About a year ago I had to replace my 4.9 on my F150. I checked with some local mechanics about costs, I was quoted anywhere between $2500 to $2900 for parts/labor with a 1 year warranty, plus they make you buy a new radiator or the warranty is void. I couldn't wait for a machine shop to rebuild mine so I bought a crate engine (long block) from powerpro2000, who is just a reseller for ATK engines for $1300. I put it in myself because no shops around here will put in customer bought parts, something about liability or else they want the markup.

Anyway, I put about 10,000 miles on it and the head gasket went. I had the local ford shop replace it and they said it was just a cheap gasket, nothing warped, and they also replaced the valve seals because they were just floating around on the valve stems. ATK will reimburse me for parts but just $42.00 per hour for labor so I will have some out of pocket expense.

ATK was pretty good to deal with and the engine does run nice. My only concern is that if they used a cheap head gasket what about the main bearings, rings, etc...? For now I would recommend them, they are pretty good to deal with and the engine did come with a 100k warranty.

If I had more time I would have had a local machine shop rebuild the old engine but I'm happy with the ATK so far, in spite of the head gasket.

Good luck.

 

Well I spoke too soon, ATK refused to reimburse me for the repairs, they said the head gasket went because of severe overheating and/or detonation, neither of which occured. Even the Ford mechanic said it was just a cheap gasket.

So it sounds like the moral of these stories is to use a local machine shop and aviod a crate engine, at least if something goes wrong you know where to find them.

 

Sorry for your bad luck. But personally, I've only used cheap head gaskets (I've replaced 5-6 in different vehicles, 2 on F150s) and I suggest they don't blow unless they were torqued wrong or the head is warped or it gets corroded or some kind of malfunction. Seems like my last i-6 gasket was from Autozone and cost $18 or so (can't remember exactly, but I do remember thinking "man that's cheap, hope its not a piece of cr--). The valve cover gasket was a Felpro and costed 2x as much. Its lasted 103,000 miles.

ATK isn't treating you right and the Ford mechanics always blame the problem on non-OEM parts.

 

>ATK isn't treating you right and the Ford mechanics always
>blame the problem on non-OEM parts.

Man, I run into that problem with my printers at work too. The bosses used to insist on buying generic cartridges, but every time something went wrong IBM tried to make us pay for service (after we already had a service contract) because of non-IBM consumables. 99.9% of the time it had nothing to do with the brand of toner we were using, but it was still a huge hassle. Now we just use IBM everything so whenever there is a problem we say "The system is IBM, the software is IBM, the adapters are IBM, the printers are IBM and their consumables are all IBM. Its all IBM, you figure it out." So then they try to blame the cables, but

The moral of the story is, unless it says somewhere that you have to use genuine OEM parts, tell them to blow it out their asses.


-=Whittey=-

 

I wanted to give you all an update on my engine woes and a new development with S&S rebuilders in Spokane, WA.
Quite by accident last weekend I met a parts man who works for Thermo-King in Portland, OR. He's the parts manager there.
For those of you who may not know, Thermo-King builds self-contained reefer units that are commonly used to provide the refrigeration needed for the trailers which haul foodstuffs and perishables.
And they apparently use quite a few engine assemblies from S&S.
I met him because he had a 351 longblock for sale, still in the crate.
It was freight damaged due to a freight carrier's mishap and about half the pushrods were bent. There was some valve train damage as well.
We got to talking and I told him my S&S story.
He gave me his e-mail address and asked me to fwd. any paperwork I had to him and would I mind if he spoke to the warranty administrator about this problem.
I told him to proceed and made contact with him via e-mail.
I got a note from him today indicating that the warranty administrator for S&S had agreed to a deal. S&S would "eat" the core and sell me a new replacement engine for $500, freight included.
The warranty would continue from the date of the original installation of AUG '01 of seven years or 70K miles.
While it's hard to get excited about paying out another $500 for yet another engine, it's a good thing to know that my beloved '89 Bronco, which has been down since May, will soon be on the road again.
Several things come to mind here:
1.There's no substitute for a high-volume vendor advocating on your behalf, when it comes to dealing with a wholesaler who -doesn't- want to deal with YOU.
2.There are still some really great people in this world. I offered this guy money for his effort, which he flatly refused.
He said "Perhaps I will need help some day and this is the way I'd like to be treated".

Now I'm still no great fan of S&S rebuilders; we'll see how this new engine works out. I'll order it Monday and keep you all informed of the results.

Thanks for listening and I appreciate the past replies I've recieved on this topic.

Randy Goolsby
La Center, WA
94 Bronco EB
89 Bronco XLT (soon to be mobile again)
98 F150 STX
96 Bronco XL Son's ex-forest service rig

 

I would not touch it with a 10' pole. Their just making another $500 off you after not standing behind their product. Remember once burned twice shy.

 

Has anyone had experience with the AC-Delco remanufactured engines?

Meck

 

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 26-Dec-02 AT 07:07 PM (EST)]I admire your ability to remain calm and I hope to someday be like you.

This was when I returned the second of three starter solenoids for my camaro last june.

This happened when they tried to sell me a whole new starter, although I had already told them i could start the car by bridging the terminals on the solenoid.

God be with anyone who sells me a bad engine and thinks a discount on screwjob #2 will make it better.

 

>I admire your ability to remain calm and I hope to someday
>be like you.
>
> This was when I returned the second of three starter
>solenoids for my camaro last june.
>
> This happened when they tried to sell me a whole new
>starter, although I had already told them i could start the
>car by bridging the terminals on the solenoid.
>
> God be with anyone who sells me a bad engine and
>thinks a discount on screwjob #2 will make it better.

Put me on the list with him! I don't deal with getting screwed very well. To be honest, I quit trying to be nice when I figured out that nobody gives a d@mn about my satisfaction but me. I don't even hesitate to hover over the pimply faced little twerp at the parts store and threaten to pull his limbs from his torso anymore.