The beginning starts out with me needing a new motor and me finding a good deal on a 97 f3 engine with a little over 22k miles in Tampa Bay (2hr drive). I pick it up and bring it back to the shop to have the engine swapped. After 2 days the shop tells me that its running on 3 cylinders. After about 5+ weeks of them being gracious enough to keep the motorcycle in the shop and trying to find out what the problem is, they are almost certain it is an internal problem and are tired of dealing with it. They even called for the advice of other shops in the area.

I called the shop that I bought the engine from in Tampa and he said that the most they can do is swap motors, but he will not give me any money for having to pay to have the engine swapped again (let alone the cost of driving an F-150 back and forth). He is certain that the engine is good. I even offered to bring the bike over and let him figure out if there was an engine problem or not in order to determine if it was an engine problem and if he found a different problem, even though I shouldn't have to, I would pay him for the cost of repair. The ad said that there is nothing wrong mechanically and that it can just bolt up and ride, and that's what I expected. I figured that if he found the problem was the engine himself, he would just realize his mistake and swap it no charge or reimburse me. I had the shop that did the swap call him and tell him everything they did from new intake boots, to carb cleaning, to a whole different set of carbs, and everything in between including a compression leak-down and for some reason he thinks its the carbs out of all things. This guy way a complete dick over the phone and I just need to bite the bullet and pay my guys to swap motors again so I can get this thing situated and go home to see my family. Do you guys think he's screwing me? I bought it from ebay so I can leave neg feedback and I'm even debating contacting the BBB. But this is definitely a learning experience for me to make sure the engine is running or compression tested before I buy it.

 

I honestly think you are being d!cked around and well i would do both leave negative feed back because the engine you recived was said to be a bolt up and go, but its only firing on three cylinders... and I would also contact the Better business bureau (BBB) just for those who didnt know.. i have spoke with them over a shop that i got screwed over by and had nothing but great results

 

My thoughts as well. I don't mind being wrong if it happens to be something besides the internals, I just think that HE minded being wrong and kept giving me excuses.

 

i agree... most of the times when a mechanic makes a mistake the guy at the other end is paying for it..theres know way that it is the carbs,plug,coil,??? everything was checked before deaming the engine bad?? i hope this works out for you..

 

I would PERSONNALY check the carb boots and vacuum lines / fittings for major vacuum leaks. Also check for spark at all 4 plug boots, to ensure spark is getting all the way to the plug and not just out of the coil. After that, crank it up with a vaccum guage (dampened and liquid filled if you can, or the reading will be impossible) on the carb sync fittings to see that all 4 carbs are actually drawing vacuum (double checking for vacuum leaks). I have found too many idiots working at shops claiming they know what they are doing.

If it does not make horendous sounds and it passes compression checks, it should run. These engines are simple engines, no electronics to mess with, not variable valve timing / lift to deal with. If it builds good compression then it does not have a hole in the piston, isn't missing any rings, shouldn't have a stuck valve ect. I would bet your problem lies in your installer, not the equipment. But what do I know, I'm dumb enough to still live in upper Minnesota.

 

The shop suggested the boots and had to buy brand spanking new ones. Didn't work. All lines were checked coils, plugs, cleaned my carbs (which worked fine with my old engine) and even tried out a new set of carbs. When I say that we've tried everything I meant it. Like I also mentioned, they had more than one shop in the area chime in to see what the problem could have been. I even had my guys call the shop i bought the engine from in order to perform any tasks that hey would do just to give them comfort and after none of that worked, the excuses started rolling in. And JUST because this engine is so simple its hard to identify any other problems other than it lying internally. And I would be more than happy to trade that cold MN weather for this too warm for comfort FL weather

 

Parts for sale off of my old engine in the FS section

 

If you are getting proper compression across all four of the cylinders, and you're getting spark on all four, there's no real reason for an internal issue resulting in a dead cylinder...

 

I don't know what the shop said verbatim, and I don't know what they discussed with each other over the phone, but I have a new engine now so maybe they'll be able to figure it out on their own.

 

So who bought the new engine? I hope they bit.the bullet and are coperating with you now