Trappeur54

Hello everyone who has offered their advice on my past posts about getting another engine for my 91 Toyota truck.

To put it all in a nut shell, I bought a factory direct 3.0 motor for 1,800.00 this month which was a direct import from Japan with 50,000 miles on it and it came out of a running vehicle. It's not a rebuilt one but a better one straight from Japan on Ebay. Yes, I bit the bullet.

My neighbor mechanic is installing it for 800.00. Well, let's put it this way...he better have it installed by today or Monday the latest....Let me tell you, it's been quite an ordeal with this guy....to say the least. This will be the first and last time that I ever deal with a back yard mechanic who makes promises and doesn't fullfill them. He is a terrific mechanic who does know his stuff but I never thought I would have to put up with the bull crap that I have with this guy. And testy and arrogance like I couldn't believe and I've never known him to be that way... boy was I mistaken. I learned the hard way. If I had known what I was going to be put through just to save 500.00 by not going with a regular mechanic in town I would have not gone this route and glady paid 500.00 more to have a shop do it and be done with it! But it is too late now.

Long story short, I bought a motor, and had to meet the delivery guy on the 18 wheeler tractor trailer in Home Depots parking lot as there was no way that tractor trailer was going to be able to deliver the engine here in the mountains where I live. So I met the driver, he loaded it into my Ranger and I delivered it to my neighbor. That was 2 weeks and 2 days ago....I was told he would have it done in 3 days....hmmmm....this new engine is still sitting in a wheel barrow next to my truck under his carport, a wheel barrow that the tire went flat undoubtedly from the 500 pound engine sitting in it and all I can visualize is someone walking up against the wheel barrow and down goes this 1800.00 engine I just bought onto the concrete slab ........and I have 2 weeks left on the 30 day start up warrantee...I'm fit to be tied and am so disgusted. Don't know what to do..... Can't even go over there to get an update afraid of being chewed out to just check on the installation and also to see if he needs anything that I could buy?

Now I was told as of this past Monday that the engine would be installed by this weekend which is here right now. We shall see.....I just heard what I think was my truck going up and down the road. I sure hope to go it is.

My question is this. I told Karl (THE MECHANIC) that I want the entire truck checked and run through since it has set for a number of years. I'm going over tonight to see if it has been installed. I would like to go over with a list of questions to him of things that need to be addressed. He said he would take care of everything and do that but what does that mean? Can you guys here come up with questions that I can go over there with? What questions should I be asking him?

Thanks so much!

Trappeur

HighLux

I feel for ya man. Your in a pickle...you cant be over aggressive or he doesnt do it...but he aint doing it...

I get it. I'd be mad. You gotta dance carefully to get what you want on this one.

I dont have advice...cause Im the go kick his butt type...and that isnt needed here...lol.

Wait and a nice person will show up....

Innocent Fool

If he doesn't have it done this weekend get a tow truck and take it to another mechanic. If he says you owe him money tell him the work was never done and he's in breach of contract. Don't get mad, don't get verbal, just tell it like it is. He failed to perform the work as agreed.

Generally I've found that people who have this kind of attitude either don't want to do the work or don't know how.

The replacement engine would be the first thing I'd grab when doing the pick up. You don't want to chance sabotage.

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

One never knows I have seen shops do the same or worse . One poor person waited well over a year for a simple engine swap.

Then there was the T100 that came to have a little frame repair that stayed for several months That was a labor of Love the frame repair was the easiest part.

It is a shame Karl is not a computer person He could see just how bad he screwed up. Just look at Dana Corp now a parking lot for Carpenter Tech In a few more years No one will even remember.

dromomaniac

My $0.02. Be hesitant to make bad blood with a neighbor, especially if you own your house. Obviously, Karl doesn't feel this way (I knew a 'shade tree mechanic in Lane County Oregon that swapped 3.0s in one evening. Yo, Dave!). But if I'm you, I say "listen Karl, this needs to get done today. Ill do what's necessary to help make that happen." Get it done and never hire Karl again.

Good luck and hellz yeah! to getting her on the road again!

Trappeur54

Finally ......Karl got the engine in yesterday morning as I heard my truck going up and down the road. He then came over to my house yesterday to tell me come and get it and to get paid his 800.00......It was so awesome to actually know that I now have my truck back....You just can't believe how excited and happy I was until he told me the engine either has a cracked block or blown head gasket!!!!And the company thatI paid 1,800.00 to off of Ebay for this engine said there is nothing they can do as the engine left their place fine.....omg.....So now 1,800.00 for a new engine and 800.00 to Karl and what do I have...nothing.

My nightmare has only escalated and I am soooooo lost....I want to crawl into a hole and never come back out. I've waited so long to have this done and saved and saved, borrowed money to finally get my little red truck back on the road and now this never ending nightmare.....

