The Oilburners hall of shame

[dsrace]

divine and cruise diesel is a joke

ok I got one to add. there is a company called divine and cruise diesel in lincoln nebraska. the owner mike divine was my oldest daughters basketball and softball
coach. he is also a big time catholic and all his children attend catholic schools. I had a '92 idi f350 and one day stopped into a new station in ceresco just to find out the hard way they changed the pump colors so green is now 87 octane. I was in a hurry and didn't even look! filled both tanks, didn't even get a mile down the road and well it was no good! I limped it back to the station and at this time I'm tell the clerk they've got bad fuel when she tells me that wasn't diesel from my recipt! I called my father and he showed up with some hose and gas cans, I got it all out and filled it with diesel. It never idled right on the way home so I asked mike divine about this and he said I burned up the pump. I called around looking for a pump and found one at lithia ford dealership in omaha ne. I decided I didn't want to tackle this one so I took the truck to mike and told him lithia one in stock if his source didn't. he ordered one from lithia and installed it, it smoked bad and my fuel mileage was gone as well as power. he told me to drive it for a few days to see what happens. I took it back and said this isn't right. so he ordered another pump and installed it, called me and said his tech took it for a drive and it was all good again. I showed up to get it just to hear him say, ford wouldn't warranty the labor so we need another $215 or so dollars or I don't get my truck! I had a few things to say but paid him because I needed my truck.

I jumped in the truck, headed out the parking lot, pushed in the clutch and the motor died! I drove down the road a few miles pushed in the clutch at a stop light and it died again, it did this all the way home as I was calling him and telling him if his tech test drove this and cleared it for the road then he's no good! he told me to drive it for a few days to see if it cleared up, I had no faith in his abilitys as a mechanic at this point! I did take it to town the next morning and it quit dieing but idled real bad and black smoke poored out of the tail pipe empty!! I took it back monday morning just to watch him pull the dipstick to say your low on oil and then he opened removed the oil fill cap and said there too much blow by this motor needs and overhaul! BS! I took the truck to johnny at automotive specialists, he has a diesel mechanic there. I left the truck with them for 3 days for everytest they could think of. he called me up and said well you weakest cylinder is 385psi of compression and the strongest is 20 psi over I think, didn't need an overhaul just an injection pump! they purchased one from diesel specialists out of omaha and the truck ran great once again!! divine and cruise are not ford mechanics at all! I have told everyone and anyone about these crooks. I did call lithia ford about there rebuilt pumps and they said unless a certified ford diesel mechanic at their shop installs it than they would not stand behind it. I asked the sales clerk in parts if I needed to order a dozen to get one good one and he said " if that's what it takes" so I asked for the general manager and of course he wouldn't talk to me so I filled a report with ford and go figure nothing came out of it!! diesel specialist stands behind there work and parts and labor if a certified diesel mechanic installs it like the tech at automotive specialists.

I wouldn't take anything to divine and cruise diesel ever again!!

 

[6 Nebraska IDIs]

Divine and Cruise

I can add to the Divine and Cruise complaint above, just to emphasize that no one in the area take anything down there.
One instance I had with them that made me decide to never go back was when we took my moms 94 crew cab in to have them properly retime the truck using a meter (before I had one myself), this was a brand new IP that we'd installed and timed by ear but just wasnt quite right. So we took it down there, they quoted us $100 to time it. A day later I went to pick the truck up and it had similar problems that were described above. No power, lots of smoke, rough idle and very loud clattering. Not to mention the shop charged us $225 instead of the quoted $100, but that was because "the injection pump head was clogged and needed disassembly and cleaning", so they performed that operation without even telling us. Needless to say, we drove it 2 or 3 days like that as the owner said we should to get the "clogged up old pump" cleaned out. He also said "its a Ford, you need to drive it like you stole it or it always feels like it doesnt have any power." Ugh, wish we hadn't done that. After 3 days a clattering sound arose in the engine and after inspection we discovered that severely advanced timing had burned apart all of our NEW Beru glow plugs.

The second instance has to do with my works delivery truck, my boss insisted on taking it down to Divine and Cruise, so I did. $400+ later our 03 PSD was serviced, yea $400+ just to change the oil and filter. Con artists, so stay away!

 

[Diesel_brad]

HOLLY Transmission/Buy wise Stanhope NJ

Brought my 1980 F350 to this clown(Victor) and said i needed the C6 built for mud bogs and truck pulls. He said no problem and "rebuilt" it with a shift kit and torque converter. When i went to pick it up THE FIRST TIME he said he needed to get me a different vacume modulator. (then why call me and tell me it is done). On the way home(30 min hwy) i got off my exit, stopped then went to proceed. Yeah, It was stuck in 3rd i think. Called hi up and said the truck would be back the next day for VM and to fix the 3rd gear issue.

