[hobbes]

Hello, I purchased a Ryobi 4 stroke trimmer. The trimmer did not work properly out of the box and I returned it for service. I was told there was a "carburator issue" which was repaired. The trimmer still did not work properly & I returned it for service again. This time they claimed a "worn diaphragm in the carburetor - the likely result of normal wear compounded by fuel contamination (stale gas)." and denied the warranty work.

The trimmer was used less than 1 hour and fresh gas was put in upon recieving it.

Can you please analyze the above statement from MTD as I will be taking them to small claims court.

Thank you for any assistance.

 

[hankster]

I would guess the biggest thing here would be the timeline. If it didn't work out of the box did you return it right away? Again, how long after it was repaired the first time did it take you to return it a second time? Generally warranties are for defects in material and workmanship. The first carb repair should be covered by an additional 30 day warranty. If the trimmer was used only one hour but is over one year old... you are pretty much out of luck... it goes from date of purchase and not amount it was used.

Warranty claims are tough to justify and is in many times just the opinion of the tech making the repair.

You can take it an independent shop for a second opinion or even just buy a new diaphram (if that is really the problem - which I personally doubt) and install it. Stale gas can cause a multitude of problems and would be evedent in more then just the diaphram... but then the gas would have to be REALLY stale to cause those types of problems.

My guess... the tech working on it was having a bad day....

I know it's too late now but I will suggest that you purchase your next at Sears. I know some have issues with Sears but I can tell you for a fact that as long as it was in the one year warranty period, it would have been fixed no questions asked. Heck, run it with no oil and they'll fix it for for free... once!

 

[hobbes]

Thanks for the info hankster.

I am going to take MTD to small claims court as the trimmer is less than 6 months old and has been in the shop for 3 months of that at least.

I was also considering taking it to another mechanic for inspection. Do you think they would be able to tell if the carb problem and diaphram problem was related to stale fuel? I used the trimmer less than one hour and it definately had fresh gas in it.

 

[hankster]

Generally stale or contaminated fuel will leave "gunk" (technical term) behind. If it wasn't gunked up then it's doubtful it damaged the diaphram. Anyways, I doubt it really is "worn out" and I personally have never seen one worn out. Dried out from age or ripped, but never worn out (whatever that means, there really it's anything to wear out).

 

[hobbes]

Thanks again hankster,

I'm taking the trimmer in Mon. for a third party inspection...I'll let you know what they say. Is there anything specific I can ask them to look for to indicate the trimmer not only did not have stale fuel but also saw less than 1 hour use?

MTD really tried to screw me on this one..

They have also tried to claim besides the "wear item"

-The unit needed a carb adjustment which is not covered...False...Thir own service center said a carb adjustment was not needed to fix the problem.

-The unit was purchased 2 years ago..This one baffles me as I purchased 11/03 and have the invoice.

I'm going to get these bast&^!

 

[hankster]

I would just tell them there is about an hours use on it and there is a fueling problem. Many shops won't go so far as to try and find the cause of a carb problem, they'll clean and adjust it and if it still don't work they just rebuild or replace it. Make sure they try and pin-point what the exact problem is other then "the carb needs rebuilding or replacing".

We are now repairing items for another nationwide home improvement center. They go straight from the manufacturers warranty manual because they actually submit claims back to the manufacturer. At first we didn't cover carb adjustments but it got to be that carbs needed adjustment on so many items and they had so many complaints from their customers that they decided to handle carb adjustments under warranty.

They were most likely going by the manufacturing date of the unit... it is normally coded into the serial number. The warranty should start from the day of purchase, not day of manufacture.

 

[rc widower]

MTD doesn't do their own warranty work ,it went out to one of their dealer , you need to get hold of customer service tell them about you problem and tell them you want another dealer to look at