work with their dealer to get it covered by Yamaha or it is on the owners dime.
This is great news but I firmly believe Yamaha should be covering all costs. But, I guess it's better than the alternative as I have been planning on getting the top end of my 16 done this summer and that was going to be totally my cost. Hope this comes to fruition but I am skeptical. I emailed Yamaha again 2 weeks ago concerning oil consumption. This is the second time and I have yet to get a response from either correspondence.
How this all plays out may determine wether or not I ever purchase another Yamaha. As it stands now, I don't envision a point where I ever own another one. Yes.....I'm a grudge holder lol.
This is great news but I firmly believe Yamaha should be covering all costs. But, I guess it's better than the alternative as I have been planning on getting the top end of my 16 done this summer and that was going to be totally my cost. Hope this comes to fruition but I am skeptical. I emailed Yamaha again 2 weeks ago concerning oil consumption. This is the second time and I have yet to get a response from either correspondence.
How this all plays out may determine wether or not I ever purchase another Yamaha. As it stands now, I don't envision a point where I ever own another one. Yes.....I'm a grudge holder lol.
This is actually true. It's already documented. All that is left now before releasing the kit is paperwork.
This kit will be released as a service bulletin. It will replace the piston and cylinder and few more parts, but I can't remember what. Too lazy to look again too.
It will be valid for 5 years from date of manufacture of the machine, which means the 2016 guys will have 2 years coverage as of right now. The service bulletin will only be completed with the new parts if you have a burning oil issue and you bring it into the dealer. The dealer will first confirm the issue of the oil burning is not from a sinking, lack of maintenance or abuse, etc.
If all ok, the service bulletin will be completed and you'll basically end up with a complete new top end on your engine.
what exactly were the issues people were having with the 708s??? I have the '16 EPS model kodiack and didnt experience any problem other than a few low speed stalls that some owners mentioned on here--but those were few and far between..what are specific problems with the '16 708 engine??
So interestingly enough some of you had followed my misgivings with my 2018 SE and Yamaha. ( Summary, I had a cracked lower crankcase with 6 miles on my unit and not because I ran over something.) It took Yamaha 3 months of dithering around with repeated pics, oil analysis etc, about if they were going to cover the repairs or not. (Still under 6 month factory warranty) In order to fix the problem, they had to install a brand new crank case and in essence rebuild my entire engine. Viola, it runs like a top (knock on wood) and NO smoke on start up. When I first bought it, there would be a little tinge of blue smoke on start up and after 5-10 min of warming up it would go away. Now when I start it up, there is some condensation that comes out of the pipe for a minute or so, but no blue rings and no oil smell like when it was new new. I also noticed that she doesn't run as hot as she did before and the exhaust manifold isn't cherry red like it was prior to the rebuild. So are some units coming out of the factory all jacked up with the valves off? Oil getting past the rings? Poor seating of the rings? Not that I would want to voluntarily go through another rebuild, but mine sure runs noticeably better after the shop rebuilt it. I also didn't "hot rod" it or tell them to do anything different other than put everything back together and not have any extra parts when they were done!! It will be interesting if anything unfolds at corporate level with the 16-18' units
Have a 2016 SE with 6000 miles and no oil burning issues. That said, back in the days of the oil burning 660's Yamaha paid for parts & 1/2 the labor, including new design piston, rings etc but admitted nothing. Their official statement was that they are always striving for product improvements.
Been reflecting on this a bit over the last 2 days and I've decided that if this costs me a dime out of my own pocket, I will be pursuing legal action to recover my expenses. No way should the consumer have to pay to fix a product that left the manufacturer with a built in defect. It's absolutely ludicrous for Yamaha to expect otherwise.
Stopped at the dealer this morning to get the latest on this situation. The dealers are still waiting on Yamaha. I am on the list for the kit. The service manager was off today but I spoke to a mechanic who told me the issues that have been plaguing a lot of 16's aren't exclusive to the top ends and they are not quite sure what Yamaha is going to do yet.
Stopped in the dealer today for an update. Owner said Yamaha told him a couple of weeks ago that the kits will not be available til September. I saw the list of bikes the dealer has to be fixed. Mine is one of 13.
I bought a 2016 and after lots of discussion with the dealer, on lots of issues, they did some work on it and then made me pay for the repair. Then more issues, and I could not get them to say they would fix it, under warranty, when they would not, I sold it with full disclosure, for $4500.00. I had paid $7000 with tax, so this was a big hit. After asking many opinions on this site, I bought a new 18 last November and it has worked well.
What really upset me was they were going to charge me for an evaluation, and then would not give me an idea on a repair cost. I have not been back to that dealer!
Anyone got a clue on whether I might get something from Yamaha?
Well the kit is supposed to be released next month and I am told it is not just for the 2016 but it will cover all 3 years of the 708. I hope they don't delay it any longer.
I don't know the rules, and if I did I might not like them. I figure we should be outspoken about issues that we have as the owners of these machines. When there is a major flaw on these machines, Yamaha should stand behind it. We spend a lot of money on these, and we need to be treated with respect.
people can try to convince me Yamaha discontinued the 708 after only 3 yrs because a contract with Fuji ended but I believe it was done because they know there is something amiss with this engine. Time will tell but to me,Yamaha has hurt it's own credibility in this case. I am skeptical at this point , about wether these engines will be reliable over time.
My understanding was the Yamaha factory that produced the 686 engine was damaged in a hurricane or one of the disasters that hit Japan. They've had a few bad days over there. They subcontracted the 708 motor and went back to the 686 once the factory was restored.
While at my dealer today I asked them how many of the 708’s they had seen with the oil consumption problem and the service manager told me none. He said they sold hundreds of the 700 Grizzlies & Kodiaks during those years and none have had any oil issues but they are aware of the service bulletin for it.
So I downloaded the service bulletin from the link below so I could determine if my Kodiak serial # is included for the repairs even though my 2017 doesn’t use any oil. My serial # is way different than any of the 2017 serial numbers listed that are affected. I find this interesting, so must be not all 708’s made during the 3 years are affected. Yamaha must have it narrowed down to only those 708’s that were assembled at a certain facility would be my guess and they got piston rings from a different vendor. I think it would be interesting to know if anyone on this forum is having the oil consumption issue and their serial # isn’t on the bulletin like mine?
My Kodiak is finally going in to get repaired. The dealer called me this morning to book me in for October 21st. Maybe I can finally enjoy this thing without the worry in the back of my mind. I didn't even license it or buy a trail pass this year.
I hope it goes well, I will say most of the time in my life the warranty never panned out, especially after this much time. I am glad to see they are taking care of this.
I bought a new Honda car several years back, I got a notice that I should park the car as it was too dangerous to drive, they hinted at loaning me a car, but did not. It took a year of me driving the car, risking my life I guess, before they got me a new air bag igniter. They sold lots of new cars with new igniters on the air bags, but the one they sold me had to wait a year. I sold it, and never going to buy another Honda.
Dropped it off this morning. service manager told me Yamaha is allowing them 4.5 hrs per unit but they haven't seen one done yet in that time frame. I asked what the repair entailed and he said new piston and rings at a minimum. Said he'll call me tomorrow morning.
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