So i picked it up the following week(THE SECOND TIME) This time it slips getting on the highway!!! I drive it home an call him to tell him the problem, "No problem bring it back"

So i drop it off again about a week later. He had it for about a week. I pick it up FOR THE THIRD TIME and when i get off my exit, stopped and went to proceed it just sat there slipping. I was so pissed off.

I said screw it , the truck was going to be undrivable if it went back. Well later that night i got all drink and was doing Hot laps around my buddys shop. Then i was doing line locks on the parking pad. Afer the trans got nice and hot(you could smell clutches and ATF) i figured it was done. Parked the truck and went to walk in the garage. I seen this orange glow shining on the garage. I turn around and my truck is on FIRE.

get the fire extinguisher and put the fire out. Front pump seal went and sprayed ATF all over the headers and that was the cause.On top of the trans slipping

Called VICTOR the next day and told him i wanted my money back, the trans was screwd up again and this time it caught fire. He said no but he would rebuild it again. I told him i would see him in court. A month later he got his papers served and he called me wanting to settle before court be cause he knew he would loose. I settled but not with out pain and suffering.

He bought the business from JIM HOLLEY and has just been riding his coattails. Jim knew what he was doing,VICTOR does NOT

 

[Boston]

oh this is a perfect thread

ok
I payed some clown ( Warren at "The Engine Shop" in Longmont Colorado ) to rebuild a motor for me
I payed about 7k and it crapped out in about 500 miles
turns out he didn't clean the heads of shavings before he assembled it and handed it over to me.
then he wouldn't take it back
and
he knew what he was up to
he'd used several "performance parts" without telling me they voided the warranty

nice guy eh

 

[88beast]

a and a autostores hbg pa/ procomp

my buddy ordered a lift for his f250
got it 2 weeks after they said it would come
the lift was horribly painted and powder coat was chipping parts were not even prepped and parts were missing
they ordered the wrong one anyway
said they couldnt take it back hed have to go through procomp
procomp rep told the manager he has to return it because it was purchased through his company
a and a took it back and ordered the correct one that procomp told them he needed
well this came in 3 weeks late and finally we gave up this was also wrong
but quality was much better
so after a month and a half the project was cancled because my buddy was no longer able to use the shop it was in
A and A told them he can only return store credit that can then be returned to him in small incriments of the extra cash in register
20k 150 bucks at a time amazing
so if you buy from a and a use a credit card so the money can go back on the card
and we talked to a district manager too and he said this is how it is handled
i actually talked to a regional manager for customer relations and he told me that it was store policy how they were doing it

when at pepboys i dealt with a and a they commonly sent the wrong part but when they did they gladly refunded our money
they treat commertial accounts spending 6k per month better than joe smoe

 

[OnDaRoad]

Warren County Diesel Service in Franklin, OH

Warren County Diesel Service in Franklin, OH

Website @ http://warrencountydiesel.com/racing/?page_id=2

Avoid this company unless you want your vehicle damaged
and you like going to Court

They owe me $5600.00 & I am going to Court

They sold me a " complete valve job " in November of 2010
w/ a 12 month unlimited mileage parts & labor warranty for
$2400.00 on my 1991 7.3 IDI

Turns out (1) cylinder head was cracked between the valves
in several locations before being rebuilt

The other is marginal

No detailed parts list ever provided of what was installed
despite repeated promises to furnish it by the owner
Royal Merit

My heads are sitting in a machine shop - unusable

They sold me a complete 7.3 IDI used installed represented
as " engine runs great " on the invoice w/ a (6)
month unlimited mileage parts & labor warranty for
$3200 in March of 2011

(6) of the (8) cylinders compression tested at 351 pounds
or below - (1) is under 300 pounds

Engine has excessive blow by & not suitable for use

Despite a detailed written request for repair/refund
no action whatsoever by this company as of this date

Do not trust Steve Merit or Royal Merit


Jim

 

[Boston]

I just discovered that the PA bio-diesel supply centrifuge I bought has a stripped inlet fitting that some fool tried to just silicone in and send out to the customer

as if I'm not going to notice

they have also ignored my messages about returning it for either a refund or a new one

update
I got a call from these folks and they are all about getting me a new unit so in the end they came through
still wasn't to thrilled I got a defective unit but these folks seem to be just distributors so I can't be much but happy they are going to make it right

cheers

oh and hey
I'm kinda pressed for time but I must have goofed something up, my apologies to our moderator
I'll go read the rules soon as I get a minute

cheers
B

 

['94IDITurbo7.3]

Monster Cooling,

i ordered a all alluminum radiator for my truck from them. it arrived damaged. we email them the night it arrived. they responded telling me to send pics of the damage and to call them the following monday. I received the radiator thursday night.

well 4 emails later and nothing. the 4th one i sent and really gave Scott a piece of my mind.

