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BeckyD @ James Martin Chevy


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Old 10-31-2022, 02:14 PM   #1
Kerry

 
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Unbelivalbe nightmare poor customer service from gpi in my opinion

So I bought a drop in standard compression pistons and rods from gpi. Got everything prepped gaped rings to 22 thou per Kevin at gpi.
By the way I was dumb enough to think these pistons came with total seal rings because they put that chart up as a guide to gapping the rings. They are not total seal rings why use that as a gapping chart does not make sense to me but o well.

Put the oil ring in the bore just to make sure no gaping was necessary. Never seen an oil ring that did but I ck it anyway.

Installed all the rings and installed in the motor buttoned it all up. I will admit I did not spend a lot of time checking spinning ect the oil rings they installed fine it seemed. I spent a ton of time getting the 2 compression rings gapped exactly.
Every thing seemed fine. Did a break in about 75 to 100 miles a couple of heat cycles. Started doing hits and kept coming up with misfire on number 8, 30 to 66 misfires. Got random misfire ck engine light. Never had that problem before.

Kept chasing number 8 changed plugs twice regapped changed plug wires swapped injectors around coils around ect to no avail still number 8 and plug looked perfect.

So doing a hit I noticed smoke out the back in the mirror. The car was smoking like an old car that never had the oil changed. It used 2.5 quarts of oil in 400 miles.

So Found number 7 plug black. So that’s where the misfire really was and nothing left to do but take it all apart again!!!! Gueerrr!!!. Its a lot of work and a lot of time.

I found number 7 piston with the oil ring stuck to the piston. Number 3 oil ring was slightly sticky. I was able to get the ring unstuck but could find no reason why it was stuck.

bottom line these two pistons have too small of an oil ring land. All other's seem fine not sticky and can rotate freely and compress no problem.

Heres the NIGHTMARE!!! Gpi will be happy to send the pistons to diamond to see if there is a problem with the pistons. BUT THEY WILL NOT SELL ME A PISTON TO GET THE CAR GOING IN THE MEAN TIME.

RONNIE THE PARTS MANGER ( I DON’T WANT TO BREAK UP A SET). That’s not very good customer service to me!!!!!! Im happy to pay for the pistons until that can make a determination, diamond that is.

Kevin apologies for any inconvenience. Inconvenience REALLY!!! ok

So I call diamond and talk to Mike in teck. He said they would be happy to make gpi single pistons and would only ONLY take 4 weeks. Geese's 4 weeks so a few days to send to gpi a few days for for gpi to send to diamond and then 4 weeks for them to build one offs so what maybe running in 6 weeks at best. They will not sell to me this piston only gpi.

All because,,,,,,,,,,,, Ronnine does not want to open a box set it aside for 4 weeks send me 2 pistons, then diamond will replace in 4 weeks. WOW Ok If that’s what you call taking care of the customer I have had MUCH MUCH better customer service. I give much better customer service myself. Frankly I find that inexcusable and unacceptable. I am more than happy to pay upfront. I tee totally thought gpi was a better company than this.
Frankly its quite dishearten to me. I paid them a bunch of money for other parts overnight shipping ect. quote gpi ( it don’t matter to them how much money you spend with them).

So I worked with these pistons for I don’t know a few hours trying to figure out why and how to resolve it. I can not figure it out. So I took the oil ring off the Wesco Texas speed pistons I had in the car, that were made for stock rods. The oil ring corrugated part is exactly 1 thou smaller thick wise than the Diamond ring. I micked it, its exactly 1 thou. That oil ring fits perfect and spins and is not sticky on either piston. Just pure dumb luck. Not that im lucky in the first place to have this problem to begin with!!!!

So my choices.
Buy another set and hope to sell the other 6 pistons from the kit ( Im guessing gpi wont sell to me anymore after these truthful comments) o well
Try to get the oil ring on these 2 cut correctly.
Use the Wesco rings and send it.

What do u guys think I should do. Anyone up to buy some gpi drop in pistons 4 passenger side 2 drivers side?
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Old 10-31-2022, 02:40 PM   #2
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You're probably not gonna like to hear this but....

From my experience in modding cars, the more complicated you make it (more parts changed and more depending on other people) the more the "fun" turns into an absolute nightmare.

I'm <600whp now
I want more but to me it is not worth the headache
I can sell this car in a few years and pick up a ZL1 which has a tank of an engine and decent fuel system to support it.
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Old 10-31-2022, 03:05 PM   #3
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FWIW I’m running the GPI drop in pistons & rods (lower compression) and my shop was not happy with the rings they (GPI) sent. We ordered up different rings and they’ve worked perfectly. I remember thinking at the time: “Wait, I paid for brand new rings even though my new pistons already came with them?” Sucks to buy stuff twice. I didn’t push the issue since my shop is very detail oriented, but I guess now I see why they did that…. I’m glad they caught the issues before the engine got reassembled.
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Old 10-31-2022, 04:10 PM   #4
Trochoidal

 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kerry View Post
I found number 7 piston with the oil ring stuck to the piston. Number 3 oil ring was slightly sticky. I was able to get the ring unstuck but could find no reason why it was stuck.

