Head Gaskets & Arrow Rebuilds Revisited..

[Roadkill]

I was hoping to find out a bit of info from those of you on the list who have had your engines rebuilt.
1. what was the reason they sent your engine in to be rebuilt?

2. My local viper tech explained to me that head gaskets were not marked by DC as being a reason to send in the motor.

3. I have a Gen I that I will probably have the headgaskets replaced on soon. After talking to the viper tech, He said that they do this in house.. Just pull the heads and check to see if they need to be resurfaced then reinstalled with the new gaskets. This leads me to wonder if any of you had your engines sent back strictly due to head gaskets leaking or if there were other issues involved? My car is under warranty, so either way this is covered.

 

[Jack B]

Extended warranties all vary somewhat, you better check. There is a debate on which way to go. In the past the only way was an Arrow rebuild. Since DC has finally developed a head gasket that works another school of thought is merely replacing the gaskets. The positives, one gives you a rebuilt engine the other only has a couple days of downtime. I would do an oil analysis and if you have any quantity of antifreeze in the oil, you should fight for an Arrow rebuild.

 

[malcoll]

Roadkill,
Just this past summer my 1996 RT engine received a full Arrow rebuild... due to head gasket weeping.... under the added-care extended warranty.
The Viper Tech called in the warranty and was at first advised to do the head gasket change in-house..... I do not recall how... but he convinced them to do the full Arrow rebuild.
It took 10 weeks.. but now I have a 2,000 mile updated engine in my 36,000 mile Viper.

Good Luck... press for the full Arrow rebuild.

Lance

 

[Tomer]

Where can one get an oil analysis done?

Tomer

 

[Jack B]

A good auto parts store will have a mail-in kit.

 

[Newport Viper]

use these guys for the lab work.
http://www.blackstone-labs.com/

 

[Don Hiltz]

My Arrow rebuild was completed under warranty in November, 2002. It took 5 weeks from the date of removal until I drove it out of the dealership.

In a cover letter received with the rebuild, Arrow indicated that multiple problems were found.......not simply the head gasket failure.

Since I'm not a motorhead, all the information I know is what Arrow reduced to writing. The piston skirts were undersized and were replaced. The main bearing saddle was out of specification and an align hone was necessary. There was a plethera of new parts which were replaced during the rebuild. The list included, but was not limited to: main bearings, rod bearings, and cam shaft.

Would the viper tech have discovered these problems if he had simply removed the heads and replaced the gaskets? I'm not trying to a smart ass; I simply don't know.

Personally, I feel much better that a professional engine builder tore down the entire engine.

Don

 

[malcoll]

I did not receive a cover letter? How do I get that from Arrow??? Can I just call them with my VIN?

Any thoughts or experience from anyone?

Lance

 

[Birvini]

We had the arrow rebuild done on our 94 last fall. I had the choice of getting new gaskets or the rebuild.

 

[RavenFan_94]

I'll let you guys know. I am sending mine to the wizard in about 3 weeks. Head gaskets bleeding again 9k mils after last arrow rebuild. Yawwwwwn.

 

[Birvini]

I'll let you guys know. I am sending mine to the wizard in about 3 weeks. Head gaskets bleeding again 9k mils after last arrow rebuild. Yawwwwwn.

When did yours go in for the rebuild? Sorry to put you to sleep.......