lagged said:
looks like youre going to have to take him to small claims court in order to get any kind of refund. there are ways to determine what was the cause of the turbo's failure, be it improper install, or improper machining or whatever.
If you really want to waste $500, then take lagged's advice. Please, all, read this excerpt from MDC's turbo rebuild page:
MDC Motorsports web site said:
Warranty
All turbos carry a 3 month, 10,000 mile warranty - which ever comes first. In the event a turbo fails, the unit must be returned for inspection. Upon completion of inspection the unit will either be approved or rejected for the warranty program. Warranties are void for several reasons but not limited to:
-BHG
-Coolant in the oil
-Wrong oil
-Contaminated oil
-Debris in oil
-Hot oil / hot shut down
-FOD (foreign object debris) to the compressor or turbine
-Dirty / clogged return line
-Dirty / clogged feed line
I am going to exclude peachtits from the following comments, but how many of us can purchase a rebuilt anything and expect to return it in any condition, even NIB, a year or more later and expect a refund? Most places range from 30 to 90 days on anything rebuilt or reconditioned, and they mean 30 to 90 days.
How many of us would expect to buy, say, a 50" Samsung LCD HDTV and expect Samsung to do squat about it after having Toshiba service it? Wouldn't common sense tell you that Samsung should service their own products? Wouldn't doing something like that seem to void a warranty, even if it was within the warranty period?
If you have ended a conversation with somebody and they begin to call/PM/email or contact you in any other way with a display of hostility, are you likely to return a phone call in 5 or even 50 days, for that matter? Probably not.
Can anybody disagree with any of the last three paragraphs or attempt to say that the analogies aren't dead on with what's been described here?
Now, I can't speak for Jon in any way regarding this incident, but I can speak from personal experience. I personally watched him rebuild my turbo, and he put up with all my stupid questions and explained to me all of the potential pitfalls in rebuilds - particularly the tell-tale signs that it has been improperly installed or abused. He installed the turbo in my car himself, using the following approach: Prime, test for shaft play, install, pull EFI fuse and crank until oil pressure is built, check for shaft play, install AFM, et al, start car and let run a few minutes, shut down, removed AFM and check for shaft play, put back together, start car and drive under boost, shut down, remove AFM and check for shaft play and ease of rotation. That's assuming I didn't forget anything. How many of us can say that we, or our mechanics, used this level of attention when installing our turbos?
So I read both sides, and regardless of engine out of the car car this, and mechanic said that, I am left looking at a 3 month/10,000 mile warranty that had admittedly been exceeded in terms of time, and was voided by sending to a turbo builder other than MDC. Who knows, Jon may have looked at the turbo in spite of the time frame, but for some reason it was sent to a competitor. I can't see a reason to continue the discussion from there.
There, I said I would wait to hear both sides, and I've decided.
