Sharing my experience with a rotten engine builder.

Folks,
I hope this doesn't happen to anyone else. I bought a short block Hemi 5.7 from a company down in Hiallaia (sp?) Gardens, Florida on Ebay about 2 years ago. When I got it, I took it apart, and found steel shavings in the block, and the rods and mains had been torqued dry. They're supposed to have oil on them to achieve the correct stress on the stud. Anyhow, I fixed those issues, and drove it for 2 years, almost exactly. The engine started running rough recently, and I found that 2 of my cylinders had major scoring on them (I attached a pic). What had happened is, on 2 of the cylinders, the wrist pin had walked out and trashed the cylinder walls. How the hell does that happen on a Hemi? Those rods have press fit pins, right? Most of them do. There are a few that are bushed and need circlips to retain the wrist pin. The rods are otherwise absolutely identical and interchangeable. Except for the bushing and oil hole on the bushed rods. Well these guys put 3 bushed rods in my engine and sent it off. When I disassembled it, I didn't think to check that. I assumed they were all press fit. I'm not a Hemi expert, I'm a diesel guy. I didn't want to run the risk of damaging the brand new pistons just to check if they were the correct rods. Shame on me there. In any case, here's their website:

https://www.flengines4less.com/

I have opened a BBB complaint against them. I know they're not going to do anything about this. This is just a warning to others. I recommend staying well clear of this company.

buy cheap ..get cheap....I rebuilt several gas engines for myself and even 20 or 30 years ago the cheap engine rebuilders were just that cheap and a crap shoot if it would last and for how long....about a year ago a friend bought a cheap rebuild for a jeep and had a mechanic install it and to find out it didnt run and had issues, the company sent another rebuild and an extra chevy 350 to cover to cost of pulling the bad one and any inconvenience..nice I guess by the rebuild company, but just shows how cheap they must rebuild to pay shipping for 2 more engines and the parts it cost for them....
if I were to buy any engine it would be from the dealer, short or long block, yeah more money but at least its a factory engine with a warrantee...by the time you get done what will your cost be and aggravation..still worth buying a cheapo rebuild??

Hey, sorry this happened to you. Thanks for sharing though! Did you file a complaint?

Thanks for sharing

This happens when rebuilders do mass quantity parts for engines. All the parts needed are in huge bins, if you need 8 rods you just grab 8 rods out of hundreds, without looking for a difference. I used to see this a lot back in the day when there was a lot of mass engine rebuilders. The return/warranty rate on the engines was outrageous.

I guess Hobbytime up there thought I was looking for opinions

Whew - thanks everyone (else), I can certainly understand how the mistake happened. Hell I might have done the same thing, but then again, I'm not in business building Hemis. In 10 years of building engines, I had one Deutz come back because I had gapped the rings wrong, and well you know how that goes. I did file with the BBB, but like i said before, I don't think anything is going to come of that. I don't even know what could come of that, to think of it. Of course, the warranty was out a year ago. Figures. Anyhow, I got er back together and it's running like it should. I just hope nobody else gets burned by these guys. Thanks!

wlhequipment said:

I guess Hobbytime up there thought I was looking for opinions

Whew - thanks everyone (else), I can certainly understand how the mistake happened. Hell I might have done the same thing, but then again, I'm not in business building Hemis. In 10 years of building engines, I had one Deutz come back because I had gapped the rings wrong, and well you know how that goes. I did file with the BBB, but like i said before, I don't think anything is going to come of that. I don't even know what could come of that, to think of it. Of course, the warranty was out a year ago. Figures. Anyhow, I got er back together and it's running like it should. I just hope nobody else gets burned by these guys. Thanks!

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ok ill send you a box of tissues so you can cry your eyes out...

I think the OP was just letting people know to stay away from this place. In one of the most famous/infamous threads on here a Cat dealer royally messed up on an engine rebuild and tried to blame it on the customer. There is no way to know what type of work a particular shop does unless you are there supervising the entire time. Even the best shop can have a lazy or bad mechanic.

Hobbytime said:

ok ill send you a box of tissues so you can cry your eyes out...

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A spurious response... Unless box is in the mail.

I think a misunderstood post mixed with a heady brew of random anger lead to ... uh ... this? Maybe he’s just having a bad day.

It's a public forum. Have to accept all kinds of responses to anything you post. Some will agree, some will disagree, some will have no opinion and some will try to stir the pot. You can decide who to accept or not.