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ATECO ENGINE SHOP ? GOOD or BAD ??

Old 03-29-2011, 08:36 PM
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Originally Posted by ElimiNordic
Was anything done to make this right? You back on the water now? Did they at least refund your dyno money?
Yes back on the water...this was 2 1/2 years ago...just sold the boat with these motors in it a month ago. After having another LOCAL builder change out a new block and check specs on the other...been running great with almost 120 hours on them.
Never got a dime back on anything...
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Old 03-29-2011, 08:42 PM
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Originally Posted by boatman22
Yes back on the water...this was 2 1/2 years ago...just sold the boat with these motors in it a month ago. After having another LOCAL builder change out a new block and check specs on the other...been running great with almost 120 hours on them.
Never got a dime back on anything...
It sounds like this happened due to rushing and not checking everything first. This is one good reason to run every engine on a dyno. But that was a pretty big issue to miss. At least you got one good motor out of the deal 50% is pretty good in the world of high performace
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Old 03-29-2011, 08:43 PM
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"Installing into boat, rig one complete, drop the other one in and rig almost complete……I just had to fire the rigged one off just to hear it run. Hooked up hose and was waiting for water to come out of my new exhaust pipes……….No water…WTH….strainer is full….all of a sudden water comes shooting out of the dip stick……"

"Needless to say Bill said it was my fault for having him use junk parts to build my engines……"[/QUOTE]

I can't belive you aren't beyond upset...

We are all on here because we love what we do, and also along with that is the love for our boats.

To hear how your engines turned out in the way it did, just goes against the grain so badly, it's unbelievable to say the least.

I could read how excited you were to fire that motor because you even said it yourself, when you just didn't want to wait until the other motor was all installed.

Thank God you didn't finish rigging both motors to find out they were junk to begin with.

I'm really sorry to hear how difficult this all has been...
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Old 03-29-2011, 09:36 PM
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"that’s when I find that when the rod broke and trashed the cam and crank it also put a hole in the water jacket below the camshaft..Needless to say Bill said it was my fault for having him use junk parts to build my engines……"

What work had been done on this block after you originally threw the rod? Hot tank, anything? Seems strange that they would have missed this damage given that it's pretty fking common when someone throws a rod.
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Old 03-29-2011, 10:25 PM
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Something just isn't right here. Smells kinda funny on the surface. I wonder if the other side will answer any of this or will it be one sided? If this were my business, you can sure bet I would be trying to put these fires out.
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Old 03-29-2011, 11:06 PM
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I'm reading through this and I think its unfair Brad is getting beat up. As he admitted, he's an investor in Ateco.

I have never dealt with Ateco but I have heard many times Bill builds some kick ass engines and does have a great reputation.

I do know Brad over 10 years and he was a happy customer of Ateco long before an investor. I will also say he is a very honest guy with high morals.

Some of my investment and business ventures occurred the exact same way. Brad praised Ateco before he was an investor as well as after.
Why shouldn't he?

I feel bad for anyone that has engine problems after they spend their hard earned money for engine work. But before any hangs Ateco, there are a lot of factors that can cause these problems and it is not always as things are perceived as the "whole" story is not always considered.

I have had more boat motors built then most. I have been on the bad end of a lot of dealing with engine builders.

Some situations were out of my control and I got screwed.

Others are not entirely the engine builders fault; it was partially mine for one reason or another.

I'm sure there are stories out there of engine disasters and problems for every engine builder. The difference is some builders have problems consistently and it’s due to not changing parts, cheap parts , crappy work or just ripping off the customer.

Then there are some that build a great engine but there have been instances in the past that the customer felt wronged.

The truth is EVERY performance builder has some customers with stories. Like they say a happy customer may tell 2 or 3 people, an unhappy customer tells everyone.

You can’t imagine the stories I have from SEVERAL major performance builders over the years. I'm talking dropping valves at 2 hrs after a $25k rebuild. Pistons cracking at 3 hours after a complete rebuild. Leaning out the motor and melting pistons under 5 hours.
We are not talking cutting corners, or trying to save money.
These incidents were with the companies considered to be some of the best.

You are dealing with performance engines being used under extreme conditions. Many times there are other factors that cause these "melt downs or Burn ups".

The boats water supply and the plumbing not being set up the same way the engine is set up for it can take out a motor in no time. Almost every time I get my motors back from where ever they were getting rebuilt, i have to change the plumbing around. All it takes is something to be bypassed or run with a splitter rather than direct and your rebuilt engine is junk!

The boats fuel system can be the engines worst enemy. Is it a no.10 or a no.12 hose or fitting coming from the fuel pump? Are the filters tall enough to hold enough capacity?

The octane of the fuel screwed me more times than I can remember. Was it 116 or 112? Was it 93 or was it 89?

The problem is the engine builder build the engine the way they feel is best. If the boat is set up even slightly different then the engine was set up for it could be a disaster in no time.

Then there is the money factor that only the owner and the engine builder know what really happened and is rarely ever admitted.

