110 yanmar for 25 ranger a complete horror story

[BrentB]

That is true. Attorney's love CAS.

[iggy]

Doc makes a great point. You didn't write a check to Yanmar, you wrote a check to Ranger. You (probably) did not choose to power the boat with a Yanmar -- Ranger made this decision as part of their design process. (This is obviously a different story with outboards, where the owner has a major influence re choice of power.)

Ranger is going to have more influence with Yanmar that you ever will, because they both know that (i) Ranger is in the market for more engines, and (ii) Ranger can choose to buy from a Yanmar competitor, and (iii) Ranger has a huge incentive to satisfy their customers if they want to maintain their reputation. In contrast, you have NO leverage in this regard.

It is inconceivable that there is no head, no gasket set, and/or no engine within 2-3 day shipping anywhere within the U.S. If you have a new boat, and you have acted in good faith, you should be first in line for a working engine, regardless of the hoops that Yanmar, Ranger, or the dealer have to jump through to make this happen. Why should ANY of these items be installed in new boats while you are (literally) left high and dry?

iggy

[dotnmarty]

Tell them you want a new engine or a new boat, whichever comes first.

[Ranger Jeff]

I think it is obvious that this post has not gone unnoticed. Yanmar has always been very supportive of our customers. To have this happen is very disappointing. We have been in contact with Yanmar from the time that we were made aware of this problem. John Livingston drove down to our Yanmar distributor yesterday to put a fire under them. Needless to say our distributor is very aware of our disappointment. My understanding is that there is a plan in place. I am sure that Dick will keep us updated on the progress. We will all be watching the outcome.

Ranger Jeff Checking out from the Minneapolis airport.

[drjohn71a]

I agree with Iggy. I bought a new John Deere 5420 diesel tractor 3 years ago and the engine went belly up at 30 hours!!!! With a loud screech, scrapes and bang. John Deere took oil tests and examined the pistons and replaced the engine with a new one with no hassle from me.

My impression was that, if you had any contact with the piston and the valve, the whole thing is toast. If not toast now, then toast down the road.

There are "instant lemon" laws guaranteeing you a fully functioning boat/engine, etc..

If they just "fix" it, you may have a very expensive surprise down the road.

I would push Ranger to speak in your behalf, and if you have to, just "go ballistic on their bones". I know it's not nice, but you're already losing irreplaceable cruising time and guess what a 'repaired' engine will do to your resale down the road?

I know that Yanmar makes great engines. I've run one of them hard on a tractor for 12 years with not a single repair. This one is not a "good do".

Push for the piece of mind you ordered and paid for.... a new, fully functining, dependable engine!

John

[iggy]

Ranger Jeff -

I'm obviously just a blathering onlooker with too much time on my hands right now, but I will admit this is a bothersome problem. Such problems are often more frustrating when they come from a company that is perceived to be highly regarded. Similar issues arose with Goldwing motorcycles a few years ago, and the problems themselves were disconcerting, but the apparent arrogance and foot-dragging by Honda was even more so, especially when the typical owner felt like they paid top dollar for a top of the line machine.

It is very gratifying to find your response included in this thread, although not at all surprising given your concern and hands-on problem solving in recent years. Still, it's a bit puzzling that you and JL are forced to light fires to get what should be a straightforward problem taken care of. What are they thinking?

Good luck to all -- it sounds highly probable that this will be resolved in the near future. Although the lost cruising time is water under the bridge, as they say.

iggy

[TimOb]

As a client with money on the table, I am watching closely how this situation develops. As indicated earlier, Ranger has the leverage with Yanmar. The next couple days should tell us what we need to know.

I need to add that my experiences with Ranger so far have been very positive and I'm confident they are doing everything they can to resolve this issue.

Tim

[Butch]

Seeing as me and my Brothers... (and I mean real bloodline brothers) being originally from the hills of WV have a pretty effective way of handling situations like this . Unfortunately... I cannot put it in print no matter how effective our collective solutions have been in the past .

What it boils down to is there are companies that are responsible for your problem; and within those companies there are people responsibe for executing actions that benefit their respective company products, image, and ensure the generation of future revenue .

My suggestion is to locate, pin down, and hogtie the dude that has the authority to get you a new engine. If Ranger chose the Yanmar and the dealer was the recipient of a boat with the ill fated engine that they sold to you... You and the dealer representative must find the responsible party at Ranger and do what you have to do to make him make it right. You might have gotten the 'weenie engine' from the dealer, however, Ranger is the one who engineered and specked it for production.

I would suggest a documented face to face with that designated person from Ranger. The costs for this face to face meeting for resolution now... will save you many times over in the future of you and your Ranger.

Just food for thought... if I were in your shoes... I know for sure I'd be looking for someone's head .

[thataway]

I would think that the good will of having replaced the engine, with a new engine immediately when the problem was known would have been much better "advertising" for Ranger than the adverse publicity that has ensued.

Yes, Ranger is helping out--but the owner has lost the use of this boat during the prime of the season do to no fault of his own, and due to some manufactuering defect.

A new engine, could have been shipped to the dealer in a day or two--there are stocking dealers on the East Coast--and installed with the boat back on the water in a week give or take. Pulling and engine and dropping in another is much faster and easier than tearing down the enigne. Uncouple the tranny out put flange, loosen top and lock bolts on engine bounts, disconnect the hoses (including exhaust) and wiring, lift it out and then set the new one back in. (This assumes that the engine is easily removed--and I don't remember if this is the case. ) Which brings up the issue of engines, access and ease of removal. In one case when I removed an engine and swapped it out the total time, was 6 hours.--but there was excellent access and two of us could work on the engine at once.

[iggy]

What Dr. Bob said!

Although this thread has only been alive for five or six days, it has generated a fair amount of attention and heat. I must commend Dick for his admirable restraint in not even bringing this issue to the light of day until FOUR WEEKS had elapsed. This weekend will make FIVE WEEKS!

Dick is registered in VT, and I would guess there is a rather limited cruising season due to the weather. We don't know anything about work/retirement schedules, plans for southern cruising, etc., but this is marginally relevant anyway. Fact is, this new boat ($119K - $155K PLUS OPTIONS on Yachtworld.com) is out of commission for five weeks (and counting) during July and August in VT?.

At $2,000/wk to charter a comparable boat (very rough estimate), it seems like Dick is quite literally out of luck to the tune of about $10,000 (and counting) of lost opportunity.

The internet is a two-edged sword. Minor problems sometimes receive world-wide attention within hours, often muddying the waters and creating hard feelings. And to be fair, dealers, mfgs, and vendors need to be given some breathing room to address such problems and find solutions. At the same time, this level of communication makes it much more difficult for dealers, mfgs, and vendors, to point fingers at each other, create interminable delays, and leave the customer holding the bag. Go back and read Rick's original description. (Notice your blood pressure as you're reading it.) POLITE INDIVIDUALS. UNACCEPTABLE RESPONSES! APPALLING COMMUNICATIONS! CORPORATE FOOT-DRAGGING.

It's time to install a working engine in this boat and get it back on the water! (1) Find an engine. (2) Ship engine to VT. (3) Install engine. (4) Sea trial. (5) Resume life as before.

There may have been "reasons" for the delays. There may be "excuses" for the delays. But that time is over and done.

This boat needs to move away from the dock under its own power, post haste!

iggy

[FGRVONROTH]

Yester afternoon I spoke with rick at Mack Boring he told me that he had traced the gasket set(novel idea just about 4 weeks late) and he would overnight it and the head to the mechanic who is working on the boat. He also told me he would call me today once this was done. Where I stand now is
1. I hope the suff went out
2. No phone call to confirm
It was in the beginning of the week someone from Yanmar admitted to John Livingston that they had really 'screwed up and I would be back in the water this weekend'. I guess theres gonna be a lot of overtime put in as tomorrow is Friday.
So there you are I post tomrrow after I make the call.

[thataway]

Thru the years, I have had excellent service from Mack Boring. Hopefully they will come thru.

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Diana and I are looking for a bigger boat. After this fiasco, it may not include the R25. Please note my post on the Caledon.
Nice looking boat...

[BrentB]

Maybe the Ranger factory is having similar problems ordering engines for new boats. They are waiting too