Yanmar Gearbox Failure

I have recently had a Yanmar gearbox seize after only 360 hours of light use but a few months out of warranty, 24 months or 2000 hours. Yanmar did not want to know about it initially even though no external cause could be found, it appears to have suffered an internal failure caused by a gear seizing on a shaft although the correct amount of Yanmar oil was in the gearbox.

After I contacted the Australian Distributor, Power Equipment, they eventually agreed to send gearbox back to Japan for assessment but warned me that since the Global Financial Crisis Yanmar have become difficult and they would most likely still claim it is out of warranty regardless of the cause and it would take at least 6 months to get an answer.

Australian consumer laws provide for an implied warranty which states basically goods must be fit for their purpose and provide adequate service which could reasonably expected regardless of time frames in a manufacturers voluntary warranty. Effectively in Australia time limits on warranty are not enforceable. Eventually Yanmar agreed to have gearbox sent to Japan and agreed to refund costs if the gearbox had failed internally. I agreed to this, even though it would appear the failure is obvious and I wonder why the Australian distributor could not inspect and advise Yanmar.

Without advise to me, Yanmar have now withdrawn their "offer", a fact I learnt when I spoke with the service agent who told me Power Equipment had told him not to send the gearbox as they had now withdrawn the offer, he thought I had been advised of this.

I have emailed Yanmar customer service twice without any response what so ever.

Has anyone else had similar problems with a Yanmar gearbox or similar problems with Yanmar or Power Equipment in Australia? Another post regarding Yanmar 440 engines seems to indicate similar issues with Yanmar?

There have been 2 services since new, both by Yanmar dealers and always using Yanmar oil! I have never had to add oil, but have Yanmar oil on board.

I am getting the gearbox independantly assessed, the Yanmar dealer who replaced the gearbox found no external cause and on inspection believes the failure is within the gearbox.

Whilst I have had issues with the vessels manufacturer and the Australian Dealer(he has recently been arrested and charged with criminal dishonety offences against me) I had put it all behind me and assumed that at least the engines and gearboxes where Yanmars responsibilty and they would stand behind their product and their reputation, I was clearly wrong.

The vessel was all sorted out and I am really enjoying her, she is actually a great boat, then this happened. I have never in all my time operating euipment from boats to seaplanes etc ever had an engine and gearbox failure but accepted it can happen. The issue is not the failure, although hopefully rare assuming these gearboxes do not have a history of failure, these things happen, I was very happy with the performance, the issue is how Yanmar and Power Euipment have handled it, it has been astounding.

I will never own or recommend another Yanmar product or have anything to do with their Australian dealer, Power Equipment. In my opinion the behaviour of both has been appalling, Yanmar simply ignore me and will not respond to my letters seeking help meanwhile Power Equipment engaged Solicitors to communicate with me whilst bizarrely claiming they did not have to deal with me because the Yanmar package on my boat did not come through them. This is despite the Yanmar Worldwide Warranty, which is posted on the Power Equipment / Yanmar Australia website http://www.yanmar.com.au/media/10829/marine pleasure craft ltd warranty.pdf stating if you have a claim to contact the dealer or distributor nearest to you, nothing about having to go back to the supplier. Yanmar will not respond to me or clarify this.

At the end of the day I have a gearbox which seized after only 360 hours and 6 months past the warranty period of 24 month, note the warranty also allows for 2000 hours whichever comes first, which is over 5 times the life I got from my gearbox. The Yanmar Dealer who replaced the gearbox could find no external cause of the failure. Gearboxes do not wear out when not being used!

It is also interesting to note Yanmars own Warranty recognises laws in other countries may over ride the Yanmar Warranty which is the case in Australia under the Trade Practices Act, the gearbox is covered by an implied warranty. In my opinion Yanmar and Power Equipment choose to ignore this and in fact it seemed to me that Power Equipment has no knowledge of the consumer laws within the country they operate. Refer For consumers in Australia manufacturers warranties are voluntary and the Trade Practices Act states that goods must be free of defects at the time of manufacture, fit for the prupose and provide a level of performance expected at the time of purchase, there is no time limit.

After many letters with Power Equipments Solicitors, Yanmar through Power Equipment made a "final offer" which was for Yanmar to agree to send the gearbox to Japan for inspection, interestingly Power Equipment have never inspected the gearbox, I had to release Yanmar from all claims past present and future for all of the Yanmar Equipment on my vessel, even though the engines still had a 5 year warranty on major components. I also had to agree to whatever they decided to pay and accept whatever Yanmar say about the failure. That is the gearbox goes halfway round the world never to be seen again and I would have no right to have it independently assessed and I would have no right to disagree with whatever Yanmar decides having also given up my rights to claim from all the Yanmar equipment. Tell me is there anyone out there you would agree to this?

I proposed that Power Equipment inspect the gearbox in Australia and advice Yanmar accordingly, the Yanmar Warranty actually allows for dealers and distributors to assess claims. If Yanmar still wanted the gearbox sent to Japan then I could get it independently assessed before it was sent. If Power Equipment could show me a reason the gearbox failed and it was not the fault of Yanmar or an independent assessment found likewise the matter would be at an end. This was unacceptable to Yanmar and in my opinion it was clear they were only prepared to inspect the gearbox if they were in a position to deny liability without recourse from me. It is also my opinion they fully intend to deny liability regardless, why else behave like this.

I am in the process of lodging a complaint with the Office of Fair Trading in Queensland and will pursue Yanmar under the Trade Practices Act in Australia.

My experience with Symbol Yachts whilst extremely disappointing I have accepted what happened as they are a small company. Yanmar, however, have astounded me, for an international company such as they are to behave in such an appalling manner to their customers is astounding. Take Five is my second and will be my last Yanmar powered vessel.

It is not the product itself or the performance but how a manufacturer supports their product. Things happen even to almost new gearboxes, its how its handled.

I wonder why Yanmar would not be keen to inspect the gearbox and acertain the cause of the failure for their own information. What if there is a metalurgal issue related to a batch of certain componets, I would have thought they would want to know, or would they?

I have a Mastervolt system, and one of the expensive charges was replaced due to an intermittent fault, no hassles no questions asked, just done. Thats a good company to deal with, I will continue to use Mastervolt.

Cheers

They told me the same here, that in any event even if the failure had occured during the waranty period I would still have to pay for the replacement gearbox and they would still send it to Japan and let me know if they would pay me back. That's not a warranty that's BS, this appears to be what Yanmar call a waranty. On that point alone I would not have ordered the Yanmars had I known! Buyer beware!!

I have owned boats with Cat's, Cummins, Yanmars and Detroits all good engines but I would rate Yanmar well and truely at the bottom of the list for customer support and product support.