clutchdust
Millionaire Playboy
I have a neighbor who does a lot of mechanical work on the side. He's a very competent mechanic so I know this problem is well within his ability.
He has this friend that has one of those 80s Jaguars that had the inline six (XJ6?). News to me but somebody makes a kit so that owners can put a 350/700r4 in those cars. Really a good idea if you want a reliable Jaguar. So anyway, this guy has a motor put in and 2000 miles later it lets go. I helped him pull it out and we checked the cause of failure. That's a whole different story but just DAMN! (hint, don't ever buy a rebuilt 350 from Javiar's rebuild service)
So now the owner faces a dilemma, rebuild the old 350 or buy a crate motor. Wisely, or so we thought, he chooses the crate motor. Since my neighbor was just replacing an existing 350, it was straightforward. He gets it in and it's running and everyone is happy. Right? For the time being.
A couple weeks later the Jag is back. I go snooping to see what's going on and he tells me that the valves won't adjust. He can adjust them but they come out of adjustment within 100 miles. Then he gets to looking at it and finds that the studs in the offending valves are backing out. Now he knows why the valves won't adjust, but this is a brand new crate motor.
He takes it back out and to the dealership where he got it and explains what's going on. They do some jerking around and tell him they'll check it out and see if it's a warranty issue. A week later they call him up and tell him that it's because of bad gas! They tell him this happens all the time if gas sits for a few months. :suspicious: Then the manager tells him that the tech actually hammered the valves down and it took them three days to for the springs to pull the valves closed again! :tth:
But since he's a good customer, they'll go ahead and warranty it anyway. Ya right.
I suggest he go to the machine shop I use and ask him what they thought about it. Lo and behold, the machine shop tells him, "oh ya, bad gas will do that. I've seen gas go bad in 3 months". :bullshit: (My vette sat for far longer than that when I rebuilt the engine).
So then we find out that machine shop is the same shop the dealership took the heads to for repair! :bomb:
Needless to say, I'm glad I've had about all the machine work done I need because I certainly don't think I trust that shop any more.
Oh ya, amazingly, not a single bent pushrod in the group. :suspicious:
He has this friend that has one of those 80s Jaguars that had the inline six (XJ6?). News to me but somebody makes a kit so that owners can put a 350/700r4 in those cars. Really a good idea if you want a reliable Jaguar. So anyway, this guy has a motor put in and 2000 miles later it lets go. I helped him pull it out and we checked the cause of failure. That's a whole different story but just DAMN! (hint, don't ever buy a rebuilt 350 from Javiar's rebuild service)
So now the owner faces a dilemma, rebuild the old 350 or buy a crate motor. Wisely, or so we thought, he chooses the crate motor. Since my neighbor was just replacing an existing 350, it was straightforward. He gets it in and it's running and everyone is happy. Right? For the time being.
A couple weeks later the Jag is back. I go snooping to see what's going on and he tells me that the valves won't adjust. He can adjust them but they come out of adjustment within 100 miles. Then he gets to looking at it and finds that the studs in the offending valves are backing out. Now he knows why the valves won't adjust, but this is a brand new crate motor.
He takes it back out and to the dealership where he got it and explains what's going on. They do some jerking around and tell him they'll check it out and see if it's a warranty issue. A week later they call him up and tell him that it's because of bad gas! They tell him this happens all the time if gas sits for a few months. :suspicious: Then the manager tells him that the tech actually hammered the valves down and it took them three days to for the springs to pull the valves closed again! :tth:
But since he's a good customer, they'll go ahead and warranty it anyway. Ya right.
I suggest he go to the machine shop I use and ask him what they thought about it. Lo and behold, the machine shop tells him, "oh ya, bad gas will do that. I've seen gas go bad in 3 months". :bullshit: (My vette sat for far longer than that when I rebuilt the engine).
So then we find out that machine shop is the same shop the dealership took the heads to for repair! :bomb:
Needless to say, I'm glad I've had about all the machine work done I need because I certainly don't think I trust that shop any more.
Oh ya, amazingly, not a single bent pushrod in the group. :suspicious:
