Fordy-water

Wish i posted here sooner but yes, i used the search function and google and nothing seemed to be too close to my issue so i hope you guys can help me out here. Heres the backstory...

So i purchased a 2008 Evo x with 6300mi from carmax back in September of last year. First Evo (coming from a lightly modified wrx) so i thought everything was kosher. Car seemed to run fine with no issues. Fast forward to 13xxxmi i decided to add a few power adders to the car. Simple bolt ons included ETS v2 quiet exhaust, ETS testpipe with gesi 49 state legal cat installed, AEM Failsafe, Grimmspeed BCS, Cosworth panel filter and a tune.

At the time i was in Denver and all work being done was out of Carz performance. Upon trying to tune- (baseline read 239whp/247tq the shop thought it was low but every car is different so they proceeded to try and tune. Well the car was throwing counts of knock at weird intervals upwards to 23 when they called me and said they couldnt tune it. When i arrived there they notified me of some horrible findings including an exhaust bung welded in the stock cat, intake manifold leak which when gasket was replaced by them showed signs of being used twice, various bolts removed or missing, alternator ground in the wrong hole, and the ROM in the ecu was not the same rom issued per the year of the car. So obviously the car was previously tampered with but per carmax it was OEM at the time of sale so they arent liable...nor that god awful warranty they sell will cover my issues.

Carz fixed all the nonsense going on and completed a compression test ( i was present watching the whole time) Cyl 1,3,4 were 105,110, 115 while 2 was 70.We also scoped the cyl but couldnt see anything concerning. I had to pcs to Maryland for the Military so I had to move. They blessed me with being safe to drive "stay out of boost, yada yada" Car ran fine on the trip. Drove very conservatively. I make it to Maryland (now at 17k mi) where i take it to Atlantic Motorsports for a second look. This whole time no CEL or anything up to this point. Give them the story and they do a leakdown test. Verified 2 was bad and told me that i needed to buy a new shortblock. Right as i fired up in their lot to leave it throw that code. Ironic right?! I ordered a block from ERL through atlantic which was already machined; just needed to be assembled with crank, rods, and pistons yet havent heard anything or received any updates even after I threatened to dispute the charge and get my money back. Its been about two months with a car in my garage that i cant/choose not to drive and no updates..

So far ive swapped spark plugs- still idles/runs rough with cyl 2 misfire/// Swapped coil packs-still no change///and the inj are pulsing and operational. No smoke out of the dipstick yet when i remove the oil cap there is a lot of air coming out. No smoke though. Im at a loss here and not sure what to do. Good idea to scrap the purchase on the shortblock and go to the stealership? Seemed weird that they jumped straight to the new motor idea right? Without teardown? But naive me hoped it would be a quick turnaround. Nope.

Would any of you mind sharing your knowledge? Would be greatly appreciated. sorry for the essay. Just wanted to give you all as much as i can.

Thanks in advance.

Tuxevo

iTrader: (8)

Welcome to Maryland. Seems odd that they'd suggest a whole new motor. I wouldn't wait two months. Especially when there are other shops that can provide the same, if not better service. Try calling UCS or Moore Automotive. The guys at Atlantic are good guys, but the reports on service are either really good or really bad. My experience wasn't good, so that factors into the tone of my post. Good luck.

Fordy-water

Thanks for the welcome! I have no beef or bad blood with anyone at the moment. Just with my job i needed to have my car fixed asap and i thought that was the quickest route. 2 months seems extreme esp when all it needed was assembly? The dudes at Atlantic seem to be a good group of dudes. Im exhausted racking my brain on what it could be..looking for insight as to corrective action and help thinking outside the box. At this point i need to probably contact other shops. Thank you for the help with suggesting UCS or Moore!

Dmwhite61

I know that Atlantic is moving shop might be the reason for the delay. Have they gotten the short block from earl yet?

Fordy-water

I have spoken to Atlantic when i found out they were moving. They didnt tell me that prior to having ordered the equipment. That being said they are being pretty accommodating per the circumstance however, they too havent heard from ERL nor received the block yet. After speaking to Atlantic about my frustration and that i am at the point of cancelling the order since i have not received the goods yet nor have any progress update; they pinged ERL for the block status but i have yet to get another update. I tried to call, email, and VM erl but nothing. At this point i call no foul on Atlantic they are doing what they can. I just dont know my options for repairs at this point. Its a weird turn of events. I might have to start from ground zero. What a pickle.

mirkendargen

iTrader: (2)

Talk to Atlantic about sourcing a block from elsewhere, and try talking to another shop if that doesn't get you anywhere. Everywhere has different connections. The compression and leakdown tests definitely confirm that you have short block problems. It's POSSIBLE your block is ok and you just have a cracked piston or ring and your block could be machined and reused. It seems like the issue should be apparent through either scoping (which you already did) or dropping the oil pan and checking out the bottom.