Two plaintiffs have filed a class action lawsuit against Yamaha Motor Corp. USA, alleging that the company manufactured outboard boating motors with a defective aluminum coating that are susceptible to corrosion and premature engine failure.
Florida residents Clifton Mitchell and Keith Johnson filed the Yamaha boat motor class action lawsuit on July 22. They allege that Yamaha should have known about the motor defect and taken steps to provide a remedy for customers who were affected by it.
The proposed members of the Yamaha boat motor class action lawsuit include Florida residents who bought a model year 2000-05 Yamaha first-generation F-Series four-stroke outboard motor for their personal use. The plaintiffs claim that because Yamaha failed to fix the problem with the motor, the Class Members have been forced to either pay thousands of dollars to repair the defect or be stuck with a defective motor that they never would have purchased had they known about the flaw.
Mitchell and Johnson purchased boats with the Yamaha F-Series motors from a boat dealership in Pensacola, Florida. Both plaintiffs were informed about the motor corrosion after they had their boats inspected after approximately 650 hours of recreational use. It cost Mitchell approximately $7,000 to repair the motor, while Johnson experienced close to $3,800 in repair costs.
In their class action lawsuit, the plaintiffs claim that there is either a design or manufacturing defect in the coating on the aluminum exhaust components. They claim that this coating allows hot gasses to corrode the exhaust passages, eventually creating holes in the passages that cause engine problems or failure.
The plaintiffs claim that the expected life of a motor made by a major manufacturer like Yamaha is several thousand hours of usage before failing or requiring significant repairs. According to the class action lawsuit, the affected Yamaha motors sometimes only 500 hours before failing.
The affected Yamaha motors came with a three-year warranty. However, because these motors are marketed for recreational use, most users only average about 100 hours of use per year. As a result, the warranty usually expires before the customer experiences problems with the motor. Because the affected components are within the dry exhaust system, the corrosion takes place within the fully enclosed engine housing and is not visible. Therefore, boaters are unaware that the damage exists until they experience engine problems.
The plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit allege that standard engineering tests should have revealed the motor defect to Yamaha during the design or manufacturing stage of production. Despite receiving numerous complaints about the defect, Yamaha failed to take steps to fix the situation. While Yamaha has changed the coating and created a kit to repair the defect, the kit alone costs $650 and will cost thousands of dollars to implement, the class action lawsuit says. The plaintiffs claim that Yamaha did not notify its customers about the defect or issue any service bulletins or recalls. The class action lawsuit accuses Yamaha of negligence, product liability, and violating the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. The plaintiffs have requested a trial by jury.
The plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit are represented by Peter J. Mougey and James Kauffman of Levin Papantonio Thomas Mitchell Rafferty & Proctor PA, and by Steven R. Jaffe and Mark S. Fistos of Farmer Jaffe Weissing Edwards Fistos & Lehrman PL.
The Yamaha Boat Engine Coating Class Action Lawsuitis Mitchell, et al. v. Yamaha Motor Corp. USA, case number 3:13-cv-00417, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.
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99 thoughts onClass Action Lawsuit Targets Yamaha Boat Motor Defect
I have a pair of 2016 Yamaha 150 4 stroke (LX150XB, F150XB) . The left engine required a teardown and replacement of the exhaust guide, including the mid section and oil pan at 750 hours. The right engine is currently waiting backordered parts at 850 hours to perform the same task. The mid section and oil tank were compromised on that engine as well. This is an epidemic. The worst part about it is that Yamaha is making money hand over foot selling parts. I do all my own work and I will be out an easy 4-5K after the second motor is finished.
On the second motor , it did not break through the exhaust guide (yet). There are tell tale signs however. Unfortunately, you need to run the motor for a period of time over 3500 RPMs , then stop and go look at the exhaust overflow. If it’s spitting water, you have a problem. Most Technicians are not capable of running a vessel like this to evaluate. It is the only early indicator that I know of.
Further compounding the many issues around this early failure (potentially catastrophic) is the fact that technicians, even yamaha certified technicians, are recommending you weld the exhaust guide hole or JB weld it. This is like putting a bandaid on sepsis. By the time the guide blows through the exhaust channel, the motor has been compromised and is routing hot gasses where they don’t belong.
The cause of exhaust guide failure IMO are as follows:
* improper or lack of an extensive thermal study of the exhaust guide during design.
* Inadequate material of the exhaust guide casting and/or coatings. Either by the vendor (not following spec’s) or due to a Yamaha material callout that does not hold up to the thermal stresses.
Either way, the exhaust guide is the single point failure in this case. Everything else is secondary and in some cases tertiary to failure of the exhaust guide casting.
Parts stay on back order to fix this issue while Yamaha rolls in the dough.
If this were the FAA, every motor would be grounded and Yamaha would be mandated to develop a fix that is consistent with the life of the motor and terminating action.
There are those of us that travel well over 40 miles in the ocean to fish. Knowing your riding a ticking time bomb is not comforting.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
I bought a 2004 F225TXRC from Florida, now have 425 hrs. on motor and will be replacing the exhaust.
I have a Yamaha outboard 150 hp motor- I take care of my boat every season. I wash and clean it every time I take it out. I do regular/yearly maintenance on it before storing it at the end of the year. I purchased new in 2014 and have less than 1000 hrs on the boat. I also store it indoors during off season. I have just taken it in for its yearly maintenance at the local Yamaha dealer and according to them it needs a new motor- they are so the original cost to me of 3000.00 is now going to 15000.00 – I have several friends with Yamahas that have replaced their 150hp for the exact same problem. All three in varying hours and the engine just blows up.. apparently yamaha knows about it but doesnt train service techs to look for the problem, or advise owners of the issue. I only knew by word of mouth and friends who had the problem
I own a 2005 Yamaha 225hp ourboard engine and am experiencing the same issue. My mechanic said repair cost would be in excess of $3,000.
YAMAHA F225 SERVICE
MODEL: F225TXRD
SRIAL #: 69J X 1019702
what is the current status of the Yamaha Boat motor Class action
Please contact me regarding a posible new suit in Florida under the Florida deceptive and unfair trade practices act.