The Vee was running perfectly last week, but since it's approacing 30k miles and hasn't been touched in 15K miles, I decided to take it in to a local shop for a valve adjustment, TBS, air-filter and plugs. I also picked up a new TPS sensor because I've been dealing with the well-known sputter and stall routine after long highway miles. To be clear, day to day riding, the bike ran perfectly. Only after 1+ hours at highway speed would it sputter, and that would only be for a moment until I cycled the throtte and ignition.
The shop just called this morning and started asking questions about why I had them replace the TPS. To make a long call short, apparently since they buttoned it up and test rode it, it now "idles perfectly," but cuts out, sputters, and otherwise runs rough when they try to take it up to speed. The mechanic started suggesting things like a bad fuel pump etc., and I explained that the bike was PERFECT when I rode it in last Friday.
What did they do wrong? Did they miss the alignment of the cam lobes when they set the valves? Forget a vacuum hose?
I talked to the mech again. He has this nervous tone to his voice now that reminds me of when I walk in the kid's room and he hides his laptop under the covers.
He seems to have gotten some advice because this time he said he adjusted the TPS. I suspect he may have just plugged the new one in and not realized it has to be adjusted.
Worst case: they'll ruin the bike and I'll have no choice but to go and buy a C-14. Sure, I hate that outcome, but dammit, I just can't shirk my fiscal irresponsibilities any longer.
I talked to the mech again. He has this nervous tone to his voice now that reminds me of when I walk in the kid's room and he hides his laptop under the covers.
He seems to have gotten some advice because this time he said he adjusted the TPS. I suspect he may have just plugged the new one in and not realized it has to be adjusted.
Worst case: they'll ruin the bike and I'll have no choice but to go and buy a C-14. Sure, I hate that outcome, but dammit, I just can't shirk my fiscal irresponsibilities any longer.
First time through, I read that as C-4, as in the explosive... :yikes:
I doubt the Vee is screwed up permanently, anyway.
But at this point, I'm not sure what the odds are of the "mechanic" actually setting the TPS correctly are.
If all he has is the factory manual, I believe it tells him to use special dealer tool such-and-so on the dealer mode connector. He may not understand that all you really need to do is jam a piece of wire in there to connect the two leads...
And I'm virtually dead certain he doesn't know that you can set the TPS in about two minutes from the left side of the bike without moving the tank or fairing... :thumbup:
Truly sucks! Lot of good mechanics out there. Unfortunatly also some bad ones. Hope you get the situation resolved. At least living in Florida lost riding time is not as much of an issue. :thumbup:
The shop called yesterday; by then they'd had the bike for over a week. They said it was still running badly, and said they thought it was the ECU, or the fuel pump, or the TPS. Then they asked if I wanted to start buying new parts or let them. I told them I'd be there to pick up the bike in an hour.
They charged me $300. I didn't argue because I wanted the bike out of there. By this time they'd taken it apart and put it back together 3 times, and still had no idea what was wrong.
I took it to Riva shortly before they closed yesterday. (Riva is the local dealership). The service guy at Riva called this morning:
1. The TBS was completly wrong.
2. The new TPS was programmed wrong and that ruined it.
3. The secondary TPS is now no good an needs replacement.
4. The wiring harness for my PCIII was badly pinched and may be ruined.
So, Riva wants $660 to fix it. I authorized the work; the fact is the same mechanic did the TBS and valve check last year, and the bike ran great. I only took it to the other guys because Riva left the air filter gasket off. And I thought I'd like to find a local shop to do the occasional maintenance I don't do myself.
I've requested a refund from the other shop. If they give it up, I'll drop it. If not, I'm going to roll over. It's just not right to ride a bike into a shop and have to pay to haul it away on a trailer a week later. I'll find a way to get the word out about what happened to me, if I have to.
The fact that you posted a account of your current travails idicates an ability to deal with the incomprehensibly incompetent in a much more socially acceptable manner than I think I could. From what I hear WiFi service in the Broward County Lockup can be spotty.
Yesterday when I was loading the bike on my trailer it was all I could do to not blow up. I took my kid along just so I'd have him as a mental restraint. I did manage to work "I've never put it on a trailer before" into the conversation.
When I called the shop today to explain what happened, the mechanic got (naturally) extremely defensive and even said "I wish I'd test ridden the bike before we started." As if I had nothing better to do than waste my time trying to trick local Suzuki shops into fixing my bike...what..for free? I told him there was nothing productive that could come out of our talking, and to please have the owner call me when he gets back in town tomorrow.
I'm not going to flame them or do anything else if they give me my money back. If they don't...I'll consider what my options are. The worst part is I'm going to be riding the bike now wondering if there's something else wrong buried in there that's going to throw me off on the street someday.
Sounds pretty grim Kenneth. You might mention the Zuke regional manager as well as Better Business Bureau when talking to the shop, in addition to the internet assault. Hope you get things worked out.
The ordeal is over. I picked up the bike last night and it's running extremely well; noticably better than it was before all this crap started. It took longer than I'd hoped, (just over 2 weeks) but it was worth the wait. Most of the wait time was for parts.
The dealership has a guy named Onac who works only on Suzukis. He told me he'd been doing it for 16 years. Here's what he told me about the bike's state upon arrival (after being mangled by the first shop):
The new TPS I'd given them was installed upside down. It was ruined, and the other one was ruined as well.
One throttle was set almost closed, the other wide open.
The throttle bodies weren't even close to being sync'd.
A connector from the stator to the harness was broken..not charging.
The PCIII harness was pinched under the tank and would have worn through the insulation.
The battery (original '07) was toast; probably due to starting over and over without ever charging.
For the grand sum of $700, which included a new battery and 2 TPS sensors, the bike runs like new!
I've made a point of not mentioning the name of the shop that hacked it up to begin with, because it's possible that my experience was unique. Apparently other people like their work, there were at least 6 bikes in the shop in various states of repair. And there's 2 or 3 mechanics aside from the guy who worked on my bike. But it amazes me that after 2 weeks of hacking at the bike and then asking me to start buying everything from an ECU to a fuel pump, that all that was really wrong was...adjustments. Even if both TPS had been bad to begin with, a competent mechanic was able to troubleshoot that right away.
Thanks for posting a followup, and glad the ending was happy. :thumbup:
Now go ride, ride like the wind, and think of your icelocked northern brethren...
How the hell do you install a TPS upside-down? I'm trying to picture this, and it sure seems like a lot more work than putting it in the right way. Sounds like all the other assery probably stemmed from trying to adjust around a boogered TPS.
That is good to read that it is running well. Many mechanics are good honest and competent. A bad one can really hammer your business. A good dealer will hand you your $300.00 back and take it out of the fellows pay or show them the door.
I believe that's what happened with the "bad" shop. After I got the bike out (we have a mechanics lien law here in FL where they can sieze and keep your bike for non-payment) and got the diagnosis from the other shop, I asked for and got my $300. The mechanic who screwed it up said "I've had enough trouble over this job already."
Rode to work today, the bike just hauls ass. I can't wait till March, I'm doing my first IBA ride!!
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