[paddlerdad]

Spark drive shaft

drive shaft failed again at 29 hours (2014 model). BRP wants dealer to replace drive shaft. Including the original drive shaft, this makes the 5th drive shaft!!
I would avoid purchasing a Spark.

 

[paddlerdad]

I just got off phone with dealer, trying to trade my 2014 Spark (which needs its 5th drive shaft and only has 29 hours) in on a 2015. The dealer said he can't give me anything on trade because BRP hasn't told dealer what to do with my problematic 2014 Spark. You can't make up a story as bad as this one.........

 

[paddlerdad]

Not in Canada. USA (Tennessee)

 

[Cormacs]

There has to be an alignment issue. They keep fixing the symptom and not the problem.


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[peeler01]

It's a crying shame that BRP isn't taking care of you.
My Spark has been great so far but I'm really hoping nothing major goes wrong with it because everything I read indicates that their customer service makes people regret buying BRP.
Even the best products have occasional flaws - it's what the company does about it that counts.

How does one rebuild a driveshaft anyhow? Once the splines are worn it has to be replaced. 5 times is ridiculous. If a car had that kind of trouble you could have it bought back under the lemon law by now.

 

[David Tuerk]

By now I would have said Fu*k it, I'd get the replacement driveshaft and align the engine myself and never deal with them again. Kinda defeats the purpose of warranty but if you want something done right... do it yourself

 

[Wrench4fun]

drive shaft failed again at 29 hours (2014 model). BRP wants dealer to replace drive shaft. Including the original drive shaft, this makes the 5th drive shaft!!
I would avoid purchasing a Spark.

so when they are replacing the driveshaft were is it broken? is it broken in half? or are the splines on the engine side stripped? are they checking the splines in the crankshaft? from what I have heard initially they (BRP) thought it was an alignment issue but with research they have done they found when the drive system was assembled they put too much grease in the Pto coupler and the drive shaft didn't get pushed all the way into the splines of the pto coupler causing the splines to prematurely wear and break or strip, there is apparently a new procedure for assembling the drive shaft on the sparks and also when the dealer is doing a repair typically a new crankshaft is required, so if your dealer is only replacing the drive shaft and not the worn or damaged crank or if they are putting too much grease in the coupler then it will be a matter of time before it happens again!

If the dealer did the repair incorrectly or didn't replace all the damaged components then your dealer is at fault, not Brp, if I had the same issue repaired 5 times then I would bet my pay check that it is not getting repaired correctly!

 

[Sburke]

It's a crying shame that BRP isn't taking care of you.
My Spark has been great so far but I'm really hoping nothing major goes wrong with it because everything I read indicates that their customer service makes people regret buying BRP.
Even the best products have occasional flaws - it's what the company does about it that counts.

How does one rebuild a driveshaft anyhow? Once the splines are worn it has to be replaced. 5 times is ridiculous. If a car had that kind of trouble you could have it bought back under the lemon law by now.

BRP is terrible on a customer service level, and that's what counts.... I've had 7 repairs on my spark in under a year and under 50 hours. I've had steering fail while riding causing me to wreck, and two handlebar issues after the fact. BRP will only try and repair, they won't look into your situation any further. Due to mine having a bunch of issues, and one issue keeps hapening they were going to offer me some sort of compensation because it lives at the dealer and keeps breaking. I even offered to purchase another model sea doo if BRP would work a fair trade amount. They backed out and said tough luck, and my warranty is over in a few days and it needs to go back to the dealer for the 3-4 time this season, after just getting it back after 2+ weeks at the dealer! They handle situations terribly, and this will be the last sea doo I ever own. Whenever someone asks me about a pwc now I make sure to steer them away from BRP.

 

[peeler01]

BRP is terrible on a customer service level, and that's what counts.... I've had 7 repairs on my spark in under a year and under 50 hours. I've had steering fail while riding causing me to wreck, and two handlebar issues after the fact. BRP will only try and repair, they won't look into your situation any further. Due to mine having a bunch of issues, and one issue keeps hapening they were going to offer me some sort of compensation because it lives at the dealer and keeps breaking. I even offered to purchase another model sea doo if BRP would work a fair trade amount. They backed out and said tough luck, and my warranty is over in a few days and it needs to go back to the dealer for the 3-4 time this season, after just getting it back after 2+ weeks at the dealer! They handle situations terribly, and this will be the last sea doo I ever own. Whenever someone asks me about a pwc now I make sure to steer them away from BRP.

