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I will make a long story short because for people who already know my story.. they will tells you we could talk about it for a whole night lol !!
Car : Nissan Skyline GTR RB26DETT
Use: daily-drive. people who drove with me know i don't drive really hard lol. Went to the drag maybe for 10... max 15 runs.
1) back in 2010, I brought the engine to TK race head in laval in order to refresh and forge my engine so it can take twin gt2860 turbos setup ( 575whp on dynapack). Motor ran well and managed to make 575whp in 2011. In 2014, after driving 10 000-15 000 kms with the car, we noticed a lost of power ; car made 500whp. Compression was now at 140 psi but even on every cylinder ( lost of 20-25 psi from when new). Well it suck.. but car still ran fine. However, 1000 km later, engine broke cruising on highway 15. 3000rpm 110 kmh. Result ; bented valves, head is ruined, camshaft tomei is dead too. crankshaft need a polish + new acl bearing + machining + new piston ring
Well **** happens right ? 10-15k kms on a rebuild motor daily-driving is not a lot but maybe i got unlucky..
2) In 2015 april, I go back with TK to rebuild my engine, but this time, I go ''all-out'' with forged Supertech component and new Tomei camshaft. Mine's cam baffle + I pay for a porting + all the other stuff that needed to be done on the block with all new metal tomei gasket and new nissan gasket kit. Oh I also paid for 1000$ RIPS extended sump and 1000$ nismo front diff + 1000$ nismo oil pump. So yeah.. total was approx. 5k$ in part + Tom charged me 700$ ( to disassemble the motor in piece) + 2500$ for the whole job ( head/block assembly).
It took forever to build the engine, took times to find a bare RB26 head ( not his fault), then wait for shim ( not his fault either), then wait to be built etc etc. Mechanic did a single turbo conversion so it took times to build the exhaust too etc etc.. LONG STORY SHORT.. we're back in late august 2015. Basically 5-6 months lead time but this is not all TK's fault, so we won't get into that any deeper lol. Just suck it took that much time.
When i come to pick up the car. mechanic told me '' i find it run rumbly, I had to make sure it didn't run on 5th cylinder because I wasn't sure, but i guess a tune will fix all this ''. Not looking good my friend !! Nothing to make me confident the engine will make 700whp with this new single turbo setup. So I go for a tune. I was there the whole time along with Vince ( also running a RB26 in his 240sx) and the tuner. Can ran for 20 minutes on the dyno and engine broke !
Result ; ALL 12 intake valve took a hit and 2 exhaust valve.... Now the obvious is that TK tried blaming the tuner saying he over-rev it ( Impossible, the haltech ecu had a rev limiter set at 7800rpm) then it appears the tuner played with timing which again was false since the tuner will tune the car fully before playing with adjustable cam gear and I was there in front of the car the whole time, he never played with timing. All he did was hooking his FPR and boost gauge. And we noticed the timing belt was put backward ( only aesthetic, but still a little lack of detail regarding timing..)
End of story ; TK can't tell what happened or why it happened but he will re-do the engine ( without head porting so I'm getting a little bit less than I had before) . However, I had to pay for the following ; bare head (300$), supertech valve x14 ( 450$), 350$ machining, JE piston ( 250$) and 200$ of camshaft shim + I had to pay the mechanic to re-do the job of pulling and re put the engine inside the car (700$).
This happened the 5th of September or so..
3) Mechanic get the engine end of october. took about 6-7 weeks to build ( lead time of 3 week for shim to arrive). He install the motor and call me saying don't pick up the car, NO COMPRESSION on cylinder #6 !! Mechanic also told me he can't spend more time with my car and it has to be stored till January and start over this winter.
Damage this time is unknown since I didn't remove the engine to check. But it's fair to expect a good 1000$ like most minor rebuild + cost of towing + insurance + storage space + another 7-800 for the mechanic to pull and re install for the third time this time along.
UPDATE ON DAMAGED ENGINE #3 2015/11/11 ;
2 valves supertech got bent and slightly hitted the piston. The guy who dissambled my engine ( the new owner) thinks it,s when TK tried to put the timing belt on considering the car barely runned. It's funny how valve hitted the piston too on engine #2. Seems like 2 clearance problems here. maybe someone doesn't know how to properly clear/shim a head..
Also, I've been as impartial as I could when writing this thread just so we can stick to the fact, but maybe it's time I start talking about what other builder have told me regarding my issues with TK's failure.
At this point, I'm totally fed up, 3 broken engine in least than 4 years ( 10-15k kms) and 2 broken engine FREAKING BRAND NEW. So during the weekend, I put my car for sell as-is as a part car. I was expecting to get 25k as a running car and tuned. ended it up selling it for 16k. I was on a rush because mechanic put pressure on me to leave with the car ASAP. However, since I have a non-running car and I live in downtown Montreal, there's no way I can park a car on the street and leave it there !!! So now i'm totally screwed. I had to make a move and since it's not running, the only move I had was to sell it very quickly.
