Patriot heads....if kept my mouth shut long enough!!!
03-01-2004, 05:57 PM
#1
Registered User
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 9
Patriot heads....if kept my mouth shut long enough!!!
About 3 weeks ago I had Patriot Stg II 5.7 heads installed on my Camaro SS. Approximately 50 miles later... something happened in the engine and sounded like I had spun a rod bearing or something, which I found kinda strange since the engine only had 10,000 miles on it... anyways got home and my mechanic pulled the valvetrain and tried to crank the engine over manually... sure enough siezed at one point, it would only turn 359 degrees in either direction before stopping... so he pulled the motor out of the car and put it on a stand.. after pulling the spark plugs and turning the engine over to pull the oil pan one of his helpers noticed a small fragment sitting in one of the spark plug holes! So we pulled the heads off and sure enough one of the valve seats was missing! The piston had fragments stuck in it and the heads were destroyed with large chunks missing as well as fragments stuck in it. In addition the cylinder wall was not only scratched, but also had a large crack about 5 inches in length all the way through the cylinder sleeve. Lastly all 8 combustion chambers were covered in oil which looks to have come through the valve seals... the car did not consume an ounce of oil and has the LS6 PCV system so I am positive thats the only way it could have gotten in there!
At this point I contacted Patriot to see what they could do for me as the heads were clearly assembled incorrectly... after giving me the run around for a week I decided to fix the engien myself as I dont like paying for a rental car if I dont know im getting reimbursed... My mechanic sent the block out to be machined and resleeved and sure enough, the crack was too deep and penetrated into the block itself... making the block garbage. Now im screwed because I have no block, no one in town has any, and the dealerships will only sell crate engines! Another week later (2 weeks now) patriot still has not given me an answer, nor new heads, nor any refund of any kind... and the excuse stays at "im talking to the owner to see what we can do", this after numerous ignored phone calls, unreturned messages and some of the worst customer service I have ever encountered in my professional line of business.
Over the past couple of weeks I have sent out numerous PMs to Terry. Most of them replied to with simple one line answers. I asked to speak to the owner on numerous occasions and Terry said that shouldnt be a problem...but Ihave yet to speak to him. The only response I got from Terry is that it wasnt his call and he had to wait on his boss. Many of the PMs went unanswered. If I was lucky enough to get through to them on the phone Terry would tell me he didnt have anything for me as far as news goes.
Fast forward to today... I give patriot a phone call to see if they have done anything yet... im now greatly in debt for the rental car charges, I still have to pay my mechanic for the engine removal, dissassembly of the engine and the machine shop for the inspection of the block! In addition I also have a credit card bill for the heads I dont have in my possession!!! Now I find out from Terry that they have been working on a set of Stg II 5.3 heads for me. Mind you, I had stg II 5.7s to start with. I dont want 5.3s...Im in AZ with 91 octane...I dont haev any desire to have the higher comrpession 5.3s. But Patriot said they didnt have any 5.7s so this is what they were offering. Thats all they are offering. A set of heads fails after 50 miles and takes out my 10000 mile 02 ls6 motor and all they are offering is a different set of heads than I wanted. At this point I hung up out of frustration. I dont want these heads. I want my car back. And I definitly want my $$$ from the heads. When all is said and done, between labor on the work thats been done already, new parts, and more labor I'll be sitting at in excess of 60 total book hours....plus parts which include...block, rotating assembly, new heads, and all of the misc. gaskets, parts, fluids, rings, bearings etc...
Ive been sitting on this post for quite some time. I was the "other guy" that came in to this thread patriot thread...dropping seats I quickly had any posts pertaining to my car taken down to protect patriot until there was some resolve. I have over 70 high quality pictures from the teardown that I will be posting in this thread very shortly..just need to finish hosting them. Heres a sneak peak...
Take notice of the oil covered cylinders. It didnt look like that 50 miles ago. Looks like Patriot hadmore than a few problems with this set of heads.
Im heated right now and cant seem to make my mind clear enough to post all I have to say. Ive heard so much about how good Patriot was for Customer service. I havent seen it yet. Ive had a ton of unanswered, or under-answered PMs...no call backs, no chance to speak with the owner, and overall a very poor experience that has taken wayyyyy too long. I waited 3 weeks for them to tell me (when I call, not them) were giving you a difefrent set of heads that you dont want...and thats all we are going to do for you.
