Engine Out Overhaul Complete (1 Viewer)

[uscmas412]

In preparation for the turbo kit and to deal with severe oil consumption, I hired a local shop to do an overhaul. A summary of the work includes:

Engine pulled, head gasket, ceramic coated cylinder heads, front & rear main seals, timing chain, oil pans sealed, turbo oil drain welded, EGR delete, alternator, wiring harness, distributor, water pump, blue fan clutch, fan, thermostat, radiator hoses, shroud and probably other things I've already forgotten. I provided 95% of the parts that were Toyota or OEM equivalent. End result = expensive.

I hired this shop because they have a good local reputation and do their own machine shop work on site. They specialize in tuner/imports but are 20 minutes away vs. 6 hours for a LC specialty shop. After completion they provided a few photos of the work.

After two months, I finally picked up the Cruiser. I had a quick discussion with one of the employees and left. She cranked fine and drove great on the way home. After I got home and spent some quality time checking things out, I found the following:

Ignition coil left unsecured.

Ground strap obviously not grounded.

Fuel line resting on steering shaft, that I've zip tied out of the way for now.

Transmission lines loose, not secured in factory brackets and leaking at the front near the cooler.
loose transmission lines


rant removed

 

[brockdeck]

Seems like they did good work, but when going back together maybe rushed. Pretty upsetting for the $$.

How do you like the Fox 2.0s?

 

[uscmas412]

How do you like the Fox 2.0s?

No issues over 40k miles, mostly pounding pavement though.

 

[sea bass]

If you want it done right do it yourself as the saying goes

 

[ccslider]

It's been my experience that even dealerships use the less experienced techs to pull motors and reinstall to maximize on labor. Then the master tech would do the actual rebuild.

Maybe this is the case?

 

[inkpot]

There aren't that many 80s out there, so not very many shops that do a lot of 80 engines. So proficiency is kinda a rare item.

 

[uscmas412]

It's been my experience that even dealerships use the less experienced techs to pull motors and reinstall to maximize on labor. Then the master tech would do the actual rebuild.

Maybe this is the case?

I know for a fact the owner does all the machine work. The guy who put the engine back in was a younger guy so this makes sense.

 

[ccslider]

I know for a fact the owner does all the machine work. The guy who put the engine back in was a younger guy so this makes sense.

Yeah he probably just forgot. I see how you could be upset, maybe if you mention it to them they will talk to the younger guy and if he is any bit human he will feel bad about it and learn from his mistakes for the next time.

 

[SteelHunterFJ80]

Yeah he probably just forgot. I see how you could be upset, maybe if you mention it to them they will talk to the younger guy and if he is any bit human he will feel bad about it and learn from his mistakes for the next time.

Agreed good thing you said something for everyones benefit

 

[maxamillion2345]

I had a 4l60e out of a chevy rebuilt by a shop with an excellent reputation, I got it back to the house, bolted it all in, and everything else up. Poured in 5 qts and fired it up, ready to pour in more, and it started hemorrhaging oil immediately. Pulled transmission back out, pulled out torque converter and found they forgot to tighten the pump bolts. Called owner and he was extremely embarassed and apologized to no end. I told him I wasn't angry, things happen. He told me that there was no excuse for that to leave his shop and that to compensate me for my time he'd send a tow truck to come get the whole project and they'd fix it and install the transmission back in. I did lose quite a few hours of my time for certain. Anyway, I guess my two thoughts on your situation are that, things happen -- even at the best of shops -- but he probably should have asked to set up an appointment to bring it back in immediately to check over their work and to apologize. I think those things seem minor but it always does leave the feeling of, well if these simple things were overlooked, what else could they have screwed up? There's probably no way around that, but hopefully this shop you went to stands behind their work.

 

[uscmas412]

Appreciate the responses. I've never had this type of work done and had no idea what to expect. Ultimately it's all trivial and I enjoy working on my own vehicle, but I knew an engine out overhaul was well beyond my capabilities. With the help of this forum I have no doubt I'll get it where it needs to be!

 

[uscmas412]

I've got 190 miles on the rebuild now, no issues with cranking/running/general driving. There is however a small oil leak that I cannot pinpoint. I think it's from the front of the engine, possibly the Crank Position Sensor or FIPG on the upper pan directly above that point. The largest pooling spot is on a crossbeam/support directly beneath the A/C compressor. I'd like to narrow this down so I can tell them what to fix at the 500 mile inspection.

I assume the FIPG is fully cured at assembly and shouldn't leak if properly used?