Here is my thread about the damage......
http://www.oilburners.net/forums/showthread.php?t=51287

I would say that if you value your time and money to stay away from these people.

On a more positive note i will say that i was more that satisfied with the quality and craftsmanship of the construction of the radiator.

 

[D.A.V_Oil_Brnr]

B&R Auto Wrecking, Eugene, Oregon

This is more generalistic in nature, however, still fits the theme of the thread....


B&R Auto Wrecking in Eugene, Oregon where I live is the most aggravating yard in the state that I know of. They yank the engines out of the vehicles exposing them to the weather and charge thousands of dollars for them, chopping the wiring harnesses to complete uselessness. For a simple clear plastic dash gauge window panel for my '86 Ford F250 I was charged $5.00. EVERY part in the yard is NEW prices. So a stanadyne pump would be $600.00 "because that's what Knechts would charge new" even if its a rebuild. I believe you all get the picture... I priced a 6.9 Diesel for my truck at B&R (which turned out to be horrifyingly damaged) and I was told $4,250.00. When I looked at the motor I was thoroughly appalled. the stanadyne pump was open to weather, the hard lines were all destroyed, the engine was rusted even in the water jackets, the injectors were damaged, the valve covers were dented (one with a rip in it).... The list goes on, and I refuse to pay $100 for that wreck... they can keep it. Last point of note, B&R crushes cars with good parts in them for no reason. Makes it difficult to ACTUALLY find anything you need. Further, they have a "locked" yard that from my observation is where the employee's rip off parts they want before the public gets them. With the number of times B&R has changed ownership, I am LESS than surprised.

 

[bbjordan]

Fastengineparts aka Maddog Racing

On Sept. 30, 2011 I ordered a new set pistons and rings off of ebay from Fastengineparts also known as Maddog Racing.
When I received them Oct. 11, 2011, I noticed that there some problems:

"Dear hd_mad_dog,

Hello, I just got the pistons today. After a close inspection I found one of the pistons slightly damaged. The piston had a ding very close to the second ring that effectively pinned the ring in the piston groove. The oil ring on the same piston was broken. One wrist pin lock is also missing. I have pictures if you'd like. I thought I would contact you before leaving feedback. I managed to free up the second ring and file the second piston groove smooth, so the piston is OK. I also have spare wrist pin locks, but I don't have a spare oil ring that is 0.020 over. Can you send a replacement oil ring? Regards, Brian Jordan

- bbjordan400"

Pinned_ring

Broken_oil_ring

Missing_wrist_pin_lock

This was not shipping damage! The packaging was good, these parts were obviously damaged & missing before they were shipped.

A few days later I got the following reply:

" Dear bbjordan400,

Hi Brian, sorry about the delay. Thanks for handling the damage. I will get an oil ring out right away. thanks

- hd_mad_dog"

No oil ring.

Dec. 03, 2011

"Dear fastengineparts,

hd_mad_dog, well is has been 2 months now. I think I have been very patient.
I still have not received the replacement oil ring. When can I expect to receive it?
Please respond.

Brian Jordan

- bbjordan400"

No reply.

Dec. 10, 2011.

"Dear fastengineparts,

I still have not received the oil ring.
Do I have to introduce you to the Oilburners.net Hall of Shame?

Brian

- bbjordan400"

No reply.

So I checked the customer feedback on ebay. Most of his feedback is positive, but the ones that are negative have a common pattern:
Complaint about product.
Fastengineparts promises to make it right. They don't.
Then they ignore subsequent emails.

So what happens is, If you haven't completed the feedback, after about a month it automatically closes as "Satisfied".
What he is doing is making promises to buy time until it automatically closes the feedback.

Lesson learned: Mark feedback as negative right away, you can always change it later when it is made right.

Oh, and I won't buy from these guys again!

 

[DesertBen44]

CCG Truck-

Ordered super cab cab corner for my 92 f250, like $25 dollars. After a week and a half, I call to see why part has not arrived

Guy gives me a SERIOUS attitude "Cant you check your order status online?"

