Warranty Claim - water pump oil seal 2014 Forza 300

[Chris S]

First of all I want to be clear that I'm not out to slag this bike or in any way deter people who are thinking getting one, rather to bring it to owners attention so they can check for it. I am very happy with this model and still believe in the Honda quality. Also I believe that the Local shop and the Honda rep. handled this warranty claim well. Hopefully this was an isolated condition.

Before taking it in for the first service I checked underneath for any oil etc. and found a drop of oil at the water pump weeping hole. This is situated just below the water pump (right side) facing to the side - not underneath. There is a gap inside the casing between the coolant seal and the oil seal. The purpose is so if either seal leaks it won't contaminate the oil with antifreeze or the coolant with oil. Sorry I don't have a picture as my service manual is a hard copy and I don't have a scanner, but if you look directly below the water pump where the hose comes out at a 90 degree it is a small hole on the side about the diameter of a pencil lead, I think you'll find it.

Bottom line was that the pump shaft when it was pressed in at the factory got some pickup, or the housing wasn't machined properly and it developed a burr. This is what compromised the oil seal causing a slight leak. The side casing had to be replaced, it comes with the pump shaft and seals already installed. Normally the seals only would have to be replaced, but good for the mechanic to pick up the scoring. Anyway it was all covered under warranty and because there was a long delivery while it was in the shop, as it is an odd part and I believe I bought one of the first ones in Canada, Honda compensated me with the next two services on them including the 24,00 km which includes belt, air filter, valve adjustment etc.. How about that!
So check your weeping holes (that sounded weird) and again this is a good scoot - solid, well engineered, economical, and for me just the right size. Get yourself a tunnel bag and looks just like a mini NT-700.

Chris

[willajabir]

Thanks for the info Chris. I was about to purchase new out of the crate last week and I noticed a drip by the side stand. Service busted a line and let the coolant out but they didn't notice.
Anyone can make a mistake, but how it is handled is what counts. Glad yours was good outcome.
And yes, check your weeping hole sounds a bit strange...hahaha

[bountybuddy]

Welcome Chris. Glad to hear you got your problem fixed. London, Ontario, Canada is one of my favorite cities. They have a restaurant called The Armory that serves the best breakfast I have ever had, My family and I have been there many times. It was about an hour drive for us. We are from Michigan, the thumb area. I hope to buy a a Fonza. I hope down the road we can hook up and ride together. Ride safe my friend.

[DioTiAma]

Hello Chris. This is Constantinos. I come from Cyprus. I'm a proud owner of a silver metallic NSS300A. I have the same problem you had (bought mine late February). Parts are coming from Italy (claim covered by warranty). Right crankcase, water pump, oil seal, paraflu... the hole nine yards (four weeks delayed though)! Notice the minor problem after the engine oil / oil filter change@1000km. Been using the bike ever since (under my mechanics advise, i'm now@2700km) & monitoring the leak & engine oil level weakly. Hope this ends good.

[kb88forza]

Hello,

I am planning on buying a forza bike and i am going to need more info on the leakage problem so i can check it before i buy it.

Is it obvious from the begining or it comes up later?

Costas, Greece.

[DioTiAma]

scooterclubhellas.gr (Θα βρεις τις απαντήσεις που χρειάζεσαι εκεί. Τράβα & σε μια αντιπροσωπεία όμως & βάλε χέρι στο σκούτερ κάτω δεξιά, απ' την πλευρά του κάρτερ, κάτω απ' το καπάκι της αντλίας νερού. Άμα πιάσεις λάδι ζήτα απλώς άλλο μηχανάκι.)

[DioTiAma]

Hello there Chris. So, i'm taking the bike to the workshop for the second time in four months on Monday (different mechanic is going to work on it, H.Q. authorised service shop this time, district authorised service shop the first time). First time didn't work, it was still leaking. They changed Part No: 11300-K04-931 & Part No: 11394-KTW-901.



Do you remember what they did on yours? Thanks for your attention anyway Chris.

[Chris S]

Hi DioTiAma. Yes that is exactly what they replaced for me. The mechanic showed me the shaft of the pump and it had a burr on it that scratched the casing and cut the seal. You could actually hear it when he turned the shaft. Definitely a issue from the factory either not machined properly or their was some pick up of foreign material when the shaft was assembled. Just out of curiosity if you don't mind could you please look at your VIN label under the locked box and tell us the date on it and the last 4 digits. Mine was 6/13 and #0030. Hopefully yours should be covered under warranty.

I must say your English is very good. We have some connections with Cyprus as my father served with the Canadian armed forces their when I was a child. He said the people were very friendly given the unfortunate circumstances. I hope everything their is now okay. Anyway if you need anything further from me for support on the warranty issue please let me know.

