NAPA Re-built Engines
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Senior User
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 126
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From: Alaska
NAPA Re-built Engines
Hey Guys,
Just a word of warning. Don't buy a NAPA Reman Engine! If you do or have allready I hope you have better luck than I have.
I was using my truck quite a bit and needed the engine rebuilt. So not wanting to have it down for very long I decided to buy a NAPA Reman. I gave them a perfectly good core that could have been rebuilt a couple times, at least, unless there was some unforseen major failure.
1) I put the first one in and installed an Edelbrock cam kit, performer manifold and 750cfm performer carb.
It had a 3 year 36,000 mile warranty. It ran great for 4000 miles and then started leaking antifreeze into a cylinder. After I tore it down I found out that they had sleeved a couple of cylinders and one of them was leaking.
2) I put the second one in, but the warranty didn't start off fresh it was the original engine warranty. I checked to make sure none of the cylinders were sleeved before I put the engine together. I told them I gave them a good core (block, heads, and crank)and that's what I expected in return. I checked the torque on all the main and rod caps and pulled all the rockers off and checked the torque on the heads as well. I put it together, but this time I left the stock cam in and put on my edelbrock carb and manifold. I got down the road about 20,000 miles and 4 years after the original purchase and the cam went flat in this one. Yes I did break the cam in right, just like NAPA and Edelbrock said to do it. ( read a thread here the other day and this guy talked about letting his new rebuild idle for 2 hours in the driveway. Hope he didn't have a new cam in it if that's the first run it got!)
I knew it was out of warranty but I called them anyway to see if they would do anything about it. No surprise they wouldn't! They said that company went out of business! As well it should have!
3) I didn't trust the piece of junk and I wasn't using my truck nearly as much so I tore it down all the way and took it to the machine shop. Good thing I did, they said the crank was ground wrong and it had too much clearance and the heads needed to be rebuilt. A little farther down the road and who knows what kind of boat anchor I would have been stuck with then! They ground the crank and rebuilt the heads and I put my Edelbrock cam, manifold and carb back on and it's running like a champ. I checked all the clearances when I assembled it and the machine shop did a fine job, everything was right on the money!
Long story short.... It would have only cost $300 more for the machine shop to rebuild it and I would have got all new head parts and it would have been done right the first time. As it stands now I have shelled out enough cash, not including my time and the down time of the truck, to buy a brand new engine if they still made them!
DON"T BUY A NAPA REMAN ENGINE!
Bruce
83 F350 460 4speed 4x4 work horse!
Just a word of warning. Don't buy a NAPA Reman Engine! If you do or have allready I hope you have better luck than I have.
I was using my truck quite a bit and needed the engine rebuilt. So not wanting to have it down for very long I decided to buy a NAPA Reman. I gave them a perfectly good core that could have been rebuilt a couple times, at least, unless there was some unforseen major failure.
1) I put the first one in and installed an Edelbrock cam kit, performer manifold and 750cfm performer carb.
It had a 3 year 36,000 mile warranty. It ran great for 4000 miles and then started leaking antifreeze into a cylinder. After I tore it down I found out that they had sleeved a couple of cylinders and one of them was leaking.
2) I put the second one in, but the warranty didn't start off fresh it was the original engine warranty. I checked to make sure none of the cylinders were sleeved before I put the engine together. I told them I gave them a good core (block, heads, and crank)and that's what I expected in return. I checked the torque on all the main and rod caps and pulled all the rockers off and checked the torque on the heads as well. I put it together, but this time I left the stock cam in and put on my edelbrock carb and manifold. I got down the road about 20,000 miles and 4 years after the original purchase and the cam went flat in this one. Yes I did break the cam in right, just like NAPA and Edelbrock said to do it. ( read a thread here the other day and this guy talked about letting his new rebuild idle for 2 hours in the driveway. Hope he didn't have a new cam in it if that's the first run it got!)
I knew it was out of warranty but I called them anyway to see if they would do anything about it. No surprise they wouldn't! They said that company went out of business! As well it should have!
3) I didn't trust the piece of junk and I wasn't using my truck nearly as much so I tore it down all the way and took it to the machine shop. Good thing I did, they said the crank was ground wrong and it had too much clearance and the heads needed to be rebuilt. A little farther down the road and who knows what kind of boat anchor I would have been stuck with then! They ground the crank and rebuilt the heads and I put my Edelbrock cam, manifold and carb back on and it's running like a champ. I checked all the clearances when I assembled it and the machine shop did a fine job, everything was right on the money!
Long story short.... It would have only cost $300 more for the machine shop to rebuild it and I would have got all new head parts and it would have been done right the first time. As it stands now I have shelled out enough cash, not including my time and the down time of the truck, to buy a brand new engine if they still made them!
DON"T BUY A NAPA REMAN ENGINE!
Bruce
83 F350 460 4speed 4x4 work horse!
Lead Driver
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 6,776
Likes: 553
From: Kalispell, MT
NAPA Re-built Engines
As far as I know, all the chain stores get their rebuilt engines from local shops who are the lowest bidder.
That's why they're full of problems - can you say "close enough"?
I had a local guy build a 302 for my 86. Cost me twice as much but it's still running 10 years and 190000 miles later.
Sorry to hear you had so much trouble!
That's why they're full of problems - can you say "close enough"?
I had a local guy build a 302 for my 86. Cost me twice as much but it's still running 10 years and 190000 miles later.
Sorry to hear you had so much trouble!
Elder User
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 628
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From: Colorado
NAPA Re-built Engines
I have a friend who works for NAPA. When I asked him 'bout having their machine shop do the milling for my '01 rebuild, he asked if he could step outside and "take a look at it" - (?). Once outside he informed me that he had heard some "not so good things" about the NAPA machine shop and suggested I look elsewhere. I went to the best machine shop around, paid about $2-300 more, but got an engine that now has 25,000 miles on it and is still going strong.
Like he said "you get what you pay for". I learned that lesson the hard way several years back when a cheap thermostat cost me a cracked head (I didn't get it from NAPA). I started out saving three bucks and ended up spending an extra couple hundred. Don't get me wrong, NAPA is my first choise for parts, and has been for decades. I put in a LUK 11" hd clutch that I got from them at that time and it's still holding up well.
Like he said "you get what you pay for". I learned that lesson the hard way several years back when a cheap thermostat cost me a cracked head (I didn't get it from NAPA). I started out saving three bucks and ended up spending an extra couple hundred. Don't get me wrong, NAPA is my first choise for parts, and has been for decades. I put in a LUK 11" hd clutch that I got from them at that time and it's still holding up well.
Thread Starter
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Senior User
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 126
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From: Alaska
NAPA Re-built Engines
I definitely agree, you get what you pay for. I should have mentioned that I do still use Napa parts but I stay away from them for anything technical or precision. We have a carquest that just opened up here in the little town I'm in and so I have started using them quite a bit more as I have to drive 110 miles to get to Napa. I have been pretty satisfied with carquest so far and they seem to be cheaper by a little bit.
Take care.
Bruce
Take care.
Bruce
