Pacific Yamaha Service Center Nightmare! Rant/Advice request (long)

[Badcamber]

Last week I dropped off my 05 R6 at Pacific Yamaha for a major service. This consists of a valve adjustment, carb re-sync, R&R oil and air filters, lube chains, etc. So I pick the bike up yesterday and rode home no problem. I also went the store, maybe 12 miles round trip. I noticed nothing and did not ride the bike at all for the rest of the Saturday.

Well today rolls around and I decide to go for a little ride. When I pulled my right boot on I noticed it looked kinda shiny. "Whatevers" I thought to myself and continued to suit up and take off. Well when I pulled into the gas station to fuel up and adjust my tire pressure (around the corner from my house) I noticed the situation was far beyond one of the "whatevers" realm.

THE FUCKING CYLINDER HEAD COVER IS CRACKED! There was coolant leaking from the crack all the way down the right side of the engine, the right side mid and lower fairing, and the exhaust, perilously close to my rear tire.

After having a mini conniption fit I realized my “good fortune” as A: I was lucky to not have had any type of incident with fluid leaking on the rear tire, and B: I was only a few blocks from my parents house where I store all my tools. So I nursed it over there and parked it.

Of course they are closed on Sundays, so I loaded up the bike and snapped some pics.

The crack is lightly circled in green. You can also see where coolant leaked down the right side of the head. Im thinking they over torqued the valve cover bolt. Awesome.




More evidence of leakage on the clutch slider. I had wiped that off some at the gas station.




This ones blurry but you can see more fluid here on the cover bolts. Hooray!




Kinda scary. You can barely see that there was enough spray to make it to the mid pipe.



The only time I should be seeing my bike in this configuration is to and from the track. Doesnt she look pissed?



I just threw this one in there.



So my plan is to take it in 1st thing tomorrow morning and demand the following:

1) New Cylinder Head Cover, Gasket, and new Cylinder Head Cover bolt.

2) Refund on labor charge for major service.

3) Not really a demand but separate of the dealership I am going to file a complaint with Yamaha's corporate office. More on this later...

My reasoning for #1 is obvious but for #2 its like, how do I trust the accuracy of the valve adjustment if these goons cant get an important bolt torqued to spec? (8.7 FT/LB BTW, I checked.) I couldnt get a good pic, but you ought to see the shape of said bolt. Its like they used an impact driver to tighten it. The material was scratched and deformed, indicating too much force.

Im really pissed because I considered doing the job myself, but decided a sync tool for the throttle bodies would be pricey and having it serviced at factory specified intervals by a "certified dealership" would be good for its value if I ever resell. Also because Ive never done a valve job on a bike before. In retrospect I wish I would have tried it myself.

I realize there is a difference between whats fair and whats reality, so if they wont refund I'll take the replacement. I'll let them do the labor and everything, but in my call to Yamaha I will be sure to have written record of my lack of faith in the quality of the valve adjustment. That way if something goes south down the line I should be covered under my extended warranty right?

Anyways if you've read this far I am asking for any advice you think may be helpful. I already have a good idea of what Im going to say but anymore input is always appreciated. I have in till 9:00 AM PST Monday.

Thanks in advance,

-Aaron

[life sux die]

that fucking shitty man! good thing you noticed it so early, and not when you were in the middle of your ride.

your plans sound good, just keep it cool and calm when approaching the dealership and yamaha headquaters. hopefully everything gets resolved smoothly.

[Badcamber]

Just got to work after my meeting with the service manager. They are going to replace the affected parts (Cover, gasket, bolt) free of charge. No go on a full refund for service, however I did make a claim with Yamaha Corp office so that if something goes wrong down the line I have a record of this.

Also, upon closer inspection it was revealed that the leaking fluid was oil, not coolant as I initially suspected. Turns out barely used Motul Synthetic looks just like coolant! Anyways, props to Pacific Yamaha for stepping up to the plate and taking responsibility for thier actions. We''ll see how long it takes them to finish the job now I guess.

[someday]

the question is how did it crack, it did not crack from being overtightened im a tech at a stealership and that shit wont crack it will strip out a bolt or bolt hole.

[Bullfrog]

How long are they going to have it? Just think what would have happened if you didn't notice this for a while.......

Anyways, props to Pacific Yamaha for stepping up to the plate and taking responsibility for thier actions.

Based on the pictures and what they sent you out with, yeah, real class act! Granted, we all make mistakes, but they sure wouldn't have "stepped up to the plate" if you hadn't noticed and you had problems later on.

[triplestrong]

The cover cracked from the "tech" that removed/installed it, not from over tightening the cover bolts. That cover is a bit tricky to remove/install, if you don't have it angled properly it'll get hung up between the frame rails. The dude that did it probably forced it on or off and cracked it. I once worked with a guy in the shop that was very impatient and did the same thing...stupid rookies.