K & K Automotive Sold Me a Poorly Remanufactured Engine/Cheap Parts Passaic New Jersey

In February 2015 my brother and I purchased a remanufactured engine on eBay from K & K Automotive for his Ford F-150.  When it was purchased, we used PayPal to pay a total over $3,000 ($2,500 for the engine plus shipping costs.)  This engine also came with a 1 year wrranty.  Once the engine was received, I put it in the truck.

I then purchased the truck from my brother around March 2016.  Not long after I purchased the truck it began making a loud ticking noise.  I took it to the local Ford Dealer, Buss Ford, and the mechanic found the right bank Cam, the Cylinder 4 Rocker wore a groove in the Cam Shaft Lobe.  This was on April 18, 2016 and the total cost of this repair was $1,172.15.  The mechanic also said that this is not something that happens overnight, it can take 6 months to wear down the way it did.

The truck ran good for a bit then about 2 months later it began ticking again.  I took it back to the same Ford dealer and paid $294.00 to have the mechanic remove the valve cover and found no damage but did say the noise was coming from the lower engine.

I then took it to Cam Performance on 07/28/2016, via tow truck (cost $75 there and $75 back.)  The mechanic stated that the engine had a consistent ticking noise while running from the passenger side bank.  He replaced all right bank valve lash adjusters as one was collapsed; as he thought this was the problem  This cost $518.20.

Once the truck was towed back to my house I put everything back together and started it but again the ticking noise was still there.  I took it back apart, pulling the oil pan and found a chunk of piston surrounding the wrist pin on the connecting rod; along with the c-clip; and shards of metal in the oil pan.  At this point, I pulled the engine and took it to Coil Racing Engine to have the engine throughly cleaned, bearings replaced, pistons replaced, cylinders sleeved, and all the rings replaced.  The problem this time is from the chunk of piston scoring the cylinder which happend to be right below the cam that was worn down.

During this entire time, I had my girlfriend try to find the seller of this engine as he was no longer on eBay.  Upon contacting eBay, we were told that they did not have any contact information and to contact PayPal.  When we contacted PayPal they gave us his e-mail. My girlfriend sent him an e-mail and first her immediately responded.  He asked why we had not contacted him first.  She explained that we could not find him as he was no longer on eBay.  He then gave us his phone number and upon trying to call him, there was no answer nor could a voicemail be left. 

After a couple e-mails back and forth, including Noah not responding to my girlfriend's request to contact me directly, he stopped responding.  After a couple of weeks, my girlfriend googled his name on Facebook and knowing the engine was shipped from New Jersey found his business K & K Automotive.  She then called Noah at the business phone number and they spoke.  She explained the issue and asked why he stopped responding, however he never gave her a reason.  He asked that he speak to his business partner as I was asking for the $2,500 back that was paid for the engine.

The following day, my girlfriend called Noah back and he said that because we did not contact him sooner to send the engine back that he was not able to give any money back.  She sent him a picture of the piston and offered to send him pictures of the wrist pin and cam but he declined.  During this conversation he was condensing.  She questioned why he would think that we would trust his work when the remanufactured engine that was bought from him was not good quality.  He stated that he was kicked off eBay because someone reported him for copyright infringement for supposedly using other seller's pics and descriptions.

The mechanic at Coil Racing Engines, told me today, 08/19/2016, that the engine was rebuilt with cheap parts.  To date I have more into the rebuilt engine than what was paid for it.

K & K Automotive cannot be trusted to have quality remanufactured engines.  Be aware that you may be better off buying brand new or going somewhere else.  This place give a 1 year warranty when others give a 3 year warranty.  Do your homework before going to K & K Automotive, which is something I wish was done last year.