Have you had a 1.8 timing chain failure, was it in warranty and how has Yamaha handled it?

[Robconn]

Yeah, I discussed my concerns at the Yamaha service number with how Yamaha had not been pro active with timing chain issues for the engines built before fix. I said timing chains should be assessed at every winterization or de- winterization along with oil changes at Yamaha service centers. Once the timing chains fail is only when they will routinely assess timing chains with all services done. The service manager said the terms of my original warranty will not change. Nor will they specifically warranty the new timing chain beyond original warranty.

 

[the MfM]

It seems like Yamaha is taking care of a lot of customers with blown engines. I assume that is taking care of lawsuits. I think we are still at the beginning of this though. The first few years of warranties are going up so I wonder what they are going to be doing if they start refusing claims. Fingers cross on this one

Sucks that it happened for you. You’ll likely miss most of the boating season unnecessarily. But since Yamaha hasn’t issued a recall you may be one of the lucky ones. (If they fix it for free).

Eventually the good will policy will end and there will be a lot of owners left facing expensive repairs. Resale value will suffer.

Kind of reminds of the two stroke oil line issues.

 

[swatski]

Yeah, I discussed my concerns at the Yamaha service number with how Yamaha had not been pro active with timing chain issues for the engines built before fix. I said timing chains should be assessed at every winterization or de- winterization along with oil changes at Yamaha service centers. Once the timing chains fail is only when they will routinely assess timing chains with all services done. The service manager said the terms of my original warranty will not change. Nor will they specifically warranty the new timing chain beyond original warranty.

From my read on this, TC breaking is not associated/preceded by anything a routine inspection could reveal.
Did they tell you if they are swapping broken parts with new design TC and tensioners etc.?
Redesigned TCs have 4 links vs 3 in old, TTBOMK.

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[Erikvanden]

From my read on this, TC breaking is not associated/preceded by anything a routine inspection could reveal.
Did they tell you if they are swapping broken parts with new design TC and tensioners etc.?
Redesigned TCs have 4 links vs 3 in old, TTBOMK.

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There are no signs of the chain going and it doesn’t have anything to do with maintenance. They just randomly snap for no apparent reason. If the chain brakes it sounds like they give you an updated chain. Although usually when these go it totals the entire engine.

 

[merlinjet]

Resale value will suffer.

This really bothers me as well. If Yamaha fails to cover these chain issues as the occur resale values could nose dive. Hopefully, since some failures out of warranty have been covered, this would give folks filing lawsuits leverage to demand relief. I wonder if there is anyway to find out how many times this failure has actually occured? Are we talking 1 in 500 or more like 1 in 5000?

 

[bumpy]

This really bothers me as well. If Yamaha fails to cover these chain issues as the occur resale values could nose dive. Hopefully, since some failures out of warranty have been covered, this would give folks filing lawsuits leverage to demand relief. I wonder if there is anyway to find out how many times this failure has actually occured? Are we talking 1 in 500 or more like 1 in 5000?

It would useful to know how many members have gotten repairs for this covered by Yamaha after warranty expiration.

 

[swatski]

Are we talking 1 in 500 or more like 1 in 5000?

This has been discussed, only Yamaha knows for sure, I think the best "guesstimate" has been somewhere in the order of 1/1000 or above. So, kind of long odds, and on par with other possible modes of mechanical failure.
Not so in the SHO/SVHO skis, where is had been initially revealed and at least an order of magnitude more frequent, as compared to N/A 1.8s.

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[the MfM]

This has been discussed, only Yamaha knows for sure, I think the best "guesstimate" has been somewhere in the order of 1/1000 or above. So, kind of long odds, and on par with other possible modes of mechanical failure.
Not so in the SHO/SVHO skis, where is had been initially revealed and at least an order of magnitude more frequent, as compared to N/A 1.8s.

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I haven’t read the whole thread...but when one dealer says they have had three failures in one week (skis and boats) I’d say that’s a pretty good indicator that there is a significant problem.

I don’t own one of these engines but I know I would be pretty irritated with Yamaha and there head in the sand approach.

Timing chains on a modern engine with a few hundred hours of use shouldn’t fail.

