MOFOCO - [email protected]

[[email protected]]

see:
http://www.oroad.com/volkswebbin/wall/general/viewthread.php?thread=1011&message=1046

[[email protected]]

this guy says:

I didn't make the show but it's for sure MOFOCO is going down the
tubes. I ordered a type II engine from them last april and they
promised two to three weeks on delivery, six weeks later I recieved
a cobbled together engine with broken ring gear teeth, no pilot
bearing, rockers that looked like someone took a hammer to them, no
valve covers,siliconed together jugs,rusted studs, painted over
mating surfaces, and a serious attitude problem from the staff when
I complained. I had to go through the Attrny Gen in Wisc. to get
them to take back the engine and as of this date I'm still waiting
for a refund check. Time to litagate!

[[email protected]]

this guy says:
The bad places are places like So. Cal Imports, MOFOCO, GEX, and any
>> other VW shop with a multipage ad in VW trends saying thier prices
>> are the lowest... there a reson for that. IT SUCKS! even if you buy
>> Brand name stuff it will be either wrong, late or you will be paying
>> too much for shipping...

on
http://www.oroad.com/volkswebbin/wall/general/showmsg.php?message=4609

[[email protected]]

http://www.blueglue.com/archives/vintagvw/mhonarc/2001/01/msg01360.html

[[email protected]]

this is a reply i got from another forum:

Not to defend this fellow, but I am originally from Kenosha Wisconsin. Near MOFOCO and I know these bozos all too well! And I must say MOFOCO has the worlds most TERRIBLE reputation for their off the shelf rebuilds. I have heard so many horror stories it amazes me when another pops up. I cannot believe the word does not spread to all corners of the world as MOFOCO has been making terrible rebuilds for dozens of years now.

Same thing as this fellow came across over and over...have seen it one bus lists at shows ect. You have to educate yourself before dealing in a transaction like a rebuild. The biggest ad in magazines does not always mean the best engine!

I wish this fellow luck with dealing with mofoco but I gurantee he is out his cash and may as well just forget about it. On the other side of the coin I have heard MOFOCO does decent work if you take your own engine in and request something done, but dont buy a 1600 rebuild off the shelf....more then likely you will get a single relief 40hp opened up for 1600 p-cs taken aligne bored way past VW tolerances reground cam and lifters (what a JOKE) and mismatched pushrods of different lengths as well as welded up junk heads with far too high comp ratios for todays fuels...my motto is learn and do it yourself! That way you can control what you are getting.

Good luck guy!
todd

[thayer]

Thanks for the info. I was looking into buying a motor for my sisters single cab, but not from MOFOCO, at least not now.

Good luck with your venture..

Thayer

[[email protected]]

Do a search on rec.autos.makers.vw.aircooled newsgroup. There is plenty of hater material available on everything VW, including Mofoco experiences.

[chillz1]

Although I have no personal experience with MOFOCO, I know several people that have. I hate to say it, but none of their experiences have been overly good. One fellow on the type 3 mail list bought a set of heads from them for his EFI type 3. They swore to him over the phone that the heads had the provision for the EFI temperature switch. He got them in the mail and no provision. Many moons later, after alot of aggravation and arguing with MOFOCO over who should pay for the mistake, he has the heads on his car and they are performing well. He would say very little positive about their customer service other than that they finally came through for him after alot of aggravation. While it's good for a company to make good on their mistakes, it's also VERY good if the mistake doesn't happen in the beginning. People in business should strive harder to produce a better product so that they don't have to spend so much in overhead via paying people to handle complaints. I know there's always one bonehead that does an install wrong, on an otherwise good part and messes it up, but in MOFOCO's case, there can't possibly be that many mechanicaly inept people in this world. I understand companies like MOFOCO making it hard on the consumer by not wanting to go good on their warranty, because for every warranty claim they lose money, but HEY!!!! Make it right the first time and you won't have the greif!!

[chillz1]

Also, I have been a certified automotive technician for over 8 years and have been wrenching on cars since i've been old enough to hold wrenches. I have completely rebuilt in the neighborhood of over 100 engines in my lifetime and have had very few complaints. The complaints I've had were:

(1) "My oil pressure is too high. It's never been that high since I bought the truck 5 years ago".....Of course it wasn't. The engine had 80K on it when the customer bought the truck and 140K by the time the rebuild came around. There's alot to be said for good assembly quality. Customer goes away happy.

(2) "My engine's running a bit hot."....Turned out to be a radiator that had seen better days. Also occured over 40K after my rebuild. A re-core and a thorough explanation later and the customer is off and running..happily. I'm depositing their check in the bank.


These are a couple of the complaints I've had, but they've all been very similar and easily handled. Why is that? Because I always try to do it right the first time. I hate angry customers and do my best to avoid that. Even if they are irate and I know it isn't my fault, I explain it to them in terms they understand and we both end up happy. Businesses need to learn alot about both quality and customer relations. If you are good with both, you will never be shy of work, even with a small clientelle.

[keifernet]

Okay, good job collecting evidence, I was not trying to play devils advocate, I just beleive that if you are going to flame someone, me, you joe blow, mofoco anyone than get your ammo out and do it right.
My initial search on 37.com did not reveal many hits but i did not have the time to read into many hits. I know GEX and Sir have built many a crappy longblock as decribed in the post above as i have torn down plenty that came into my shop... I guess being way south the mofo's don't get here. i have heard some good things about some of their stuff maybe just their cheaper rebuilds are questionable...??? Anyway i hope they would take all this negative public outpouring into consideration and make yours right and start a new campain to regain the trust they seem to be losing amoungst potential customers...

