Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[LISA]

In my despair of this CVO engine on a FDXSE2 Aniversary Dyna Low-here is my story.
Purchased in 08/2008.  Life was good, engine smooth, cruized without a problem.   I did get the "upgrade," again life was good; never had a problem before or after upgrade. Smooth like cruizing on a lawn chair and the engine noise (normal noise) disappeared-only heard the wind and normal engine vibrations.
Then last year-a rubbing sound while coasting to a stop most readily heard  at 10-25mph.  Long story short-it was a plastic retainer ring that held bearings for 6th gear.  It was repaired and life is good for the transmission. 
About the same time (and the tear down was at the same time as the trans) the front cyclinder decided to peel the paint.  Enough so that it pissed me off looking at peeling paint on a new bike.  But prior to that the front cylinder head ?  who knows what/why? needed to be replaced?  for now I don't even remember why.  So with much angst I gave the approval to replace the front cylincer (fin part) due to peeling paint and the bike has never been the same since!!  I regret that now!  The noise I hear everyone complaining about in these discussion threads is the same problem I have.  The engine is worse under load in 3, 4, and 5th gear-especially 5th gear.  Of course "nothing is wrong" per the dealer. Contrary-sounds like a completely different engine that is also laboring.   Like your great grandma's hand crank egg beater, like it is dry, if it would get any louder I would call it a diesel.  I am not a blonde bimbo and have an affinity for things mechanical and this is not my first manual transmission engine.  I am at the right RPM for the speed, etc.  It is not right. 
So the dealer suggested real oil instead of synthetic.  I had no problem with synthetic oil and neither did the engine!  It was designed that way on the drafting board before entering production, right?  Now regular oil is in it-it is not helping.  Maybe it is the engine?!!!!!  If my car is broken I do not turn up the radio and/or put thicker oil in it to fix it-I fix it. 
The dealer is putting me off too.  My warranty expires this Aug 12, 2010. How do you bend a dealer's arm to fix it?  Help me with the language to appropriately articulate my problem.  I hate arguing and my time is running out.  Fortunately I do have the extended warranty plan since the transmission issue.  It took them a while to find that one too. 

[Fired00d]

Sounds like your biggest problem is your dealer.... you need to find another dealer.... fast!!!

 
Ride Safe,
Fired00d
 

[shortdog]

It is time to go directly to customer service from the MoCo.
You need to get this situation on record as quickly as possible.
Phone # 414-343-4056
Make some reason to send them an e-mail that will require a response and start the paper trail!
I did not take my own advice and am currently going through a nightmare with the dealer and the factory rep.
Check my post under the Twin Cam specific topic, thread "Disgusted"
Good Luck!
Also it's not too late to purchase the ESP. I'm so glad I did.

[LISA]

Hello ShortDog from FL and to all who pass through this thread,
Since my last post I have dropped it off at the dealer.  They will put it on the dyno in a day or two so the paper trail has begun. I realize they have to justify "surgery" and cannot go on a wild goose chase "without authorization."  Here is hoping this gets resolved.  I am also hoping they will call me when they do that (as he had suggested that would be a good idea so we are on the same page of the same noise). 

I did purchase the ESP with the transmission issue.  Thank God is right! 

All keep you posted as the saga continues.

Thanks, LISA

[Twolanerider]

I realize they have to justify "surgery" and cannot go on a wild goose chase "without authorization."  

Actually they not only can do diagnostic work pre-warranty-authorization; they should.  If there is a problem their lack of ability to specifically define it before work is authorized does not relieve them of the responsibility to track it down.  It's part of their job and is really is a cost-of-goods whose cost is absorbed in both the original profit on the bike and other incentives granted by the manufacturer that are related to bike sales/service.

If they weren't responsible for finding problems than almost any warranty request could be avoided by their simply saying, "Sorry, can't fix it because we don't know what's causing.  Come back later when it's worse or dead."