Trappeur

HighLux

Oh I am so sorry for you. That sucks.

How did you pay for it on ebay?

Make a claim on ebay right away.

If you did it with paypal or a cradit card....dispute it immediatley.

Try and recover some of your money!

HighLux

you sure he actually even switched them?

julsruls

I would take your truck and verify if theres anything wrong with it. Is it still under the 30 day start up?

donomite49

that really sucks, trap.

have the engine diagnosed at a reputable shop before the warranty expires.
this will provide documentation for legal reasons.
verify engine serial numbers that the engine in the truck is the engine you bought from the company on e-bay.

like stated above contact e-bay about this fraudulent company that will not honor their warranty

disput credit card or paypal charge

file a complaint with better business bureau

research filing a claim in small claims court

i would also talk to a manager with this company that sold the engine about a replacement engine or a refund.
keep in mind you need to know your rights and let the company know that you will take action legally and that you just want what you paid for or your money back.

another bad part is you are out the installation money but maybe you can find a good shop that will help with this issue.

Gizler00

iTrader: (1)

Sorry about the troubles. I feel for you with the neighbor. I have been in similar situations and have been on both sides of it.


I just recently installed a new hydrostat into my buddies john Deere that was bad straight from Tuff torq. It has an internal leak that will stop forward movement on full throttle. Long story short, tuf torq, told him to pound sand so I decided to not charge him anything since he just shelled out 800$ for a unit with no warranty. And he also bought it on EBAY.

Best advice I can give you is contact the company that you purchased it from an like others have said, make sure all numbers match from the engine that's installed to what you purchased.

Also, if he is a mechanic and knows what he is doing, he should have looked the engine over before installation.

I hope something can get worked out with you and the company and also with your neighbor

stanprophet

OP, I am very sorry to hear this has happened to you!

As a mechanic by trade, I do not do side work for reasons like this. Too many times I have installed parts for people that were either bad, or did not solve there problem. It makes a bad situation worse. Life happens and working on the side on can become hectic. Mechanics for the most part are not people persons. They are Mechanically inclined and work with their hands and not with their mouths. They generally take people in small doses, but are not the best with dealing with people.

I would carry it to the dealer, Pay the 100 bucks or so for them to diagnose the problem. Chemical Block test, leak down test, whatever is needed to pinpoint and document the failure. Ask if they can take pictures, or video of the diagnosis. Most of the guys will be happy to do it with their cell. Get the documentation, and contact the company, with the evidence and tell them that they either stand by their warranty or face legal action.Best course of action for this is via email, since it can be documented. Use an online email service or E bay message service where the correspondence can be verified and not changed. The dealership is the best place for this, here is why. In court, it looks better since the technicians there undergo factory training that is specific to that brand. There are plenty of very good technicians that work outside dealerships.

Good Luck to you.

donomite49

^ good points stan ^

Gizler00

iTrader: (1)

Very good advice from Stan. Also why I tend to not do side work. When problems like this, and that hydro stat I installed occur, can tend to make things difficult for both parties.

Trappeur54

[[/B]

This is what I am going to do. As Stan suggested, I will have my truck towed from Karls tomorrow morning to a shop in town, Blue Ridge to Rays Tire who does all auto repairs, etc. He has certified mechanics there. B/4 I do it, I will call and make sure he has the equipment to do a chemical block test and a leak down test. I don't know what the definition of these tests are, but from the words I can pretty well figure it out.

With these tests are you telling me that they will definitely tell if the engine is cracked or the gasket is blown?

I did buy yesterday an intake gasket and gasket set with bolts as per what Karl said which is needed. But I will hang onto these parts and not give to Karl till I find out if that is the problem. Now I did call the guy Alex (the owner) at alnjdmautomotors on Ebay where I bought the motor for 1800.00 and he said he is trying to help me out even though he doesn't really have to since he said the engine was fine when it left there....huh....???? I can't believe he actually told me that! When I bought the engine, I paid (actually borrowed) the money, I was supposedly buying a direct import engine straight from Japan with 50,000 miles on it that came out of a RUNNING vehicle. And I didn't pay all that money for a BROKE engine in my mind...but an engine that was supposed to have been air compressed, etc and a good engine, even though used...but supposedly the next best engine to buying an actual brand new engine...Correct me if I am wrong here.

