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So my engine had a total bearing failure with less than 3,000 miles on it (unrelated to ports). I had my builder disassemble it, and we found a partially ported motor. But apparently I didn't directly pay for the port work, so it doesn't matter. Plus since another shop cracked it open he won't warrantee it. I just want this out in the light so others can see.
That really sucks, I'm not sure what else to say. I'm not sure if you would have much ground to stand on fighting it since another shop did crack it open.
I know people have mixed feelings about Jalponik, but part of me says some of this company's disgruntled customers should see if they'd like to run a story about some of this stuff.
I think the real crime here is that 1700 charge for an engine removal and replace. Even on a completely stock set up, that's 4 hours max on a lift. Is that really what these shops are charging to pull motors? Even with the cost of "fluids" that's not even 100$ if you wanted to include transmission. That's wild to see.
sorry about your situation. I wonder if they're just going to stand by their policy and leave it as an "oh well" situation.
I think the real crime here is that 1700 charge for an engine removal and replace. Even on a completely stock set up, that's 4 hours max on a lift. Is that really what these shops are charging to pull motors? Even with the cost of "fluids" that's not even 100$ if you wanted to include transmission. That's wild to see.
sorry about your situation. I wonder if they're just going to stand by their policy and leave it as an "oh well" situation.
While I agree that $1700 for an R&R is over the top, to say "4 hours max" is pretty disingenuous. I set aside a full day so as to go methodically, inspect properly, clean what needs to be cleaned on my FD. These aren't race cars, you don't want to have to do the work over in 2 months.
Don't want to derail the thread from the real issue but pulling the motor for the purpose of rebuilding it would account for the inspection and cleaning. In this situation, 2 hours to get it out (being generous) and 2 hours in. Of course in between is the actual rebuild. Even in my situation, I can drive the car into the garage and have the engine and trans on the floor in an hour and that's on jack stands crawling around on the floor. Granted my car is single and has very minimal components in the bay. On a lift pulling the power plant in an fd is very easy especially with air and power tools.
Total bearing failure? Which ones? Bearings fail for a variety of reasons and I’m unsure what Turblown replaced in the build from your invoice. If they replaced your bearings and spec-ed everything out, then low oil pressure could be the culprit. Could also have been a too tight gilmer belt if you were running one. Unnecessary upward pressure on the e-shaft can cause wear on the front bearing until it goes. In any case, that sucks. Weird that there is a ported iron in there. Suggests to me that your original may have been out of spec and turblown replaced it with one they had in the shop without telling you. While not uncommon to do something like that they should have absolutely told you before doing it. Yes,1700 for an r&r on a motor is pretty crazy but by book time, the book calls for 29 hours of labor to pull, disassemble, clean, reassemble, and install. Not sure what their hourly shop rate is but you can do the math at 100 per hour. I see some of the bigger shops charging $5500 to pull, rebuild, and reinstall.
We all know "book" time may as well have "Kelly blue" in front of it. It's rubbish. The invoice quotes the rebuild and the r&r as two separate charges. Being extremely generous I would say a pull, disassemble, clean, reassembly and reinstall would be 8-10 hours tops. If you're going slow and taking frequent breaks. Being thorough doesn't always mean being slow, especially if you do this for a living. The cost of the rebuild I can understand if that includes all the seals and stuff. If that's the case then they aren't making too much on that process but to tax so heavily on the r&r is wild. Being a business they could charge 4000 if they wanted to but I'd be curious to know why the cost is so high...
and more importantly what the outcome of the situation is... hopefully an update soon
i would point out that the invoice says there is no warranty right at the bottom... its also from 2014 which is quite a while ago.
imo $1700 is reasonable, there is much more to do than to just put the engine in and turn the key. personally i would have itemized the RnR line more, in addition to the labor, just to pull the thing and put it back, there is an awful lot of stuff on the engine that should be replaced (filter, fluids, metering lines, vacuum lines, clutch, water pump, belts, hoses, etc etc etc), or checked (solenoids, sensors, coils, wires, engine mounts, etc etc).
1. How long was the warranty period? Your invoice is dated January 2014.
2. What caused the bearing failure? Typically build failures present themselves almost immediately.
3. Can you blame Turblown for not wanting to warranty an engine that a different shop disassembled? I worked in retail auto parts and all the vendors we sold reman engines and transmissions for immediately voided warranties if it "looked" like some one did anything close to disassembly.
Not trying to defend Turblown, just think the information would be needed to make judgment. That and none of your pictures are relevant to bearing failure.
Good luck and I hope you get back on the road soon.