To sum up, I spent about 5k in engine parts + 700 + 2500 + 350 in labor/machining on an engine and never got to drive it for ONE SINGLE KILOMETER this year. + all the stress and troubles of supplying all the parts over the summer..( without including other mechanic parts but that's none of TK's business so we won't get into that)
At this point, I told TK race head, I wanted him to pay the 700$ the mechanic is charging me for pulling and installing the motor since well... mecanic's job is wasted/useless due to his bad work ( I mean, all the work done since sept 8th is worth nothing since I'm in the same position as I was before = car doesn't run) . I then asked 2500$ in compensation for all the troubles I went through /deception of never driving my car this summer. ( Like I said, to rebuild a 4th time ( !!! yeah 4th time !!) the engine, it would easily cost near 2000$ which he won't have to pay anyways since the car is sold.
On top of that, only this summer, TK received approx 3550$ from my hands, by giving me back 2500$ he's still keeping some money from me. So by selling the car anyways, I'm giving a wide-open exit for both TK and I to end this non-ending story in a good way. And obviously, I was told that I wasn't fair because I didn't give a chance but hey! It,s only the 3rd engine TK has rebuild for me. Hopefully no one will accuse me for not giving him a chance.
The following day after I tell him exactly what I wrote to TK race head, he replied saying ; he would've fixed what was broken. That I wasn't fair because I sold the car before giving him the chance to fix the issue. To that I replied ; 1. May I just reminds that this is the 3rd engine TK rebuild for me ? technically I did give him chances. 2. And the first thing to do would've been to pay the 700$ the mechanic is charging me + find me a new workshop + arrange towing so he could pull the motor out if he really wanted to fix the issue..
So anyways, what would you do ? do you think my offer was unfair ? Should I contact a lawyer with this case ?
P.S: This story is 100% true and I spared lots of little details that would just be the icing on the cake lol. But goes to show I've been pretty patient and pretty calm, I believe with this situation, but what happened end of October is just too much IMO.
Moral of the story for any tuner out there; It's better if you build your car yourself OR go to a shop that do engine + tune so they're the only one to blame ( it's pretty easy to blame the tuner but none of the accusations were backed with actual fact like stated before).
Moral #2 ; I didn't feel TK is standing behind his work nor any kind of warranty. Keep in mind, I didn't race the car or anything.. in both occasion, I never got to left the parking lot of the shop with the car, it broke INSIDE the garage. both time.
Car : Nissan Skyline GTR RB26DETT
Use: daily-drive. people who drove with me know i don't drive really hard lol. Went to the drag maybe for 10... max 15 runs.
1) back in 2010, I brought the engine to TK race head in laval in order to refresh and forge my engine so it can take twin gt2860 turbos setup ( 575whp on dynapack). Motor ran well and managed to make 575whp in 2011. In 2014, after driving 10 000-15 000 kms with the car, we noticed a lost of power ; car made 500whp. Compression was now at 140 psi but even on every cylinder ( lost of 20-25 psi from when new). Well it suck.. but car still ran fine. However, 1000 km later, engine broke cruising on highway 15. 3000rpm 110 kmh. Result ; bented valves, head is ruined, camshaft tomei is dead too. crankshaft need a polish + new acl bearing + machining + new piston ring
Well **** happens right ? 10-15k kms on a rebuild motor daily-driving is not a lot but maybe i got unlucky..
2) In 2015 april, I go back with TK to rebuild my engine, but this time, I go ''all-out'' with forged Supertech component and new Tomei camshaft. Mine's cam baffle + I pay for a porting + all the other stuff that needed to be done on the block with all new metal tomei gasket and new nissan gasket kit. Oh I also paid for 1000$ RIPS extended sump and 1000$ nismo front diff + 1000$ nismo oil pump. So yeah.. total was approx. 5k$ in part + Tom charged me 700$ ( to disassemble the motor in piece) + 2500$ for the whole job ( head/block assembly).
It took forever to build the engine, took times to find a bare RB26 head ( not his fault), then wait for shim ( not his fault either), then wait to be built etc etc. Mechanic did a single turbo conversion so it took times to build the exhaust too etc etc.. LONG STORY SHORT.. we're back in late august 2015. Basically 5-6 months lead time but this is not all TK's fault, so we won't get into that any deeper lol. Just suck it took that much time.
When i come to pick up the car. mechanic told me '' i find it run rumbly, I had to make sure it didn't run on 5th cylinder because I wasn't sure, but i guess a tune will fix all this ''. Not looking good my friend !! Nothing to make me confident the engine will make 700whp with this new single turbo setup. So I go for a tune. I was there the whole time along with Vince ( also running a RB26 in his 240sx) and the tuner. Can ran for 20 minutes on the dyno and engine broke !