More to come
Oh and dont forget these oldies but goodies!
http://ls1tech.com/forums/showthread...hlight=patriot
http://ls1tech.com/forums/showthread...hlight=patriot
At this point I contacted Patriot to see what they could do for me as the heads were clearly assembled incorrectly... after giving me the run around for a week I decided to fix the engien myself as I dont like paying for a rental car if I dont know im getting reimbursed... My mechanic sent the block out to be machined and resleeved and sure enough, the crack was too deep and penetrated into the block itself... making the block garbage. Now im screwed because I have no block, no one in town has any, and the dealerships will only sell crate engines! Another week later (2 weeks now) patriot still has not given me an answer, nor new heads, nor any refund of any kind... and the excuse stays at "im talking to the owner to see what we can do", this after numerous ignored phone calls, unreturned messages and some of the worst customer service I have ever encountered in my professional line of business.
Over the past couple of weeks I have sent out numerous PMs to Terry. Most of them replied to with simple one line answers. I asked to speak to the owner on numerous occasions and Terry said that shouldnt be a problem...but Ihave yet to speak to him. The only response I got from Terry is that it wasnt his call and he had to wait on his boss. Many of the PMs went unanswered. If I was lucky enough to get through to them on the phone Terry would tell me he didnt have anything for me as far as news goes.
Fast forward to today... I give patriot a phone call to see if they have done anything yet... im now greatly in debt for the rental car charges, I still have to pay my mechanic for the engine removal, dissassembly of the engine and the machine shop for the inspection of the block! In addition I also have a credit card bill for the heads I dont have in my possession!!! Now I find out from Terry that they have been working on a set of Stg II 5.3 heads for me. Mind you, I had stg II 5.7s to start with. I dont want 5.3s...Im in AZ with 91 octane...I dont haev any desire to have the higher comrpession 5.3s. But Patriot said they didnt have any 5.7s so this is what they were offering. Thats all they are offering. A set of heads fails after 50 miles and takes out my 10000 mile 02 ls6 motor and all they are offering is a different set of heads than I wanted. At this point I hung up out of frustration. I dont want these heads. I want my car back. And I definitly want my $$$ from the heads. When all is said and done, between labor on the work thats been done already, new parts, and more labor I'll be sitting at in excess of 60 total book hours....plus parts which include...block, rotating assembly, new heads, and all of the misc. gaskets, parts, fluids, rings, bearings etc...
Ive been sitting on this post for quite some time. I was the "other guy" that came in to this thread patriot thread...dropping seats I quickly had any posts pertaining to my car taken down to protect patriot until there was some resolve. I have over 70 high quality pictures from the teardown that I will be posting in this thread very shortly..just need to finish hosting them. Heres a sneak peak...
Take notice of the oil covered cylinders. It didnt look like that 50 miles ago. Looks like Patriot hadmore than a few problems with this set of heads.
Im heated right now and cant seem to make my mind clear enough to post all I have to say. Ive heard so much about how good Patriot was for Customer service. I havent seen it yet. Ive had a ton of unanswered, or under-answered PMs...no call backs, no chance to speak with the owner, and overall a very poor experience that has taken wayyyyy too long. I waited 3 weeks for them to tell me (when I call, not them) were giving you a difefrent set of heads that you dont want...and thats all we are going to do for you.
More to come
Oh and dont forget these oldies but goodies!
http://ls1tech.com/forums/showthread...hlight=patriot
http://ls1tech.com/forums/showthread...hlight=patriot
03-01-2004, 06:04 PM
#2
Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Waterford Michigan
Posts: 86
Time to go to the better business bureau. And also file a complaint threatening lawsuit. Did you have a warranty? do you have your reciept? that will scare them. maybe they will buy you a whole new ls6 motor?
03-01-2004, 06:06 PM
#3
Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: PA
Posts: 48
Sorry to hear of your experience, thanks for the bit of FYI. Post this in the lounge. A couple of us tried warning people of ls1motorsports and their crappy customer service and they threw it off the board. I personally like to hear the experiences of others. The board should be unbiased. Anyways goodluck,
03-01-2004, 06:12 PM
#4
Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Portland, OR
Posts: 362
Wow sorry to hear of this. I will not be going with these heads now after hearing about these cases.
03-01-2004, 06:15 PM
#5
Registered User
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 9
Patriot wont be doing anything for me. Ive held my tounge for 3 long weeks of being ignored by them only to hear today (becuase I called them) that they wont be diong anythig for me except sending me a different head than what I bought originally. A whole differet style!!!
03-01-2004, 06:19 PM
#6
Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: High Orbit
Posts: 1,519
They won't ignore a letter from a lawyer indicating that this matter it about to escalate drastically (shut 'em down, bankrupt, everyone loses their job) if they don't come to a resolution with you ASAP.
