Looking for info about engine builder in NJ
10-25-2009, 03:54 PM
#11
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WOW! Seems like 540's are their weak point. F*O*N*S*E Performance.
Here is an example they were contracted to build a turn key, fully dressed 540 with a procharger useing the Fast XFI system and to be tuned by al himself.
The motor came back not dress, no headers, no xfi harness, no starter, 2 bolts missing in the blower bracket.
So I thought no big deal he told me the harness is all plug in play its in the box. well that was a joke. i called him and he was confused. so he sent me another harness. this one had 1 more of the plugs on it that i needed, but it also cam with a few cut wires, melted wires that i had to repair, the coil harness was not there, we had to integrate the XFI harness to the Merc harness. all items that were supose to be done.
so we removed the valve covers to paint them because they scratched them with the lifting chain. we noticed a milky substance laying on the head so i called him and sent pics of it. he told me it was assemble lube mixed with oil, or condesation because of the cold water used to dyno it, and i should not worry and just put it in and run it.
we also noticed the rollor of the rocker is not centered on the valve which it should be according to dart and crowler. some rockers have less than half the roller on the valve. again called and sent him pics. he said quit worring and just run it.
so we finished dressing it. dropped it in, got it running, and had a nightmare of a time getting it to run or idle. the harness he sent had a broken wire under the covering. supposed to have been a new harness. once running the idle was all over the board.
so finally we get it in the water. idled it in the marina about 15 min. messing with the idle. seems to be ok.
now we are ready to go out we idle out about 5 min ride to open water i ease it up on plain it struggled a little poured out black smoke then plained out. now we are running 40mph checked all guages seem good running smooth i go about 3/4 mile saw another boat coming at us on our side so i wanted to pass on the other side so i stepped it up to 45- 50 mph for 10-15 sec. and went a round. then backed off to about 40mph for about 3/4 mile to a straight in the river and figured lets push it up a little so started throttling up now running 52 mph again keep in mind this 800hp motor is in a 28 foot low profile cat that ran a true gps 99.6 mph with a 700 hp motor. so again at 52 mph i check the guages all ok continuing with more throttle but no more speed, guages still ok, i trim it up thinking maybe the drive picked up something. but not the case. now almost full throttle (guages still ok) i start backing off the throttle watching the guages, the oil pressure has dropped to 40psi i continue backing down to idle and the oil pressure went to 0 psi engine stalled and locked up. oil had blown out the breathers and was milky but the oil looked ok on the stick and smelled of fuel bad.
so towed it back got in touch with al which is nearly impossible through out this whole job(shop meetings, he's on the dyno, at the doctors) he had all the excuses. so we tow the boat 2 hours to him to check it out. after a week i get in touch with him. he finds water in 1 cylinder and claims my water cooled header was leaking but when we got down there we tested the header and it did not leak, but when we got home we heated the header and checked it again there was a slight drip not a stream or major leak. we tested it with with 25 psi of water pressure. more than under normal comditions.
so i pulled the motor at his shop and left it for his guys to dissasemble monday. so after almost 2 weeks he tells me the crank is shot, i need all new pistons, and a complete head job. so we go down (2 hr drive) to see this. boy were they surprised to see us. al jr didn't want to talk to us so we talked to sr and the guy who took it apart. sr was showing us the block in the engine stand and he said let me turn it over as he did the crank fell out on the floor. at that point i knew i was taking the motor home.
the crank was burnt so bad on the first cap it turned the block and crank black, there are 3 melted pistons, and clearly 1 blown head gasket pointed out by al sr and agreed with by his assembler.
al claims all this is from my header, keep in mind there was that milky substance in the heads that i questioned even before we started the motor. also i now find out he dynoed the motor with his manifolds not my headers about a 25 hp difference.
he now tells me $5500.00 to fix it. WHAT HAPPENED TO WE STAND BEHIND OUR MOTORS? THATS A JOKE!
yeah they stand by it and tell you how much it will cost to fix it.
we had 2 engine builders look at the damage and a sample of the oil that came out Which had a ton of fuel in it and barely any water in it. both builders came to the conclusion that this motor was hurt on the dyno and most likely poped the head gasket on the dyno and the first time out just did it in.
now i'm left with a blown motor an empty pocket, and no help from al or his company. yes his ad on offshore looks great and proffessional. but it is far from the truth. they were great to me when i dropped it off then i was just a number.
beware and stay away from them.
Here is an example they were contracted to build a turn key, fully dressed 540 with a procharger useing the Fast XFI system and to be tuned by al himself.
The motor came back not dress, no headers, no xfi harness, no starter, 2 bolts missing in the blower bracket.