What do u guys think I should do?
I’d bet your “sticky” oil rings and those pistons have a clearance issue.

1) The radius in the OD groove is too large and/or the chamfer on the oil ring is too small.

2) The diameter of the OD groove is too large and/or the ID of the oil ring is too small.

3) The OD groove width is too small and/or the oil ring is too thick.

My 40+ years as a machinist says that I’d be checking all of the relevant dimensions and making blueprints of the results. Optical comparator, CMM, OD groove mics, and Johansson (Joh) blocks are minimum to get the dimensions.

Somewhere there’s something that was either engineered wrong or it wasn’t made to the engineering drawing.

The lead time for one offs in our shop is 4-6 weeks. Subcontracted machine shops also have the same lead time.

It’s a long time to wait for shipping and manufacturing. Add your frustration, time and labor into the mix and you have more invested than GPI or Diamond.

I’d present the error to GPI and have them take it all back and give you a refund or replacement parts. Basically a new set of drop-ins and rings that work.

If you learn nothing is dimensionally wrong with the parts you bought, than all of this means nothing.
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Originally Posted by arpad_m - “Aww, yet another oil thread with almost the same question in the OP“
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Old 10-31-2022, 09:27 PM   #5
L78toLT1

 
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Are your pistons 4.065 or 4.070?
I had an exhaust valve failure on my first motor. I was running 4.065 std compression gpi piston/rod combo. Some shrapnel blew back into the blower and got distributed to several other cylinders damaging the piston domes slightly. I'm pretty sure at least two, possibly more are unscathed. The pistons had around 16k miles on them. I'm confident that the pistons and rings too for that matter are in good shape. The motor did not use a bit of oil. I'll donate two of these for the cost of shipping if you're interested.
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Old 10-31-2022, 10:36 PM   #6
Kerry

 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by L78toLT1 View Post
Are your pistons 4.065 or 4.070?
I had an exhaust valve failure on my first motor. I was running 4.065 std compression gpi piston/rod combo. Some shrapnel blew back into the blower and got distributed to several other cylinders damaging the piston domes slightly. I'm pretty sure at least two, possibly more are unscathed. The pistons had around 16k miles on them. I'm confident that the pistons and rings too for that matter are in good shape. The motor did not use a bit of oil. I'll donate two of these for the cost of shipping if you're interested.
that would be absolute fantastic I need 2 driver side if you have them. Send me your paypal ect pm and I will pay right away.
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Old 10-31-2022, 10:37 PM   #7
Kerry

 
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Yes they are the stock bore
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Old 11-01-2022, 08:07 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kerry View Post
that would be absolute fantastic I need 2 driver side if you have them. Send me your paypal ect pm and I will pay right away.
Let me verify that I have two good left bank pistons. I'll check and let you know.
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Old 11-01-2022, 08:19 AM   #9
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That ring set is manufactured in Japan by an OEM level company. They are a high quality right set.

Diamond, Wiseco, CP, and others all use a variation of that ring pack in their shelf piston line up. There are hundreds of thousands of engines running that ring pack.

Sorry that you had an issue. No manufacture is perfect and hopefully GPI can get this taken care of for you.
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Old 11-01-2022, 09:29 AM   #10
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I’m not surprised
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Old 11-01-2022, 09:51 AM   #11
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Originally Posted by L78toLT1 View Post
Let me verify that I have two good left bank pistons. I'll check and let you know.
Pretty sure the pistons aren't handed i.e. left and right are the same. I will check when I get home. Hope this is the case as #3 is the cylinder that swallowed the valve, and from what I remember, the left bank pistons absorbed more collateral damage than the right
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Old 11-01-2022, 10:08 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by L78toLT1 View Post
Pretty sure the pistons aren't handed i.e. left and right are the same. I will check when I get home. Hope this is the case as #3 is the cylinder that swallowed the valve, and from what I remember, the left bank pistons absorbed more collateral damage than the right
Those pistons have offset pins so there is a drivers and passenger side piston despite the valve orientation being the same.

Last edited by Katech_Mike; 11-01-2022 at 10:19 AM.
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Old 11-01-2022, 10:59 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Katech_Mike View Post
Those pistons have offset pins so there is a drivers and passenger side piston despite the valve orientation being the same.
Thanks Mike. I've installed two sets of Diamond pistons, so you'd think I would have remembered!
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Old 11-01-2022, 12:04 PM   #14
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Sorry

Well damn, Kerry...I'm afraid I got your hopes up for nothing. I took a look at my old shortblock and every one of the drivers side pistons is trashed. it's a damn shame your issue couldn't have been on the opposite side as all of the right side pistons look good. I've attempted to upload some pics, I'll let you guess which side is which.
Attached Images
  
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