Honda Rocker Arm Problem

T

timhays

Member
please tell me if it is normal for a 20 horse v twin honda motor to keep letting the rocker arms jump off the valvestem and pushrod?

i have had numerous different rocker arms come loose in the last three months,twice on the same valve and once on different cylinder.

i was 2 hours out of town last night luckily i finished the job i went for when it happened(didnt look for problem then,found it in driveway at home while trying to find out if it would be a warranty problem,i let the dealer take care of all warranty issues)

nonetheless i had an extra job to do down there that i couldnt and i am pissed.

can i expect the dealer to replace the engine,or should i just expect the rockers to jump off once a month?
 
Unfortunately there is little likliehood that a dealer or even the manufacturer of the unit will do more than try and help you deal with Honda.

Unless the dealer is a certified Honda repair facility they will have to send it to one then Honda will decide in their own time whether or not to warrant the problem.

Part of it depends on the number of hours on the engine as well as frequency of provable maintenance (from receipts).

If it is an early model V-twin there were some problems with the small plastic padlle inside melting and causing failures that Honda did warrant. Originally, this engine was to be splash lubricated andat the 11th hour they decided to go to a pressureized lube with a spin-on oil filter. A couple of things changed when they did that, the V-twin does NOT have an Oil Sentry shutdown merely an Oil Alert, at ~300 hours the paddle would melt causing the above problem. If the crankcase is overfilled even by an ounce there will be blow-by through the breather causing the engine to fail; Honda did not warrant this condition.

Usually, Honda will favour Honda with warranty issues. The success you have with them will be directly related to the dealer and manufacturer input/assistance.

Hope this helps? Cheers.
 
thanks for the reply,today i took to my local dealer and they found a bent pushrod,they are going to take the motor apart from what i was told and look around ,all of which will be covered under warranty.

coincedently this machine has 308 hours on it.
 
Honda is real hard to deal with concerning warranty. They offer no warranty if the engine is used on a pressure washer. I recommend you omit that peice of info and just take in the engine by it's self. Tell them it was on a Generator and you will still be telling the truth just not the whole truth.
 
i appreciate all the advice,i took the machine to the local dealer where i purchased it and its allready been authorized for them to do the repair,i dont know if Honda or MI-T-M gave the authorization but they have allready ordered the parts for it today and notified me it would be tuesday before i could pick it up,they even gave me a loaner until then.

hot water wizard,i believe the Honda warranty policy that you are warning me about but i have had enough problems out of this machine that was corrected under warranty,that MI-T-M told me if i one more problem out of it they would give me a new one,that was two problems ago,i dont think they want to press the issue.

overall my dealer has been above average in keeping my machine fixed under warranty,the only thing that scares me is every problem i have with the machine is always"thats strange that doesnt normally happen" i am worried when the warranty is over i might be stuck with a lemon.
 
Tim,
Since you and I both know the dealer you are talking about, my advice to you is to get it resolved before the warranty runs out. I think they are just trying to string it along until then. Best of luck.
 
thanks warren for your advice,i will compile a list of the issues i have had with the machine and see what i can do.

have you had any bad experiences with this company or the equipment they sell before?
they have bent over backwards for me but everything they've
done so far they were reimbursed by the manufact.
 
Tim,
Since Walt left, their repair capabilities have been greatly diminished. I just have a bad taste in my mouth from them regarding some of their rates. They were charging just outrageous amounts for simple repairs. In addition, on several occasions, they didn't do what they had said they would. I will still buy from them if I can't get it anywhere else, but only then.
 
well the shit is about to hit the fan,

after waiting 5 days for the replacement for the bent pushrod to show up from honda(coincedently a intake valve stuck in the guide and bent the pushrod on one valve) after excuse after excuse why my machine still wasnt finished today at 4pm i was assured that my parts were on a fed ex truck shceduled for delivery today(repair center called and was told parts on truck today for delivery) at 10pm my dealer leaves me a voice mail to pick up my machine,pushrod didnt come in but he knew i have been putting off my work for a week and needed my machine for a 12 am job tonight so he took parts out of another motor to get mine together.
when i show up i have a bill for $244.97

turns out what i was lead to believe be covered under warranty was disclosed to me at the last moment honda turned down warranty claim said "the valve stuck because i was using 87 octane fuel,not enough octane low octane was the cause"

i have been building very high performance 4 cyl jap bike motors for 5 years now so we wont go into that pitiful excuse for a warranty rejection claim yet.
 
