dk86vette

iTrader: (1)

Hey all,

This is going to be a TL;DR, but I'll start off with a little back story on what happened with my motor first:

I realized I was burning a lot of oil after an oil change. It was about 30-45 days after the change (~2500 miles) and my low oil light came on. I thought that was incredibly strange, since I didn't have that problem prior to the change and having driven about 3 months without issue (~5000-6000 miles).

So, after putting about 2 quarts of oil, I decided to go ahead and change out my spark plugs while I was at it. It would allow me to check if there was a cylinder that had a lot of blow-by. Low and behold, when I went to pull off the #6 plug wire, it just fell apart. The plug was covered in oil, so I clearly found where I was getting a lot of blow-by.

So, I replaced the plugs and wires and everything seemed to be fine. No issues on start-up or anything like that. I didn't have the time to tear down the motor and check for any other issues, and it's my DD so I couldn't be out of the car. I wish I had, but, hey hindsight's 20/20, right?

Next thing I know, I've clearly spun a rod and have significant rod knock. I thought I might have been lucky in that it started to happen less than 500 ft from my house, so I got it to the drive way and didn't drive it again. Decided it was time to tear it out and have it taken to look get it looked at.

Only place that was local and had the week (quoted...) turnaround time that I needed was Quality Engine Exchange in Austin.

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Here's where the fun begins:

List of things that ended up needing to be done:

1. Block needed to be bored/sleeved
2. Crank needed a grind
3. Pistons needed to be replaced to match the bore/sleeve
4. One rod replaced
5. Cam lobe #1 was damaged - Replaced Cam

And so, let the fiasco begin:

I dropped the block off on Monday, and was told that they would have a diagnosis to me by Tuesday. No call on Tuesday, so I called near the time they were about to close. She had forgotten to call me so we could actually start on the work that was needed. I was told about the expected pieces: block, crank, pistons, rods. I wanted to check out the damage myself to see where it was hit, etc, so I drove down after work.

It wasn't until I got there that they told me the Cam was damaged as well. So I had a new Cam overnight-ed to me so I could get everything back together in by the weekend. I got them the Cam on Wednesday and was told that they would have it done and ready to be picked up by about 2pm on Thursday.

Again, they never called me to tell me it was done. So, I called them and I was informed that they didn't get to it so I'd have to wait until Friday to pick it up. That wasn't a big deal, since I wasn't really going to have time until Friday to do anything with it anyway.

Friday rolls around and they tell me they measured the Crank incorrectly and ordered the wrong bearings. This meant they weren't going to be able to put it together until Monday. So clearly, at this point I'm not happy. I attempted to get some new bearings that day, but was unable to find anyone local with them in stock.

So, I told them to just get it done by 2pm on Monday (when I get off work). I call them at 1:30p just to make sure it'll be done so I know if I should just stay at the office or not before heading over. She says it'll be done in about 30 minutes. Perfect, right? Nope.

When I arrive, I found out that the Timing Chain they were using was loose and defective and they didn't have another one. Okay, well, there's a few auto parts stores down the street, I'll just go get one. I get one, and that's loose too; well, I went back and checked it and it's the typical 2002 LS1 looseness. So, cool, can just put it together, right?

Wrong again! They had put my new pistons on the wrong rods. Small block chevy rods, not my LS1 rods. So, I told her I'm not leaving until it's done, so let's get it all put back together so I can go home.

I had dropped off the block with the oil pan, pickup, etc. It made transport simpler and with less mess; they had made it clear that it wasn't an issue and they would assemble it for me.

So, they're about to put the motor into my vehicle... and there's no pan, oil pickup, front or rear covers, etc... I needed all of that, so I just told them to find it so I could get out of there. They couldn't find it for about 30 minutes. They didn't know what they did with it.

When I finally got everything home, I realized they had destroyed my front/rear cover gaskets (which I was under the assumption would have been replaced with assembly) and my oil pan gasket. Which was fine when I first took it off before to see if there was metal shavings (there were ).

At least I got it home, right?

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TL;DR: Their Customer Service was atrocious and they were beyond unorganized. And, they had clearly never worked on an LS1 before.

I will give them that their machine work on the block/crank was good and affordable. But, dear god, they need someone much, much better in their front office. I won't be using them again after that.

I know it could have been worse, but the part that pissed me off the most was the fact that she would answer the phone and not ask them to hold while I was in the middle of a sentence discussing the situation with her. My 10 minutes worth of conversation lasted about an hour because of that.

SSHAWK

iTrader: (14)

Damn that sucks !!! So you already have metal shavings with the new motor? or they just didn't clean it before putting it back on?

NemeSS

iTrader: (127)

alot of machine shops like that just hire folks who have little to no experience.
and should be nowhere around engines let alone the machine shop.

this forum offers alot of information regarding quality ls specific shops and engine builders and machine shops in texas.
alot of shops like that will tell you what you want to hear. and when the motor is out the door. youre on your own.

dk86vette

iTrader: (1)

They just didn't clean it, nor did they put it on! And they didn't put my old camshaft in my box, so I need to go pick that up tomorrow... it's a COMP T-Rex cam, and they don't make 'em any more (that I know of, anyway)... Should just need to be cleaned up and it'll be re-usable.

Figure someone can make use of it.

The saddest part is that the machine work was really well done! Like, I have no complaints about the quality of the work in that department... it's just the numerous little things that pissed me off. Such a terrible experience as a customer.

Yeah, I called around but no-one had the availability or pricing I was looking for.

triche

iTrader: (4)

^
It wasn't until I got there that they told me the Cam was damaged as well. So I had a new Cam overnight-ed to me so I could get everything back together in by the weekend.


I hope u use the cam for a lamp or something and not make it someone elses prob. You said cam was damaged

roninsonic

iTrader: (3)

Sounds mainly like they were just in a rush... One week is still a pretty fast turnaround for a job like that, at least from a shop.

At the end of the day, you got good machine work in a VERY good time frame. Sure, their attention to detail may have been a little crappy... But it sounds like they did their best to take care of you.

dk86vette

iTrader: (1)

I would never sell it as an immediately usable cam, as it has some scarring on lobe #1. I've never gotten a cam resurfaced (or whatever someone could do to it to make it usable again), but maybe someone can do something useful with it. *shrug*

If the lady in the front office hadn't kept answer the phone to answer those questions without asking them to hold so she could address mine, I would have been inclined to agree. Spent an hour trying to get a few simple questions about what was going on because of that. Eventually just told her that I'd just like to talk to the mechanic, so she sent me back into the shop...

jdoyle

iTrader: (27)

please post reputable engine building shops in the austin area. i am looking for a rebuilder that is reasonably priced and will return a voicemail/email in a timely manner.