HAVOC
06-05-2006, 06:39 PM
A few months a go I was in the market for a new short block., A friend of mine had AMS racing build him an engine and he was happy with it, I called them and chatted with them and everything sounded great, the service, the price and a 6 month 6000 mile warranty so I went ahead and placed my order. I was certainly excited and couldn’t wait to get this new motor in the car.
New AMS Motor gets here and I got one of the best guys in FL doing the swap for me, An ASE master technician and an LS1 expert. Anyways, car is all done, I spent extra $ (even though money was tight), to make sure everything was done right the first time, all new gaskets, arp studs sce titan head gaskets, new ls6 oil pump etc. etc.
Anyways, new motor swap is now completely done, we get the car fired up for the very first time and I was so happy. Well, until it actually warmed up and the oil pressure was at 15 psi at idle and would max out at 40 psi! 1st things first, called AMS up, they said it must be a bad oil pump, I said, well, it’s a brand new ls6 oil pump from the dealer, they said it must be the oil pump. I said ok, I bought another ls6 oil pump had it shipped to AMS, they ported it and put a higher pressure spring in it for free, I just had to pay for shipping, that was very nice of them and I am happy about that. Well, I spent another $200 getting the new oil pump installed. Ok, get in the car and fire it up, great oil pressure!!! Awesome, nope, not for long, just like last time, great oil pressure when its cold but as soon as it warms up, back to the same thing 15 psi at idle and will not go above 40 psi no matter what.
At this point I’m pretty mad, but determined, so we start trying other things, hooked up a manual oil pressure gauge, it was fine, swapped oil pressure sending units, didn’t make a difference, call AMS back up tell them that the new oil pump didn’t fix the problem. Then they said, well, its got to be the cam retainer plate (Ii forget the exact name, but the plate that goes in front of the cam, orange gasket) so I buy a new one of these, pay more $ to get it put in. what do u know, still didn’t fix the problem. I’m even madder at this time. Call AMS back up, tell them what’s going on, they then say its got to be the oil galley plug in the back, I say no! that’s not the problem, I saw with my own eyes that it was in there before the motor was put in. Then they say well, give me a few days, ill talk to some associates and see if I can find something out, about a week goes by, he says try some 20/50 weight oil. I’m like that’s not right, but ill try it anyways, tried it and it made the oil pressure really high when cold, but same thing, it only would idle at around 16-17 psi when warm but again, the big problem is it would max out at like 42 psi warm. That’s absolutely unacceptable for an engine that is going to be spinning 6700 rpms!
I call AMS back and tell them that it didn’t really help at all. This is about a month or so later now after trying all this stuff. At this point I’m really wishing I would of have chosen a different company. But its all good right, I got a warranty. Well, the warranty consisted of me getting the motor there. Labor to take out the motor and then re-install it, $1300, + shipping $250 each way. So this warranty is going to cost me $1800 +. They said get the car here and we will try and fix it, I tell them that its $750 each way to put it on a car hauler, $1500 + 10 days to get it there each trip. I am not going to pay all this $ for something that is the engine builders fault.
So, yes, AMS is working with me to try and help me, but helping me out is absolutely not anywhere close to being at the top of there priority list! AMS says that they can get me a car hauler that sometimes goes to FL where I live for a discounted rate. But, he doesn’t know how much the discount will be?????? 1-2 weeks went by, I call back and to see if there is any word on the car hauler or how much it will cost, he says he doesn’t know when the car hauler will get here. He will call me in 1-2 weeks to let me know if he heard anything. Well, 2 weeks go by, I still haven’t heard from him, so I say screw it, pull the motor back out of the car, tear it down, take it to a machine shop for them to look it over and check everything. I have a build sheet signed by AMS racing. The build sheet states that all of the rod bearings are .0025 had them checked and they were all .0015 (much tighter) that’s fine with me, but why are they so different than what the build/blueprint sheet says? Now we go to the main bearings, 3 of them are at .0027-.0028 like the build/blueprint sheet says but 1 is at .0031 and another is at .0035!!!!!! No wonder why there is low oil pressure when the car gets warmed up! JFYI, GM calls for main bearing clearances to be between .0007 to .0021. .0027 is considered really loose and almost like an all out nitrous motor for a pure race car. Also, what I also find disturbing is that on one sheet, it says I have -8cc dished pistons, on another sheet it says I have -13cc dished pistons, which one is it? On one sheet it says I have a 382ci motor on another sheet it says I have a 383, different bore sizes written down and signed off on. Not like it really matters on the bore size, but I would expect this Build/Blueprint sheet to be 100% accurate! If they can’t even get these numbers right, then maybe its no wonder why 2 of the main bearings had way too much clearance!
So now that I find this out. I buy new +1 oversized bearings (will makes the biggest tolerance .0025 now instead of .0035), going to be getting those installed soon and get this motor put back together and then put back into the car, hopefully then ill be on my way to actually being able to enjoy my car. I called AMS today, tell them what I found out and they had the nerve to say well, we will reimburse you for the bearings you had to buy. OMFG! I’ve wasted 3 months and thousands and thousands of dollars, tons of hard work trying to fix this mess and all I get offered is to be reimbursed for some bearings? It’s just gone on way to long; it hurt me in many ways, especially financially. AMS started off looking like a great company, but really left me out to dry in the end. Sorry if your eyes are bleeding by now after reading all of this but, I just wanted to share my experience with you all in hopes that you never have to go through what I did. AMS may of have built some incredible engines before, but I definitely did not get a good one. I’ve learned a lot from all this, and the most important thing I’ve learned is to deal with someone locally, and if possible, have them do ALL the work, that way they can’t blame it on someone or something else and you can speak to them face to face.
