Not a happy camper...new motor blues

[nipper]

And the outcome of this?

[hankosolder2]

Maybe it's in litigation now and he's been advised not to comment on it?

[nipper]

Maybe it's in litigation now and he's been advised not to comment on it?

 

 

Well that would give us closure.

 

 

nipper

[The Dude]

Well that would give us closure.

 

 

nipper

 

NO, this most certainly does NOT give us closure. I want to know the final outcome. I want to know if the supplier ultimately made good on their warranty. I want to know how much, if anything, all this additional engine swapping left Subydriver out of pocket. I want to know if, after six months of rebuilt after rebuilt, Subydriver finally has an acceptable engine in his car. When you order an expensive item, such as a rebuilt engine, it is extremely helpful to know both the best and worst possible outcomes.

Edited November 1, 2009 by The Dude

[nipper]

NO, this most certainly does NOT give us closure. I want to know the final outcome. I want to know if the supplier made ultimately made good on their warranty. I want to know how much, if anything, all this additional engine swapping left Subydriver out of pocket. I want to know if, after six months of rebuilt after rebuilt, Subydriver finally has an acceptable engine in his car. When you order an expensive item, such as a rebuilt engine, it is extremely helpful to know both the best and worst possible outcomes.

 

 

YES it would, because that in itself would answer all your questions. But we would need to hear that from the original poster, which is what i meant as that would be an acceptable answer.

 

If its in litigation, then all he can say is that, that is closure. If it is rectified then we will here that too.

 

 

nipper

[subsince77]

I hope we eventually find out what happened here. As a very satisfied CCR engine owner, I hope this whole thing works out. Tough deal for all parties involved.

[2.5_IMP]

Hmmmm. Considering buying a CCR shortblock. I'd like to know the outcome, before I spend any money.

[SubiPilot]

The saga continues...

 

30k miles now on CCR#3 and it's developed a bad knock and seems to be using a lot of oil now. Power seems to be lacking at times. Had it into the shop to see what my mechanic thought and the news isn't good.

 

The only saving grace so far has been the good people at CCR standing behind their work... hopefully this continues.

 

More info to follow...

 

Mal

[The Dude]

It seems that with many rebuilders and JDM used engine sellers the customer can be required to bear the expense for labor to install/de-install engines replaced under warranty. Also, the customer can be required to pay all the motor freight costs associated with warranty engine replacement.

 

So, who has paid for the labor for all the additional warranty installs/de-installs?

And who has paid for all the motor freight to ship all these replacement engines back and forth?

 

I'm not asking just out of idle curiosity. This is information you need to factor in when considering a rebuilt engine.

 

I'm sorry to lean that you're having more problems.

[Subaru_dude]

Jeez... it might be worth it to just go to the junkyard and buy one that's already broken in and just reseal it.

[SuBrat84]

I, for one, will never buy another engine from CCR. Yes, they back up their warranty. Yes, they pay for the labor (up to ~$55/hr or so.) I think they do a crap job rebuilding engines. I think they get engines out of junk yards and "refurbish" them. The first engine I got from them was for a customer of mine And it had the wrong crank and cam pulleys on it.. So, I had to swap out the pulleys and re-time the engine (At their cost, thankfully.) The second (and last) engine I got from them was for my '97 outback. I installed it and it was knocking REALLY bad. They came and got my car so they could fix the problem in their shop. Against my opinion of flat towing an automatic they assured me it is not a problem if you remove the rear drive shaft and they proceeded to flat-tow my car several hundred miles to their shop to "fix" the engine. (Apparently one of their techs put the wrong bearings in it?) They then flat-tow it several hundred miles back to me.. at which point they said "You also have a bad transmission, we had to push the car out of our shop." - "And why didn't you call me and tell me this before my car left your shop?" Needless to say, they sent me a junk yard transmission. I wasn't there to install it so a local shop did it. It also did not work. They sent me another junk yard transmission. I was there to install it and did. It also did not work. I got fed up and put the car on a car hauler trailer and towed it 1,000 miles 'home' to Tucson where I had the Tucson Stealership install a remanufactured transmission which CCR did pay for half of, even though it was 100% their fault and I already gave them several chances to make it right before going to the dealer. (This curse of a car took 3 SOA transmissions to get it right!) At this point I've lost my faith in Subaru all together. So, I put about 500 miles on it, now that it's FINALLY "fixed." Then, it starts overheating. By this time CCR isn't taking or returning calls from my number. So, I have to call them from friends/families phones. They tell me I have to have a shop, that they choose, diagnose the car before they will do anything. They choose a MUSCLE CAR shop here in Tucson because it had good reviews online. Yup, bad head gasket. They send new gaskets and pay the shop to rebuild their (2nd) rebuild. The shop puts on the wrong plugs (copper,) plug wires, oil filter (fram,) and thermostat. (Wrong being not Genuine Subaru.) This shop didn't even hook up the PCV system to the back of the air box and told me "It's okay.. that stuff can vent to the atmosphere." Also, they adjusted the throttle cable tight so it was idling at ~1500rpm. After fixing their mistakes the car SEEMS to be doing OKAY for now (right around 20k now.) I still can't figure out why the engine has a very high pitched whistle above 3700rpms.. (No, it's NOT the exhaust. I can hear it with the header pipes OFF.) Really, I've given up.. I will drive this car until I can afford to trade it in.. or until it breaks and I will burn it to the ground.

 

I think for ~$3,000 they should actually rebuild the engine and replace any parts that can wear out with the CORRECT NEW parts. I do wish everyone the best of luck in their dealings with CCR. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THEM. The ONLY good thing about them is they do honor their warranty. I think buying an engine from them actually cost them money! For the $5,000 I have in to this engine/transmission I sure wish I would have bought a newer/better car. You can get a way better Subaru for $7,000 than a 97 outback. I try to stay positive about it... it's hard.

