THE DANGERS OF SOME AFTERMARKET ENGINES
If you are in need of an engine rebuild at some point you may hear about some aftermarket engine rebuild companies products being used by many shops. What you may not hear about are that many of those shops ultimately stop using these aftermarket engines due to their lack of reliability and quality of internal engine work. This page is a compilation of years of data and only a fraction of the failed components we have collected. Each of these aftermarket engines have been rebuilt by Cool Toys and are still running strong. Bear in mind the first thing we do is to junk the components incorporated into the previous rebuild and replace them with quality components.
In the pictures above you see piston circlips (far left) that are used by SBT (Short Block Technologies) in Florida. A circlip is used to keep the wristpin in place. The wristpin connects the piston to the connecting rod. Notice that one of the clips has broken and no longer has the small holes used to compress the clip so that it can be installed. In the center and right photos you can see the obvious damage that occurred when the broken pieces of the circlip began bouncing up and down while the engine was operating. The small ends literally ate away at the piston, on both sides, until they eventually fell out and the wristpin slid out of the piston and proceeded to destroy the cylinder it was installed into. We have actually seen this failure approximately 15 times from this same company.
This was just one of the two engines, from the same company, installed in each of this customer's two 1999 Yamaha XL1200 Limiteds. Each motor failed one month out of its warranty and the owner only got to ride them a few times due to his work schedule and then winter. There was no way he could have avoided this damage and it was due to no fault of his own. The family that bought these did not want them back as the expense was just too large to incur for a rebuild after paying for them. We purchased the two craft from him; completely rebuilt each engine and they now have a new and satisfied owner. Both are running strong with the parts from the previous company long gone. By the way, we keep many of these defective parts here for others to view in case they want to be able to see it live and in person.
Pictured below you can see the cracks in the welds on the crankshafts from this same company. Welding cranks is an additional service that is available but is not necessary on recreational watercraft crankshafts. This service is typically performed on higher revving race engines that are subjected to higher stress levels and repeated loading and unloading of the pump causing constant back and forth rotational strain on the crankshaft and driveline to keep the crankshaft from twisting.
This was just one of the two engines, from the same company, installed in each of this customer's two 1999 Yamaha XL1200 Limiteds. Each motor failed one month out of its warranty and the owner only got to ride them a few times due to his work schedule and then winter. There was no way he could have avoided this damage and it was due to no fault of his own. The family that bought these did not want them back as the expense was just too large to incur for a rebuild after paying for them. We purchased the two craft from him; completely rebuilt each engine and they now have a new and satisfied owner. Both are running strong with the parts from the previous company long gone. By the way, we keep many of these defective parts here for others to view in case they want to be able to see it live and in person.
Pictured below you can see the cracks in the welds on the crankshafts from this same company. Welding cranks is an additional service that is available but is not necessary on recreational watercraft crankshafts. This service is typically performed on higher revving race engines that are subjected to higher stress levels and repeated loading and unloading of the pump causing constant back and forth rotational strain on the crankshaft and driveline to keep the crankshaft from twisting.
Cracked welds and cheap Chinese bearings?
In the photos above, you see representations of the level of quality you can expect from the well known aftermarket, mass quantity engine rebuilder SBT (Short Block Technologies). These engines are cheap and offer a warranty, albeit shorter than the warranty Cool Toys offers, but use inferior bearings made in China. This company also touts the welding of their crankshafts but in the photos above you can see the problem that eventually creeps up and causes havoc inside your engine. If you look closely, you see the crack that has developed on this particular weld. While this particular crank failed on the #2 connecting rod resulting in a catastrophic engine failure, this weld on the #3 crank pin was on its way to cause problems of its own. As the crack increases in length, the pin will eventually rotate causing small flakes of metal to break off of the weld which will then circulate through the engine eventually causing a failure. We've seen this type of failure numerous times.
Some other shops here in NC state they will never use cheap Chinese made bearings. However, they do offer this company's product which does indeed include cheap Chinese bearings. Don't be fooled by a cheap price on an engine rebuild. Insist on a high quality engine rebuild that the shop will warranty. Insist on an engine rebuild from Cool Toys with a 4 year in-house warranty.
The rust you see on these parts is just from the rain that got onto the parts due to the tornado damaging the storage building they were stored in.
Some other shops here in NC state they will never use cheap Chinese made bearings. However, they do offer this company's product which does indeed include cheap Chinese bearings. Don't be fooled by a cheap price on an engine rebuild. Insist on a high quality engine rebuild that the shop will warranty. Insist on an engine rebuild from Cool Toys with a 4 year in-house warranty.
The rust you see on these parts is just from the rain that got onto the parts due to the tornado damaging the storage building they were stored in.