For those of you who are viewing this post, in case you haven't seen some of my previous posts here, I originally signed up here on this Toyota forum to learn about my truck and ask questions....as some may have been kind of stupid.....but the only reason they may have been stupid was because I'm a woman who really knows not much about vehicles (not that it makes any difference, because I'm sure there are a lot of fine woman mechanics out there I'm sure....but I'm just not one of them. Since my husband died last year, I've been on my own and trying to make it, and I am struggling but am doing it somehow, don't know how...but am.........I've been driving a delapidated real redneck 89 Ranger, lol....that just bit the dust and now have no vehicle.
My sisters just helped me out financially to get an engine for my Toyota and I thought I was on my way till this horrible crisis and I feel like I'm really getting the royal shaft all the way around here with what has happened to me. My sisters don't even know it yet about what happened when Karl installed the engine and will be real bulls.....t when they find out, being that they paid with a credit card even though I have been paying them back...I'm so scared to tell them...because all they wanted to do was help me and that's all I wanted myself.....was to get my little red truck back home to me and on the road...I don't feel good about any of this and what I'm going to find out if it is a cracked block and the company store on Ebay won't correct this situation for me and be liable for all dollars that I have to spend (or try and borrow). Why should I have to pay out all this added extra expense? So far 1800 for an engine, 800 labor to Karl.....now for Karl to repair head gasket if that is the problem for 300.00j.....now have to pay to get the truck towed to a shop..then have to pay to get some tests done, then have to pay a tow truck to haul it back to Karls? Damn....I can't friggin believe this is really happening to me....

Some of you here on this forum have private messaged me to offer suggestions in my delema and to express your sadness for me and I thankyou and I apologize for not responding back, so I'm here writing and to thank everyone and here is my story typed here.....As pitiful as it sounds, and it is...but the sad truth...2,600 I've already borrowed and invested in my truck so far and got nothing but a broke engine. You know I knew that if something goes wrong when buying from the store on Ebay as per his specs, he said that if not a certified mechanic will not be liable for the engine....he made it sound as if he was doing me a favor and will pay for the intake gasket and gasket set. I really don't give a crap at his rules at this stage and I feel if I have to go the route of filing charges against him on Ebay, getting my sister to put in a claim for the 1800 she put on her credit card to help me and the 800.00 given to Karl to install a broke engine...... AND I will go that route I'm so FURIOUS!!! I asked Alex (on Ebay) for another engine and he said he doesn't have any now, but will on the next container and he said I would have to pay 200.00 to ship back this engine and pay another 200.00 to ship out a replacement engine. Is he nuts or what? I've been in business and had my own home furnishings store for 10 years up to a couple of years ago....and sometimes you have to eat crow and do what is necessary to complete a fully completed transaction with a customer . This is the price for doing business. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, you do what ever it takes to make things right. Your business is your reputation. This company I bought my engine from he had 98.2% good rating....Oh, there were a few not too bad...but he's been on Ebay for some years and basically his rating was pretty good I thought. So I took a chance and bought....If he doesn't make this thing right, aside from the things I have to do, he will get a pretty nasty rating from me for others to see and he doesn't want that to happen....but then maybe he doesn't care if he gets that much business?

