[SkylerMcfarland]

My wildcat has been sucking in dirt that has been bypassing the air filter housing due to a gap on the inside of the air filter, created by the air filter housing not being clamped in or even bolted in after it's first service. When I went to clean my air filter I noticed that the housing was very loose, only hanging on by the air hoses that make their way into the air filter housing. Then I noticed that there were two bolts missing from the bottom of the housing. When i took off the cover i discovered one of the bolts and T washer inside of the air filter housing! I was stunned! Then after i removed the air filter i noticed dirt caked to the plastic walls on the inside area of the air filter and dirt caked on the throttle plate itself! (Picture attached)

This is a brand new 2014 Wildcat 1000 purchased only a month ago during the No brainer sales event from an authorized dealer in my area. My wife and I have been stoked about it since we live only 10 miles away from amazing Southern Utah trails. With that said we have been riding daily and racking up the miles pretty fast! At the same time, we've been taking extreme care of this machine, i'd sleep with it under my pillow if i could! I keep an eye on the oil every ride, i let it warm up, take breaks for it to cool down, the engine was broken in during the first 300 miles with extreme care and i change the Air Filter every 100 miles. In 3 weeks we accumulated 500 miles and it was time to take it in for its recommend break in service. I'm not exactly sure what the service entailed, but it was recommend and i love my machine so we took it to the shop. What i do know is that they changed the oil, cleaned the air filter and cut the clutch cover at a diagonal to make the belt easier to get to incase we broke a belt and needed to replace it on the trail. (this is when i think they might have removed the air filter housing) The day after the service my wife took a friend out for a ride for about 2-3hrs, before they left i checked the oil level, the oil was level was good, but so hard to see because of how clean it was after it's recent change. The day after that i took a friend out for his birthday, before we left i noticed that the oil was pretty dirty, which i thought was strange, because my first 500 miles it stayed so clean, plus my wife only rode for about 50 miles. I didn't put too much thought into it and took my buddy for a ride anyways. On our ride i was noticing a loss of power during acceleration, he didn't really notice it, but i drive the machine daily and know what it can do! When i got home from our ride i checked the oil level again. This time it was even darker, black and gooey. Thats when i decided to take a look at the air filter...

I took the machine in to the dealer today, i asked the sales rep a pretty casual "what if" question something like... "hey, just curious... what if dirt were to bypass the air filter, what would that do to the machine?" He told me "you'd pretty much be fucked and that i better be cleaning my air filter regularly because dirt getting into the engine would destroy it, at best it would take many years off the life of the engine". Thats when i told him what had happened.

The services techs wouldn't own up to taking the air filter housing off, they told me that it was probably shipped that way... I know thats not true because there was a bolt inside the air filter housing and i didn't put it there! Plus, i'd cleaned the air filter multiple times before this incident, only after my recent service did i have this problem. I ended up leaving the Wildcat with them so that they could take a look at the throttle body and see if any damage had been done. They also told me that they were going to call someone at the manufacturer to see what actions they recommend to deal with this particular situation.

Is this something that the warranty would cover? If so, the warranty is only 6months long and the engine damage will come in time. What do you think they are going to tell me next? What are my next actions? Should i get a entirely new engine out of this? An extended warranty? Are they going to try to blame this on me? I'm a bit scared to tell you the truth, i'm only one payment and 30 days into this and don't want a broken heart!

Thank you for listening to my problems. Feedback would be appreciated.

 

[Capt Kirk]

If they screwed up and lied about it to your face take em to court.
If they lied now it will only get worse
get a new dealer

 

[Phydeaux]

Wow, immediate knee-jerk response is "take em to court"... USA..USA..USA..USA.. LMAO! Litigation R Us.

I suggest that cooler heads will prevail. See what Arctic Cat says, and have a frank discussion with the owner of the dealership if nessesary. But from your description, yes, it sounds like the desirable and correct outcome would be a replacement engine, not rebuild, under warranty.

RLW

 

[WhiteX]

I had a similar thing happen with my daily driver (Volt). It had a misfire issue, which is common because the engine hardly runs and they get carboned up, and took it to the dealer 3 times. They said it needed plugs (LOL) and it would cost $200. I said no thanks and did the plugs myself (for $28) and low and behold it still misfired. Huge surprise, not.

So last week it was back in for the same problem and they told me I broke a connector on the coil when I did the plugs and that is causing the misfire (yet I didn't even disconnect the coil). I said "But the problem predates me taking it apart" to which they followed with an "ohhh well uhhh and well you know" and then I let them know I took pictures when I did the plugs and it likely shows an unbroken connector. Check mate.

Now they're trying some random fixes to try and cure the misfire and fixing the broken connector on their dime.