[DioTiAma]

Thanks for your kind words Chris. The problem you described to me, i suggested it to my mechanic almost five months ago (that the water pump shaft has an issue & probably destroyed the casing & the seals, both mechanic & oil one)! But, who would listen to a civilian, a person without a relevant degree? Like the ones they have one, they're genius! I will probably start a negligence lawsuit or something. Anyway, you've been very helpful. & i hope one week from now my scooter won't be leaking anymore. Here is my "lady":





Manufacture date is the 7th month of 2013 and the last four digits of the VIN are 1497. Have a nice afternoon (it's a lovely one in Cyprus right now).

[fish]

Sorry to add to this thread!

Rolled the 2014 Forza (non-ABS) (7/13 birthdate) out of the garage this morning and found oil on the floor.
Not sure how long it has been leaking from below the water pump....1500 miles .....enough oil gathered to drop to the floor finally. It is not a lot of oil leaking....but have had this scooter only about 2 months and only rode it once to 50MPH for 10 mins yesterday. It has not been thrashed by any means.
Will be phoning the dealer....and probably will print out this thread and mail him a hard copy before I go in.
My question is, of course, how do we know if the new part will be better than the old? Assuming the dealer determines it is a warranty oil-leak, and not a "normal slight coolant weep" from the weep hole.
The leak was found here...
Is the oil coming through the weep hole or,?
My concern is that this is going to require a lot of parts to be disconnected and replaced - with a coolant drain/refill etc. Hope the deuce my dealer mechanic can get it right again. I may look in to taking the scoot 40 miles to a major Honda Powersports center to have the work done by 3 certified Honda mechanics.
Fish

[DioTiAma]

"Fish", i have changed the right crankcase cover / water pump twice in five months time (under warranty in both times BUT there is no recall so the Part No. is the same, that means NO improvement, problem NOT fixed at the factory)! First time didn't work. Now (8 days after the second try) everything seems to be fine, no leak at the moment. The water pump shaft (as Chris & my second mechanic explained to me) had/has a burr on it (on the impeller side) and when it's pressed in the factory to go through the crankcase cover, it scratches the casing and cuts the seals (both mechanic & oil one), hence the oil / coolant leak (green or red fluid, NOT water-ish). If the mechanic is good, he is going to be able to fix it. If not... Well, i hope everything goes right for you. Your local workshop need to order the parts disassembled so that the right crankcase cover and the seals come intact! They just have to remove that small burr and everything will be fine. Believe me, that's not very hard to happen.

[HForz]

I have just bought my nss300. 6500miles. Oil is leaking properly and my nearest service told me to take the bike back where it was bought otherwise the waranty is not working. 100miles from where I live.
Can they realy do this?

[gn2]

Consumer law varies from place to place as does warranty conditions.
So the big question..... where are you?

[HForz]

I live in England.

Thanks for the quick reply

[gn2]

Your Honda warranty is valid anywhere in the UK dealership network, you absolutely do not have to return it to mthe supplying dealer.
Get on the phone to customer services and see what they say.

Honda Customer Contact Centre 0845 200 8000

We are open from:

8:00 AM - 6:00 PM Monday to Friday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM Saturdays
(outside these hours a limited service still operates)
Some telephone calls to the Honda Customer Contact Centre may be recorded for training and/or auditing purposes.

http://www.honda.co.uk/contactus/

[HForz]

Appreciate
I will comment what happened
Until that
Safe riding!

[HForz]

Well finally I got my bike back after a week in service, which is not too helpful if you have a daily commute of 70 miles. Luckily I couldn't sell my old fes250 so it helped me out.
At least the oil leak is sorted for now since they only replaced the seal. As it turned out they also had to replace the left hot gripe, exhaust, seat holder suspension, at least these were under warranty but they say it is normal to replace the clutch at 8000 miles. really? well not for me putting 24k into my fes 250 without ever replacing the clutch.
Any idea what type of cultch should I get? I do not want faster acceleration.

[gn2]

Dealers tell lies.
Clutch should last much longer, can't remember anyone saying theirs needed replaced.

[BRed]

Since you know it works well, get a replacement clutch for your FES250 (that's a Foresight, right?) and use it in your Forza.


The Forza uses the old standard CN250 clutch, the same one used in every mid-sized Honda scooter since the Elite and Helix, but there are dozens of versions...
just be sure to get one of the older Honda OEM clutches....they're tough as nails.

[Mario]

It seems that my Forza 300 is also leaking, only 800Km ridden in total

Looks like coolant but not sure and can't find from where it's leaking