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continum.......


one i cant believe such an excuse,second i cant believe i was charged for
4 pushrods $61 i dont know why 4 were repl. only 1 was bent
labor $180 3 hours i am not going to complain about this figure because i charge $100 an hour.


ps on page 25 of the honda owners manual it clearly states "use unleaded gasoline with a pump octane rating of 86 or higher"

i would appreciate anyones input on this situation,i have an appointment wed with my attorney.
 
ron p

the octain thing is prob. bullstuff but after 360 hrs they were going to blame you for it anyway.
If i were knowingly going to pay them to replace a bent push rod, for the $62 i would of paid for all 4[cheap insurance] By the time you take them out to check them[rolling them on a piece of glass] and jerked around, it would have cost you another hour in labor and they still might of needed replacement. They saved you and them some trouble.
Your attorney will prob cost you more then it's worth?
As far as the WIZ,i cant believe they spend so much to advertise how perfect there engines are suited for the PW industry and then wont warrentee them? But he would know.
Tim one other thing, YES the shop should have told you about it not being covered by warrentee before he did the work, but if he had told you, you still would of had him fix it. If it 3 hours to fix it it would take 3 hours to pull and replace the ones he borrowed. There is little chance he is eating that time and pulling another engine apart just to get you running UNLESS it was his screw-up or just wanted to seem like a nice guy and the parts WERE delivered.
RENTAL SHOPS SEND EQUIPMENT OUT EVERYDAY do you think that the customer uses the high oct. gas or the cheapest crap they can find?
put's a kink in the oct. story.
 
Ron,your post is very logical,although 300 hours is only 7.5 weeks of usage on a brand new high dollar machine which has allready had 8 different problems and has let me down on several occasions, so how can one refute a warranty claim on an 8 week old motor that has a 1 year warranty?

also regardless of all the surrounding aggravating factors it is listed on my service order that honda denied the warranty claim because of 87 octane fuel,and it clearly states in there owners manual that an octane of 86 and higher is acceptable for use in there motor,therefore honda has a responsibility to notify there customers if 87 octane is not sufficient in the use of there engines,and that the warranty will not cover damage to the engine as a result of using that fuel.

they could not have obtained a fuel sample because i filled it up with 93 the night it broke.

i could spend another 20 minutes talking about compression ratios/octane ratings which is an absolutely waste of time

my problem doesnt neccessarily lay with the repair shop(my post with the pushrod incident was to get an idea of what there response might be if confronted about that)but more with Honda or the manufacturer of my machine which is to the determination of my attorney.

the money doesnt matter this has become a matter of principle and i think you know how that works.

bottom line they refused my warranty claim on something they have no leg to stand on,there excuse can be picked apart 50 different ways.

as always i appreciate your input.
 
HONDA WARRANTY

I may be getting in on this a little late, but I too had problems recently on a new Honda motor and the warranty. I'll give you some numbers and contacts I used to get my matter resolved . You may have already tried these but it may help. I will add though this took way too much effort on my part to get hy motor fixed.

Honda Power Equipment 1-800-426-7701
RCS Distributing , Jessup,Maryland (handle Honda warranty
work) -410-799-1850
Richard Brooks (area manager) 1-215-322-5020


I hope that helps because I know when a lawyer is involved there are usually 2 losers and the only winner is the lawyer!
 
Honda NEVER honors a warranty on this type of engine. Sometimes if you have a really good dealer, they will help you out, and that is about it.


Scott
 
Everett, thank you for the contact numbers,i may need them. i am waiting until tuesday to give my dealer time to see what he can do before i get involved directly.

Scott,thank you for your input on honda warranty policy,i was offered a 1 year warranty on my machine when i purchased it and it was not disclosed to me the warranty did not include the engine,someone is going to warrant this problem even if its the manufacturer.

ps on my new machine i am going to request a kohler engine.
 
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