Spiders, Recalls, and potentially lying dealers...?

[SweetPotato]

WOW, what a night I had last night. Upon leaving dinner, I suffered a dead battery. Took a while to get that resolved, and when I stopped for gas on the way home, I got spider bite!!

SOAB! Called roadside assistance, did a bunch of reading here while I waited and eventually got it home. Took it apart today and confirmed it was the S4 connector.

Here is the part that irks me: I visited my dealership a couple months ago to replace the rear tire. At the time, I asked the service manager to check the status of any recalls on my VIN. He looked in the computer system and said everything had been complied with. According to the S4 supplemental harness that was never install on my bike, that's not the case. I'll be giving them a piece of my mind tomorrow. My question: Does Yamaha have a universal recall status tracker to check? Did this service manager lie to me, or did somebody mark the bike as complied without doing the work?

As a side note: Bike is an '08, mileage at time of occurrence was 7991. Has there been any correlation between mileage and failure? Also, should I still fill out a report for the NHTSA even though there is already a recall?

 

[escapefjrtist]

Any Yamaha dealer should be able to enter the VIN and find the status of recalls, whether pending or completed. Regarding the spider recall, IIRC the repairing dealer is supposed to add a punch mark above the VIN somewhere if it's been completed...someone help me out here.

Good luck.

--G

Edit - Check HERE for recall information and details.

 

[FJReady]

An '08 with 8,000 miles? The bike is mad for being ignored all these years. (Someone had to say it...)

 

[rbentnail]

"Lie" is such a strong word. You won't win any friends jumping down someone's throat. Remember these are the guys you depend on- treat them nicely. Ask, don't command. Investigate and present information in question, don't accuse. You'll get nowhere acting like an asshole.

 

[Harald]

You can call Yamaha direct and check the status of the recall by giving them your VIN. That will tell you whether the dealer is lying/incompetent.

 

[SweetPotato]

rbent, thanks for the reality check. I'm waiting to go in at 9AM when they open. I searched this morning and found the NHTSA has a website where you can search by VIN to see if recalls were completed: https://vinrcl.safercar.gov/vin/ According to that, NEITHER of the two recalls were done. I'm definitely angry, but I'll be as methodical and inquisitive as possible. That tends to be my normal route, anyways.

Regarding the low mileage: That's after I've been driving it since July. First owner was too old and barely took it out; he just kept it in the garage and made it look pretty. I'm only home half the time, but I ride as often as I can.

__________________________________

I didn't get to submit this before I left. I went, spoke with a service adviser, and he showed me the Yamaha recall tracking system. For my VIN, it shows the S4 recall and ignition relay recalls as completed and the wire harness as expired. I definitely no the S4 isn't done, as there isn't a sub harness installed! I told him this, and he just said bring the bike in so they can take a look. Now I'm just waiting on my tow. At least I know that my local service provider didn't intentionally mislead me.

 

[Big Sky]

Mr. Potato, good for you on your due diligence and level-headed approach. My guess is they will satisfy you on the harness recall.

 

[Geezer]

It is always possible that a technician claimed he did the work without ever doing it. In that case it would show up in the Yamaha system as done. I hope Yamaha would know which dealership claimed the warranty money and deals with it appropriately.

 

[El Toro Joe]

The link to the NHTSA site to check VIN for recalls is not accurate. I had both the ignition switch and the wire harness recalls done, and that site is showing both as being INCOMPLETE. The best way to find out is to call Yamaha at 1-800-962-7926

 

[rbentnail]

The link to the NHTSA site to check VIN for recalls is not accurate. I had both the ignition switch and the wire harness recalls done, and that site is showing both as being INCOMPLETE. The best way to find out is to call Yamaha at 1-800-962-7926

I got curious and checked my VIN at the aforementioned NHSTA site. That site is definitely NOT acurrate.

 

[SweetPotato]

After dropping the bike off yesterday, it was clear I'm going to have to speak with Yamaha when they are done. The SA says either the recall was properly completed and I still received the same damage, or it was never properly completed. Both cases require guidance from mother Yam. With the sub-harness blatantly absent, I know where this will go. Before I dropped it off, I swapped the burnt S4 with a good spider from S1 to further troubleshoot. Sure enough, the symptoms went away! Of course I put it all back as I found it so they can find it, too. Regardless of how much I already disassembled and diagnosed, I was told they are required to charge a minimum of 1 hr labor for diagnostics at $99/hr. I'm curious to see how we handle that in the end.

It looks like the spider bites really calmed down after 2012 as people were taking care of the recall. With nobody making harnesses anymore, I'll probably make one of my own to cover the remaining spiders. It won't be my first time to tackle such a project. I still have much reading to do. I'll likely mimic Art's harnesses. Is there any particular reason that routing the ground all the way to the negative terminal may be better than simply using a local frame/engine ground?

 

[rbentnail]

It looks like the spider bites really calmed down after 2012 as people were taking care of the recall.

Not necessarily accurate on two points:

1) not having the recall done does not a problem make provided you take care of it. 30 minutes of maintenance time once per year on ground spiders precludes the need for the recall. My '07 ground spiders look new: no recall, no additional harness, just a little TLC during the winter.

2) having the recall done does not guarantee the problem won't pop up again. Nor does it address the #3 connector. Or any other connector. Again, a little TLC once every few years seems to cover it.

But if you are intent on making harnesses/ground jumpers start here.

 

[HotRodZilla]

My Spiders were pristine when the recall was done, and they're pristine now.