97 Sportster Wear Ring Fiasco

[northstar1951]

My wear ring was is terrible shape and it was time for a change. Called a dealer and after discussion I decided to pay them 1 hour of labour to install rather than tackle the job myself. Left them the boat for two hours and upon returning they said they had installed the wear ring but the boat would not start. They thought the starter was shot. I told them that the starter was not shot, and that it sounded like the impeller was not turning properly since the drive shaft was too tight.
Took off the pump and hit the starter (plug out) and the engine turned over.
Jumping ahead a few minutes it became obvious that when we tried tightening the pump to normal torque values the symptoms would reappear. I asked them to tighten the four pump bolts to hand tight and the engine turned over. As soon as we tried tightening these bolts the problem would reappear.
The mechanic was stumped and took a closer look at the Engine Support area. The first words out of his mouth were "What the %^ll" and he told me that it appeared that the Engine Support was in "backwards". Pulled up the fiche and sure enough it was mounted backwards which caused the motor to sit slightly further back in the engine compartment. This was a new engine that the previous owner had installed last fall.
Bottom line....pull the engine and install the Engine Support properly. This was done and it was also discovered that the support had no shims. All was corrected (five hours later).

A simple wear ring change wasn't so simple as it turned out. The good news... the boat runs much better and the dealer bent over backwards to make things right and only charged me 1/2 the hourly rate.

Oh well, I will chock it up to a learning experience.

 

[Dr Honda]

If the mechanic was stumped.... he was a IDIOT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND...... Had no business working on a seadoo. The drive is out of align, and needed to be checked.

OK... I guess he redeemed himself... but the customer shouldn't have to start the troubleshooting, and stand up to the "It's not the starter" thing.


So... the real moral of the story is... next time save the $$$ and agravation, and do it yourself.

 

[northstar1951]

Although I am somewhat mechanically inclined I do not have the equipment to pull an engine. Once we diagnosed the actual problem they went out of their way to make it right. That is really all I can ask from this dealership who inherited this foul up from another dealership. They made things right and I am almost sorry that I laid into them in an assertive manner when they originally told me that the Starter was shot. Bottom line is that I am now a happier, although poorer, consumer and the boat is back on the water and running as it should.