smoothop

hi

i am currently getting my engine rebuit with this company.


Reconditioned Engines. Rebuilt Engines. Remanufactured Engines.

any one used them before. they have had my car for a few weeks now. had a phone call from them half an hour ago to say its nearly done but its got a miss fire and they are just trying to sort that out.

just wondered if any one has had any problems with them or any good remaks welcomed also

+ can any one tell me if they re-map the ecu once the engine has been rebuilt. just curious

thanks

happydude303

iTrader: (1)

i have heard about this company and to give there almost to good to be true garentee they have to do all the services and how much was it about 2000.00 pound, id read there small print and get a scooby mechanic to check it out, but then saying that they could do a great job

smoothop

there original quote was £1400 in vat ( i knew it was to good to be true) but i booked it in with them. then they sent me an email with everything that was wrong see below

Re: Subaru Impreza 2.0

We have removed and dismantled the engine from the above vehicle and, after discussion with you, report as follows:-

Minimum Items required to fit engine

Engine, Labour, Oil filter gaskets £ 1218.00
Recovery £ 60.00
Replacement Crank + 1 Rod £ 375.00
Clean breather system blocked £ 48.00
Breather pipe x 1 blocked to manifold £ 27.00
Battery Dead £ 59.00
Plugs x 4 1 was damaged 3 x poor £ 36.00
Sundries (various nuts, bolts, washers, etc. that require changing) £ 25.00

Sub total £ 1848.00
Vat £ 277.20
Total £ 2125.20
Additional Items desirable to replace
AC belt missing £ 37.00
Re Gas A/C £ 80.00
Auxiliary belt split £ 41.00
A.C. belt Tensioner £ 49.00
Gearbox oil needed £ 25.00
Anti freeze £ 18.00
Turbo has play in shaft £ 595.00

i chose not to do the extras as i thought i could get it done localy. + im not that interested in the Ac as im gonna rip that all out eventually anyway

GMballistic

iTrader: (1)

Never seen that company before, API Impreza did my rebuild & it's still going very well (9,500miles later). I wouldn't have thought they'd re-map the Ecu as there's no need as your just having your standard engine rebuilt to original specification by the sounds of it. That guarantee sounds good....just hope it's not too good to be true. Goodluck with it and make sure you take it so easy for the first (est)1500-3000 miles after the rebuild as you wouldn't want it to go bang even with a guarantee.

happydude303

iTrader: (1)

they have not told you what was the problem thou like big bearing or crack in the crank and there is no metion of new bearings in there what are they palying at or even new cam belt

smoothop

i know im so excited to have it back, but i know the devil on my sholder is gonna be tempting my heavy foot. just hope the saint on my other sholder is stronger.

i have been driving a pug 306 in the mean time and its so depressing driving that in the good weather when you know you have a better car to drive and you cant. lol. i also miss my sounds in my car. been having to digg out my old tapes to go in the pug lol. back to the old skol lol

smoothop

well i presume that would be all included in the rebuild but you never know. i took a look at the remaufacturing process looks all good. but still you never know what the situation is. i know they had to replace the crank pully as they were waiting to that part seems like forever.

i gotta say the comunication with this company hasnt been that good but as long as the work is good im not fussed. im a bit of a novice and im very interested in the tech stuff. so hopefully ill get a print out when i pick it up of what they have been doing for 4 weeks lol.

also can engine missfire be anything other then coil packs or plugs ? just so i know as gotta call them at 3:30 to find if its ready would be interesting if they are talking rubbish to me. lol.

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Ask for all the old parts

Tony

smoothop

yeah. i will be hopefully. i had i hks air induction kit and a ssqv on it they shouldnt have touched that i go spare if they have.

happydude303

iTrader: (1)

yeah they should be able to give you your old parts, ive still got all mine in a box, and a miss fire can be sprak plugs, coil pack, leads

smoothop

another curious question is it better to rebuid a turbo or buy a new one. im not interested in strapping a big one on it as i think its fast enough (was). they claim the turbo has play in it. and they tried to sell me one on the quote but i thought that price was quite expensive. i have also seen a few repair kits online for £175 im not sure what im really doing with it but i have a friend that quite good with stuff like that.

or is it better to bite the bullet and buy a new one

smoothop

sweet so there isnt anything else they can relly fob me off with other then that.


by the way.. thanks everyone for your replies you guys are great. eased my my mind.