And Karl, my neighbor is another piece of work now that I've had to deal with him in this matter. First off I have a 30 day start up warrantee with the engine I bought from the time I accepted delivery. It is now 2 1/2 weeks used up. 2 1/2 weeks agon on Wed. I had to meet in Blue Ridge at Home Depots parking lot the driver from Southeastern Freight as he was driving an 18 wheeler tractor trailer. Man this was another story of getting them to deliver to me, but I won't go into details. There was no way that that tractor trailer was going to be able to deliver where I live in the mountains, so I made arrangements to meet him where it was easily accessable. The driver used some sort of lift to push the engine to the back of his truck where I had my Ranger backed up to him and he lifted it down to the truck and it was a very very tight fit for the crate to sit between my wheel wells but we got it in. I did notice that the engine had moved on the pallet and told the driver so, but he said that always happens all the time as he delivers engines all the time and that is why they put pink bubble wrap around it. But the engine was ok he said. He was a little surprized to see that a man hadn't come to meet him....but so what? lol.....So I drove up the mountain to Karls in my Ranger that was now running on 2 spark plugs going in 2'nd pretty much of the way because of how bad a shape the truck was in, but I made it to Karls and he and his son slid the crate from my truck to his truck and I left. The next day I went over to Karls to check on the engine and make sure all was good on it and Karl said no problem except that the distributor cap was broken. The next day, Thursday Karl came over and pulled my truck to his driveway of his trailer where he lives and then he said he would start it immediately on Monday and have it ready in a couple of days......Yep...I figured it would be longer and that was ok....But 2 1/2 weeks later?
And all the time the engine I just bought sat in a wheel barrow till I started to get annoyed. Last week I told Karl that the Ranger bit the dust and could I please have my Toyota? I tried to call him and went over twice in the 2 weeks the engine was just sitting there but he would never call me back or was never home......Come to find out, he took a day to bring his Uncle to the V.A. in Atlanta....(ok, no problem...things happen) then the next 2 days he spends with his Uncles wife driving to Cleveland, TN looking for a motor for her vehicle...(note, his Aunt and Uncle presently have 3 running vehicles in their driveway....unbelievable and Karl is working on a 4'th one)... I called and left a message on phone to Karl that I bought the new clutch as what he needed and I left it on the front seat of the Toyota.....he never called me back. Then a couple of days later I left another message to Karl asking him if I can buy any more things he needs like a battery, oil, pump, or etc.? He never acknowledged that phone call either. Then the following week I called and told him I left 6 quarts of oil and a filter on the front seat of my truck and I asked him to please call me and let me know the progress on the truck. And no call back. And I also told him, I'm walking and don't have a vehicle as the Ranger bit the dust and no call back. So I went over there and he wasn't there but I spoke to his son and asked him to tell his Dad I needed to talk to him and I need my truck and the warrantee was running out soon!!! So this past Monday I called him and didn't expect him to pickup the phone and he jumped right down my throat and said that if I continue to call him or bug him it will take him twice as long to get my truck worked on and he also said don't plan on him working on the weekend as he doesn't work on weekends..... Well first off I know how testy guys can get like this and he was no exception to the rule. I don't think 3 phone calls in 2 weeks and wanting to get an update on my truck was bugging him.....I bit my tongue as much as I wanted to smack him one. And I was really ticked off to see my new engine in a wheel barrow that had a flat udoubtedly from the 500 pound weight of the engine. All it took was for someone to brush by the wheel barrow and knock it down to the ground with my engine and this had been on my mind the whole week. Time was running out for me and I was at this guys mercy. I have been nothing but a very soft spoken lady to him the entire time. You know I had gone over to Karls place 3 or 4 times B/4 I even ordered the engine and we discussed a lot of things and i wanted to make sure he would do it for me if he could. He said no problem as he needed the money. And I believed him....Long story short, come to find out these past 2 weeks, he was down at his Uncles installing an engine, then 3 days ago I see him scraping his driveway, then another day he's got the hood up on a vintage chevelle he was working on, while my truck sits next to his with the engine in the wheel barrow and I see this every day as I pass his house to get to mine. Then Friday morning he decides to install my engine....and am sooooooo happy to be finally able to possibly be on my way till the bad news arrives......

All this I have been going through to save money of which I didn't have until I got my family's help. If I had ever known it was going to be a problem all he had to do was tell me this. He lied and was sneaky and didn't full fill what he said he would but then finally did at his own pace....This has left me with such a bitterness that I will NEVER trust anyone again as much as they may need it the help....never again....I WILL PAY AND FOR SURE IT WILL BE A LOT MORE TO A MECHANIC IN A SHOP...and I won't bitch about pricing ever again to have something done.

So this is my story.....I'm mad, hurt, disgusted, have no money to get my truck done and now have to get some more help from my sisters and hope to god they understand me. They told me right from the beginning I should go out and buy a vehicle for 2,500.00, one maybe off Craigs list of which I looked and looked....they said it would be so much easier just to buy another vehicle that I can just get in and turn the key.....What have I done...geesh...geesh...I am in such a pickle I don't know what is going to happen.

What a vent I just did.....

Trappeur

Gizler00

iTrader: (1)

Just read through your last post. I am terribly sorry that you have come into so much misfortune lately. I wish I had a 3.0 rather than 22re's sitting around, I would send you one tomorrow so you didn't have to pay for another engine.

I know it's going to be hard, but you have to hang in there and keep moving forward. If there is anything I can do or any of us, please let us know.

HighLux

Im ready to form a lynch mob and go after Carl with torches and pitchforks.

IM mad for you. Pisses me off when someone like you gets taken advantage of. You are the last person in the world who needs this crap dumped on them right now.

Wish you were closer.

Where are our Georgia peeps?

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

Thing is unless I some How missed it .

we are not really sure just what is wrong

She did say he drove it up and down the road i believe

Easy to say Cracked Block or blown head gasket.

Without knowing just what the symptoms are.

Cracked blocks and head gasket failures most often don`t happen in transit

Shipping Damage most times is pretty easy to see.

While Towing to a Toyota Dealer is a good idea That could get a little expensive. It would be a pretty good ride.

I really thought I was the only one who had luck like this.

FGZ

I'm still not convinced Karl suddenly swapped the motor in a flash, so the previous suggestions about checking the serial number on the installed motor is the most important first step IMO.

Someone please post up a 3.0 block S/N location from the FSM so she can find her S/N and check that out. Surely the eBay seller identified the S/N of the motor you purchased right? Or maybe it's got Japanese writing all over it since it's JDM?

Gizler00

iTrader: (1)

That's a good point. Verify that the block was actually installed by Karl and not just sitting somewhere.

I think the serial number is on the block behind the alternator.