[Subaru_dude]

EA81:grin:

EJ22:grin:

EA82:)

EA82T:-\

DOHC EJ25:(

 

It seems to me that people expect the early EJ25s to be dead reliable. That's just not true. Stick with EJ22s and EA81s and you'll be ALOT happier. I hate to hear you're loosing faith in Subaru, but it's to be expected when you're dealing with one of their worst engines.

 

Somebody needs to conduct an investigation and find out what's going on with CCR. I thought they used to have an excellent reputation.

 

Sounds like laziness to me but that's just from what I've read sitting here in my chair.

[Qman]

Jeez... it might be worth it to just go to the junkyard and buy one that's already broken in and just reseal it.

 

EA81:grin:

EJ22:grin:

EA82:)

EA82T:-\

DOHC EJ25:(

 

It seems to me that people expect the early EJ25s to be dead reliable. That's just not true. Stick with EJ22s and EA81s and you'll be ALOT happier. I hate to hear you're loosing faith in Subaru, but it's to be expected when you're dealing with one of their worst engines.

 

Somebody needs to conduct an investigation and find out what's going on with CCR. I thought they used to have an excellent reputation.

 

Sounds like laziness to me but that's just from what I've read sitting here in my chair.

 

That is the problem with the internet. Everyone is quick to post and blow up the 'net with the bad. It is very rare to see anyone take the time to tell people the good.

 

Let's say people who have dealt with CCR and CCR themselves post here from this point forward. Good or bad post it up. Real life experience, nothing else!

[SuBrat84]

I had heard lots of good reviews of CCR here on the board before I ever dealt with them. That is why I chose to deal with them, twice. Both times I had bad experiences with them. I have been to their shop and met several of their employees and the owner. They are very nice, friendly people. I just think they need to be doing a better job and have higher quality standards. It is very unfortunate that both the engines I bought from them were EJ25 phase I and both had issues. I know it's the worst engine Subaru ever built.. that's not an excuse though. For that kind of money it should be right, the first time. I really wish that my dealings with them had went smoothly. It caused us both a lot of stress and I really would have liked to have had them as an option to do business with in the future. Best of luck to anyone in their dealings with them. I, for one, would like to hear some good (recent) reviews about them!

[Delta Cam]

I can speak from a business to business relationship with them. We deal with them a lot. We have not had any issues to date. It is a little bit different than a person buying a motor though. We supply them with parts. They pay their bill. Pretty straight forward there.

 

I agree that I would like to hear some recent reviews. Because they have changed things up recently. I believe the changes have been for the better.

[The Dude]

The saga continues...

 

30k miles now on CCR#3 and it's developed a bad knock and seems to be using a lot of oil now. Power seems to be lacking at times. Had it into the shop to see what my mechanic thought and the news isn't good.

 

The only saving grace so far has been the good people at CCR standing behind their work... hopefully this continues.

 

More info to follow...

 

Mal

 

So, what happened? Are you on engine #4? How was this problem resolved? The rest of us on this board can learn from your experience. Thanks.

[citabrickr]

This thread is giving me a virtual heart attack having just posted about my "new" CCR engines oil leak on a two month old engine....

[kanurys]

I also am interested. If it were up to me, I'd rebuild the engine myself but I understand that many people don't have that luxury. I bought an axle from the gentleman who ccr recommended. MWE is the company and it has been solid, without problems on my EJ car.

 

Anyways, I believe that the way a company handles it's problems is just as important as the quality of it's product. I give that in my own service to customers in my industry and it has proved fruitful.

[North to Alaska]

I bought a CCR rebuild 5 years ago. 1998 EJ-25 DOHC. I ask Emily two very important questions.

(#1) Will this motor have the piston knock noise. CCR's answer No, our

rebuilds don't have that problem... 35000 miles later, it sounded like a diesel

on start up.

(#2) Will this motor have the dredded head gasket problem. CCR's

answer, NO we don't have head gasket problems. At 105000 mile it blew a head gasket. Emily wouldn't take phone calls from me. Emily lied to me twice. BUYERS BEWARE. She told me what I wanted to hear just to sell one of their motors.

I had AAA the shop (subaru) in Anchorage rebuild another EJ-25 for me and it has 68000 miles on it and it doesn't rattle on startup.

[NoahDL88]

I've in the past purchased o engines from CCR. One was a custom EA-81 that I had a few problems with, but I cannot blame CCR as with a custom engine drivability is a sum of it's parts, and the parts I chose did not work together as well as I was hoping. The rear main puking oil however was not so great, and replacing it with another did not fix the problem. CCR should have mic'd the crank and determined if the rear was too worn down or if it was just a ridge if it needed to be cleaned up.

 

The second engine I purchased was a 2.2, It burned through oil at a prodigious rate, and I called to confirm that it was just break in and Emily confirmed that it would go away after about 3000 miles. After 10,000 miles it was burning more than it had at break in. They would have warrantied the engine, so I can't fault them for that, but it was none the less very frustrating, and I ended up selling the car as I didn't want to deal with it anymore.

 

I don't know how many engines they sell every year, but they do seem to do well, which would indicate that they have more happy customers than unhappy ones, and like Qman said 2 years ago, only those that had bad experiences will comment, those that had good experiences won't bother.

 

I do like supporting a mom and pop operation that caters to our hobby, but I don't know if I would buy another engine from them, I won't say I wouldn't but the price of a JDM engine and installing it myself makes for an easy choice.