Bubbling Engine Paint Service Bulletin

[emry]

Carb cleaner works real good.... Found that out by accident... Turns the paint real soft. Paint stripper is cheaper i'm sure though.....

[al_roethlisberger]

....got a photo of his "results"?

 

al

[Guest carlomoto]

I have a question for y'all on this topic. Between now and the time any one of you decides to have the engine re-coated, how the heck are you keeping it washed?

 

Doesn't the wrinkle totally flake off?

 

Thanks.

[al_roethlisberger]

..naw, it only comes off once it has "bubbled" up, and even then it sometimes hangs on for a while until it finally cracks.

 

I'm generally pretty gentle with the sponge when I clean the bike anyway, so I've been lucky so far.

 

But I would imagine that any vigorous scrubbing or high-pressure washing(bad idea anyway) would tend to indeed blow the flaking/bubbling paint right off

 

al

[Guest Jeff in Ohio]

I went ahead and attacked mine with a toothbrush during the wash last week. I figured it's going to come off sooner or later, so might as well take the bubbles off now to see if I can live with the look before making the case replacement decision. Now I have all these shiny darker black patches all over.........

[Guest Jeff Kelland]

Yeah mine has patches too! It's like the stuff is all bubbled up and loose when the engine is warm and then sort of reattaches itself in spots when it cools. I just kinda knock the stuff off with my fingers when it hardens back up. I'm almost sure I'm going to have them replace the cases this winter.

[roberto]

My dealer has said that Guzzi are sending a "paint kit" to effect a repair to my engine cases. Anyone had this done?

 

BTW, and off-topic, the gearbox recently expired on the Scura. I've not seen it yet but the dealer says that the selector fork shattered. 10.5K miles. Entire gearbox replacement cost £3,000 - there's a hole been punched through the casing.

 

ah well....

 

The old Le Mans was pulled out of the cellar after a year and a half of gathering dust - and started first time on the button! Given time, I intend that the Scura will have this sort of dependability, but it's gonna take some work...

 

later...

[Baldini]

Roberto,

 

Sorry to hear your problem. Are you in UK? I saw a Scura gbox in dealer 4/5 wks back, all the sliding dogs disintegrated. Not yours? Any clue as to why s. fork broke?

 

Good luck, KB, Wales.

[Guest scott]

Glad to see Guzzi address the paint issue on '02 models. I personally like the looks of the black engine paint, just wish quality control hadn't taken the day off when they painted the engine cases.

 

I've decided to let Guzzi buy my wife and I some new leather jackets. After talking to my local dealer I wasn't willing to take my engine apart just to inadvertently mess things up (you know, Murphey's Law). The bike is running great, so I'll continue to "pop" the black bubbles as they come. Hope the new leathers fit!

[Guest dkgross]

And...after talking with Dave at Moto International, I'm going to let them do the repaint job on mine this winter...I really like the black engine a lot, and I've got all the clothes I need....

[Guest sreavis]

I talked to MG North America yesterday. They said the paint affected had to be 4 inches square that was blistered, peeling etc. Did not include areas that were scratched or damaged. They also said they were going to expand the list of accessories to choose from.

[al_roethlisberger]

Yep, here's an update...

 

Moto Italiano called me yesterday to schedule my case replacement. They are scheduling for the "Winter" and apparently MGNA is trying to pace them at about 2 per month to spread out labor expenses for the shops, as apparently the shops have to provide all the time and parts expense "up front" then MGNA will reimburse them..... at least that's what I was told.

 

So, to start the process, they need from me:

 

- Engine Number

- Approx % of engine surface affected. Apparently there is a "4 square inch" minimum total damage required.

- Warranty Expiration Date

- Mileage

- 3 Digital Photos

- Entire engine

- Closeup of damage/affected area

- Engine Number

 

Then they send that off to MGNA and the process gets going.... I've asked for January.

 

al

[motowfo]

Let's add a little heat to the fire. I had my block replaced by my dealer as we both wanted the bike to be right. Guess what MG forgot to think about? Numbering the block. Subsequently, I now have a 2002 LeMans with Block number (blank). Perhaps it's just me and my limited knowledge of bike registration but I don't believe my bike is now legal in several states. So, MG can't decide what to do, I am riding the bike with a great looking engine with no block number on it. While this may not be grounds for a class action suit, I will be persuing this with the State Lemon Law folks and may potentially have to persue this through private means directly with MG.

 

As a brief aside... I love my dealer, Destination Motorsports in Knoxville. The bad thing about that is that by persuing Lemon Law violations the dealer is the one who takes the direct confrontation of the state legal folks. MG, through their dealers, has cushioned themselves very well. I hope this gets resolved quickly and correctly by MG with no suffering either by the dealer or by myself.

 

PS.... I saw a 2003 Aluminum with bubbling paint on the engine... Maybe MG needs to rethink the whole black thing...

 

Richard Mathis

Franklin, TN

[Guest John T]

Motowfo.

 

What are you hoping to accomplish? I don't understand why you want to cause such trouble for Guzzi, MGNA and your dealer, who you say you like.

 

Are you happy with the results?

 

My replacement block also had no numbers. How do you think they (the factory) can do this?

 

What I did was use a numbering punch kit (is that what you call them?) that my dealer had and used a hammer to punch in my original block number.

 

Problem solved!

Even if you went out and purchased one (not expensive) you would take care of the problem and save yourself and others tons of hassles, and maybe tons of money!

 

Take the path of least resistance.

 

[al_roethlisberger]

Is this really an issue, except in regard to warrantee work?

 

AFAIK, the only thing that matters to the DMV is the frame/VIN, not engine block number. How many cars out there have replaced/crate motors, etc... that are sold without any disclosure as such on any official DMV paperwork?

 

Unless there is one very picky state DMV out there that I am unaware of(and there may be), it seems to me that the only organization that would really care is MG in regard to tracking work on the engine.

 

motofw, does your state DMV require tracking engine block numbers along with VIN for registration?

 

al