Originally Posted by Skirkpat
There sure are alot of opinions on here, this is a great site for alot of things, but most of these guys are shade tree mechanics at best (I know there are some experts too)....If you paid 5 grand for an engine and install you paid the going rate, I know because I have been inside of an automotive machine shop...not this year ,but this week and have built many engines personally, the last one was 7K and that did not include a core or any/very little markup on parts and no labor!
As far as what is wrong, it is probably an issue with the valve train, new parts take a while to "season" and lifters are notorious for bleeding down or failing. cams do go flat, studs can pull loose from the heads, there are alot of things that can go wrong...It sounds like you are a smart guy who can get someone to figure it out... as mentioned in the previous posts look for metal shavings in your oil, after a build assuming everyting is sized right there is very little tollerance and if you see metal shavings in the oil or oil filter ( cut it open and look at the filter media), you do have problems...possibly major problems, if not then you may need to pull the valve covers to see if the lifters/ rockers are all adjusted correctly and funtioning.
New engines use oil, any body tells you different needs to check their facts, you seem to be using alot, but it takes a while to seat ring, guides etc.
taking out the engne is a VERY LAST RESORT...figure out what is wrong first.
and it is probably worth the $80-100 to get a tow to a good mechanic.
Sorry if I stepped on toes, but from what I read, you guys are going a little overboard, You should sue is not real good advice, the best engine builders make mistakes, try to work it out with them but ultimately it would be hard to get any judge to even look at this situation seriously, if it made it across country the builder did at least a fair job...a bad engine would not have made it to N.Y.
Just my opinion
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