I was wondering if anyone on here has had a problem with a crate motor and tried to take advantage of the warranty.

For the '73 we are thinking about a 383. We have been thinking about going with a crate motor, mostly for the peace of mind of having a warranty. However, I have heard some discouraging things about warranty claims. It's a nice thing to have, ASSUMING you can actually collect on it.

So, if you have had an experience with this kind of thing, (good or bad) I'd like to hear about it. Where you got it, how you liked it, etc.

I got a GM 350 HO through a Chevy dealer, but had some board members install it for me. It's been in my car almost 2 years and I've put 9,000 miles on it. No problems and I love it.

You need to read the warranty carefully to see what would void it.

I know if you ship a motor to a drag strip they wont warrenty it...ask Diva ;)

i have a creat gm 350 in mine 3 years no prob,,,im gona go 383 with the best of every thing later, home built....differnt block,,,

Unless they have changed their policy, a GM dealer will honor the warranty on a GM crate motor. Does not matter who installed it. This applies to transmissions, starters, alts or anything GM sells with a warranty. If it breaks while under warranty, GM picks up the tab, labor and all.

IF put in by a dealer the labor is warrentied otherwise parts only.

Thanks for the responses so far.

We are going to put it in ourselves, (whatever we go with).

I was just afraid that it would be one of those "well, how do we know you didn't screw up installing it, so we won't replace it" kind of warranties. We would have to comb the warranty pretty closely.

By the way, has anyone gotten a motor from anywhere other than GM?

Thanks Again!

keep all maintenance recipts reguarding the engine and all recipts for any parts installed put in only the recomnded lubricants and you be fine if you need to make a warranty claim.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but seems I read in catalogs that you get a much longer warranty if your replacing a 350 in a car that came with one, then if you say replace a 6 cyl or 307 with one.

Be very careful. I found out the hard way. If the builder is in a different state, getting warranty work can be a problem if they choose not to follow through and back up their warranty. A warranty is only as good as the company standing behind it. Do lots of research, communicate with previous buyers, not just one guy who got one there. Remember that even though a builder only screws up the motor you buy, the only motor you are concerned with is the one you bought being warrantied. I got screwed by Golens Engine Service who was located in Mass., then moved to Vermont. If they screwed me, they will screw anyone, maybe you. And thats the way I would look at any crate motor builder who welches on even one bonafide motor they screwup. That one motor, or the next they screw up and welch on could be yours......

warranty is as good as the company that sold the item.

GM sells NEW 383's, 350's, and dozen or so other sizes.

Read about a guy who bought a V6 crate from GM to put in an S10 truck. Engine seized and locked up on first startup. He got no backing at all from GM, would not warranty the engine because he put it in, not a professional mechanic. I'd sure ask beforehand how the warranty applies on a self install and get it in writing if possible. For a generic crate engine I would probably take a chance, not a lot of money, but for a ZZ or stroker engine I'd want some assurance.

In my vette I went with a stage II Jasper engine. We deal with them all the time. If there is a problem a they are great to deal with.

Thanks for the input so far, guys.

That's the kind of stuff we were thinking, and will take into account. It is just nice to find out if there were any questions that hadn't come up.

Ztoy, that's exactly the way I look at companies that would do that type of thing, even 'just once'.

Like I said before Gm will not cover labor if you put it in, but we have had a few questionable installs. In reality the amount we used to sell 1/2 a truck a month we only had only 3 engines come back (and we sold thousands). One used oil, one had piston slap (early ZZZ) and one the balancer was beat on with a sludge hammer. Only the sludge hammer was not covered (we were taken to court). The guy that hammered on the balancer smashed the thrust surface of the bearing and who knows what else cause it knocked. Just do a good job putting it in and there will be no problem. These motors are very good. I am sure a few have to have problems cause so does everything mass produced but I would say darn few.