Riders,

I just got turn down from Bombardier yesterday. They will not help in anyway to repair my engine. I will be taking them to court, and I need some help building my case.

As I&#39;m sure some of you are aware the <span style=\'color:green\'>1998 Formula III 700 had an issue with the PTO bearing in the crankcase burning up. I have talked with a few gentlemen who got the bearing replaced under warranty - after they&#39;re warranty had expired.

I need to know any information you might have on the PTO bearing situation with the 98 triple 700 motor.

and, If anyone has had the work down to thier machine warranty / non-warranty... and especially warranty after the 1 year warranty period.

Please and thank you for all your comments.

Geoff Gray
Bombardier Claim # 649955
1998 Formula III 700</span>

formula111,
i am, afraid you have your work cut out for you and i would bet you will get nowhere with your efforts. the sled is 5 model years old.

Thats just the nature of the beast. most dealers will cover things if they know the history of the sled even when you have gone a little past the warranty. but in this case i do not think you will win and will spend more money then what it is worth to fix. :(

Its VERY difficult to win against a big company like that when your by yourself. ESPECIALLY one as big as bombardier.

I have heard of people getting work covered under warranty after it expires but no oem is obligated after 12 months. I would guess that you would be further ahead just fixing it.

Sorry guy. The other posts pretty well sum it up. If it happened during the second season, I can see them helping out but now, I don&#39;t think so.

I think there was a recall for that in 98/99.A hole was drilled for lubrication for the bearing.Good luck on getting it coverd now. :(

lawyer fees will be more than repairs ??? .and I think the others are right you&#39;ll get nowhere ,a couple delays and your lawyer bill is over the cost of repairs.

hey buddy you will have no luck i can fix it for less than your lawyer fees,let me know if you want it repaired and your close to ohio
dave

formula111,
where is the town of not given ? i can&#39;t seem to find it but i am sure it is in the states somewhere.

I could feel your frustration , I owned a 98 grand touring triple triple and paid $13000.00 canadian for it , anyways I had this shut down problem with it , so i brought to 3 doo shops and they all couldn"t figire it out . One of the shops offer me $5200.00 on a trade in for a new one to further to slap me in the face , so I stopped useing it and sold it for $6500.00 thinking pretting bad about it though. I know your hurting ,bomby turn me down completly too and I was pissed . The best thing you could do is probably just fix it cheaply and sell it , then keep in mind what bomby done to you , when buying a new one . Make sure that bomby knows how you feel about them about this issue. On the same note but different time , this happen to me again with a 91 rxl 650 polaris , efi problems cause a burndown piston , and I was turn done 1 week after the warrantee was off , and do you know what polaris in minnesota told me ,"if your not happy with our product buy someone elses"and hung up the phone. So I fix it and sold it and stuck with doo ever since . I think when polaris was doing bad with there storm they started to lose a lot of business to the other three manufactures , huh comes around goes around I thought. Hope this puts a little ease in your stress , keep fighting with bomby though, cause the do value there costomers , and don"t like to lose there buyers . Maybe offer to pay half for it , if they don&#39;t go for it at all start emailing the mags on it . Good luck ??? P S I own an Indy now [ while its my wifes ] :doh:

Youre wasting your time!! Ill bet most of the guys who got the sleds covered out of warranty had a great dealer pullng for them or the dealer back doored the claim somehow. Bombis not going to cover a claim on a 1998 sled and courts will laugh at a lawsuit over a warranty claim 4 yrs after expiration. Take your lumps and spend the lawers fees elsewhere. Skimikedoo, Its a shame no one would cure that 98 GT! The had a wiring harness problem under the motor, that caused what you described ,very common!!! Not too bad to fix, we did one in a driveway in quebec a few yrs back. The wires were routed improperly and would chafe on the chassis causing an intermittent ground.

i think they had a recall on that? on my 700 mach they did to fix it.