 

[uscmas412]

Update/Need Recommendations:

I emailed the problems to the owners, responses:

May 30 2019 - "I apologize for those small things that you had to go and fix. They will thoroughly look over everything again at your 500 mile appointment."

• Okay, fair enough. The problems were somewhat minor. I've since upgraded the battery cables and properly grounded them. Also replaced the Crank sensor since I thought it may be leaking and it was original.

While my beloved 80 was down for the overhaul, I purchased another vehicle. I'm not driving the 80 that much while I do upgrades/repairs.

Aug 15 2019 - I finally have 500 miles on the rebuild and setup the appointment for 4 September. I dropped it off the evening of the 3rd, filled out the paperwork, told them what to fix (oil change which had been paid for, fuel line, oil leak and quote for stainless exhaust).

Sep 12 2019 - Haven't heard anything so I ask for an update: "you are on the schedule for wednesday for repairs"

• I'm thinking, they did an inspection and figured out the oil leak...it'll be fixed soon.

Oct 3 2019 - After no communication from our previous email: "honestly, he’s been stuck on several huge projects and hasn’t gotten it done. I do apologize. It is fine to drive if you want to pick it up and can do it at a later time. The schedule is completely booked for the next month."

• I picked up the 80 today, they were closed. I think the vehicle moved two parking spots away from the garage in a month. Meanwhile my expertly designed turbo kit sits, begging for install.

DO I HAVE ANY RECOURSE AT THIS POINT?

1. File a credit card claim/chargeback.
   • I called USAA and it's been over 90 days. I'll need to mail the claim detailing what happened. I've never done this so not sure if I have a chance.
2. Attorney...never hired one, rather not go there.
3. BBB--nothing will happen other than a negative review
4. Google Review--see #3

 

[Willie G]

I agree with your assessment of your recourse options and I think that I would chalk it up to "experience" and move on. Depending on how busy you are, I might suggest a conversation with the owner if you can do it face to face and manage to be calm no matter what. Chances are you're not going to get any further satisfaction. The idea that they can ask you to reschedule a month out is ridiculous. You know it and they know it. But that's their attitude and a month from now there will be another excuse or a poorly performed inspection.

Time to move on.

 

[Cass007]

Having come from the tuner world I've had this happen to me and saw it more times than I can believe. Shops book the job, do the main work and don't follow up, especially if they don't expect you to be a repeat customer. Or they way overbook the schedule and builds sit forever like they are custom coach builders.

Most of those shops seemed to be cash flow poor, so they had to keep production moving to keep bills and payroll met. Sadly, they will likely fix your truck the day after never. Seeing the pics you posted shows me they are an end result shop. If it runs, they think it's fine. The attention to the details and putting things back together like an engineer spent time designing them is not always necessary. Find another shop.

 

[graham5david]

Did you replace your harmonic balancer during the rebuild. Mine had a similar leak after rebuild until I put on a new balancer. Been good ever since. There is an oil slinger in the back of them that goes up against the front seal. If it is old and the balancer is a little wobbly it may leak some.

 

[uscmas412]

Did you replace your harmonic balancer during the rebuild. Mine had a similar leak after rebuild until I put on a new balancer. Been good ever since. There is an oil slinger in the back of them that goes up against the front seal. If it is old and the balancer is a little wobbly it may leak some.

I did not. I'll look into it, thanks for the tip.

 

[Saito]

I did not. I'll look into it, thanks for the tip.

You can just ‘sleeve’ your old damper too if that’s the only problem with it. I ended up sleeving mine to fix my front main oil leak when I did the oil pump cover too. Cheap and easy. That’s also a small detail that the shop probably should have picked up on . . .

 

[uscmas412]

After more digging, it looks like the harmonic balancer/crankshaft pulley could be a likely culprit.

I initially thought it was the upper oil pan seal, but it's completely dry on the driver's side. By my reasoning, if they sealed the lower pan properly and the DS upper properly, the odds of the front PS leaking are slim. I provided Toyota FIPG.

The bulk of the oil leak seems to be coming from the block side of the A/C compressor. Anything else in that area that could be the issue? See yellow circled area, that's the highest point of the leak I believe.

The Red circled area, should there be a gasket of some type here? The opening seems odd.

 

[uscmas412]

It keeps getting worse, I've sprung another leak. This one has the consistency of coolant mixed with oil, but very well could be trans fluid and oil (splatters like water when it hits the floor and isn't tacky like oil). I've got dye added to the engine oil.

I've also lost about 1-1.5 inches of coolant out of the reservoir in 500 miles.