It sounds mean, it's ugly, but they opened the door. Don't let them walk all over you like that. Take your documentation and set something up with a lawyer. Don't even bother telling Patriot what you're doing, you're done trying to talk to them at this point. They'll most likely ignore you again anyway.
I seriously doubt anyone's going to lose their job or the company will go under, the idea is to light a fire and get things straightened out.
It sounds mean, it's ugly, but they opened the door. Don't let them walk all over you like that. Take your documentation and set something up with a lawyer. Don't even bother telling Patriot what you're doing, you're done trying to talk to them at this point. They'll most likely ignore you again anyway.
I seriously doubt anyone's going to lose their job or the company will go under, the idea is to light a fire and get things straightened out.
03-01-2004, 06:23 PM
#7
Registered User
Join Date: Aug 1998
Posts: 901
Wow, that really sucks. You just convinced me that my stock heads are alright.
Best of luck!!!!!
Best of luck!!!!!
03-01-2004, 06:46 PM
#8
Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Birmingham, AL
Posts: 144
damn.
thats about all i can say to that. i feel you man and i hope you get this crap resolved soon. and on a side note i really appreciate you posting this story, i was planning on spending my summer job earning for a set of patriot heads, new cam shaft, and a few minor valve train parts.. kinda sad though.. i was always told and read that patriot made such a great product that was only about 5-10% less efficient than its counterparts that costed over a grand more
/tek.
thats about all i can say to that. i feel you man and i hope you get this crap resolved soon. and on a side note i really appreciate you posting this story, i was planning on spending my summer job earning for a set of patriot heads, new cam shaft, and a few minor valve train parts.. kinda sad though.. i was always told and read that patriot made such a great product that was only about 5-10% less efficient than its counterparts that costed over a grand more
/tek.
03-01-2004, 08:14 PM
#9
Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Chicago
Posts: 966
I definetly wont be buying heads from them. It really sucks how when companies screw people over with a defective part not only is it difficult to get a refund but usually u have spent $$ on several hours of labor b/c of a defective part. So when u inquire to them be sure to show them this thread and how many people they will be losing business from if they fail to rectify the situation. I really hate it when companies do this. Its really time someone learned. Hopefully when they see how many customers they will be losing they may think twice, while long shot its worth a try.
Good Luck.
Good Luck.
03-01-2004, 09:11 PM
#10
Registered User
Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: St. Louis, MO
Posts: 969
Yes, stock heads are alright...... but a quality set of aftermarket heads are 10x better. GTP or RGR are amazing, and I've always seen great powergains and reliability with them.
03-01-2004, 10:12 PM
#11
Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Vancouver, BC
Posts: 15
I feel for you Todd. I urge you to seek help from a lawyer. The sooner the better.
Good Luck
Good Luck
03-01-2004, 10:17 PM
#12
Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Boise, ID
Posts: 271
Originally posted by thelaws69
I feel for you Todd. I urge you to seek help from a lawyer. The sooner the better.
Good Luck
I feel for you Todd. I urge you to seek help from a lawyer. The sooner the better.
Good Luck
Have a lawyer draft a letter to them for you and they may cave without you even having to go to court.
03-02-2004, 12:14 AM
#13
Registered User
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: Shreveport La.
Posts: 541
Once again on another board, everyone jumps on the wagon. I'll explain my view again. It is a GM head. Patriot does not install the seats, therefore they should have no control over it falling out. If indeed you can prove that it is there fault, then post all you want, but until then, you should've held on to your tounge. Seems like your spreading an unbiast opinion on what you think and hurting someones buisness. Like I said before, him giving you another set of heads is more than what you should be getting. Prove it is his fault and I will remove all my comments.
03-02-2004, 12:21 AM
#14
Registered User
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 9
ive been censored
03-02-2004, 12:45 AM
#15
Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Mtn. Home AFB, ID (really from Texas)
Posts: 504
Originally posted by Beast96Z
Once again on another board, everyone jumps on the wagon. I'll explain my view again. It is a GM head. Patriot does not install the seats, therefore they should have no control over it falling out. If indeed you can prove that it is there fault, then post all you want, but until then, you should've held on to your tounge. Seems like your spreading an unbiast opinion on what you think and hurting someones buisness. Like I said before, him giving you another set of heads is more than what you should be getting. Prove it is his fault and I will remove all my comments.
Once again on another board, everyone jumps on the wagon. I'll explain my view again. It is a GM head. Patriot does not install the seats, therefore they should have no control over it falling out. If indeed you can prove that it is there fault, then post all you want, but until then, you should've held on to your tounge. Seems like your spreading an unbiast opinion on what you think and hurting someones buisness. Like I said before, him giving you another set of heads is more than what you should be getting. Prove it is his fault and I will remove all my comments.