 

[Neutron]

By now Yamaha should have a good indication on where the failure originated from, like production run, chain manufacturing run, etc...
You would think they could recall and repair/update current affected engines with new parts.
Replacing engine blocks, heads, valves, chains etc... is 10 times the expense per engine

 

[WilCo]

my 2013 AR190 had about 85 hours on it at failure.

 

[Beachbummer]

Only reason I don't think they know exactly what the problem is... Is that the fix includes a bigger chain. If it was a known weak link, manufacturing process, etc... Why would they redesign the parts instead of fixing the underlying issue?

There are too many things I don't know, but if I think if it was a known identified single thing, they would have fixed just that. Instead they redesigned the whole timing chain. That action does not inspire confidence in the original design.

 

[the MfM]

So my wife’s volvo was rear ended last week and once we found out it was totaled had to do some unexpected car shopping.

Ended up buying a new to us XC90. Did a little research and found out it’s probably best to avoid the V8 version.

Apparently the Volvo v8 is designed and made by Yamaha. And has a known timing chain problem.




https://blog.fcpeuro.com/the-dark-side-of-volvos-excellent-v8

 

[swatski]

So my wife’s volvo was rear ended last week and once we found out it was totaled had to do some unexpected car shopping.

Ended up buying a new to us XC90. Did a little research and found out it’s probably best to avoid the V8 version.

Apparently the Volvo v8 is designed and made by Yamaha. And has a known timing chain problem.




https://blog.fcpeuro.com/the-dark-side-of-volvos-excellent-v8

Very interesting!
But, it sounds as the timing chain failure mode is completely different than the 1.8? Or - is it...?
I do not know of any exposed sealed bearings in the YJBs other than the intermediate and pump.
But the TC failure in boats/skis has never been explained TTTBOMK...

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[Neutron]

So my wife’s volvo was rear ended last week and once we found out it was totaled had to do some unexpected car shopping.

Ended up buying a new to us XC90. Did a little research and found out it’s probably best to avoid the V8 version.

Apparently the Volvo v8 is designed and made by Yamaha. And has a known timing chain problem.




https://blog.fcpeuro.com/the-dark-side-of-volvos-excellent-v8

They had a recall on the affected engines. I wouldnt be worried if i wanted a v8 volvo
And it states its a ballance shaft failure resulting in chain jump. Not chain stretch and snap like a 1.8 liter watercraft/boat engine

 

[the MfM]

They had a recall on the affected engines. I wouldnt be worried if i wanted a v8 volvo
And it states its a ballance shaft failure resulting in chain jump. Not chain stretch and snap like a 1.8 liter watercraft/boat engine

There have been failures after the recall/update. Which was basically to drill a hole in the block under the balance shaft so water didn’t puddle around the bearing. Probably not related to the 1.8 chains breaking. But I didn’t want a relatively rare and expensive engine to potentially have to replace.

We found a nice XC90 with the reliable but boring I6. No where near as fun as the s60r it replaced.

 

[Neutron]

There have been failures after the recall/update. Which was basically to drill a hole in the block under the balance shaft so water didn’t puddle around the bearing. Probably not related to the 1.8 chains breaking. But I didn’t want a relatively rare and expensive engine to potentially have to replace.

We found a nice XC90 with the reliable but boring I6. No where near as fun as the s60r it replaced.

I kinda figured their solution for the recall was something like that.

 

[Nkc240]

Another one bites the dust.

2015 AR240 130hrs on each side. No warnings, just shut off like a lanyard was pulled. Just spoke to my dealer to see if warranty will cover.

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

They usually do cover those I had one hatch at 360 hours and another is still running strong at 630 hours with the original chain go figure

 

[Robconn]

Please let us know how service manager and Yamaha handle this. I have posted my experience with both on this forum. It’s a frustration that no one should have to experience.

 

[Nkc240]

Great news, Yamaha is covering the repair under goodwill. My boy Mike at Kelowna Yamaha did me a solid on this one.

My question now is for the guys that did have a timing chain failure on the 1.8HO, did any of you experience TC problems with the revised chain? Also, (for dual engine) did they replace or inspect the other chain in the other engine? Is it likely that my other engine will experience the same problem?

To me, it just seems like a ticking time bomb for the TC on the other engine and I'd be worried about how far I'm heading out. It took me more than 4 hours to get home when the TC broke and it wasn't like a comfortable or romantic cruise. 6000rpm on one engine going about 10mph ain't sexy at all.