My Spark has been great but I'd probably feel exactly the same way if I were in your shoes.

 

[Bruzer coug]

2014 Spark

I have a 2014 Spark I bought for my young son, he had 17 hours on it when his drive shaft failed. I was told by the dealership on Wednesday the 6th. Sorry your warranty is up. I was called back and the dealer wants to make it right. They get one chance, then I file a law suit. No one has a right to sell you a defective product. If BRP will not fix it take it to court. That why is on record and there will be a recall for all of us to enjoy rather than this crap.

 

[Cormacs]

I have a 2014 Spark I bought for my young son, he had 17 hours on it when his drive shaft failed. I was told by the dealership on Wednesday the 6th. Sorry your warranty is up. I was called back and the dealer wants to make it right. They get one chance, then I file a law suit. No one has a right to sell you a defective product. If BRP will not fix it take it to court. That why is on record and there will be a recall for all of us to enjoy rather than this crap.

Good luck to you but BRP isn't going to issue a recall for an issue only a handful of people are having.


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[Wrench4fun]

I have a 2014 Spark I bought for my young son, he had 17 hours on it when his drive shaft failed. I was told by the dealership on Wednesday the 6th. Sorry your warranty is up. I was called back and the dealer wants to make it right. They get one chance, then I file a law suit. No one has a right to sell you a defective product. If BRP will not fix it take it to court. That why is on record and there will be a recall for all of us to enjoy rather than this crap.

Brp is not walking away from customers on this issue, if your dealer tells you no warranty you need to contact Brp yourself or see another dealer. if the issue happens again then I would say it wasn't repaired properly, if the driveshaft is stripped then the crankshaft would need to be replaced also or the same thing is going to happen again.

 

[Wrench4fun]

Good luck to you but BRP isn't going to issue a recall for an issue only a handful of people are having.


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there isn't a recall but there is a policy in place to repair these units, people having multiple failures are victims of the repair not repaired properly in the first place.

fyi: there is a required service interval to replace the pto seals and inspect and lubricate the driveshaft splines every 200hrs or every 2 years, any issues that may arise from misalignment or lack of grease or too much grease would be identified at that time so people should not be experiencing this issue after that service procedure is completed correctly. if at that time if there was a problem identified Brp would still look after the repair. Your dealer would have to contact Brp and make a case file on the unit.

 

[paddlerdad]

When dealer placed the 4th drive shaft in my Spark (25 hours), BRP overnighted a 'new' alignment jig for dealer to use. The 4th drive shaft failed again at 29hours. The splines were chewed up; I don't know about the grease issue mentioned previously on the forum. I was told by BRP that the 2015 Sparks have an 'upgraded' drive shaft (I would think they upgraded the drive shaft because the 2014's kept failing). Ultimately, BRP offered to help me purchase a 2015 Spark, but the dealer wouldn't take my 2014 in on trade because he said 'I can't sell this thing to anyone else'. Ultimately, I ended up with a replacement 2015 Spark. I'm happier, but I still ended up with my Spark in the shop the majority of the first 2 summers I owned it. Fingers crossed on the 2015 model........

 

[Sburke]

Friends just failed yesterday at 65 hours and out of warranty.

 

[Blazer]

but I still ended up with my Spark in the shop the majority of the first 2 summers I owned it. Fingers crossed on the 2015 model........

Thats the risk you take buying a first year product

 

[wizzer]

Can we get hd pics of all these failed parts?

 

[paddlerdad]

I do not have pics. Dealer did all the work.

 

[ChuckTheVoice]

Never took a picture of them as a proof ?

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[wizzer]

So the service manager didnt show you the damaged parts and what they did to fix it with a good explanation of cause and effect? It should also be explained on the work order as well.