Result ; ALL 12 intake valve took a hit and 2 exhaust valve.... Now the obvious is that TK tried blaming the tuner saying he over-rev it ( Impossible, the haltech ecu had a rev limiter set at 7800rpm) then it appears the tuner played with timing which again was false since the tuner will tune the car fully before playing with adjustable cam gear and I was there in front of the car the whole time, he never played with timing. All he did was hooking his FPR and boost gauge. And we noticed the timing belt was put backward ( only aesthetic, but still a little lack of detail regarding timing..)
End of story ; TK can't tell what happened or why it happened but he will re-do the engine ( without head porting so I'm getting a little bit less than I had before) . However, I had to pay for the following ; bare head (300$), supertech valve x14 ( 450$), 350$ machining, JE piston ( 250$) and 200$ of camshaft shim + I had to pay the mechanic to re-do the job of pulling and re put the engine inside the car (700$).
This happened the 5th of September or so..
3) Mechanic get the engine end of october. took about 6-7 weeks to build ( lead time of 3 week for shim to arrive). He install the motor and call me saying don't pick up the car, NO COMPRESSION on cylinder #6 !! Mechanic also told me he can't spend more time with my car and it has to be stored till January and start over this winter.
Damage this time is unknown since I didn't remove the engine to check. But it's fair to expect a good 1000$ like most minor rebuild + cost of towing + insurance + storage space + another 7-800 for the mechanic to pull and re install for the third time this time along.
UPDATE ON DAMAGED ENGINE #3 2015/11/11 ;
2 valves supertech got bent and slightly hitted the piston. The guy who dissambled my engine ( the new owner) thinks it,s when TK tried to put the timing belt on considering the car barely runned. It's funny how valve hitted the piston too on engine #2. Seems like 2 clearance problems here. maybe someone doesn't know how to properly clear/shim a head..
Also, I've been as impartial as I could when writing this thread just so we can stick to the fact, but maybe it's time I start talking about what other builder have told me regarding my issues with TK's failure.
At this point, I'm totally fed up, 3 broken engine in least than 4 years ( 10-15k kms) and 2 broken engine FREAKING BRAND NEW. So during the weekend, I put my car for sell as-is as a part car. I was expecting to get 25k as a running car and tuned. ended it up selling it for 16k. I was on a rush because mechanic put pressure on me to leave with the car ASAP. However, since I have a non-running car and I live in downtown Montreal, there's no way I can park a car on the street and leave it there !!! So now i'm totally screwed. I had to make a move and since it's not running, the only move I had was to sell it very quickly.
To sum up, I spent about 5k in engine parts + 700 + 2500 + 350 in labor/machining on an engine and never got to drive it for ONE SINGLE KILOMETER this year. + all the stress and troubles of supplying all the parts over the summer..( without including other mechanic parts but that's none of TK's business so we won't get into that)
At this point, I told TK race head, I wanted him to pay the 700$ the mechanic is charging me for pulling and installing the motor since well... mecanic's job is wasted/useless due to his bad work ( I mean, all the work done since sept 8th is worth nothing since I'm in the same position as I was before = car doesn't run) . I then asked 2500$ in compensation for all the troubles I went through /deception of never driving my car this summer. ( Like I said, to rebuild a 4th time ( !!! yeah 4th time !!) the engine, it would easily cost near 2000$ which he won't have to pay anyways since the car is sold.
On top of that, only this summer, TK received approx 3550$ from my hands, by giving me back 2500$ he's still keeping some money from me. So by selling the car anyways, I'm giving a wide-open exit for both TK and I to end this non-ending story in a good way. And obviously, I was told that I wasn't fair because I didn't give a chance but hey! It,s only the 3rd engine TK has rebuild for me. Hopefully no one will accuse me for not giving him a chance.
The following day after I tell him exactly what I wrote to TK race head, he replied saying ; he would've fixed what was broken. That I wasn't fair because I sold the car before giving him the chance to fix the issue. To that I replied ; 1. May I just reminds that this is the 3rd engine TK rebuild for me ? technically I did give him chances. 2. And the first thing to do would've been to pay the 700$ the mechanic is charging me + find me a new workshop + arrange towing so he could pull the motor out if he really wanted to fix the issue..
So anyways, what would you do ? do you think my offer was unfair ? Should I contact a lawyer with this case ?
P.S: This story is 100% true and I spared lots of little details that would just be the icing on the cake lol. But goes to show I've been pretty patient and pretty calm, I believe with this situation, but what happened end of October is just too much IMO.
Moral of the story for any tuner out there; It's better if you build your car yourself OR go to a shop that do engine + tune so they're the only one to blame ( it's pretty easy to blame the tuner but none of the accusations were backed with actual fact like stated before).
Moral #2 ; I didn't feel TK is standing behind his work nor any kind of warranty. Keep in mind, I didn't race the car or anything.. in both occasion, I never got to left the parking lot of the shop with the car, it broke INSIDE the garage. both time.
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