SXR 2011 SXR blew up after 2 hours of use

[jonod]

Hey guys new to the forum just wondeing if anyone has has this issue. I bought a brand new 2011 SXR it has 2 hours of run time on it and it is blown up! Not happy but thank god it has a warrenty, so i thought!

So i drop it ski off to the dealer the begining of August to get fixed, right away it is noticed that it has broke a rod and gone through the case and a major fix is involved. All the info is sent to kawasaki for warrenty approval, after a month of waiting kawasaki responds to the dealer that warrenty is denied and I am responsible for the repairs! Needless to say i was not happy that i bought a brand new SXR with warrenty that lasted 2 hours and i lost the whole summer waiting to get it back. But on top of that I still do not have it back it is now the end of september and it is winter almost plus it is going to cost me $3000 bucks to fix it because kawasaki is saying it is not there fault it is mine. They say it must have hydrolocked weather fuel or water they do not know and are not covering it under warrenty. I don't understand how a Ski that is 3 months old with 2 hours run time on it and a 3 YEAR WARRENTY blows up and the warrenty is denied, is kawasaki really that big that they dont care about their customers?


I have owned a few Kawasaki's over the years and they have been great but after this experience I think I am done with them. I guess i should have bought a Yamaha!

Any thoughts or experience with this or what i should do???

Most appreciated.

 

[zzylstra]

Get a good lawyer. Sue. Teach them a lesson that's bull .

 

[Matt_E]

What did they base their findings on? Was the rod bent?

 

[sxrmike420]

Sue

 

[Scraggly]

Get a good lawyer. Sue. Teach them a lesson that's bull .

so if you got a new engine from jetmaniac and hydrolocked it right of the bat you would sue him to?

just asking

 

[Matt_E]

Exactly my point. Kawasaki may have very good reason for their decision. That's why I'm asking for bent rods.

 

[XJCrawler]

A rod doesn't go through a set of cases without sucking up a lot if water

 

[jonod]

There was no evidence of water found by the dealer they said possible faulty rod. Kawasaki is saying the rod must have been bent from a hydrolock and thats what casused it to break. When it broke I was just coming off idle to plane and it quit no bang no nothing just quit. It would not restart so i took it to the dealer the next morning and that was the begining of all of this.

 

[jonod]

Oh and there was only an inch or so of water in the bottom of the hull when i got it back to shore and opened the hood.

 

[OCD Solutions]

It could if it failed a wrist pin or crank bearing. Run time on an engine is irrelevant if rust forms on the crank while sitting.

Too bad you can't get a look or pics of the engine. We can speculate a ton of different scenarios but seeing the actual damage is the only way to really refute their findings. I would ask for the engine back. If it's not warranty then indeed it is still yours. You will need to take it for expert analysis if you are going to have a leg to stand on anyways.

 

[Matt_E]

There was no evidence of water found by the dealer they said possible faulty rod. Kawasaki is saying the rod must have been bent from a hydrolock and thats what casused it to break. When it broke I was just coming off idle to plane and it quit no bang no nothing just quit. It would not restart so i took it to the dealer the next morning and that was the begining of all of this.

But was the rod actually bent?

 

[jonod]

I dont know how you would tell if it was bent it is in 2 pieces now?

 

[jonod]

no rust at all found in the engine. I will try to get pictures and post them

 

[OCD Solutions]

Sounds like your dealer is on your side at least, is there an appeal process?

 

[jonod]

I have more then one dealer that is on my side but Kawasaki gets the final say. As for an appeal no idea.....

 

[OCD Solutions]

I believe they do have a challenge process but each dealer only get so many of them so they choose their cases very carefully.

 

[Big Kahuna]

errrrr, your rebuild should not cost $3K unless you have the dealer do it.

 

[jonod]

If i dont have the work done at the dealer there will be no future warrenty. Not that it is doing me any good with warrenty but it still has 2.5 years of warrenty left on it. Kawasaki really has me by the balls in this one.

 

[oxnard111]

If i dont have the work done at the dealer there will be no future warrenty. Not that it is doing me any good with warrenty but it still has 2.5 years of warrenty left on it. Kawasaki really has me by the balls in this one.

There might be an option to get the rest of your warranty prorated back to you.

In my opinion $3000 is too much. Get back your warranty money if you can and use it to have the repair work done elsewhere.

 

[Texan33]

This might be a noob question.. But was your ski broken in properly? I'm assuming the break-in process was not done because you only have been riding it for 2 hours. I own a 2011 sxr as you do. I never had any problem with mine for two seasons except one prong broke off in one of the electrical connectors. I bought a one year warranty for mine but never used it. I just do all the work myself. I kinda don't trust the mechanics at my local dealer.