DOA Racing Engines (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter CruisinMT
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Some people swear buy them, some people hate them. Do your research of all options, including ENGNBLDR.COM.
WarDamnEagle
SILVER Star
Here's mine. Bought it last summer and put it in. So far, so good but I've only put around 1000 miles on it so far. I also installed an LC Enginering stainless header along with an entire new LC Engineering stainless exhaust system (cat, muffler, etc.).
I debated between LC Engineering and DOA engines and finally went with DOA.
I debated between LC Engineering and DOA engines and finally went with DOA.
Tigerstripe40
SILVER Star
What engine?
22R-E or 3VZ-E?
Some people love them.
Some people hate them.
Check out yotatech.com and search for DOA racing engines.
When I build my 3VZ-E I did it with all forged internals, custom ARP head studs, arp connecting hardware, ported and polished heads, etc for 1/4 the money that DOA racing engines charges for their STOCK rebuilt motor.
You should call your toyota dealership, ask to talk to the service manager and ask him or her who they send their motors to for rebuilds then call that machine shop and see about pricing out a rebuild to YOUR specs.
FWIW, if I had to do it all over again, I'd have put in a rebuilt 5VZ-FE instead....
22R-E or 3VZ-E?
Some people love them.
Some people hate them.
Check out yotatech.com and search for DOA racing engines.
When I build my 3VZ-E I did it with all forged internals, custom ARP head studs, arp connecting hardware, ported and polished heads, etc for 1/4 the money that DOA racing engines charges for their STOCK rebuilt motor.
You should call your toyota dealership, ask to talk to the service manager and ask him or her who they send their motors to for rebuilds then call that machine shop and see about pricing out a rebuild to YOUR specs.
FWIW, if I had to do it all over again, I'd have put in a rebuilt 5VZ-FE instead....
LOL... I'm sure if I went into my local dealer and asked them about who they use for engine rebuilding they would say "we just buy a new engine". Dealers don't rebuid engines anymore, at least around here they don't.
I have a DOA built 22RE in my 85. I have put about 50K on it since I got it and I have not had any problems with it. I love it.
Only things I have had to replace since I got it 50k ago (besides regular maintenance) are the fuel filter, the egr valve, the pcv valve, the battery, oil pan gasket and the radiator. might have been one or two other little things but it has run great and I wouldnt hesitate to buy another one for my 92 when that engine goes.
Only things I have had to replace since I got it 50k ago (besides regular maintenance) are the fuel filter, the egr valve, the pcv valve, the battery, oil pan gasket and the radiator. might have been one or two other little things but it has run great and I wouldnt hesitate to buy another one for my 92 when that engine goes.
WarDamnEagle
SILVER Star
While I have no issue with criticism of vendors of any kind, someone can't be allowed as their first post ever to make such a blanket statement without a bit more detail.
I suggest you provide a bit of background supporting your accusation or I'm sure one of the mods will remove your post in due course.
2ndGenToyotaFan
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And a 2 1/2 year old thread at that... 
I have plenty of experience with DOA. A thief, hardly.
Many moons ago I installed one of is heads on a 22re I had in a truck I no longer own. No issues. Significantly improved how the truck ran.
I have a DOA 22RE engine with over 100K in my 4Runner. I needed to replace the front (aftermarket) main seal that Tim installed pretty quickly. You can't beat OEM seals. After about 100K I replaced the aftermarket water pump, again with OEM. The rear main seal is also starting to leak. Recently it's started to make noise when cold ... "piston slap?" ... I don't know.
My biggest concern is the 3FE Stroker in my FJ40. Over the weekend I blew the head gasket with 10K on the engine. Tim and I are talking.
Many moons ago I installed one of is heads on a 22re I had in a truck I no longer own. No issues. Significantly improved how the truck ran.
I have a DOA 22RE engine with over 100K in my 4Runner. I needed to replace the front (aftermarket) main seal that Tim installed pretty quickly. You can't beat OEM seals. After about 100K I replaced the aftermarket water pump, again with OEM. The rear main seal is also starting to leak. Recently it's started to make noise when cold ... "piston slap?" ... I don't know.
My biggest concern is the 3FE Stroker in my FJ40. Over the weekend I blew the head gasket with 10K on the engine. Tim and I are talking.
And a 2 1/2 year old thread at that...
Dang, good catch.
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wow, talk about coming out of nowhere! Thanks to the magic of the internet, and Google, it's possible to dredge up any piece of message-boarding history and post ungrounded accusations on without need of fact-checking.
I will say I have no experience with DOA, but their prices seem fairly reasonable...
I will say I have no experience with DOA, but their prices seem fairly reasonable...
Doa racing are incompetent crooks!!
i have a BBB complaint against these a**holes, and i would have served them in small claims court but i would have to be in north carolina in person to do it so they lucked out. i live in hawaii.
my first purchase was for a bored out throttle body for my 3.0. i sent in my stock t.body and full payment and he sent me one that didn;t match up with my TP sensor. Even though he had mine in hand to compare, he still managed to send me the wrong one and he took 3 extra weeks before he sent the right one. the T.body i finally received had been dropped on its edge and was dented in, pretty much taking away the effect i had just paid $300 and waited a month for, which was for the damn hole to be bigger! thanks Tim, you f**king incompetant dork!