[Twolanerider]

In my despair of this CVO engine on a FDXSE2 Aniversary Dyna Low-here is my story.
Purchased in 08/2008.  Life was good, engine smooth, cruized without a problem.   I did get the "upgrade," again life was good; never had a problem before or after upgrade. Smooth like cruizing on a lawn chair and the engine noise (normal noise) disappeared-only heard the wind and normal engine vibrations.
Then last year-a rubbing sound while coasting to a stop most readily heard  at 10-25mph.  Long story short-it was a plastic retainer ring that held bearings for 6th gear.  It was repaired and life is good for the transmission. 
About the same time (and the tear down was at the same time as the trans) the front cyclinder decided to peel the paint.  Enough so that it pissed me off looking at peeling paint on a new bike.  But prior to that the front cylinder head ?  who knows what/why? needed to be replaced?  for now I don't even remember why.  So with much angst I gave the approval to replace the front cylincer (fin part) due to peeling paint and the bike has never been the same since!!  I regret that now!  The noise I hear everyone complaining about in these discussion threads is the same problem I have.  The engine is worse under load in 3, 4, and 5th gear-especially 5th gear.  Of course "nothing is wrong" per the dealer. Contrary-sounds like a completely different engine that is also laboring.   Like your great grandma's hand crank egg beater, like it is dry, if it would get any louder I would call it a diesel.  I am not a blonde bimbo and have an affinity for things mechanical and this is not my first manual transmission engine.  I am at the right RPM for the speed, etc.  It is not right. 
So the dealer suggested real oil instead of synthetic.  I had no problem with synthetic oil and neither did the engine!  It was designed that way on the drafting board before entering production, right?  Now regular oil is in it-it is not helping.  Maybe it is the engine?!!!!!  If my car is broken I do not turn up the radio and/or put thicker oil in it to fix it-I fix it. 
The dealer is putting me off too.  My warranty expires this Aug 12, 2010. How do you bend a dealer's arm to fix it?  Help me with the language to appropriately articulate my problem.  I hate arguing and my time is running out.  Fortunately I do have the extended warranty plan since the transmission issue.  It took them a while to find that one too. 

Just more closely read the history.  Sounds like the dealer has both dropped the ball and tried to avoid picking it up.  If the issues are as obvious as described their granting (you're not paying for it are you) some dyno time isn't really going to gain anything.  In the hands of some (many) operators dyno time can also be hard on the engine.  So consider all this well before allowing them to proceed.

If you allow them to proceed at the very least make sure they write up a service report that specifies very clearly what your complaints are and your descriptions of the bike's failings.  If you've cited the problem prior to the warranty's expiration and called HD consumer relations itself to start a ticket on the complaint they shouldn't give you much grief about servicing the failure if it finally gets bad enough to die post the warranty expiration date.  If, however, they've only written up a service report that says something like "Not running right, check on dyno" their lack of specificity is a way to hang you out to dry if it fails later. 

Document specifically.  Get the issue cited both at the dealership and with the MoCo.  The latter is important because the former has already proved either less than competent, evasive or both.

[LISA]

twolanerider,
thankyou for that insight of "pre-warranty diagnostic work"  I am entitled to.  I will keep you posted on events since I am just 2+ weeks shy of original warranty before ESP kicks in. 
LISA
 

[Trapperdog]

Lisa, if your dealer continues to avoid your problems, let the members here know the general area where you reside and they will direct you to a more competant dealer.

[sadunbar]

twolanerider,
thankyou for that insight of "pre-warranty diagnostic work"  I am entitled to.  I will keep you posted on events since I am just 2+ weeks shy of original warranty before ESP kicks in.  
LISA
 

I would ask them to clearly explain what they hope to learn by dynoing your bike.  Lacking convincing reasoning, I would consider not allowing them to put your bike on the dyno, as I believe there is little to learn in the way of diagnostics by doing so.  And, as Twolane stated, there is the potential of further damaging your motor.  If the dealer does not cooperate in your efforts to fully document your concerns and their actions, I would strongly consider going to another dealership.  You are not obligated in any way to stay with this seemingly reluctant dealer.  Your warranty is in force and must be honored by all dealers.