There are all levels of a rebuild and the level is usually dictated by what the customer wants to spend.
New heads vs used heads; new crank vs turned crank, new lifters, rockers etc or use same stuff that had 300 hours on it?
What was really changed on these rebuilds?

The truth is even if any of these above factors come into play, if there is a failure the customer automatically says “I just spent $$ to have it rebuilt”! I got screwed.

I know in the past before I dropped some of my motors off to get rebuilt I would get over the phone “I'll do them for $15k each as long as they are not blown”.

Once you drop them off Then the phone calls start... The heads can probably be shaved down but "they should be replaced, I recomment changing them for $8k what do you want to do?",
then
"two rods are pitted, do you want to let them go, change the 2 or change the entire set"?

If I don't want to spend the money to change them all and one breaks shortly after the motor is done, who's fault is it?

If I come on here and say "i just got my motor back 2 weeks ago and broke a rod and destroyed the motor and the engine builder told me he’s not warranting it" everyone would say the engine builder is a crook.

Should there be some level of responsibility? The problem is there are two sides to every story.

Like most people in the business they don't personally post on here so you only get the one side of the story. Neither good nor bad you never hear from Peter or Randy, Mike D or Tommy, David Woods or Johnny T.
People in the industry stay off these sites. So not getting a response, is not an admition of guilt.

There are so many thieves and scumbags in this business to talk about and burn at the stake; I really feel Brad taking this beating is unfair.
But what do I know?

Last edited by LubeJobs42; 03-29-2011 at 11:41 PM.
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Old 03-30-2011, 05:45 AM
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Originally Posted by LubeJobs42
I'm reading through this and I think its unfair Brad is getting beat up. As he admitted, he's an investor in Ateco.

I have never dealt with Ateco but I have heard many times Bill builds some kick ass engines and does have a great reputation.

I do know Brad over 10 years and he was a happy customer of Ateco long before an investor. I will also say he is a very honest guy with high morals.

Some of my investment and business ventures occurred the exact same way. Brad praised Ateco before he was an investor as well as after.
Why shouldn't he?

I feel bad for anyone that has engine problems after they spend their hard earned money for engine work. But before any hangs Ateco, there are a lot of factors that can cause these problems and it is not always as things are perceived as the "whole" story is not always considered.

I have had more boat motors built then most. I have been on the bad end of a lot of dealing with engine builders.

Some situations were out of my control and I got screwed.

Others are not entirely the engine builders fault; it was partially mine for one reason or another.

I'm sure there are stories out there of engine disasters and problems for every engine builder. The difference is some builders have problems consistently and it’s due to not changing parts, cheap parts , crappy work or just ripping off the customer.

Then there are some that build a great engine but there have been instances in the past that the customer felt wronged.

The truth is EVERY performance builder has some customers with stories. Like they say a happy customer may tell 2 or 3 people, an unhappy customer tells everyone.

You can’t imagine the stories I have from SEVERAL major performance builders over the years. I'm talking dropping valves at 2 hrs after a $25k rebuild. Pistons cracking at 3 hours after a complete rebuild. Leaning out the motor and melting pistons under 5 hours.
We are not talking cutting corners, or trying to save money.
These incidents were with the companies considered to be some of the best.

You are dealing with performance engines being used under extreme conditions. Many times there are other factors that cause these "melt downs or Burn ups".

The boats water supply and the plumbing not being set up the same way the engine is set up for it can take out a motor in no time. Almost every time I get my motors back from where ever they were getting rebuilt, i have to change the plumbing around. All it takes is something to be bypassed or run with a splitter rather than direct and your rebuilt engine is junk!

The boats fuel system can be the engines worst enemy. Is it a no.10 or a no.12 hose or fitting coming from the fuel pump? Are the filters tall enough to hold enough capacity?

The octane of the fuel screwed me more times than I can remember. Was it 116 or 112? Was it 93 or was it 89?

The problem is the engine builder build the engine the way they feel is best. If the boat is set up even slightly different then the engine was set up for it could be a disaster in no time.

Then there is the money factor that only the owner and the engine builder know what really happened and is rarely ever admitted.

There are all levels of a rebuild and the level is usually dictated by what the customer wants to spend.
New heads vs used heads; new crank vs turned crank, new lifters, rockers etc or use same stuff that had 300 hours on it?
What was really changed on these rebuilds?

The truth is even if any of these above factors come into play, if there is a failure the customer automatically says “I just spent $$ to have it rebuilt”! I got screwed.

I know in the past before I dropped some of my motors off to get rebuilt I would get over the phone “I'll do them for $15k each as long as they are not blown”.

Once you drop them off Then the phone calls start... The heads can probably be shaved down but "they should be replaced, I recomment changing them for $8k what do you want to do?",
then
"two rods are pitted, do you want to let them go, change the 2 or change the entire set"?

If I don't want to spend the money to change them all and one breaks shortly after the motor is done, who's fault is it?

