bought a 6.0 motor from Summit less than a year ago. Last week while driving, spring in head breaks, and sure enough dings a piston. Motor is under warranty for 2 more years from ATK. Personally pulled the motor and took the motor to ATK in Ennis Texas. ATK kept the engine and stated we have to have our people(ATK) take a look at the motor. Left and drove back to Conroe. They later call and state that the motor is under warranty and that they will replace it. ATK then states that they don't have another due to the springs sucking. Now I have nothing. Called Summit and they stated that they couldnt do anything for me and wait on ATK. I kinda feel like a fool for being outta over 4 grand and don't have anything to show for it. Oh, and by the way Summit is still selling the same motor today

 

I run junkyard engines with a cam and my choice of valvetrain. Saves me cash and have not had a failure unless I ran it out of oil. Lol

 

Name of the game. LSx Earl leaks

 

Yea, I thought I was being smart by buying from a respected company and I would not have to worry about any problems. It dont look like I was so smart.

 

It happens man. I'm a cheap ***. But I have several cars so I have to make dollar stretch. My customers not so much.

 

im sure atk will work with you in some form or fashion. fix the motor and enjoy your car. sounds like a bunch of whining from this side of the internet.

 

Not really crying about,I can afford it. The problem I have is a multi-million dollar like Summit can easily call their vendor ATK, and ask whats going on. I spent over 4K on this motor, basically to have a warranty on a motor that should of been reliable. Now I get from Summit, "what do you want us to do about it", and ATK saying, "yea its our fault and your covered under warranty, but we can't replace it with anything", after I brought the motor to them, a 175+ mile trip. ATK could of at least told me over the phone that even if the motor was covered under warranty that they didn't have anything to replace it with. Hell, if they would of told me that I wouldn't drove the motor to them, I would have just waited for them to pick the damn thing up at their expense like they said they would. Im sure you don;t like wasting your time. So please tell me how I'm whining.

 

It's good to get some feedback about your situation. Jegs has been a better company to deal with for me and even better than that, WS6store. You are lucky they even tried. Some of the sponor vendors on here don't give one rats *** about making anything right.

 

I'm very sorry to see the trouble you had with one of our engines. Obviously it’s a situation nobody wants to be in, but we do our best to work with customers regardless of the outcome.

We got your engine on the 31st, the very next day (possibly the same day) we let you know it was approved via our warranty and we would take care of it. We’ve identified a problem with some keepers from one of our suppliers that altered the spring height enough to cause premature spring failure (25k miles in your case), if the engine is operated in enough cycles at high RPM. These are Howards valve springs and a very high quality spring.

We have now had your engine in our possession for 3 business days total (we are not open on weekends). Like we informed you, per our warranty we will fix and or replace it depending on the situation at hand. Typically all engines are repaired unless it’s a catastrophic failure, not replaced. We have been in constant communication with you including speaking with your mother today as well as Summit. Also, you did not have to bring the engine 175 miles to us, we offered to pick it up free of charge, this is something you wanted to do.

We are not a small company, the company sells hundreds of thousands of engines a year and we are expediting your claim as fast as we can. In a situation like this, we have to dig into the engine further than just the problem at hand. We had to make sure the valve didn't contact the piston and do major damage. Once we confirm this we need to figure out our game plan, typically rather than just fixing a problem like this, we R&R the entire engine, we don’t believe in band aid fixes, especially with 25k miles of wear and tear on the engine...new machining, new parts, etc...this doesn't happen overnight.

This engine has been very successful for us selling hundreds of them, there are 5 star reviews on Summit, good reviews on here and Performance trucks, etc..its just an unfortunate circumstance.

I really don’t see the issue, we are standing behind our product and trying to get it fixed ASAP, but you come on here and bash us?

 

I don't understand what "we don't have anything to replace it with" means. Can you explain this better.