Going to court will only cost you money and you will lose. Bombardier has fullfilled all parts of there legal obligations to you. They honered your 1 year warrenty, and thats all they have to do.

However Bombardier is a good company for this. What I would do is forget dealers. Get the 800 number for bombardier and explain to them what happend to your sled. Tell them how it broke and how you heard there is a fix and how it is commen for this engine. Tell them that you are very upset with what happend since the sled has hardly been driven and has been taken care of its whole life.

If its been serviced by your dealer that will help you as well.

Then ask them if there is any chance that you can still have it fixed becasue you find this to be there problem not yours.

Maybe they will go 50/50 with you. Its better then nothing. It wouldnt suprize me if they just told you to bring it to your local dealer and have it fixed.

Originally posted by TT670@Nov 20 2002, 10:12 AM
Youre wasting your time!! Ill bet most of the guys who got the sleds covered out of warranty had a great dealer pullng for them or the dealer back doored the claim somehow. Bombis not going to cover a claim on a 1998 sled and courts will laugh at a lawsuit over a warranty claim 4 yrs after expiration. Take your lumps and spend the lawers fees elsewhere. Skimikedoo, Its a shame no one would cure that 98 GT! The had a wiring harness problem under the motor, that caused what you described ,very common!!! Not too bad to fix, we did one in a driveway in quebec a few yrs back. The wires were routed improperly and would chafe on the chassis causing an intermittent ground.
Thats not true I just got some of the recall items on my 98 mach1 done (voltage reg, outer prim clutch) all i did is called bobi and asked them they said to take the parts to a dealer and they would warrinty it . They even gave me the names of the people that owened both of my sleds. Nice people at bobi in my op :D

Ivr got a pretty good background on this stuff, I know how the system works. The primary clutch was a SAFETY recall!! Every owner was notified by registered mail. Doo will change every one of those regardless of time frame, because of the admitted fault, failure to do so will open the doors to lawsuit in the event of injury as a result of a failed clutch. The voltage regulator was a gimme, simply because it ws going in for the clutch. If you had needed a crank they would have told you to pound salt.

Seems like this is an uphill battle!

I had the same thing happen to my 95 Mach Z. When my motor went I was told that it was very common with the Rotax triples, but it is somewhat circumstantial. I know how you feel. The thing that really gets me is that it was still happening in 98. Obviously this is a problem they should have taken care of and I see your point. The problem is they don&#39;t necessarily have to take care of you either. Like Machzzzz said, they did the one year warrantee and thats all they have to do in the legal sense. When you think about it, the fact of the matter is anyone can make a complete peice of crap and not take any responsability for it...as long as there are no guarentees which in this case there aren&#39;t once you go beyond that one year warrantee.

Originally posted by sledcrazy@Nov 19 2002, 10:11 PM
Its VERY difficult to win against a big company like that when your by yourself. ESPECIALLY one as big as bombardier.
This is true. BUt...it won&#39;t go to court. It is much cheaper for Bombi to fix your engine than it is for them to fight you thru court. If your lawyer sends them a good letter, they will probably give you what you want.

Originally posted by performancex+Nov 20 2002, 04:47 PM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (performancex @ Nov 20 2002, 04:47 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteBegin--sledcrazy@Nov 19 2002, 10:11 PM
Its VERY difficult to win against a big company like that when your by yourself. *ESPECIALLY one as big as bombardier.
This is true. BUt...it won&#39;t go to court. It is much cheaper for Bombi to fix your engine than it is for them to fight you thru court. If your lawyer sends them a good letter, they will probably give you what you want.[/b][/quote]
the lawyers get paid in court or not,those big companys have them on retainer all year.

You should do your part to keep prices down and suck it up and pay for your own sled. Come on, the things 5 years old! Stuff breaks. If you took your car in for something after your 36000 miles or whatever they&#39;re gonna give you the boot too.