If I come on here and say "i just got my motor back 2 weeks ago and broke a rod and destroyed the motor and the engine builder told me he’s not warranting it" everyone would say the engine builder is a crook.

Should there be some level of responsibility? The problem is there are two sides to every story.

Like most people in the business they don't personally post on here so you only get the one side of the story. Neither good nor bad you never hear from Peter or Randy, Mike D or Tommy, David Woods or Johnny T.
People in the industry stay off these sites. So not getting a response, is not an admition of guilt.

There are so many thieves and scumbags in this business to talk about and burn at the stake; I really feel Brad taking this beating is unfair.
But what do I know?
You are correct about problems with hi performance engines. I too have built many engines and had many failures. Back in the early 80's when I was putting blowers on boats, it had not been figured out yet for the marine application. We had head gasket problems, fuel delivery/carb problems, and a host of other issue's you just do not see now that superchargers are everywhere in the marine business.
But we are not talking about engine problems here but customer service problems such as not returning calls and letters, charging for dyno time and not delivering and most importantly, not looking issues straight in the eye and taking care of them. I will never forget being told my $45k 1000hp motor was toast after burning holes in the tops of my pistons or throwing rods through the side of the blocks, but I was told in a fair and honest way what happened and many times no blame could be assigned, it just comes with the territory. If you are going to play if this sport, you better be ready to have some setbacks. But as a businessman, you must be aware of the art of compromise and be able to meet a angry customer half way. Have you never left an oil plug out or stripped one out on a cheap junky pan. Have you never had a engine blow up right after an oil change. These are all thing I saw happen to the quick oil change place that was located next door to my office for years. Your business is full of areas where customers feel wronged and I would think you have taken care of every issue head on to be the success you are today. This thread is not about Brad, never was, it is about a business he is apparently an investor in. And that business has an obligation to be a good honest vendor who does not ignore customers complaints for 9 months and charge for services not rendered. I am involved in other business's than mine and would never be drug into crap like this. I would simply solve this issues for the better or worse. Give Steve an answer even if he does't like it, refund the money for a dyno pull never made and don't come on here and make fake posts about your business.This owner or some one at his business does post here as shown in the past. Now lets hear form them, because we all know in the absence of information, the human makes up their own and it is never accurate.
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Old 03-30-2011, 07:17 AM
  #48  
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Originally Posted by boatman22
Long story……short version:
Had a rod bolt come loose on one of my 540’s, decided to sent both engines to Ateco after talking with Bill and reviewing pricing that he had posted online. Feelings that I had posted pricing for machine work, and builds cost that I would know what I was getting. Never took the motors apart and sent them to Ateco. After they got them and they took them apart Bill called me and basely told me both motors were junk. Having built these motors 14 mo earlier, I ask what was junk. Big Brodie aluminum heads on both engines need a lot of work and should be replaced. Cam and crank on blown motor junk..And a lot of other stuff. Told him to fix heads complete with rockers, new crank and rods on 1 engine and I would send him the same crane cam that was in the other motor. Paid ˝ when he started working on the engines. 6mos go by and excuse after excuse. Working on Shogrens stuff, working on other stuff, snow etc. Then no emails….return phone calls… I hope on a plane and rent a pickup truck to get my engines, done with the BS. Arrive at Ateco, and ask for Bill and they ask who I am…..15mins later, Bill comes out front and say they are working on my engines that day. Had 1 block with a crank in it. We talk and resolve all the problems…I pay the rest of the money with a promise they will be ready in 3 weeks. 7 weeks later they ship and I’m happy to finally get my engines. Installing into boat, rig one complete, drop the other one in and rig almost complete……I just had to fire the rigged one off just to hear it run. Hooked up hose and was waiting for water to come out of my new exhaust pipes……….No water…WTH….strainer is full….all of a sudden water comes shooting out of the dip stick……Call Bill and he says intake must be leaking…How did you not catch it when you had it on the dyno……Bill says they did not dyno and just hot run it…..I ask why did you charge me for dyno time? Pissed I take off the intake and see no signs of bad gasket. I block off water ports on the head and do a pressure check…that’s when I find that when the rod broke and trashed the cam and crank it also put a hole in the water jacket below the camshaft..Needless to say Bill said it was my fault for having him use junk parts to build my engines……
I can't imagine there's an 'other side' to this story that can possibly make this right, even if this were only partly true!

I give you credit bro, I would have been locked up if this had happened to me!
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Old 03-30-2011, 07:26 AM
  #49  
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I haven't been on the site much lately and didn't know about his whole issue until I read this. To me, Brad has taken a beating here. That is why I posted.
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Old 03-30-2011, 07:27 AM
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Originally Posted by SS930
I can't imagine there's an 'other side' to this story that can possibly make this right, even if this were only partly true!

I give you credit bro, I would have been locked up if this had happened to me!
There is always two different sides to a story when there is a problem. After being in the middle of many disputes over the years, the one thing I have learned is there are always two sides and your have to openly listen to both to be informed.
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