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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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94 thoughts onClass Action Lawsuit Targets Yamaha Boat Motor Defect
I have a 2005 four stroke 225hp Yamaha outboard as was just informed what I need to do if I didn’t want my motor ruined. I’m appalled that I never receive any notice from Yamaha. This is gross negligence .Yamaha I thought was a reputable company. The defect is a safety issue in that the motor can fail without warning. You could be off shore and not be able to get help. If this was a automotive problem and was found out the Automotive Companies would have had to make it good no matter what year the cars or trucks were manufactured. The only difference is if this was your car or truck that affected many vehicles made in multiple years the government and the news media would make it impossible for Yamaha not to do the right thing by its customers. I wish there was a way we could all ban together to expose Yamaha for the crooks they are for not informing customers and the not paying all cost involved for a defect they caused.
I have a F150 TXR, purchased in June 2007; unaware of manufacture year. In March 2014, my engine was 7.75 years old and had registered 642 hours. 100 hr maintenance was always performed on time; always used Yamaha Ring Free as gas additive, always used Marine grade, non ethanol gas; always flushed engine after use.
In February -March 2014, I started to experience stalling at idle speed. Otherwise mid and high speed permanence was as usual. Mechanic discovered exhaust leak in lower engine compartment. After pulling power head, the block as had .375″ hole on the side wall just above the exhaust manifold. Also inside the exhaust side of the block on the opposite side wall,there was another .5″ hole. the exhaust manifold directly below the block had a .5″ x 1/.5″ hole. All looked like the metal was sand blasted until the metal wore through. Mechanic estimated $10K repair or $12.5K replace. Extended 6 yr warranty had expired in June 2013 and warranty repair was not covered.
No one including dealer had seen this type of failure on the F150. Some exhaust manifolds on F225s were similar to my manifold, but never engine block holes. I elected not to repair and bought new engine through original dealer.
I have two 06′ f225 both showing signs of corroding on the exhaust. I was told that the repair would cost roughly $3500 per motor. The dealer found the issue when they replaced the water pumps and used a scope to take pics.
Both motors have just under 300 hrs. My warranty ended in May and the issue was found in November . The dealer was able to get Yamaha to put $1000 towards each motor for parts only I’m stuck with a $5000 bill for labor. Yamaha should pay for all cost related .
having exact symptons of the dry exhaust leak problem, both power heads have already been replaced by yamaha
warranty, and is once again having the same problem
I have a 50 hp the head rotted out any one put there on a lawsuit for that???? I want my money back I tail owe on the damn thing .
I have 2 F225’s on my boat.Ihad both engines inspected and was advised to replace all dry exhaust chamber components.On one engine (sbd) there was a pencil size hole in one chamber wall.On the other engine (prt) the metal was corroding and about to cause a hole.
I purchased the boat new in 2004 and had just over 900 hrs on the engines. The work was done in the spring of last year. The parts were sold to me as a kit at approx.$650.00, however
The labor of approx.$3900.00 came out of my pocket.The dealer that did the work did a very
good job .I now have well over 1000 hrs on both motors and they perform well .I have also noted a slight increase in fuel economy……It’s sad that Yamaha would not own up to this issue!!!!!
I am having this problem on HPDI engines also. I this the same problem as the four stroke engines???
Have a 2004 yamaha four stroke 225 hp. The engine is doing the same thing this lawsuit is about. The aluminum exhaust components have rusted out and the dealer notes a $3,000 repair.
i have a 2004 yamaha f150 outboard eng counter balance has failed. I had the yamaha YES warranty,i complained in to 08 at 230 hrs on motor.Told certified yamaha tech 100hrs later noise was getting worse. now have 430 hrs on engine and contacted yamaha consumer affairs and opened a is an file.Yamaha declined any assistance. I feel this an unfair action by yamaha. Yamaha should back their loyal customers,a bulletin should have issued several years ago, they were aware of the problem and took no action.I purchased a yamaha extended warranty for a reason, and yamahas answer is sorry about your luck.If anyone has any info about yamaha f150 owners getting help please contact me at 386-931-2994 or email me at one morejj@msn.com
good morning,
i have a 2005 yamaha f150 outboard motor that has to be scraped because the faulty harmonic balancer failed and clogger all of the oil passages in the motor. yamaha has known about this problem and never issued a recall or notified the owners of this problem. they did replace several of them if the motor was making noise and was under warrenty but that is it. my motor only has 537 hours. Please call me and we can discuss if you are interested in helping me321-951-7411 ext 6