Sry for the long read:
I purchased a rebuilt engine from a shop in the North East for about $4,600 shipped. It arrived as expected and, per the seller, it was shipped dry (no oil). I did a visual inspection on arrival, no visible issues at that point, and left it on the pallet for about two weeks (work and spring break got in the way). Again, no oil observed in the bag or on the motor.
Before scheduling installation, I started basic prep and transfer of minor sensors and the oil filter housing to the “new”motor. Towards the end of the evening I noticed oil near the upper crank case.
Thinking I had spilled some, I cleaned it up and turned in for the night.
The next morning, oil had accumulated in the same location. I reports the issues to the company and we went back and forth on resolving the problem. At one point they asked me to fix it, and I politely replied “no, the leaking area will require a full bottom end teardown to fix, that’s not what I paid for”. I informed them the engine hasn’t left the shipping crate and was never installed (which would voided their warranty), and in an email they said “ we didn’t realize the motor was installed, all photos provided was it in the crate.”
The issue was escalated to management and the tech said it “should not be leaking from that area, it’s sealed”. A few more back and forth emails and they finally requested for the motor to be sent back for inspection.
After reviewing it, they provided an inspection video and claimed: “so these engines are tested prior to shipping, In the back there’s an empty hole for like a sensor (oil level sensor location), so there would be oil coming out of here (it was dry), moreover for it to leak from this part here, the oil would actually have to be above this (the leaking location), but it’s not. Any residual oil as we said over email would come from the testing process. Including that (points to the leaking area) and including this (oil in the shipping bag). Therefore there is no leak.”
In the same instance, the email notes that they are going to classify this as a “general return” and hit me with:
20% restocking fee
Original shipping cost
Return shipping
Total refund would’ve been about $2,995.
And since you said you did some work to the engine the warranty is void. “A partial refund is the best we can do.” And did not offer for the motor to be returned. Case closed.
Long story shortened. I pushed back, filed a dispute, escalated through consumer protection and business fraud. After all of this, they ended up issuing a full refund.
My non leaking 200k engine phot is attached for reference to the leaking location.
Last photo is removal of all sensors and oil filter housing, plus wiping down the oil filter housing area leaving just the leaking area.
Moral of the story: Be careful out there of these companies and their warranty schemes. They could have made off with $2k for a defective product and would possible send it out to another person.