A machine shop butcher job. Pics and video included.

So I had a machine shop assemble my lower end 10,000 miles ago with wiseco pistons, new rods, and a "polish" on the crank.

I took it apart because there was metal in my oil. The machine shop told me that metal in the oil was normal for the first few oil changes. (I know that is bullshit) but I went with their word anyway; I'll play their game.

I yanked the motor and inspected the lower end and this is what I found

Check out my sideskirts after 10,000 miles:

Cyl1
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...419_160121.jpg
Cyl2
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...419_160132.jpg
Cyl3
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...419_160139.jpg
Cyl4
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...419_160148.jpg
Cyl5
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...419_160157.jpg
Cyl6
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...419_160207.jpg


And my full-floating pistons....they fucked those up too!
Cylinder 1's rod doesnt float on the pin properly
VIDEO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCOoqr_2G5s

And here's a kicker. A big issue. The rods came with ARP2000 bolts, and i explicitly told them to torque them to spec, but they didnt. They gunned them on. How can I prove that? Well, if they did it by hand they wouldnt have BENT the alignment dowel for the rod cap and RUINED the rod, bearing and my crank!!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...419_160254.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...419_160302.jpg


All my rod journals on the crank also have crack marks that line up perfectly with the rod caps.

Oh, and my thrust washers! They're cooked too!
But how? This is the only thing I don't understand. I am thinking my crank is warped, because only my flywheel-side thrust washer has damage on it. But it has damage on the front and back! (but the thrust washer didnt spin. so how does the backside of a thrust washer take damage unless the crank was pound-pound-pounding on it?

Front
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...419_161547.jpg

Back
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...419_161556.jpg


The crank pulley side thrust washer looks brand new.



DO NOT go to Headmasters Inc, in Saddle Brook, NJ. STAY THE HELL AWAY

Wow, that sucks man. I take it that isn't a glare in that 1st pic? It's really worn that bad? That alignment dowel is totally unacceptable. Just horrible

vid is private BTW

that isnt glare. well it is, but the wear really is that bad.

video fixed.

holy fuck.

Damn. That sucks. You have any recourse against them to get some of the money back?

The receipt from the machine shop reads "SIX MONTH WORKMANSHIP WARRANTY ONLY ON WORK PERFORMED BY HEADMASTERS"

I had the block done in June of 2012. In Sept I brought the car to them complaining of metal in the oil. They had the car for the week and all I was told when they gave it back was "The motor isn't making any noise, so bring it back if it starts making noise"


I had an OA done on it, and Blackstone said the oil was fine...which I find weird, because there was visible copper glitter.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Keyan

that isnt glare. well it is, but the wear really is that bad.

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Glare because the black is gone lol

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Keyan

I had an OA done on it, and Blackstone said the oil was fine...which I find weird, because there was visible copper glitter.

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That is weird

Moly assembly lube(or ARP bolt lube) can look very glittery & take forever to flush out with changes-
Nasty workmanship for sure, Id be choked-at least you caught it fairly early.

Doesnt matter if the warranty is expired. If you can prove cause by negligence the cost for reconstruction is theirs. The only question you must ask yourself is how much time and money do you have to pursue a claim. You'll likely win and get it all back plus attny fees and some headache money but you'll have to front it and pay for expert witness failure analysis.

Id hate to admit that I make a very very good living as a reconstruction expert. If you meet me its because someone didnt build it right and a plaintiff wants to know why it failed and how much it costs to fix it. Some repairs cost thousands, some cost millions. Businesses try to skate around negligence or shotty work by using warranty period expiration all the time. In most states the negligence periods are many many years beyond. In Colorado its 5. It doesnt matter if its a car, plane, trailer, bus, building, house, accessory or fixture if you can show cause for negligence, warranty or no warranty, you have a case.

Here is a post from my facebook.

Quote:

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So anyone who is interested about my car. This is how it sits. Last week I disassembled it and found that the machine shop had tightened down the rod cap improperly, damaging the rod and the crank. I also found grit in the cylinder bores causing an elevated wear of the Wisoco pistons on the skirt area. I also found micro cracks in the rod journals on the crank. And the #4 rod was making contact with the crankshaft causing the rod to heat up and turn blue, and the crank to develop a grind mark in it's lobe.

I went to the machine shop and presented this evidence to them, and although he didn't actually say "we broke it" he did agree that it was not assembled properly. He wanted to take the crank and machine it, and anaylze the rods that were damaged to see if he could fix them. I declined, refusing to have them touch my car parts again. We agreed upon a refund on the work they performed to the price of $400. I wanted to get him to pay for the rods as well -- but he was adamant that he could repair the rods and wouldn't pay for them. So this is where I stand.

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I am sure the crank is toast, at this point. Like mentioned in the quoted text, I also found a blueing on the rod #4, from where the rod was making physical contact with the crank lobe, causing the rod to turn blue and the crank to grind a bit.

I am glad to hear the piston skirts may be re-useable. I am not mentally prepared to do the ENTIRE engine job over a second time. Any parts I can save without compromising quality, I will.

geez. I did better assembly work laying on my back under my car with primitive tools... morons.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by J. Fast

It doesnt matter if its a...plane... if you can show cause for negligence, warranty or no warranty, you have a case.

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If you survived the failure :P

That said, this does sound like you got boned big time and would definitely have to pursue it in court. J. Fast is right though, you'd have to pay for it all up front until you win and this could get dragged out for a while. Probably goes to small claims court and ends up being a pain in the ass.

I would go legal, they will probably wind up settling before it even goes to the court house. I got screwed by a machine shop too, unfortunately enough time passed by the time I figured out what they did I had no recourse.