GMballistic

iTrader: (1)

When I had my engine rebuilt my old turbo unit had the same problem. I bought a re-con unit in the end which is still working great for me (£300). Goodluck with it all.

smoothop

thanks m8, ill let ya know in a bit what they say lol.

smoothop

right just called them, they said its somthing like one of the hydrolic lifters is not opening correctly which is causing the miss fire. they have the rocker cover open and trying to sort it. make sense ?

smoothop

just had a phone call back from them say it wont be ready till friday. they are getting a hyrolic lifter or somthing tomorrow and they are gonna call to let me know. is this a common thing with engine rebuilds. im starting to wonder wtf are they doing. 5 weeks now is this normal for a rebuild also ?

wrx287

iTrader: (8)

Dont want to panic you mate but one of my mates has had a major re-build i;e 2.1 stroker fitted and heads done with a new turbo all taken apart and rebuilt within a month. Are they just dragging it out to charge extra labour costs?

mikef04

iTrader: (7)

5 weeks for a like for like build is very suspicious, the mechanic i use can do them in a three week period including heads being skimmed, cleaned tested etc but you do pay for it. Also any other machine that needs to be done, he also put 100 miles on the car and has it back for an inspection after 1000 miles were he drops oil,fluids flush and re fills. and that is for 2500 +vat flat rate

ian.b

A/C to refill is only £40 ish anyway !!!

Dead Batt !!!!! just charge it back up !!!!!!!!

I nearly went with this company glad I never

smoothop

well they cant charge me any more. As i have payed for it when they sent me the list of things to do with all the costs. They said they wanted payment before they started. I am now thinking i am a mug for paying, but i just wanted it done. They havn't said there would be any extra costs or asked me for any additional payment. I am not paying any more then i have already payed. They said that would cover everything that they needed to do including labour. i just spoke to the guy in the engine workshop and asked him why it took so long he said it was because the crank pully was on back order from subaru. not sure the truth in all this. but id be wary about using them again. The sales team there are full dog **** though, as they said it would only take a week. they are a very miss leading team and dont communicate very well with their customers or the internal staff. it seems they have several departments sales, workshop, commercial and lots of other departments. I am very interested in finding out what the quality is like and ill be posting any problems i have here. If its bad i would not want people going through any thing like what i have gone through. especially if its all for nothing.

I am not sure if its my impatiance but i have called them several times today and a thousand times before and get told differant things by differant members of staff.

i called two weeks ago and i had an issue with members of staff laughing at my fustration. In the end i had a guy called Sean sort it all out though.

i am at the end of my teather with this company though. my ordeal so far has been terrible. i dont want to recommend or slate this company untill i get my car back, then i can pass judgment. In the mean time if anyone out there is thinking of using this company i would hold off untill i have my car back. 5 weeks yeah far too long. I can also understand waiting for parts its the longest part of it as you need then to continue with any progress i just wish they kept me informed on this.

does any one think it would be worth writing a full report on this and sending it of to some sort of publication like Bonzai or Jap performance magazines. I know a lot of people are hard up at the moment and will be looking for bargins. The prices these guys offer on engine rebuilds seems appealing but you end up paying just as much as good reputation garages charge. if not more

WMS

iTrader: (2)

I've just re-built an 02 UK sti with 2 pistons gone, it had a re-bore, forged pistons, steel rods, race bearings, hp oil pump, new cam belt and water pump. I collected the car and he picked it up 10 days later, 2,400 inclusive.

Mr-Confused

Mine was rebuilt by the garage I brought it from at their cost. They were waiting on parts and which dragged the whole thing out to around four weeks.

Fingers crossed it will all be ok. I remember doing the running in process with mine and trying to keep the engine under 4000rpm for 1000 miles was a right pain in the ****! All is good now though.

merlin24

iTrader: (1)

IMHO on a Version 1~2 engine they should have stripped,cleaned and inspected all the hydraulic lifters for wear when they over-hauled the cylinder heads - the lifters will be full of old oil/sludge and even tiny particles of bearing/debris from an engine failure.


Mick

STI_Baly

iTrader: (23)

Certainly sounds like a cowboy outfit to me.

Although i hope it all worls out for you mate.

smoothop

right d-day is here im waiting for the phone call to say its ready any takers on them saying somthing is still wrong lol

smoothop

just been told its got an oil leek wtf ?????? what are they doing ?

mikef04

iTrader: (7)

spending your money in the pub, have you been down to the workshop

finchyboy

Mate do yourself a favour and get you're car back off these jokers before it's too late.

Have your day in court with them they have failed to carry out the work agreed in the time agreed and to the required standard.

In the mean time they have no legal right to hold onto your car and if they do the will be breaking the TWOC (taken without owners consent ) law.

smoothop

They phoned me to tell me is ready so I'm on my way. I gueess there is no way to actually tell what they have done exept to acually belive them. I gotta read the small print in the wanted info. 60k mile warentee

mikef04

iTrader: (7)

should ask for all the replaced parts