After I explain the situation, guy realizes the deal and says

"Oh, I ran out of stock of those, but ordered some from another vendor and shipped them, so they should be there by Thursday" ( it was a Tuesday)

Alright; thanks...

its been 3 weeks since then, no part, ignoring my emails, and guy rarely answers the phone. I'm in serious harass mode so I'm going to be blowing that phone up all day today and at least demanding my money back; But i could be out the 30 dollars plus shipping.

Lesson learned- Do not deal with this company, CCG Truck. The website is legit but I believe its just a miserable guy working out of a basement somewhere screwing people.

 

[FORDMAN41291]

Ok guys I got a really good one. Jimmy Lackeys Auto in Gladeville, TN.
I took my truck down there. 94. F150 to have a new brake line, new driver side rotor and wheel bearing put in. Charged me 150$ to do all that I could've done it myself but since I had the money I decided to pay someone. So no complaints on that end of work other than a ghetto up spliced up brake line. My mom has a 97 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo and thr driver side wheel bearing was going out so I was gonna fix it but I just told her just to take it to Jimmy's so he ended up charging her 200$ for a wheel bearing. And then he decided to talk behind my back saying that I myself didn't know how to put a new wheel bearing in or fix anything on a vehicle. So not only does he rip woman off he talks about you behind your back...

 

[Kalashnikov]

DPS Diesel SUCKS (Ken)

I wanted a mild injection pump and injectors and DPS had good prices so I figured I'd try them out.

Called later Friday after noon and gave Ken all my payment info and specs. I order 1 hot turbo pump, 1 stock non turbo pump and 2 sets of stage 1 injectors. He said you should have them (or be ready) by next Thursday. I told him that's not too bad because I NEED the truck ASAP. So I called Wednesday before I'm suppose to get them. He says he still has 3 customer left to do so it will probably be sometime next week. He told me there were 3 customer on Friday...

So I think it was Monday I called and they said they were working on my stuff now and I should get it by the end of the week. Ok, that's cool. I can understand getting some stuff later than expected. A call would've been nice but whatever.

Wednesday I think was the next called. I spoke with a woman but I don't recall her name. She said they were waiting on a core pump and should be there today.

Friday I call since I still didn't have the parts. No answer all day.

Monday I call, no answer all day so I leave a message.

Tuesday, no one answers...luckily they still hadn't taken the money out of my account so I cancelled my card. Today makes 3 weeks ago I was suppose to have parts. Absolutely unacceptable. This is one of the WORST customer service I have ever experienced!

I still have yet to hear from them...

 

[1badb2]

Ken @ DPS performance (reposted)

Obviously I broke the rules by making another screen name, and I fully expect this one to be banned soon after posting this.... but I feel that it is important that I post this here as well.... as I am single handedly responsible for Kens recent "success" in the IDI world again. I know that he is/was getting several people from this forum buying from him, based on my "cheerleading" if you will... and my success.

I am making this thread because although several were weary of Ken........... Ken turned out to be much more dirty than was originally proven....

Most of you already know the story of me joining OB in the fall of 2010, I am an abrasive person.... and although have since toned down, I can understand why I joined the Band here....

I then went over to PSN, also which story is well known.... what is not known is my personal encounters with Ken, behind the scenes. The point of this thread is not only to give factual information to deter people from using Ken........ its also to help give an explanation as to why my build didn't quite live up to the hype.

My experience of being ripped was a little different than what most experienced here, aside from my friend, Ryan Eklund...

When I started my build I called Ken and told him I needed something more than the turbo cal. He told me he had been working on a DB4 hybrid pump, to supply 150-180cc's of fuel. I told him to put me on the list, and a few months later I got my pump.

As everyone knows my pump failed at just 1,000 miles. The cam pin broke, and Ken blamed my fuel regulator, which I have no doubt helped with it... but he didn't tell me the whole story.

Fast forward 6,000 miles and 2 weeks ago... cam pin breaks again. I call Ken and tell him I'm pulling the pump apart so I can have the rotor EDM'd... he freaked out, threatened me with no warranty, and when I told him that was fine, could tell that he was just trying to prevent me from seeing the "secrets" in the pump.

I get all the machine work done, box the pump up, and send it to Ken on June 7th..... I called him to let him know it was on the way. During this conversation I asked him what was up with 6.9performances pump. He told me that those "Pennsylvania Clowns" ****ed with one of the fuel screws, messing up the calibration and that he wasn't going to pay the $350 to have it recalibrated.

I was confused as to why he would pay to do the work himself, when he told me that he was outsourcing it because he was too busy to do it. The next morning on my way to work, it just didn't sit right with me.... a high performance diesel shop, is going to send a 1 of 3 custom pump, to some other shop to calibrate for him....

