I kind of argee with you izz.. I did learn my lesson with 3rd party installers, but I still feel that the labor shouldnt be the issue here. If the engine didn't overheat what else could cause the engine to either crack/warp the block or blow a head gasket? If it is for sure the head gasket what else would make it blow besides the machining? remember the head gasket was already installed on the engine when it was delivered to be put in the truck. I understand he does need to protect himself from fubar installers. But if he knew that I didn't have a copy of the warranty or my invoice then how am I suppose to know exactly what it says and how to abide by it? If I would have known that the labor wouldn't have been covered for later problems then I would have paid to have the engine installed by enginehaus.
The only reason I went to enginhaus and used his engine was because of his warranty. Or else I would have saved the money and went down to NW team yota or Toy only swaps (where I already had an engine lined up).
Kid: thanks for watching my back..
Enginehaus: thanks for removing the entire address.
jmt2404,
I didn't "know that you didn't have your your original invoice" until you requested a copy of it on Oct. 29th at 11:25am.
I informed you that I would be glad to provide you a copy, but that it may be difficult to find without the original invoice#. I plan on continuing my search again.
And you are correct, cylinder heads shouldn't "crack/warp the block or blow a head gasket" without something causing it to do so.
Perhaps it was caused from the failure and success with your custom cooling system that you had worked on for some time in August of this year, as you posted a thread about it yourself, particularly your post #14 (stop leak that you added, before the new engine, that may be clogging the cooling system)
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/95399-almost-overheated-electric-fans.html
But as the heat tab didn't melt, you were still covered under warranty.
I am sorry that you were not aware of what the warranty did or did not cover, as you supposedly never received your original copy of the invoice, with the written warranty, from Automotive Specialists, where you had the engine R/R completed, perhaps you should take that up with them.
Also on the written warranty, it clearly specifies that you must keep all your proper maintenance records and the original invoice. I am already curbing these 2 rules.
Another thing to note, there was no confirmation, from my side, of what exactly is wrong with your engine, I only took your word for it. I/we don't know if it is "blown head gaskets, warped heads, cracked heads, ect" unless you have an update after pulling the engine and removing the heads for a clear inspection?
Is it the "builders mistake" on this particular build? or the customers mistake from trail and error while building a custom cooling system? We may never know, but one thing that I stand by is the warranties that I grant and that I stand strongly behind them.
jmt2404- I am sorry that I posted your address, I shouldn't have done that.
oh no doubt they didn't do a great job putting the engine together otherwise we wouldn't even be talking about this, and basically unless you ran the motor with no oil or no water pump there is no way it should be warped at this point, and so really, they either machined it wrong which is most likely, or they were using either defective or sub standard parts and/or block to begin with, obviously it didn't warp or crack from being ran, other wise the heat tabs should have shown signs of failure or near failure at the least, as those would most likely go if there was enough heat to crack or warp anything enough to cause your head gasket issues, the very reason why the builder installs them in the first place....
like i said there's a difference between who's liable for what and what the right thing to do here is , i get that builders make mistakes, life happens, as with anybody that produces anything your never going to have a 100% success rate, the key factors are the number of failures and how you handle the ones that are brought to your attention...i see this now as a question of how far the builder is willing to go to stand behind his product, is he going to take the easy way out and make the customer eat the total loss by hiding behind clauses in the warranty or is the builder willing to take at least some of the responsibility here and do what he can to keep his costumer happy and get him back out on the road......how much is shop time worth vs the potential costumers and reputation gained by doing whats right?
this thread alone has been views 2,082 times not to mention the clubs and other forums the members here visit, it's a small world on the toyota forums, you get a bad name on one or two for them your done for on most of the all together...this is not a threat or anything of that sort just trying to make you aware of the situation. the others here also post on ih8mud,yotatech,toyotanation,torra ect ect.......
this isn't meant to be a flame or anything of that sort, i see it as just being the fact of the matter, the builder screwed up somewhere and cost john the money of an install, john screwed up by not reading the fine print (which i guess he didn't have but probably should have been told or asked if there was any stipulations on it from the start)
so far what i'm seeing here is the builder is doing nothing more then he is legally obligated to, and honestly i can't say i look favorably upon such a thing. like i've stated 3 times there's a big difference between what is right and what is legally obligated to.
the builder would be out shop time for the complete removal and install anyways if the john had gone through them originally, and since the install was good and the problem was the block or assembly to begin with i would expect a little more then just "sorry here's one that works on your way now".....
theizzardking,
As I mentioned above, with clear evidence posted in the link & pictures provided (incase jmt2404 attempts to delete his old posts), I/we may never know who may be at fault. But I stand strong behind my written warranties and with the heat tab not melted, jtm2420's warranty is still valid, no matter what caused the "unconfirmed warped/cracked heads, blown head gaskets, ect".
Thank you -Gig Harbor Enginehaus, LLC
