Ranger Tim
Well-known member
I took the Parker to the dealer yesterday for it's first computer hookup on the Yammie. At 475 hours I figured it was time to let my favorite mechanic take a look at things. He found one fault code at 0.1 hours. Something about the shifter linkage but that was all. Clean bill of health! Then he suggested that we put the muffs on and check for a problem with the harmonic balancers. "WHAT!?," I said. He told me of an issue with early model F150's that involves the harmonic balancer gearing breaking down and causing problems, sometimes catastrophic damage to the powerhead. (My motor was built in Nov. 2003, one of the early ones)
GEEZ! I had no idea that this issue was a problem with my motor. So we hook it up and he turns the key, "Yep, it's got the whine," he says. I had noticed a slight whine noise that developed about 50 hours ago but didn't think that much about it, knowing I would be taking her in for a checkup this winter.
Long story short, they will perform warranty service on the motor to replace the balancer gearing. Seems the older gears are prone to breakage and the resulting metal shards drop to the oil pan and get into the cylinders causing havoc. Cost of the repair to me? NADA!
I told him to replace the timing belt while he was at it, since it is five years old. It looks good, but looks can be deceiving. We also had a long discussion about how I could do the timing belt work myself and he detailed the job for me, all the way down to how to disable the idler pulley/tensioner. I could tell from the way he was describing the job that it wasn't worth the time it would take me to do it when he can do it in less than an hour's labor.
When do you ever get to have an expert Yamaha mechanic who is perfectly happy to stand there in person and point out components on your motor in detail while discussing TSB's, what they teach in Yamaha School, and what he sees happen with his customer's motors? Jamie is the BOMB!
So if you have an older F150 Yamaha be aware of this issue. Listen for a slight whine, similar to a failing power steering pump on a car, but fainter. Get it into a shop to have it checked out. Glad I did!
GEEZ! I had no idea that this issue was a problem with my motor. So we hook it up and he turns the key, "Yep, it's got the whine," he says. I had noticed a slight whine noise that developed about 50 hours ago but didn't think that much about it, knowing I would be taking her in for a checkup this winter.
Long story short, they will perform warranty service on the motor to replace the balancer gearing. Seems the older gears are prone to breakage and the resulting metal shards drop to the oil pan and get into the cylinders causing havoc. Cost of the repair to me? NADA!
I told him to replace the timing belt while he was at it, since it is five years old. It looks good, but looks can be deceiving. We also had a long discussion about how I could do the timing belt work myself and he detailed the job for me, all the way down to how to disable the idler pulley/tensioner. I could tell from the way he was describing the job that it wasn't worth the time it would take me to do it when he can do it in less than an hour's labor.
When do you ever get to have an expert Yamaha mechanic who is perfectly happy to stand there in person and point out components on your motor in detail while discussing TSB's, what they teach in Yamaha School, and what he sees happen with his customer's motors? Jamie is the BOMB!
So if you have an older F150 Yamaha be aware of this issue. Listen for a slight whine, similar to a failing power steering pump on a car, but fainter. Get it into a shop to have it checked out. Glad I did!