Your sled has 5 years of riding. I can&#39;t imagine you getting anywhere. Some guys don&#39;t get 5 years on good motors. Part of the game. If, such a recall was for the crank bearings and Bomb. knew about it I could see perhaps one or two seasons them giving you credit but 5? Come on now.

How could you in your wildest dreams think the bombi will fix your 5 year old sled!!! There was never any recall on the 700 triple bearing [even though there should have been].
Practically every 700 triple on the planet has had it go, not that it is right as Skidoo should have recalled every motor and fixed it right like they FINALLY did in 99 with a direct oil line to the PTO bearing.
My 97 was out of warrenty by a few months but I have a good dealer and it was fixed but still cost me $350.00.
I feel for ya pal, but SUEING is not the answer! Good luck!

LOL at Gootch good one :p

Come one guys this Is Bombardier/Rotax not Kohler lawnmowers. When you spend 10000 + on a sled it should have a 5 year warrenty to match.

I think your sled is a little old for you to demand them to fix it. But I think that it would be fair of them to do so since they new that engine had a problem and fixed it in 99.

But sueing is not the answer. Depending on how bombardier is feeling when they recive your lawyers letter they could fix your motor, or fix you.

>>sled it should have a 5 year warranty to match

come ‘on you must be dreaming... I do agree with you that it would be nice --- but if they gave 5 year warranties there would be no manufacturers left... or if you want a 5 year warranty you would have to pay $20,000 for the sled...

does Blade give a 5 year warranty with their 20,000$ sleds?

ok while were at it, how about a money back guarantee??, you know ride it for 30 days and if you don’t like it you get your money back… would be nice but it ain’t gonna happen…

not trying to be argumentative here but there is no way of knowing how the sled was cared for, oil used, fuel used, etc. Of course the owner will say they did everything properly... but there is no way to tell, I think Yamaha is taking a big chance with their three year warranties... I agree it gave me peace-of-mind and it is a nice tool when selling the sled used but…

…Yamaha had to build tanks to be able to get a sled to last that long!

I just paid $50,000 for a new truck and it only has a 3 year warranty... and a car/truck takes much less a pounding than a sled!

cough up the cash to fix it, if you are that pissed take your business to another manufacturer, but most of all don’t give your hard earned cash to a blood-sucking attorney!

man we need some snow so we can talk about riding! :-)

AAJMO!

Every sled i ever owned was not even touched the first 5 years.

Ok 5 may be a bit much, but 3 is reasonable.

Do you really think the manufactors would be bankrupt.

Do you really think a sled cost 11900.00 cdn for them to build.

All the manufactors rip us of big time and when they show crappy service it just makes you want to kill them.

For the price we pay, we should be given peice of mind that for a least 5 years were good to go.

Thanks for all your input..

I haven&#39;t made my decisoion yet... I was hoping somebody out there had the same thing happen to thier 98 Formula - but, got it fixed out of warranty.

My Sled only had been riden for 2 seasons, and has 2900kms (1800miles) on it.

also, My best friend is a lawyer, and he will fight the case for free..

(I should of mentioned that earlier) - might change some opions.

Thanks again for all the feedback, positve or negative... it&#39;s all appreciated.

Okay, you asked? Last March 11, my 2001/700 Mxz seized the mag bearing, and the sled was just off warranty Dec. 31/2000. The sled had a total of 842 km. Sent an email to Ski-doo Customer Service, and they came through with a new short block. I had to pay for a few parts and labour.
Good luck in court....

You embarass me.

America, the land of frivilouse lawsuits! Product Liability: If I stick a Craftsman Screwdriver in my eye, I can sue. If I Shoot a burgular in the knee while he&#39;s trying to rape my wife HE can sue my Gun Manufacturer. You make me wanna puke.

5 year old sled? It&#39;s PAID for,, too bad you didn&#39;t ride it 3000-15000 miles. Bombardier makes good reliable procucts, and even issues recalls if there are recourent problems with assemblies/engines.

