I want to share my story and get some feedback.

A few weeks ago I ordered a set of CNC ported heads for my 5.3, from a large mail order parts company. After looking at a few choices I went with the less expensive brand even after hearing mixed reviews of the company.

The pros @ my buddies shop installed the heads last week. The engine ran great for about 5 minutes and then clunk, slap, bang, grind, it ran like crap. Did a compression check and lost all compression in the #6 cylinder.

Pulled the heads tonight to find that the valve seat had dropped, holding the valve open, causing damage to the piston, the pushrod, roller rockers and costing many more hrs. of labor. DEFECTIVE HEADS....The large mail order parts store is refunding my money for the heads and the new rockers that were ruined as well.

My question is who has delt with this problem? Did the manufacturer of your heads reimburse you for labor or other parts that were damaged because of the defective heads.

If you have not had this problem, what would you expect as far as customer service, if you did?? Here are some pics?

Kyle

 

Bro that is so F%$#&D! Sorry man!

 

A refund on the defective parts is all I would honestly expect. When you modify a vehicle, especially internal engine mods you have to understand the risks involved. It looks to me like you are hoping to get a bunch of anonymous internet bad ***'s on your side and then basically extort said "large mail order parts company" into buying you a new engine, maybe even demanding that they pay for installation too. Then when the "large mail order parts company" tells you that they won't do it, you'll release their name to the angry lynch mob. They already refunded you the money you spent with them; do you honestly expect them to pay you additional money even after their profits have gone right down the *******? Where does that money come from? The company that you bought the heads from is obviously a pretty large company. I'm fairly certain that they aren't in the business of selling defective parts for their own amusement. They offered a refund on the parts they sold you, their responsibility ends there. I'll give you an example of something that happened to me. I used to have a 95 Impala SS. I bought an adjustable fuel pressure regulator for it from one of the two largest performance parts sellers in the country. One of the fittings provided with the regulator cracked and sprayed high pressure fuel into the engine bay. The car caught fire and sustained some pretty significant damage. Should I go after the parts supplier or manufacturer for all the **** that got damaged? No. I fully understood that had I left the car as it came from GM, it would not have caught fire. End of story. Hope that helped you, even though I'm sure it's not the answer that you were hoping to hear. From that picture, the piston does look pretty marked up, but I don't see any holes in it. I'd be willing to bet that the engine would still run fine if you cleaned up the top of the piston. As for replacing the heads; I highly recommend Total Engine Airflow. Their 5.3 heads are regarded as some of the best 5.3s you can buy. I've done business with TEA before and they're a good bunch of people that build a great product.

 

Agreed with above. Your piston doesn't look bad, some cleaning and a bit of deburring and you're good to go. I'm ammazed your shop did not even clean the pistons at head install. Those are really crudded with carbon.

 

That just shouldn't happen, no matter if it's performance parts or not. For pity's sake, how hard can it be to put out a decent product.

 

Have you ever owned or run a business? **** happens. It's a fact of life. The "large mail order parts company" is being plenty fair by offering what they're offering. If your fuel solenoid on a wet nitrous kit failed and you then blew up your motor, would you expect NOS to buy you a new engine? Hell no! They'd tell you to go **** in your hat.

 

I am not trying to extort money out of the large mail order company at all. The large mail order company is Summit and they have always been more than fair. They are giving me a full refund for the defective heads and sent a call tag for the parts.

I just wanted to get some opinions from people and see how the manufacturers treated customers with this particular problem, and how often this happens.

 

That sucks! What kind of heads are they? Hope you didn't pay the people to much to install the heads... looks like they were to lazy to even clean your pistons.

 

Looks like Patriot. Looks like going cheap is going to cost in this case.

 

Every single day I run my business that I own. And when I mess something up, I fix it and the resultant issues that I cause. Because a happy customer will bring in 5-6 new customers, where an unhappy customer will make me lose 3 customers in most cases. Make them extra happy when fixing the mistake, and the respect they have for me makes my pockets swell. Pretty simple math.

Even simpler, I spend the time to make sure that every item I put out is of utmost quality. That avoids all the issues.

 

I was thinking the exact same things when I looked at those pictures. It really doesn't look that bad. At least you're clunk, clunk, boom didn't result in this.


I'll trade you problems.

 

I will be installing the factory heads with new springs after I fix and smooth the firewall. That carbon might of saved the piston from cracking when the valve hit it. . Anyone else had this happen or heard of this?

 

I'm sorry to hear about the problem. It really sucks. Sometimes the less expensive brands are less expensive for a reason and you end up with what you pay for. Problems can happen with any internal mods but selecting parts that have a solid reputation for quality can really help reduce the risk. Mixed reviews about quality are often a good signal to think very careful before proceding with the product in question.

I hope you won't give up on getting a set of heads for your application. There are some outstanding vendors over there to the right. Most of us have our favorites based on our personal experiences with a given vendor.

Good Luck & Best Wishes with getting your 5.3 going again.

 

I will go with a more reputable brand without mixed reviews next time around. Thanks for the responses.

 

Anyone else have the valve seat drop on thier Patriot heads?

 

Things happen in the aftermarket business. talk to Gunnar, he will make it right for you.
I've seen valves and seat drop on LS6 stock heads, so it can happen.

 

eh, **** happens man, lucky for you it isnt bad at all really. Swap heads, clean up that piston and youre good to go.

I feel your pain though.

 

I would argue that something as simple as installing a valve seat properly should be expected, In the case of the fuel fitting, I think they should be liable as well. Nitrous is one thing, but set of OEM heads should be expected to last more than 5 minutes.

...as to the stock LS6 heads dropping a seat, if it was on your brand new ZO6, you bet your *** GM would be buying you a motor AND putting it in for you. For arguments sake, I would say the Head company should be responsible, NOT the retail vendor-

...and it's not like they would have to pay for a whole new motor, maybe just send you an upgraded set of heads for the same price, or pay for gaskets or something- that would be enough to make most customers feel better about it.

 

Only one way to find out, Talk to Gunnar @ PP

 

I got my refund. I do not think I will be putting another set of thier heads on any of my vehicles in the future. I am just going to respring my stock heads and put it back together.