Posted by Matt Wilson on Friday, September 06, 2002 at 2:08PM :
In Reply to: Matt Wilson any luck with Motor?? posted by Terry in Bozrah on Thursday, September 05, 2002 at 8:40AM :
Well, the latest is that the engine seems to run great, and there is no evidence of oil in the coolant or vice-versa.
As I mentioned in one of my statements last week, my original machinist is quite a bit of a jackass, and he and I had some pretty significant disagreements regarding the length of time it took him to do the work, and also regarding the quality of his work. I ended up going to a different machinist to complete some of the work on the engine. In any case, without going into too many details, just let me say that, if at all possible, I would like to avoid going back to the original machinist for any work, even for the repair of the freeze plugs, and inspection of the engine. He is the one who installed the freeze plugs, but I have no intention of ever letting him touch my engine or truck again.
Additionally, I am leaving town in about a week, on business. I don't expect to be back for a couple of months, and after that I will be gone a significant portion of the time for the following several months, and I don't want him keeping my truck for that long. Judging by my experience with him so far, things would not turn out favorably, time-wise, or quality-wise.
So in the end, I replaced the missing freeze plug and two other suspect plugs with the aftermarket rubber type. So far, no signs of any leaks, and no signs of any oil and water mixing, and the engine runs great!
I know this is contrary to the advice provided by several memebers of this forum, but based upon my experience with this machinist, I feel this is the best thing to do. Sometimes you live and learn about whom to do business with and whom NOT to do business with, and sometimes you just have to write it off as experience.
Now, if I find evidence that the engine is cracked, or damaged in another way that is obviously attributable to the overheating, then this machinist will either make it right or he'll see me in court.
I do plan to have the engine checked more carefully for damage, but not by him, since I would not believe what he would tell me anyway.
Thanks for the concern!
Matt
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