Over the past two-plus-years, consumers have regularly complained about their FX series Yamaha’s irregular fuel gauge and woes pertaining to the Connext’s “Trip Info” page that measures average miles per gallon, gallons per hour and gallons used – namely all of the page’s counters resetting every time the engine is turned off.
For those planning longer trips without fuel stops, following this data can make or break a day on the water. And for the less initiated, incorrectly planning one’s fuel stops can lead to unnecessary trips to the dock or inversely, coming back to the boat ramp on the back of a tow rope. Add to that an almost inextinguishable fuel alarm chiming every minute or so, and you too would go batty.
And true to consumer’s complaints, the fuel alarm will begin chiming with nearly half a tank’s worth of fuel remaining. Others note the rate in which the fuel gauge drops from FULL to EMPTY. After years of reaching out to dealerships and Yamaha’s Customer Service and receiving no satisfactory response, one customer, Mitchell Higgins has filed a class action lawsuit against Yamaha Motor Company, USA.
According to ClassAction.org, the 11-page lawsuit states that “Yamaha has long been aware of the products’ fuel gauge problem but offers no remedy for the alleged defects.” While the lawsuit includes 40 other “members”, Mitchell is personally seeking $5,000,000 in damages – listing such “damages” as being “annoyed”, “unable to enjoy” his PWC and “inconvenienced” by the low fuel alarm.
Whether this class action lawsuit will gain any momentum or result in a retroactive fix for the faulty fuel system and/or Connext software remains to be seen. Anyone experiencing similar issues with their Yamaha FX WaveRunner should first contact their closest certified Yamaha Service Department and Yamaha Customer Service.