The trans prob didn't cause the thrust problem the lack of oil did. I have not seen a torn up thrust cause the oil pressure to start at 40the cold and drop to 0 when warm.

Look at your oiling system and was the engine prelubed prior to starting .

Tim

 

The first shop dropped the ball but it is by no means a back yard half *** shop. They have a 5 bay setup with lifts ASE master techs and have been in business for years but they are not aftermarket guys and I think were just over their heads with this one. The thing that confuses me though is they installed the trans and the coverter in like a day onto my stock ls2 I ran it for a short period of time with no problems and then went had to swap out the stock ls2 for the LSx454. So I don't know how they installed it right once and then wrong the second time. The TC will def be getting swapped out and Tune Time who has a lot more experience with my application will be installing the new one.

To answer the question about how did Tune Time know it was the thrust bearing yes Tune Time dropped the oil pan which involves taking the whole front end apart and they inspected the engine from underneath. That's probably why the dealer didn't even mess with it. Listen I'm 100% with you guys that something drivetrain related put pressure on the crank and caused that bearing to go I understand that, my problem is that even if I had a 100000000 dollar top of the line TC installed by Tune Time in the first place and say it was just a rod bearing and not the thrust bearing IT WOULD NOT BE COVERED.

Bottom line they are selling aftermarket engines encouraging people to mod them and then saying a aftermarket TC will void your warranty no matter if it caused the problem or not just like if you put any kind of forced induction on the car. There is actually a list they told me of parts that will void your AFTERMARKET engine warranty. Call me crazy but if you sell a aftermarket engine unless what you put on caused the problem or contributed to something else that caused the problem I don't think you should be beat when something goes wrong. I'm not on hear looking to get even or bash and it's not that big of a deal to me where I"m on a GM witch hunt but I do think that the TC voiding the warranty even if it's not related to the damage of the engine is worth letting everyone know about and that it's not worth the risk cause we all know that just about everyone with this engine has a aftermarket TC.

 

Who did you buy the lsx from? It makes a difference when it comes time for warranty.

 

I think there is one thing missing here. Can anybody name a torque converter that GM makes that can go behind his engine and not void the warranty? None that I know of. So the OP was fucked from the beginning and anybody else for that matter, who buys one of these crate motors.

I would of asked the dealer what converter wouldn't void my warranty if thats the case.

Edit: I just found a GM Performance Parts TC, its only 2500 stall speed, but who wants that?

 

Tough lesson sorry to hear.

In my experience with GM crate engines LSX or any other for that matter they require a complete tear down and blueprinting as soon as you get one and then they work great. Theres always something not quite right with them if you pull them apart and even if they dont fail straight away they dont last long unless you spec them out yourself ( or have a reputable shop do this ) which speaking of which.... most reputable shops should know this needs doing after past crate engine experience..... Most of these engines are made in Mexico too.... just sayin

 

Jegs so it wasn't some random online company. If I would have bought it from GM and had them install it, which lets be honest they wouldn't have done at a regular dealership, then MAYBE I would have still got it covered. Like 87 said it's a lose lose because no one is going to use a GM TC on a engine this radical. I'll make sure to post what really cause the problem and what the solution was and how it works afterwards. My main focus now is on if the crank is ok if not that's another 1200 which will hurt but it is what it is.

 

Most converters have a little free play, if you take the bolts out it should slide fore and aft showing that bolting the bell housing up to the engine isn't causing the front pump cover to load the converter in to the crank flange. If the length of the converter from the snout to the flex plate bolt bosses (or the center hub around the locator plug that registers in the end of the crank) is longer than the gap between the bolt bosses on the flexplate to the front pump the thrust bearing would be first to go. So pull the converter bolts loose and see if it slides back or not.

 

Never mind I changed my mind from bashing "ASE" shop comment

 

 

Hey SLIPPI, sorry to hear what happened this don't happen to couch potatoes, hope you come out of this with the desires of your heart, usually you don't have a great victory until you have a great fight, unfortunately good things just don't come easy, but make having them so much sweeter.

 

Thanks man. This won't keep me down long I cant wait to get this thing back on the street again

 

See that sucks. You should have to tear down a brand new crate motor that is meant to be put in and run..... That's the point of buying a crate motor. I mean if that wasn't the case send it to me in pieces, so I can have it built right.

 

Probably because it's not true - not ONE person I know of with a crate LS engine has had to tear it apart or it to fail within a few hundred miles

However, on the other, I have had NOTHING but problems when I buy 'built' engines from builders who are supposedly the best.

Crate engine is the way to go for cost, timeliness and reliability imho.