Moral of the story, being frank and honest with people and not accepting their bullshit can get you a long way. You just have to be able to maintain your calmness and always approach them with facts and support it with proof. It's easy to lose your cool because you're the one paying big dollars for a machine they fucked up, but in the end hopefully the right thing happens.

Unfortunately for you, the dealer was obviously at fault for the issue.

 

[SkylerMcfarland]

I had a similar thing happen with my daily driver (Volt). It had a misfire issue, which is common because the engine hardly runs and they get carboned up, and took it to the dealer 3 times. They said it needed plugs (LOL) and it would cost $200. I said no thanks and did the plugs myself (for $28) and low and behold it still misfired. Huge surprise, not.

So last week it was back in for the same problem and they told me I broke a connector on the coil when I did the plugs and that is causing the misfire (yet I didn't even disconnect the coil). I said "But the problem predates me taking it apart" to which they followed with an "ohhh well uhhh and well you know" and then I let them know I took pictures when I did the plugs and it likely shows an unbroken connector. Check mate.

Now they're trying some random fixes to try and cure the misfire and fixing the broken connector on their dime.

Moral of the story, being frank and honest with people and not accepting their bullshit can get you a long way. You just have to be able to maintain your calmness and always approach them with facts and support it with proof. It's easy to lose your cool because you're the one paying big dollars for a machine they fucked up, but in the end hopefully the right thing happens.

Unfortunately for you, the dealer was obviously at fault for the issue.

I'm remaining calm, and I have faith in the shop, they told me they never took the housing off just to cover their own butts from cooperate (at least that's what I think) but I'm not going to take any bullwhoey either. From the advice that I have gathered, I'm going to need a whole new engine. To me that seems like an impossible outcome for such a silly mistake. If they can't do that, you'll know the name of the dealer, and its a name I know you already know.

 

[SkylerMcfarland]

D & P Performance is replacing my engine under warranty! It's sucks that we won't have a cat to ride for the next 3+ weeks but i'm at ease with the situation.

 

[WhiteX]

I'm remaining calm, and I have faith in the shop, they told me they never took the housing off just to cover their own butts from cooperate (at least that's what I think) but I'm not going to take any bullwhoey either. From the advice that I have gathered, I'm going to need a whole new engine. To me that seems like an impossible outcome for such a silly mistake. If they can't do that, you'll know the name of the dealer, and its a name I know you already know.

Wow. Hope it goes well.

 

[WhiteX]

D & P Performance is replacing my engine under warranty! It's sucks that we won't have a cat to ride for the next 3+ weeks but i'm at ease with the situation.

Hah didn't refresh. Glad it went well!

 

[stevozz]

Just make sure before they do anything that its going to be covered 100% because if the dealer did something wrong n it needs n engine ect the dealer or someone will have to pay for it,,, To suck that much dirt in someone screwed up n poss Arctic cat will not cover it because of neglect... Just saying make sure you know who will be paying for everything 1st!!! N make sure since u just had it serviced keep that paperwork near by!!! I hope the dealer will take care of u,,, Good luck!!!

 

[Black Cat]

D & P Performance is replacing my engine under warranty! It's sucks that we won't have a cat to ride for the next 3+ weeks but i'm at ease with the situation.

Ride the machine until the new engine shows up..(your not going to hurt it anymore than it is) it should take no more than 1 day to remove the old and one day to install the new one.

 

[SkylerMcfarland]

Thanks guys! All of your advice has been taken!

 

[Capt Kirk]

Wow, immediate knee-jerk response is "take em to court"... USA..USA..USA..USA.. LMAO! Litigation R Us.

I suggest that cooler heads will prevail. See what Arctic Cat says, and have a frank discussion with the owner of the dealership if nessesary. But from your description, yes, it sounds like the desirable and correct outcome would be a replacement engine, not rebuild, under warranty.

RLW

Maybe drastic but when they come at you with a lie how can you expect them to man up and do the right thing.

Yes cooler head prevail bit my limit for BS is awful low the older I get.

I am glad they are replacing it. What made them change thier tune?

Yes I too have seen dealers do tons. At work then charge you for 3/4 of the cost and only cover an air filter under warranty. I worked at the Dodge dealer in 1997 and I did the labor and I was witness for the plantif it sucked. Dealer lost the I quit because of thier less than honorable practices. 6 month later place closed down

 

[Patrick]

Ride the machine until the new engine shows up..(your not going to hurt it anymore than it is) it should take no more than 1 day to remove the old and one day to install the new one.

Most places have at least 2 week back log so unless they push him to the front just cause the job may only take them a day to complete doesn't mean it will be ready in a day