catastrophic failure on a 2008 FX Cruiser - PWC Forum: The best hang-out for Personal WaterCraft enthusiasts

fiddy7 · 02-06-2012, 05:10 PM

Hey there I am brand new here I have read lots but never signed on.

I have a 1998 LX 760 and have loved it.

I since bought a 2008 FX Cruiser HO. it had 28 hours on it. Was serviced regularly and after I had the oil changed just to be sure and took it to the lake for some fun I put approx 5 hours on it and the I had a major failure. The entire skirt actually the entire bottom of the piston below the wrist pin broke off and the piston rolled in the hole and slammed into the head siezing the engine solid. Lucily it was idling at the time or it would have been really bad.

Anyone ever had any problems like this?

I have pictures that I will upload later.

The machine is obviously off warranty however I asked Yamaha if they would consider covering it due to the fact that it was so low hours and that I beleive it had to be a bad cast on that piston. I have never seen a failure like that. It wasn't just a section of skirt it was the entire thing enough to allow the piston to role in the hole.

Thoughts???????? I am at a complete loss. I was very pro YAM but now I don't know what the hell to think.

Ernest T · 02-06-2012, 06:22 PM

Sorry to hear about the engine failure. Not just rare on that engine, but 1 in a million type of failure. I've never heard of that particular type of failure before, and I watch the PWC forums pretty closely concerning Yamaha skis. I've seen a couple of failures on the MR1 engine, and in almost all cases it was on high hour skis, modified engines, or due to improper care (overfilling or under filling the oil is very common problem on these engines).

I'd guess that you are right.........probably a defective part. I'd take lots of photos and show them to Yamaha. You might get lucky and they might cover it.

Good Luck!

fiddy7 · 02-07-2012, 08:35 AM

I sent the pictures and service records as well. They said that it was outside the warranty period and that they couldn't do anythign.

They have the piston so I can't really do anythign about proving that it was a part defect.

I am just disaponted that they won't stand behind this. I realize that I am outside the warranty period. Just the fact that all the reasearch I did says Yamaha is so reliable and like you said 1 in a million failure.

Thanks for having a look.

Kevin

98yota · 02-07-2012, 06:07 PM

Welcome to the forum! Sorry to hear about your ski's failure. Sounds like a casting defect, I've never seen one do this.