Performance Chip!

[grandprixgtp_91]

well the other motor in my brothers car is now shot too! so it got sent away to optimax in quebec to be rebuilt. well anyways my brother wants a performance chip , which one should i get that will give some good power and still be emissions safe. is ffwdperformance any good? thanks.

Jake

[JasonZ34]

FFP is a great chip.

If you want to keep it emissions friendly make sure you leave the egr valve on. OR plan on swaping out your original for the sniff test. Only change the stat if you want, i personally don't recomend below 180.

[Lyle's GTP]

Hey, Optimax in Quebec? Do you mean Edmonton, Alberta. cause if it's Optimax Engine Reman or maybe they are called Optimax Engine Pros, or some shit like that. Is it a NAPA company? I know Optimax has distributors all over the place in North America. But anyway, if it's the NAPA Optimax that I used to work for, you are in for a shit storm. Those guys are fucking hacks and butchers, and they sure as hell have no clue how to build 3.4 DOHC's. I've seen there guys install the lifters with a fucking hammer. As well as countless other problems, and definatily if you do get it from them the timing will be right fucked up, they don't have any of the special tools. Oh, actually I made them a cam hold down tool when I worked there. Other than that, they were useing a broken harmonic balancer to set TDC. Oh, one thing I do know is NAPA's head offices are in Montreal. That's where my pay stubs were from anyway. If it is them, try like hell to cancel, and find someone else. Cause it probably won't last their shit warranty, and if it doesn't you will have a huge fight on your hands to claim any warranty. Their warranty manager went on extended stress leave when I worked there. Because he was getting death threats from customers, because the upper management wouldn't approve their warranty claim. A claim which was obviously the fault of the builder.

Anyhow, Good Luck.

Lyle

[grandprixgtp_91]

OMG , i hope they do this one right, but this optimax is in terrebon quebec or something like that. they are napa but it must be a different rebuild station. we had the motor from my dads 1994 jetta diesel rebuilt from the same place last summer and it still runs fine. well i also sent them my harmonic balancer still installed on the engine. do they use good parts at least? well i guess they just got a new warranty , it is a 3 year unlimited mileage warranty, and if this motor breaks before then and they dont honor my warranty i will sue them, so this engine comes alreay timed? i will check if it is proper before i install it. well i will tell you what this is the last motor i will ever get done there. i would have rebuilt it myself but my brother didnt want to wait for the parts to come in. also one more question, will they fixed the spun bearing? thanks for the good info.

Jake

[Lyle's GTP]

Well, Optimax only had one location, Edmonton, Alberta. I don't know what is going on. Like I said it could be a distribution centre for them. But the warranty doesn't sound right at all. I haven't worked there for a year, but when I left it was 20000Km or 1 year which ever comes first. The engines do come timed. They were very afraid of the 3.4 DOHC it was too complex for them. It took them 4 tries to get the timing right on one motor. The only reason they finally got it was because I did it for them. Anyway as for the spun bearing. It will depend on how badly it is spun. If the scoring can be line-honed out, yes. If not they will use a different block. The crank is the same situation too, if they can grind out the damage, they will use it. You may get an additional bill for a crank or a block. Also as for parts, cheapest available. Luckily the LQ1 aftermarket parts a hard to get, so most have to be purchased from GM. However, it will have after market pistons, rings, bearings, oil pump and gaskets (cheapest avilable). The valves, springs and retainers will be reused as well as all bolts. The timing components will be new from GM and so will the lifters. But, you could request better quality components, I have seen them use Keith black pistons, Edelbrock heads, Felpro gaskets, etc.

Lyle

[grandprixgtp_91]

well supposedly this is a rebuild station, i know somebody that went on a tour before. and the warranty is brand new, because my dads car has the old warranty you are talking about. the guy at the store said this new warranty is brand new. well there is one guy i know that works at the place this is getting done, his name is surge something, maybe if you know him it is at your place. why dont you work there anymore if you dont mind me asking? and that really sucks that they dont give you new valves or springs or retainers. now im really pissed. this damn thing better run good and for along time. also how long does it take for them to rebuild? i need my motor back before the weekend.thanks

Jake

[Lyle's GTP]

Well, this is all news to me. I don't recognise that name either. But the place had a revolving door for it's employees when I left. It almost had a complete employee turn around in a year and a half. That's one of the reasons I quit, but it pretty much boiled down to me refusing to scab things together. They cut my department from 5 guys to 3 and told me that "I could handle their work, cause they were just dog fuckers anyway." I seen some of the hardest working, smartest guys get laid of or fired for nothing. It worked for a while but, all the good guys quit (or got canned) and they replaced them with absolute morons that couldn't read or think for themselves. Then the "annual reviews" came around, the previous year my preformance was deemed admirable and I was given a 47% increase in pay. The next year, I tripled my skill level and work load and still met production quota. However, they felt that I didn't even deserve a "cost of living" increase, not even one percent. So, the next day, I gave my notice.

Basically they were laying off all there good employees because they were getting paid too much. Then they were hiring all these imports from this other rebuild shop that went belly-up. No offence to these imports, but the majority of them had to be baby-sat constantly and the rest were union breed dog fuckers.

Oh, about the valve train. The valves will be polished, and reground and the springs will be tested to see if they are with in spec.

So, I hope that explains thinks a little.

Lyle

[Lyle's GTP]

Oh, and time to rebuild. A LQ1, probably 5 days, but if the block or crank is fucked, maybe a few more. If it were a GM 350, no problem they've got ton's of blocks, crank's and heads laying around. But not the case with LQ1's.

Lyle

[grandprixgtp_91]

thanks alot for the info, i appreciate it, even though it scares me!

Jake

[Lyle's GTP]

Oh, buy the way, you said your dad had a jetta motor rebuilt by the same place last summer? I worked there right up to the 20th of May last year. When I left there was no talk of any such rebuild station in existance on the table at all. Maybe UAP/NAPA bought out another rebuild shop and renamed it Optimax. Still sounds funny, you sould give them a call and ask them what their affiliation is to Optimax in Edmonton. I'm just curious, cause it could play a vital role in the out come of your rebuild.

Lyle

[grandprixgtp_91]

ok ill do that tommorow and write back.

Jake

[Lyle's GTP]

OK, I was looking on the UAP/NAPA website and on the site, listed along with Optimax is a engine rebuilder called Terrebone automotive services. They must be another engine rebuilder for them, but they must have now renamed it Optimax. But the UAP site is out of date, because the general manager's name for Optimax is Marty Cochrane. But the last I heard from my old work buddies is that the fat bastard was canned by UAP. All I have to say to that is AHAHHAHAAHAHAHAHHHAAHA!!! But anyway, that rebuilder in Quebec hopefully has better quality standards than Optimax does.

Lyle

[grandprixgtp_91]

yeah i hope so , i dont need a screwed up engine.

Jake