Finally Found A Remanufactured Engine!

[NMChemEng]

Got word today that ATK will replace the motor. Yesterday the mechanic and I could visibly see that the lobes on the cam for cyl #5 were damage and one of the lifters was dished and even worn through. Motor oil has visible flecks of metal. Cyl #5 has much greater coke deposits than the rest. Sadly ATK asked the mechanic to spend 18 hours worth of time to get the information they needed. An engine swap takes 10 hours. I get it, it is not their money, what do they care? Now they can reman this motor again. Hopefully it does not take them a month to get a motor to the shop.

So, the motor is in and Jeep is working. The shop took 2 weeks cause to swap the motor once it arrived from AutoZone (the motor getting delivered to the shop is another story). On top of that the shop had to source a used intake manifold and new oil pump drive. As they were taking parts off the FUBAR motor, the thing became unbalanced and fell, breaking both. I felt bad cause the shop manager is a nice dude. But it was their F up and thus their dime.

As I ponder things, I remember a year ago when the “new” reman motor first went in. The first time I drove it, it seemed very tight and stiff. The thing stalled easily and idled rough. Seemed sluggish off the line, more so than a typical 4.0. I attributed this to the motor needing to be broken in. I reset the computer and things got better, except the stiff/tight feeling. That went away with time and break-in.

This 2nd reman motor does not exhibit those oddities. It does not exhibit any of the above symptoms. It runs smooth, idles nice. Normal sounds and lifter ticks as expected in a 4.0. Has 250 miles on the oil. At 500 it will get changed. Then again at 2500 miles.

One big take away, is keep all your records and oil change receipts. Not just your log book, but actual receipts.

It is all over except the money. They need to settle up and I expect that will take some poking and prodding.

 

[Andy-WhiteTJ]

Glad things are working out. I installed an ATK engine myself in 2010. It now has 62,000 miles on it. Still running well. They were good to work with then and they seemed to have good quality but that was before all these COVID excuses.

 

[MikeE024]

Glad things are working out. I installed an ATK engine myself in 2010. It now has 62,000 miles on it. Still running well. They were good to work with then and they seemed to have good quality but that was before all these COVID excuses.

I read older posts stating they aren’t the solid company they once were. That seems to be the norm these days (I read the same about Jasper).