Shame on you for thinking you have something comming due to your failure of taking care of your stuff. And Damn your free Scheister too. He&#39;s only in it for the $$$$ :angry:

good one Troll :D

Did I miss something here?
The biggest reason they get away with selling crap year after year is because far too many live with their heads stuck up their a$$ thinking that it will never be them having a problem. Doo has had crank bearing problems for years fact not fiction why shouldn&#39;t they pay to fix it something they know damm well was no good the day it left the factory?
Last time I checked we are all sledders, shame on those that don&#39;t support someone else thats having a problem. :angry: As for the troll, I got no words for you man.
Rick.

Originally posted by ZR Sled Head@Nov 22 2002, 08:56 PM
Doo has had crank bearing problems for years fact not fiction why shouldn&#39;t they pay to fix it something they know damm well was no good the day it left the factory?
Last time I checked we are all sledders, shame on those that don&#39;t support someone else thats having a problem. :angry: As for the troll, I got no words for you man.
Rick.
"As for the troll, I got no words for you man.
Rick."


Well Rick, I have a few for you:

in this example:"why shouldn&#39;t they pay to fix it something they know damm well was no good the day it left the factory?"

The parts were pretty good for 5 years,,, what&#39;s the real reason your angry?

And you said:
"shame on those that don&#39;t support someone else thats having a problem. :angry:"

5 year old sled Rick,, FIVE YEARS OLD How long should a manufacturer be liable? The whiners would happily bankrupt the sled buisness! Think!

I know for a fact that Canada doesn&#39;t stand for such goofy product liability laws. Don&#39;t invite them Rick.

Don&#39;t take me the wrong way, I&#39;m not saying sleds should be warrantied forever but when something breaks that a know weak point/factory goof why shouldn&#39;t they be responsible even if the sled is a few years old and in this case with very few miles?
Polaris was just as irresponsible to their customers that purchased XLT&#39;s in the height of their crank issues.
When its a well know/common problem (especially when there is a service bulletin involved) the mfg should step up and do the right thing.
An offer to cover the parts and the customer to pay labour would be more than fair to all involved.
Rick.

this got me thinking,the old firestone bias ply tires on my old mans&#39; 57 chevy seem to have problems,and they did have tire problems.you think I could get a new set these only have a couple thousand miles on them ,who cares if he bought them in &#39;70.I feel you pain but I am with troll on this.you get yours warrantted and I will be calling with my pistons and rings in hand from my &#39;00 mxz 700 that are junk after 1900 miles.cost is something we all have in this sport,no one is getting off cheap and doing it right.would you be willing to pay the extra money for 5 year warr.?I would not.ZR Sled Head doo did step up and fix all that had problems with in a year or two right?who is to say it was not from improper storage that caused this problem?

I have a 70 Blizzard 440 and it is a well known fact that this sled was the 1st Doo do have CDI. It is also known that about 80% of the CDI&#39;s failed. I was wondering if possbile if I might be able to get Doo to replace the points conversion back to the original CDI. While there at it the stiching on the seat is starting to break, so a new seat would be great.

I feel your pain, but the sled is 5 years old. I think you should write them a letter about the sled and ask what can be done about it. Be polite and professional. Maybe they will supply the parts. It&#39;s a start

Ford, GM and CHRYSLER don&#39;t have warranties this good.
where do i sign up.

ski dood,actually chrysler does have powertrain warr. that good 7/70 ,but your right about the rest.

The whole thing with the bearing problem and Skidoo really pi$$es me off!
If you notice in Limskis pics the plug above the bearing, this is where a 25 cent hose barb would go + 5 cents worth of injector line hooked to a fourth line on the pump that is die cast there also.
Skidoo knew there could be a problem from the get go but did nothing until 99!!!!
IMO, every 6-700 EVER built should be recalled and replaced FREE of charge. To me this is just pure neglagence on Skidoo&#39;s part :cussing: