Triumphrat

gibsonstrident · 08-07-2007, 06:27 AM

just had my bike in at garage to have the altenator rattle looked at . the bolt has sheared off (must of been like that for weeks as i have never heard the loud bang you get when it goes-got the bike off my brother ,who bought it from bike dealers 4 months ago-in hindsight we think the rattles been there from day one ).gonna cost £700 to replace the shaft and bolt. but has to be done ,got no choice -a real bummer

tridentt150v · 08-07-2007, 04:48 PM

700 pounds???? To remove and replace a bolt, am I missing something here, or did you slip in an extra 0?????

I haven't done this [haven't needed to] but from what I know, 700 is way too much, I could rebuild a whole motor for that [almost].

Edit: Replace the shaft - just reread the thread - I'd question if that was necessary, is it bent?

parrycm · 08-07-2007, 06:25 PM

Are you talking about the bolt that attaches one half of the drive to the alternator? If so, £700 does sound unbelieveably expensive. For that money, I would be expecting a brand new alternator and the services of the dealer's trophy wife.

I'm not even sure how one replaces the shaft without replacing the alternator. On my bike - I was charged $35 to remove the remains of the bolt and retap the shaft for a new thread.

If you are talking about the bolt that secures the other half of the drive i.e. inside the engine, that is the subject of a technical recall by Triumph (dependent on VIN) and iff applicable, should be replaced free of charge.

gibsonstrident · 08-08-2007, 06:13 PM

apparently i need a new shaft -only £65 for the part but 7 hours labour to strip the engine and fit- its getting done by a triumph dealer but no one mentioned anything about a recall- bike is a 1997 - not sure where to get information re this -anyone help ?

parrycm · 08-09-2007, 01:02 AM

OK - the alternator takes less than 10 minutes to remove so a quote for 7 hours must mean we're not talking about the alternator itself. You are going to need to challenge the dealer to explain exactly what it is they intend to do and why. You may also want to call other dealers and explain the situation and get some more input.

The alternator is driven off the engine by what is commonly called an impellor drive, or a cush drive or a dog clutch or what Triumph call a shock absorber. It's a bit like two paddle wheels that mesh together to make one wheel with rubber blocks in between the paddles to absorb vibration and shock. The bolt that attaches one half of the absorber to the alternator can come loose and cause a rattle and it can even shear. Triumph have not, to my knowledge, ever issued a recall on this although it may have been the subject of a service bulletin.

The other bolt which secures the other half of the shock absorber to a shaft inside the engine is a much bigger bolt and is the one that is the subject of a recall for some bikes. The supplier changed the spec of the bolt without telling Triumph and so a bunch of them sheared in service. That caused that half of the shock absorber to shake and rattle. To replace that bolt means not only removing the alternator but also removing the clutch and going into the engine from the righthand side, at least, as far as I am aware.

Reading between the lines, it sounds like it is that bolt that sheared and in your case, it also caused the shaft inside the engine to bend out of true. In which case, I would be arguing very strongly that it should be covered under the recall - assuming that your bike is a) eligible for the recall and b) has not already had the work done.

You should be able to verify that by quoting your VIN to any Triumph dealer and asking them to check the database to see if it shows the recall as having been completed on your bike.

For example, my bike is a 95 model and I bought it from the previous owner in 2002. This particular recall had never been done and so my dealer did that work under the recall and free of charge.

Good luck!!!

gibsonstrident · 08-09-2007, 06:16 AM

just checked with triumph - my bike has no outstanding recalls-and yeah the shaft is out of true - so seemingly its a big job

gibsonstrident · 08-14-2007, 05:20 PM

just got the tbird back from dealers- they apparantly had made a mistake when they quoted me £700 for the repair. job only took one and a half hours to do -total price = £215 almost £500 cheaper than first quoted- but im not complaining !!