[TimGud]

Check to see that the fan is tight also.I have seen them left loose and broken before.

[TimGud]

If the motor is running hot there are only a few things it could be. Timing off(advanced),carb jetted too lean,vacuum leak, missing tin or engine compartment seal,stuck or bent thermostat linkage or grossly misadjusted or mismatched thermostat and linkage parts,hole in piston or broken rings making that cylinder a blow torch instead of providing power.A cylinder compression and cylinder leak down test will either prove the last to be the fault or not. The rods and mains couln't be causing the excess heat and not ruin the bearings very quickly.I have seen bad rebuilds but usually they have rod and main or broken ring issues. Overheating problems are almost always mechanics(myself included) overlooking something simple. Good luck.

[IndianaVWKid]

Man, This is nuts...Why don't they take the cars, and fix them right...if you have to go back 2-3 times, they are not fixing them properly...let them drive it around for an hour, and then come back, and show you that it's good...Then perhaps they would earn some respect, but as far as I see it, Customer service is something you have to pay extra for now a days...sucks considering things were there fault i assume, if they installed it, it's there fault. If someone else tinkered with it, it's their fault. Perhaps you guys should start building your own engines, and tuning them up yourselves...It's not that hard, and theirs a lot of info out their on it, I find it quite rewarding, and you know what's in your engine is good...not what someone told was "good"
Mofoco's got some explaining to do as far as I can see it...
(They screwed me over with a leaky rebuilt carb...which was properly tuned...not over mixed, and yes the shaft even jiggled more than the other leaky one I was replacing...)

[IndianaVWKid]

Oh, and You'd figure that being in business for 37 Years...and Having 5 mechanics with 130 years of experience this would not even be an issue...Something doesn't seem right...Perhaps they're skimping to save money...what happens when customers stop handing you money...cause you're handing out crap? Stick that in your pipe and smoke it...
(I always wanted to say that

[TimGud]

I have a hard time believing overheating is the fault of the rebuilder.This story doesn't make alot of sense. Good luck.

[[email protected]]

all i know is that our mechanic had said that this is a bad engine right from the start... and he's been a vw mechanic for 30 years with no complaints... said there might be bad pistons in ...
and i know that a new engine should not have problems like this, it should not have needed a valve adjustment just after installing... and it knocks bad....
when we told mofoco we were worried about the engine they told us ''our worries cant cost them money" . .. thats a real quote from one of the head guys there...
all i'm trying to do is get people to file their complaints against mofoco with the bbb.
we'll see how good they help us when we get the bus to them (4 hours we have to drive!)
i just hate to see more people get jerked around like this...

[[email protected]]

i dont understand how this could be the mechanics fault.... after it went bad the first time we brought the engine back mofoco complete / turn-key. they ran it... and tried to tell us that it was okay... told us that all vw engines smoke for the first 100 miles, and that the knocking would eventually stop... they swore that it was okay to take and drive.... so all my mechanic did was pop it in the exact way they had it. and it hasn't stopped knocking... it might even be louder than before.... i dont know why it's running so hot.. but the first time they tested it it was running hot... before anyone but them touched it.

[[email protected]]

and this one:

I purchased one about 6 years ago. The motor arrived in a large
wooden box, The motor had not been strapped and had banged arround
in the box destroying the autostick flex plate. A VW dealer mechanic
installed it, using all stock tin, thermostat and distributor. He
could not get it timed right due to a camshaft problem. The motor
lasted Just over a year, the warranty period was one year. When it
sucked a valve it had just 3200 miles on it, yes 3200. Dont waste
your money.

[[email protected]]

i also found this complaint on the internet . . .

MOFOCO lists a great deal of their products online; plus, they promote some
of the biggest and best VW events of the year on this efficient website. In
addition to quality parts, you will find selected features and collectible
cars. Actual ordering experience, however, leaves one with an image of low
quality on some items; their "New" heads actually contain used valves and
other used parts, although the castings are new.
Mark also ordered a Basic Kit from MOFOCO for a 1600 dual-relief case, which
was pretty good, except that the reground valve lifters were rusty and the
oil holes were plugged with old bearing material in two of them. We sent 'em
back. Buyer beware, we guess. They would not credit him any on the heads
(except for the price of two valves) unless they were returned. Would you
want to wait two more weeks to drive?! Mark didn't and fixed 'em with used
parts and the motor's got 20,000 + miles on it now... But the valves
stretched (gotta adjust them every 1200- 1400 miles!) and we are ordered
some nice plain steel exhaust valves from Larry's Off Road.

[[email protected]]

sounds like it's running WAY lean. Probably is shot to shit now. At any rate, you learned your lesson, yes? If you want it done right, spend the extra cash and have someone reputable build the motor. I always take my motors to the same rebuilder, and have been happy. Yes, it costs me more than a turnkey GEX or mofoco engine. Yes, it takes longer. But the job gets done right every time. I am sure that your local VW shop or club can recommend someone with a good history of rebuilds who can help you. Best way to deal with companies like mofoco is to NOT deal with them. Don't give them any more of your time and money. Cut your losses before it gets any worse. How much time have you spent here in the forum? Don't waste any more.

P.S. The scrapper that picks up my engine rebuilder's junk heads, cases, etc. (stuff he would NEVER use in a new engine) says his biggest buyer is GEX. So go figure, if they're buying crap parts, you know they're going in engines somewhere!