A few months later my truck blows a head gasket and i decide to get the DOA heads, ported and polished, and an extra $275 for hot cams. we only live once and when's the next time i'll rebuild my engine, right? there are toyota aftermarket specialists where i live, but the really charge a lot for machine work so i figured i would save a little $, and give doa a chance to make up for the crappy deal i got the first time. Tim thanked me for my order and for "paying his mortgage that month" (direct quote) he said it would take him 12 days after getting $ to finish work and ship my heads....
3 MONTHS LATER i'm demanding to know where my heads are and how do i go from the guy who paid his mortgage with one job to a guy who can't get a call back, write back, or any good reason for the horrendous delay... Tim threatened to quit all communication with me for quoting him on the mortgage thing, still before delivering anything of the $2200 of product i bought. he even managed to send my heads to the wrong address, costing me 2 extra weeks of time. thanks Tim Jenkins, you f**king incompetent dork!
it all did arrive, and i tried to put it behind me and get on with life, but come to find out the performance was so low i couldn't really tell the difference between my 176k mile motor with a blown H.gasket and the new motor with a brand new bottom end and "high performance heads" fresh out the box i only got 50-75lbs of compression in any cylinder and was burning a quart of oil with every 2 tanks of gas. having just spent every last available $ and been 4 months without my work truck i could not take it all apart till another 14,000 miles of driving and 6 CASES of oil burned. the last straw was almost being hit as i turned left at a light because the truck bogged instead of going anywhere fast. when i pulled off the valve covers to check the clearances what i found was an absurdly poor valve job- none of the valves had a good spec.
i called Tim Jenkins to let him know the deal and I demanded to know "what else but his work could lead to zero clearance on valves" He took offense to my tone (apparently he's as fragile as a little girl when it comes to criticism) and told me to not be mad when he's trying to "help me" (even though he was the one to cause me harm?!?) He said if i send the heads in he would go over them and try to figure out whats up, we both said have a good day and hung up. Then the goddamned COWARD had his secretary call me 5 minutes later to say they would not help me cause i have a bad attitude.....
what we found when i had the expensive locals take it all apart:
the porting job was nice
the valve job was an absolute disgrace. i had zero gap on exhaust valves that should have had .012 gap. that explains the lack of compression and constant burning of oil, the were never fully closed, EVER! My machinist said it seemed like the task of setting valve clearances was never done at all.
To make matters worse there were .08" grooves worn into the valve seats from the sloppy power hone job- even less chance of a seal there! the seats had to be reground to get past the gouges.
5 out of 12 lifters had to be replaced from how far off everything was.
AND there was nothing to show that the cams i paid extra 275$ were anything but stock. no custom grind marks, no specs or mechanics signature on the ends. my guys (who are decades long hot-rod experts) called them stock and i believe it. Thats what i paid $2200 and waited 4 months for...Thanks Tim Jenkins, you goddamned crooked bastard!!
in the end i got to shell out another $3.000 in parts and labor to re-machine DOA's mess. for the record i did not re-ring or alter the bottom end in any way. with the heads re-manned i get 160lbs. compression, and have yet to lose a drop of oil to burning.
i broke this all down to the better business bureau in a formal complaint and DOA took over 5 weeks to even respond to the case! The shameless lies they responded with said there is only a 12,000 mile warranty, that i was informed of this and that i was making the entire story up!!
there has never been a mention of a 12k mile warranty on their site, or in person, and i'm $3,000 lighter to prove that what they sent me was fully defective. the BBB case is still pending, not that the BBB can do anything against them. If i lived in the lower 48, i would have already flown to their doorstep and sued them harshly, with pictures, receipts, and signed affidavits from my machinists.
in the meantime all i can do is warn you that DOA RACING ENGINES IS RUN BY A CROOKED A**HOLE WHO WILL LEAVE YOU SWINGING WITHOUT REMORSE OR SHAME.
CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED
i have a BBB complaint against these a**holes, and i would have served them in small claims court but i would have to be in north carolina in person to do it so they lucked out. i live in hawaii.
my first purchase was for a bored out throttle body for my 3.0. i sent in my stock t.body and full payment and he sent me one that didn;t match up with my TP sensor. Even though he had mine in hand to compare, he still managed to send me the wrong one and he took 3 extra weeks before he sent the right one. the T.body i finally received had been dropped on its edge and was dented in, pretty much taking away the effect i had just paid $300 and waited a month for, which was for the damn hole to be bigger! thanks Tim, you f**king incompetant dork!