 

In no way have I bashed ATK. My concern is I am out of a running truck after replacing the motor in April of last year. I was 75 miles from home when the truck broke down and had to be towed home. I am a small business owner too and this has taken effort out of my business. After finding the problem of a broken valve spring I contacted ATK. They said to pull the head and send it in to see if was covered under warranty. Then another call said well just send it the spring for an easier fix. I went ahead and pulled the head to see if the piston had been hit. In fact it was. They had me pull the motor to send back and for their inspection. AtK did offer shipping with in 24-48 hours. I went ahead a made the trip to Dallas to speed up the process to save my self down time after being down for 5 days with the weekend and holiday Everyone we encountered there on Weds was very nice and helpful. The receiving dept said they jumped on these quickly. We had an answer the next day that it was covered. Friday ATK called and said it was a known issue and looking for a solution. My concern is when? I have also spoken to Summit where I purchased the motor to see if they knew about this problem with the keepers possibly being defective because they are still selling the same motor. Summit offered to help me in my cost with putting things back together when I do get the motor back after a repair or replacement. My concern is how long until I am up and running again. Since I pulled the motor myself there is no reimbursement in labor. I really just need my truck back on the road. Again I do not want to hurt anyone's business or bash them. Please let me know if anything I stated was untrue, or I misunderstood something.

 

Not even most regular engine builders offer reimbursement for labor. Damn sure no performance builders.

 

The only reliable way I know of that you ever get warranty on labor for an engine is at a dealer. A few shops operate this way but not many. Some think it's pricey (and it is) but a GM engine installed at a GM dealer is probably the best deal going if your time has a significant dollar value and you have the cash to do it. Expensive but the value is high, especially if/when something goes wrong. Get AAA or towing on your insurance (you probably already have it), at least then you're not stuck. It is ill-advised to put a hi-po motor in a work vehicle/daily driver and expect it to run like OEM.

 

thats the only reason i responded the way i did. imo your fortunate that the spring/keeper were found to be defective and it sounds like theyre taking care of it. i think you freaked out and overreacted before giving atk a chance.....could be worse

 

Sounds like ATK is on top of it and doing what they can. Real solutions take time and effort. As ATK posted, they are not looking to do a patch job. From his description you will receive a fresh rebuilt when they are done. Even GM would find a reason you caused the issue and decline the warranty, then you'd be out 7k with non-running engine to send to machine shop with another grand then wait for them to put it back together.

If you NEED a truck running now then snag a junkyard 6.0 for the time being then sell it when ATK comes through.

 

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If you NEED a truck running now then snag a junkyard 6.0 for the time being then sell it when ATK comes through.[/QUOTE]

I do need a running truck right now. But the problem is that I began to depend on this truck, I'm already behind on paying work. This truck being down is a burden that I can work around, for now. But its like I said when I responded to ATK's response, I have not posted anything that is not true. I don't expect anything for free, and I am reasonable. I am just sharing a story with other LS1 readers. If I had the time, I would have built an LS motor myself. I did consider using one of the respected builders on this site, but he was too busy to do it in a timely manner that I could work with. But to get back to your statement that I should just buy a junkyard motor, I don't like buying anything from the junkyard if I don't know where it came from. Not bashing anybody that does. I'm 48 yoa and I have gone the cheap route before and it has not always worked out. I do not feel that I cheaped out on this either.

 

I understand your approach and thought process about a new vs used motors, and I used to think that way many many years ago, but I have had FAR more issues with rebuilt motors than I have with used OEM motors. (been in auto repair 19 years). I've actually never had or seen a problem with a used motor, it happens, just hasn't happened to me or around me. But I can't count how many rebuilds I've seen with issues. That being said, I wouldn't think you'd have problems with ATK's build quality, I think they built the last rebuild I installed, and that one was BY FAR the highest quality rebuild I have ever seen. Good luck to ya, I have a strong feeling ATK will come through as good or better than any other builder you could be dealing with.

 

I agree with pooter. This is still a hi-po engine build and you cannot expect OEM reliability. That said, ATK is probably as good as it gets except for GM Performance. You turn one bolt in search of more horsepower and you reduce reliability. Nature of the beast.

 

Yeah ATK is in whole other class compared to a lot of the rebuilds I've seen. When I said i've seen a lot of problems with rebuilds, they were definitely not on ATK's level of quality. Even after reading this I wouldn't be concerned to use another one of their engines. I personally use used motors because that's what I can afford, and i've had some great luck with them.

 

I see your a moderator, I've been trying for awhile to post pictures of my build and it says it needs to be approved. some over 2 months ago. Is my account being blocked from posting pictures?