I started doing some digging around, calling shops in his area, state wide, and then out of state until I finally found the creator of my DB4. Turns out he is also the creator of the turbo-cal and has never heard of Ken's crappy customer service, or shady dealings... go figure

Him and I talk for nearly an hour, and in this conversation I find out a bunch of different things. First, he told Ken the cam pin was the weak point before the pump was ever built, and Ken decided to ignore it. Second, my pump was never 150cc's, and he never told Ken that. The DB4 project pumps were 120cc's @ 1400rpm max output..... Which brought me to my next question.... the other guys here paid nearly $1800, which was $800 more than me for an EDM'd pump putting out 180cc's.... Ken specifically told me these numbers. The pump builder just kind of chuckled and said... no, all 3 pumps are identical to each other.

I call Ken that following Monday to confirm he got the pump, he said he did and would tear into it that week.... I waited till Wednesday, called back.... over, and over, and over till he quit screening and BJ finally answered..... I said "Hey BJ, whats the status on my pump?"... he tells me Ken has it on the bench, but that's it. I said "really all I want to know is when it is going to make it over to "insert pump builders name"...... the phone went silent...

We had a long conversation, and explained I didn't really care that Ken was middle manning, what I cared about is that he lied so much... he was so worried about keeping this pump a secret that he lost his best customer, and his customer service sucks.... I recommended he go take some business ethics classes.... BJ and I went back and forth, he sympathized for me, and I told him that they had 48 hours to provide me a tracking number for the pump being sent to the builder, or being sent to me. He told me he would get it sent to the builder next day. I thanked him for being professional about it, and told him it was too bad it had to end this way, but I cannot work with a liar.

Friday rolls around, builder calls me, he has pump, but apparently Ken didn't agree with BJ. He tried telling the builder he had no rights to work directly with me, and that he had no proof the pump that was sent was mine... I tried calling Ken, but like the ***** he is, refused to take my call, and hung up on me when I called from another number....

I sent this email to him:

Ken, it has come to my attention that after sending my pump to the builder as I had asked, you then had a conversation with him, demanding that he not work on my pump via my instructions, and that he send the pump back to you. I informed him today that under no circumstance is he to release the pump to you. I know that you removed the pump from the original packaging to hide my address, but you left my receipt from the EDM shop in there, which has my name and card information on it. I also have a voice mail from Kerry (sp?) acknowledging that she sent my pump off, as well as pictures of the pump, its internals, the EDM'd rotor, and the serial tag.

There is no disputing that this pump is mine. I am releasing you from all liability tied to the pump and demanding that you not touch my pump, or any of its parts. I am terminating any all business relationship that I had with you and the pump's modifications are at my discretion and the discretion of any other person I choose. I have given "insert shop name here" my pump, and I am now working directly with them on the development of it. Machine work will be performed by who I choose.

I cc'd the builder in this email as well, so he will receive a copy for his records.

Justin Wheeler

I get a call from the builder about 45 minutes later telling me Ken called, pissed off, and gave up... the builder also informed Ken that he would no longer build pumps for him now that his true nature had been brought to light, and he didn't want to risk bad publicity on his shop, due to Ken.

That being said, I now have a direct relationship with this shop for the development of these pumps, and we have a relationship with a local to us shop.... so the quest for more fuel and higher performance IDI's is nowhere near over.... it is just beginning now that I've got Ken out of the way.

Looks to me like 6.9performance is probably going to have a little beef here as well.... he paid $1800 for a 180cc pump, and got a $1,000 120cc pump..... He is the one that REALLY got ripped....

Just to make a few things clear, that seemed to of been still unclear at the other forums.

1. Ken does build his "stage 1" injectors. Probably the reason for such hit and miss quality. Some get good sets, others get leaky... crappy sets.
2. Ken does NOT, and has never built the Turbo-Cal pumps...or any pumps for that matter. In addition, the builder has never had a pump come back, or heard of issues from Ken.

 

[Coyote_Red]

Mike's Diesel Performance. Mike Winters

This is a guy doing work in his pole barn in Chelsea, Mi. From what I have heard he is a bit of a hack. I had a friend take a 5.9 Cummins in to have the pump replaced. He got the truck in a timely fashion but when he drove to town and stopped at the store he had diesel pouring down the side of the block. He had loosened an injection line and neglected to tighten it since it was hard to reach. When he dropped the truck off at a professional shop they said they see 8-10 of his truck a month come in with problems a week or less after Mike has worked on them.