[Twolanerider]

twolanerider,
thankyou for that insight of "pre-warranty diagnostic work"  I am entitled to.  I will keep you posted on events since I am just 2+ weeks shy of original warranty before ESP kicks in. 
LISA
 

Pardon if I'm misinterpreting what is perhaps an over reliance on the ESP kicking in.  The extended warranty isn't an extension of the factory warranty.  It's a service contract from an entirely different entity.  The MoCo is your warranty supplier with the dealer as their agent.  The service contractor is an entirely separate company with entirely different rules.

One of those rules is that they can (quite rightly) say they're not responsible for preexisting failures.  If it's a problem that should have been taken care (i.e., paid for) by Mother Harley the service contractor could be loathe to foot the bill.  Especially if it's a big bill as yours might be.  Not getting this aggressively documented for now for warranty purposes has at least the potential of later leaving you between the proverbial warranty rock and the service contractor's hard place.

[LISA]

Yikes. I knew it was a separate entity and I can see how the play on words of "pre-existing" failure is not our problem. 

My location is IL at the state line by WI.  Milwaukee is just 40 mins away and engine plant tour was phenomenal.  Cleaner than most restaurants!  Museum is not bad either. 

[sem_bunda]

Yikes. I knew it was a separate entity and I can see how the play on words of "pre-existing" failure is not our problem. 

My location is IL at the state line by WI.  Milwaukee is just 40 mins away and engine plant tour was phenomenal.  Cleaner than most restaurants!  Museum is not bad either. 

Try the dealer in Oconomoc or Theinsville if not too far a commute for you.  I have not had service at either, but they seem much more interested in customers than any other dealer in Milwaukee area.

And you're right - plant tours are great, especially the York plant. 

[sooiee]

Uke's has been very helpful for me in the past.  On 94 in Kenosha. 
Sorry to hear about the dealer issues.  There are good ones and unfortunately bad ones since they are independent of the MoCo. 
Good luck and keep us posted. 

[grc]

IF the dealer wants to run the bike on the dyno instead of on the highway to try to track down noise problems, assuming they have the proper kind of dyno with a load cell and not just a straight inertia type dyno, that could be a valid method to verify and diagnose the issue.  Kind of hard to ride down the road and also check for noises with your handy dandy stethoscope at the same time.  On the other hand, if all they plan to do is a wide open throttle max power run, that won't do anything to help solve your problem.

Here's the part that I don't understand.  If the bike was OK before they replaced the cylinder, and it wasn't OK immediately after they replaced the cylinder, why are they having a hard time figuring this out?  Sounds like they either got some bad parts (Harley shipped a bunch of tapered cylinders, for instance) that they didn't check before they threw them in, or they screwed something up during the disassembly/assembly process.

What the other folks said about calling H-D direct is right on the money.  Do not sit back and let the dealer jerk you around until your warranty expires.  Get everything documented (hopefully you kept copies of all previous repair orders) and get it on record with H-D.  Explain what has been done, what your current problems are, and ask them to get those issues resolved for you.  The warranty is from H-D, and the dealer is just the agent.  H-D is still legally responsible for the warranty.

Good luck.


Jerry

[LISA]

Uke's has been very helpful for me in the past.  On 94 in Kenosha. 
Sorry to hear about the dealer issues.  There are good ones and unfortunately bad ones since they are independent of the MoCo. 
Good luck and keep us posted. 

I have not generally had a problem with this dealer although this is my first major issue that the teardown and 'put it back together' was "not the same" after it was done.  I like what I bought-that is all I want.  To be happy with the engine I had prior to being dismantled.  I had no problem with it (except the issues mentioned-it functioned ok even when it was "sick")  I just want it to funciton like it did-without the ticking and grinding. 
I did have half a thought that being female they were putting me off or I was not able to describe in their language what is not right (miscommunication).  I did state that "I cannot believe you cannot hear what I am talking about."  To me it is obvious and they gave me a few excuses that I was not satisfied with.  When my truck is broken I fix it until it is right.  Just fix it.  I have not heard from them today and will call by Monday if I have not heard from them.