New AMS Motor gets here and I got one of the best guys in FL doing the swap for me, An ASE master technician and an LS1 expert. Anyways, car is all done, I spent extra $ (even though money was tight), to make sure everything was done right the first time, all new gaskets, arp studs sce titan head gaskets, new ls6 oil pump etc. etc.
Anyways, new motor swap is now completely done, we get the car fired up for the very first time and I was so happy. Well, until it actually warmed up and the oil pressure was at 15 psi at idle and would max out at 40 psi! 1st things first, called AMS up, they said it must be a bad oil pump, I said, well, it’s a brand new ls6 oil pump from the dealer, they said it must be the oil pump. I said ok, I bought another ls6 oil pump had it shipped to AMS, they ported it and put a higher pressure spring in it for free, I just had to pay for shipping, that was very nice of them and I am happy about that. Well, I spent another $200 getting the new oil pump installed. Ok, get in the car and fire it up, great oil pressure!!! Awesome, nope, not for long, just like last time, great oil pressure when its cold but as soon as it warms up, back to the same thing 15 psi at idle and will not go above 40 psi no matter what.
At this point I’m pretty mad, but determined, so we start trying other things, hooked up a manual oil pressure gauge, it was fine, swapped oil pressure sending units, didn’t make a difference, call AMS back up tell them that the new oil pump didn’t fix the problem. Then they said, well, its got to be the cam retainer plate (Ii forget the exact name, but the plate that goes in front of the cam, orange gasket) so I buy a new one of these, pay more $ to get it put in. what do u know, still didn’t fix the problem. I’m even madder at this time. Call AMS back up, tell them what’s going on, they then say its got to be the oil galley plug in the back, I say no! that’s not the problem, I saw with my own eyes that it was in there before the motor was put in. Then they say well, give me a few days, ill talk to some associates and see if I can find something out, about a week goes by, he says try some 20/50 weight oil. I’m like that’s not right, but ill try it anyways, tried it and it made the oil pressure really high when cold, but same thing, it only would idle at around 16-17 psi when warm but again, the big problem is it would max out at like 42 psi warm. That’s absolutely unacceptable for an engine that is going to be spinning 6700 rpms!
I call AMS back and tell them that it didn’t really help at all. This is about a month or so later now after trying all this stuff. At this point I’m really wishing I would of have chosen a different company. But its all good right, I got a warranty. Well, the warranty consisted of me getting the motor there. Labor to take out the motor and then re-install it, $1300, + shipping $250 each way. So this warranty is going to cost me $1800 +. They said get the car here and we will try and fix it, I tell them that its $750 each way to put it on a car hauler, $1500 + 10 days to get it there each trip. I am not going to pay all this $ for something that is the engine builders fault.
So, yes, AMS is working with me to try and help me, but helping me out is absolutely not anywhere close to being at the top of there priority list! AMS says that they can get me a car hauler that sometimes goes to FL where I live for a discounted rate. But, he doesn’t know how much the discount will be?????? 1-2 weeks went by, I call back and to see if there is any word on the car hauler or how much it will cost, he says he doesn’t know when the car hauler will get here. He will call me in 1-2 weeks to let me know if he heard anything. Well, 2 weeks go by, I still haven’t heard from him, so I say screw it, pull the motor back out of the car, tear it down, take it to a machine shop for them to look it over and check everything. I have a build sheet signed by AMS racing. The build sheet states that all of the rod bearings are .0025 had them checked and they were all .0015 (much tighter) that’s fine with me, but why are they so different than what the build/blueprint sheet says? Now we go to the main bearings, 3 of them are at .0027-.0028 like the build/blueprint sheet says but 1 is at .0031 and another is at .0035!!!!!! No wonder why there is low oil pressure when the car gets warmed up! JFYI, GM calls for main bearing clearances to be between .0007 to .0021. .0027 is considered really loose and almost like an all out nitrous motor for a pure race car. Also, what I also find disturbing is that on one sheet, it says I have -8cc dished pistons, on another sheet it says I have -13cc dished pistons, which one is it? On one sheet it says I have a 382ci motor on another sheet it says I have a 383, different bore sizes written down and signed off on. Not like it really matters on the bore size, but I would expect this Build/Blueprint sheet to be 100% accurate! If they can’t even get these numbers right, then maybe its no wonder why 2 of the main bearings had way too much clearance!
So now that I find this out. I buy new +1 oversized bearings (will makes the biggest tolerance .0025 now instead of .0035), going to be getting those installed soon and get this motor put back together and then put back into the car, hopefully then ill be on my way to actually being able to enjoy my car. I called AMS today, tell them what I found out and they had the nerve to say well, we will reimburse you for the bearings you had to buy. OMFG! I’ve wasted 3 months and thousands and thousands of dollars, tons of hard work trying to fix this mess and all I get offered is to be reimbursed for some bearings? It’s just gone on way to long; it hurt me in many ways, especially financially. AMS started off looking like a great company, but really left me out to dry in the end. Sorry if your eyes are bleeding by now after reading all of this but, I just wanted to share my experience with you all in hopes that you never have to go through what I did. AMS may of have built some incredible engines before, but I definitely did not get a good one. I’ve learned a lot from all this, and the most important thing I’ve learned is to deal with someone locally, and if possible, have them do ALL the work, that way they can’t blame it on someone or something else and you can speak to them face to face.