A few months later my truck blows a head gasket and i decide to get the DOA heads, ported and polished, and an extra $275 for hot cams. we only live once and when's the next time i'll rebuild my engine, right? there are toyota aftermarket specialists where i live, but the really charge a lot for machine work so i figured i would save a little $, and give doa a chance to make up for the crappy deal i got the first time. Tim thanked me for my order and for "paying his mortgage that month" (direct quote) he said it would take him 12 days after getting $ to finish work and ship my heads....
3 MONTHS LATER i'm demanding to know where my heads are and how do i go from the guy who paid his mortgage with one job to a guy who can't get a call back, write back, or any good reason for the horrendous delay... Tim threatened to quit all communication with me for quoting him on the mortgage thing, still before delivering anything of the $2200 of product i bought. he even managed to send my heads to the wrong address, costing me 2 extra weeks of time. thanks Tim Jenkins, you f**king incompetent dork!
it all did arrive, and i tried to put it behind me and get on with life, but come to find out the performance was so low i couldn't really tell the difference between my 176k mile motor with a blown H.gasket and the new motor with a brand new bottom end and "high performance heads" fresh out the box i only got 50-75lbs of compression in any cylinder and was burning a quart of oil with every 2 tanks of gas. having just spent every last available $ and been 4 months without my work truck i could not take it all apart till another 14,000 miles of driving and 6 CASES of oil burned. the last straw was almost being hit as i turned left at a light because the truck bogged instead of going anywhere fast. when i pulled off the valve covers to check the clearances what i found was an absurdly poor valve job- none of the valves had a good spec.
i called Tim Jenkins to let him know the deal and I demanded to know "what else but his work could lead to zero clearance on valves" He took offense to my tone (apparently he's as fragile as a little girl when it comes to criticism) and told me to not be mad when he's trying to "help me" (even though he was the one to cause me harm?!?) He said if i send the heads in he would go over them and try to figure out whats up, we both said have a good day and hung up. Then the goddamned COWARD had his secretary call me 5 minutes later to say they would not help me cause i have a bad attitude.....
what we found when i had the expensive locals take it all apart:
the porting job was nice
the valve job was an absolute disgrace. i had zero gap on exhaust valves that should have had .012 gap. that explains the lack of compression and constant burning of oil, the were never fully closed, EVER! My machinist said it seemed like the task of setting valve clearances was never done at all.
To make matters worse there were .08" grooves worn into the valve seats from the sloppy power hone job- even less chance of a seal there! the seats had to be reground to get past the gouges.
5 out of 12 lifters had to be replaced from how far off everything was.
AND there was nothing to show that the cams i paid extra 275$ were anything but stock. no custom grind marks, no specs or mechanics signature on the ends. my guys (who are decades long hot-rod experts) called them stock and i believe it. Thats what i paid $2200 and waited 4 months for...Thanks Tim Jenkins, you goddamned crooked bastard!!
in the end i got to shell out another $3.000 in parts and labor to re-machine DOA's mess. for the record i did not re-ring or alter the bottom end in any way. with the heads re-manned i get 160lbs. compression, and have yet to lose a drop of oil to burning.
i broke this all down to the better business bureau in a formal complaint and DOA took over 5 weeks to even respond to the case! The shameless lies they responded with said there is only a 12,000 mile warranty, that i was informed of this and that i was making the entire story up!!
there has never been a mention of a 12k mile warranty on their site, or in person, and i'm $3,000 lighter to prove that what they sent me was fully defective. the BBB case is still pending, not that the BBB can do anything against them. If i lived in the lower 48, i would have already flown to their doorstep and sued them harshly, with pictures, receipts, and signed affidavits from my machinists.
in the meantime all i can do is warn you that DOA RACING ENGINES IS RUN BY A CROOKED A**HOLE WHO WILL LEAVE YOU SWINGING WITHOUT REMORSE OR SHAME.
CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED
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Holy thread revival Batman!
I must say, you account an experience of much suction, I'm sorry to hear of your troubles.
My personal belief is that it's best to go local, Yota's are widespread, and there are bound to be more than a few specialists to be found around major cities, shoot there's one here in my town, and one two towns over, two more that I know of in a day's drive, and they all have stand-up reputations. I'd much rather pay a little more for a local shop to do the work, who will then reinvest locally, or within the TLCA community (Larry's always got your back for field repairs on events, same with Gary, and Georg's the epitome of helpful.) Plus, all four shops are involved in the community, and if the did anything that resembles a rip-off job, it'd send shockwaves out everywhere.
I must say, you account an experience of much suction, I'm sorry to hear of your troubles.
My personal belief is that it's best to go local, Yota's are widespread, and there are bound to be more than a few specialists to be found around major cities, shoot there's one here in my town, and one two towns over, two more that I know of in a day's drive, and they all have stand-up reputations. I'd much rather pay a little more for a local shop to do the work, who will then reinvest locally, or within the TLCA community (Larry's always got your back for field repairs on events, same with Gary, and Georg's the epitome of helpful.) Plus, all four shops are involved in the community, and if the did anything that resembles a rip-off job, it'd send shockwaves out everywhere.
