Jagbmiller
New member
Hi All,
Per the title of this thread, I have my boat with a 75hp outboard at a Honda dealership for repair and their claim is the cause for the corrosion is somehow my motor was submerged, which is completely ridiculous as I know this to not be true! Initially the symptoms were instances of no power from the ignition/kill switch, which meant absolutely no reaction mechanically or otherwise from turning the key. (one day it would work, the next it would be dead), until eventually there was no power at all. I took it into a repair shop that was personally recommended and the mechanic called and said, "I'm not going to work on your motor, BUT I know exactly what is wrong and I believe you will be best served taking it into Honda." (Obviously he is not Honda certified)
He showed me both sides of the 14 pin connector (male end comes all the way from the key, and the female meets it inside the cover, with the next step being the ECU/ECM). Showed me the corrosion, the rust particles and pointed out how some of the female pins were bent a bit. He believed strongly this was an assembly defect and if my warranty was still in effect (which it is), I should be covered by Honda. His belief is since the connection was faulty to begin with, it was causing extra voltage to run through the wires creating extreme heat, and whenever the motor was off, cold air naturally surrounded the connection causing condensation, which over time created the corrosion and eventual full burn out.
The dealership I ended up at immediately rejected that claim and continues to default to the same ridiculous theory that the only way these pins could have corroded is through introduction of outside water, like it was submerged or heavy amounts of water were applied via water hose rupture or leaving the cover off in the rain or screwing up while flushing the motor for winterizing. Essentially, has to be operator error, although none of this has every happened. I purchased this motor brand new, so I think I'd know about it.
This has been escalated to Honda Customer Relations but they have come back in support of the dealer (and their "Tech Line") and completely reject what seems to me and others, with mechanical aptitude, in my personal network as very plausible and each in-turn rejects the submersion theory because lots of other things would be wrong if that had been the case. (and they know I'm not a liar)
Basically, I wonder if anyone can share a similar experience with this problem itself, or with Honda trying to brush off the customer to avoid paying for it under warranty? At this point they are willing to supply both ends of the connection for free but want to stick me with all but $200 of the labor. I'm willing to negotiate to get this ended, however the next unknown is did the ECU get fried in all of this as well? Honda believes it will be fine, but won't guarantee anything, and if the ECU is fried they are not willing to discuss who is on the hook for what in replacing that very expensive part until the two new connection points are joined and we keep out fingers crossed it works?!
They basically are trying to sell me on they are doing a "good will" service for providing free parts and that this really is not their warranty responsibility!
Am I getting the run around? Will replacing the connection take care of it? Thoughts on any of this?
Per the title of this thread, I have my boat with a 75hp outboard at a Honda dealership for repair and their claim is the cause for the corrosion is somehow my motor was submerged, which is completely ridiculous as I know this to not be true! Initially the symptoms were instances of no power from the ignition/kill switch, which meant absolutely no reaction mechanically or otherwise from turning the key. (one day it would work, the next it would be dead), until eventually there was no power at all. I took it into a repair shop that was personally recommended and the mechanic called and said, "I'm not going to work on your motor, BUT I know exactly what is wrong and I believe you will be best served taking it into Honda." (Obviously he is not Honda certified)
He showed me both sides of the 14 pin connector (male end comes all the way from the key, and the female meets it inside the cover, with the next step being the ECU/ECM). Showed me the corrosion, the rust particles and pointed out how some of the female pins were bent a bit. He believed strongly this was an assembly defect and if my warranty was still in effect (which it is), I should be covered by Honda. His belief is since the connection was faulty to begin with, it was causing extra voltage to run through the wires creating extreme heat, and whenever the motor was off, cold air naturally surrounded the connection causing condensation, which over time created the corrosion and eventual full burn out.
The dealership I ended up at immediately rejected that claim and continues to default to the same ridiculous theory that the only way these pins could have corroded is through introduction of outside water, like it was submerged or heavy amounts of water were applied via water hose rupture or leaving the cover off in the rain or screwing up while flushing the motor for winterizing. Essentially, has to be operator error, although none of this has every happened. I purchased this motor brand new, so I think I'd know about it.
This has been escalated to Honda Customer Relations but they have come back in support of the dealer (and their "Tech Line") and completely reject what seems to me and others, with mechanical aptitude, in my personal network as very plausible and each in-turn rejects the submersion theory because lots of other things would be wrong if that had been the case. (and they know I'm not a liar)
Basically, I wonder if anyone can share a similar experience with this problem itself, or with Honda trying to brush off the customer to avoid paying for it under warranty? At this point they are willing to supply both ends of the connection for free but want to stick me with all but $200 of the labor. I'm willing to negotiate to get this ended, however the next unknown is did the ECU get fried in all of this as well? Honda believes it will be fine, but won't guarantee anything, and if the ECU is fried they are not willing to discuss who is on the hook for what in replacing that very expensive part until the two new connection points are joined and we keep out fingers crossed it works?!
They basically are trying to sell me on they are doing a "good will" service for providing free parts and that this really is not their warranty responsibility!
Am I getting the run around? Will replacing the connection take care of it? Thoughts on any of this?