So I thought no big deal he told me the harness is all plug in play its in the box. well that was a joke. i called him and he was confused. so he sent me another harness. this one had 1 more of the plugs on it that i needed, but it also cam with a few cut wires, melted wires that i had to repair, the coil harness was not there, we had to integrate the XFI harness to the Merc harness. all items that were supose to be done.
so we removed the valve covers to paint them because they scratched them with the lifting chain. we noticed a milky substance laying on the head so i called him and sent pics of it. he told me it was assemble lube mixed with oil, or condesation because of the cold water used to dyno it, and i should not worry and just put it in and run it.
we also noticed the rollor of the rocker is not centered on the valve which it should be according to dart and crowler. some rockers have less than half the roller on the valve. again called and sent him pics. he said quit worring and just run it.
so we finished dressing it. dropped it in, got it running, and had a nightmare of a time getting it to run or idle. the harness he sent had a broken wire under the covering. supposed to have been a new harness. once running the idle was all over the board.
so finally we get it in the water. idled it in the marina about 15 min. messing with the idle. seems to be ok.
now we are ready to go out we idle out about 5 min ride to open water i ease it up on plain it struggled a little poured out black smoke then plained out. now we are running 40mph checked all guages seem good running smooth i go about 3/4 mile saw another boat coming at us on our side so i wanted to pass on the other side so i stepped it up to 45- 50 mph for 10-15 sec. and went a round. then backed off to about 40mph for about 3/4 mile to a straight in the river and figured lets push it up a little so started throttling up now running 52 mph again keep in mind this 800hp motor is in a 28 foot low profile cat that ran a true gps 99.6 mph with a 700 hp motor. so again at 52 mph i check the guages all ok continuing with more throttle but no more speed, guages still ok, i trim it up thinking maybe the drive picked up something. but not the case. now almost full throttle (guages still ok) i start backing off the throttle watching the guages, the oil pressure has dropped to 40psi i continue backing down to idle and the oil pressure went to 0 psi engine stalled and locked up. oil had blown out the breathers and was milky but the oil looked ok on the stick and smelled of fuel bad.
so towed it back got in touch with al which is nearly impossible through out this whole job(shop meetings, he's on the dyno, at the doctors) he had all the excuses. so we tow the boat 2 hours to him to check it out. after a week i get in touch with him. he finds water in 1 cylinder and claims my water cooled header was leaking but when we got down there we tested the header and it did not leak, but when we got home we heated the header and checked it again there was a slight drip not a stream or major leak. we tested it with with 25 psi of water pressure. more than under normal comditions.
so i pulled the motor at his shop and left it for his guys to dissasemble monday. so after almost 2 weeks he tells me the crank is shot, i need all new pistons, and a complete head job. so we go down (2 hr drive) to see this. boy were they surprised to see us. al jr didn't want to talk to us so we talked to sr and the guy who took it apart. sr was showing us the block in the engine stand and he said let me turn it over as he did the crank fell out on the floor. at that point i knew i was taking the motor home.
the crank was burnt so bad on the first cap it turned the block and crank black, there are 3 melted pistons, and clearly 1 blown head gasket pointed out by al sr and agreed with by his assembler.
al claims all this is from my header, keep in mind there was that milky substance in the heads that i questioned even before we started the motor. also i now find out he dynoed the motor with his manifolds not my headers about a 25 hp difference.
he now tells me $5500.00 to fix it. WHAT HAPPENED TO WE STAND BEHIND OUR MOTORS? THATS A JOKE!
yeah they stand by it and tell you how much it will cost to fix it.
we had 2 engine builders look at the damage and a sample of the oil that came out Which had a ton of fuel in it and barely any water in it. both builders came to the conclusion that this motor was hurt on the dyno and most likely poped the head gasket on the dyno and the first time out just did it in.
now i'm left with a blown motor an empty pocket, and no help from al or his company. yes his ad on offshore looks great and proffessional. but it is far from the truth. they were great to me when i dropped it off then i was just a number.
beware and stay away from them.
Last edited by air trap; 11-02-2009 at 03:13 PM.
10-25-2009, 09:49 PM
#12
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I have seen SH-TWORK like this from others out there, that get burned. The 2nd time around for the new builder is not pleasent between customer since they just waisted a bunch of money and time. They should be standing behind this, for the simple reason of the harness and moisture in the valve cover. The moisture shouldn't be there after running it on the dyno, unless they run them with no oil temp. It doesn't sound right, plus they should have told you to send it back. Rocker arms not centered, no excuse for that! Hope you took some pics on those items before it locked up. NOT GOOD
10-26-2009, 12:06 PM
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540 pics
this is how it back less flywheel and bell housing.
melted new harness
cut n spliced new harness
rocker not sitting on stem correctly. this is as close to center as it gets!
melted new harness
cut n spliced new harness
rocker not sitting on stem correctly. this is as close to center as it gets!
Last edited by air trap; 11-02-2009 at 03:22 PM.
10-27-2009, 09:48 AM
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Hey KIDAPACHE It was suppose to be Al Jr From F*O*N*S*E Performance. But, I think you might be right. Maybe i'm not sure who built it. because I didn't think a shop could screw up something this bad and not stand good for it, maybe it was some 5 year old.
Last edited by air trap; 10-27-2009 at 09:52 AM.
10-27-2009, 06:23 PM
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blown motor
Take it to A To Z Marine Performance or Nickerson Performance the Marine Hi Performance Specialist. We specialize in custom rigging and custom engines.
Last edited by a to z marine; 10-30-2009 at 08:02 AM.
