REALLY REALLY bad day today.

[Jeff Norwell]

Damn... Let's hope it was an honest mistake rich.. and they will make it right...... I too would be nervous and furious.....

[RICH MUISE]

Parts Market called me this morning. No hasstle whatsoever. We talked about the engine ad vs what I got. She told me they called the salvage yard and were told "well, it's the only one we have, so it must have been the one with 33k miles". My reply was....that doesn't explain the two vin numbers does it? She responded, "exactly, what do you want to do?" I told her I wanted to return it, even if they credited me the full amount, I wouldn't go thru all the trouble to install it. She is scheduling it for a pick up, and as soon as it is received, they will credit my debit card. So, if they actually do that, I have to give them huge kuddos for customer support.
I also told her I honestly thought it was an out and out scam, not on their part, but the particular salvage company, and that they needed to keep an eye on them. She totally agreed.

[djfordmanjack]

lots of hassles, but sounds ok so far. good to know there are dealers that will stand for their promises.
Undue worries and no engine for you, Rich, but at least money back!

[RICH MUISE]

Chapter 539........Got the process started on another engine today. Found a place in Cal. called Engine World. Their intro says they only sell low miles engines, and have thousands in stock. They bill themselves as the world's largest supplier of used engine assemblies. Pics of their warehouses are incredible. Japanese, European, etc engines are only inventoried with a max of 50k miles, and domestic engines a max of 80k.They do not keep track of vin numbers, so it's a trust thing, but there is a big BUT......
1:they do not sell engine parts, so whatever came on the engine is still on it (the one I got earlier this week was stripped to bare long block)
2: they only purchase engines under the limitations on mileage
3: Once an order is placed, they pull the engine from their warehouse and take pics, do a compression test, and oil pressure test. The pics and test results are then emailed to the customer for acceptance before the engine is packed up and shipped out.
He said the compression test would only show a pass or fail, not the actual results, but on my engine the reading they are looking for is a minimum of 160#. If any cylinder does not meet that, it does not get shipped out.
Shipping from cal with added lift tailgate charges is 300, the engine is 650. He was guessing  that engine was probably there for a while because of the low price . I may get test results later today, if not tomorrow. They did have an engine listed for every year Mark VIII's were made, so if there's a problem with the first one, they have others to try.
www.engineworld.com

[hiball3985]

Interesting Rich, never heard of them but they look like a first class outfit. I've heard of many other places that sell low mileage Jap engines because at 50,000 miles they take their cars off the road, anyone hear that is true?

[RICH MUISE]

Next chapter.....gonna have a whole book here again pretty soon. They called early afternoon to alert me to the emailed info. They actually sent short videos of each cylinder's compression test, along with still photos. Test was good, compression gage was a little out of focus, but I could clearly tell the readings were all very close and about halfway between the 150 and 200 marks on the gage. Engine looked good (they power degrease/wash them just prior to the testing). I studied each picture closely because something just didn't look quite right. First I noticed the date of manufacture, 10/95 which would have made it a '96, not 95 engine. That would have been ok, but I kept trying to figure out if the differences I was noticing was just the '96 model which I wasn't familiar with. Then I noticed in one pic, on the workbench beside the engine was a spark plug hole cover that said "CONTINENTAL". The pics didn't include the back of the engine or exhaust manifolds. I called them, talked to a different guy, and told them everything looked good, but I was concerned if they had the correct engine. '96 vs 95, maybe a Conti. engine, etc. He supposedly went out and checked, came back on the phone like 3 minutes later and said the engine was definetly out of a rear wheel drive car. I said ok, go ahead and ship if your sure it's a Mark VIII ,but if this turns out to be for a continental, your getting it back at your expense.
I got off the phone and found some pics of a 96 Continental engine that the details matched up perfectly to the pics they sent me. I called them back, got yet another guy told him I was convinced the engine I said to ship was actually a front wheel drive Continental engine. He said he'd go out and check it out. I kept waiting and waiting, no phone call, so I called back and got the guy I had originally talked with. He said they had in fact originally pulled the wrong engine, and they were getting another one pulled for testing. 1/2 hour later I got videos of the second engine, everything matched my engine perfectly. Compression tests were similar to the first, engine looked even nicer than the first. I called back to give the go-ahead, and the guy said he figured I would, everything looked so good on it, that the engine was being loaded on a fed-ex truck as we spoke. It's on the way, should be here early next week.
The engine I got from the other company still hasn't been picked up yet.
My valve covers and brackets are ready at the powder coater's

[CobraJoe]

 

[RICH MUISE]

Interesting Rich, never heard of them but they look like a first class outfit. I've heard of many other places that sell low mileage Jap engines because at 50,000 miles they take their cars off the road, anyone hear that is true?

Apparently very true. this is what you were talking about I believe. It was in the FAQ's at Engine World

Why import engines & transmissions from Japan?

Most of our Japanese manufacturer products are imported from Japan. The stringent so called Shaken inspection process in Japan mandates that all cars older than 4 years must go through a rigorous inspection at an authorized repair facility. This inspection includes tires, brakes, body damage, engine leaks, and many other areas. This inspection costs from $2,000 to $4,000 dollars each time. As a result, a majority of the Japanese population trade their cars in when this inspection is due and are given huge rebates in return to purchase brand new cars. The Japanese government mandates that over 8 million cars a year must be recycled. There is virtually no used car market in Japan and many of these cars are disassembled and recycled. Some are shipped overseas. That is where we come in. We buy these engines and transmission in bulk after rigorous inspections. These engines and transmissions are very low mileage in excellent condition, with typically less than 50,000 miles.

[Ford Blue blood]

Hey, that light at the end of the tunnel is NOT an on-coming train!

[RICH MUISE]

Never would have thought finding one of these engines low miles would be so stressful. I sure wish I knew about Engine World when this all started. I realized last night they also remanufacture engines. Too late to check in to it, but something to keep in mind.
I did get an email from Parts Market on that first engine. A pick up is scheduled for today. I'm going to try and roundup some muscle this weekend to get my old engine pulled.

[Jeff Norwell]

Sounds very encouraging Rich!..fingers crossed!

[hiball3985]

Thanks for confirming that Rich, I didn't take the time to read everything on the site.

[CobraJoe]

.... I'm going to try and roundup some muscle this weekend to get my old engine pulled.

Now if you still lived in Massachusetts   

[RICH MUISE]

I guess there comes a time in every man's life when he's just got to give up his stubbornness and admit there are things he just can't do any more. I'm going to have to get someone to finish up the engine pull/reinstall. I can do the detail / finishing up work, but my body is not cooperating on this part of it. I'm going to have to separate the engine and tranny to get the engine out without pulling the front clip. The starter is still in the car, and I gashed a knuckle open last night trying to get to those bolts, so now my left hand is almost useless. lol I need a roadtrip.

[lalessi1]

What a bummer. Sorry to hear that, I am regretting the day I feel that way but we all know that its coming (if we live long enough to see it)! Hang in there. If we were only closer...