luck4rmkc

iTrader: (2)

Update: 8/20/14 - Skunk2 has re-gained my respect today and handled this matter in an extremely professional and satisfying manner. Thank you CJ for stepping in and working with me to get this issue resolved.

I purchased a set of Skunk2 LMA's last September and as some of you may already know I had a catastrophic engine failure recently.

I removed the head and upon disassembly I found one of the pads had broken clean off of the spring. Also the retainer tops are chewed up as if the LMA was not keeping the middle rocker in check.

I contacted Skunk2 and they said they would send me one replacement LMA. I questioned the integrity of the set and requested a set. I also asked if they had seen this problem before and if they had done anything different to ensure this would not be a problem in the future.

I rec'd this response:
"Hello,

We can replace the LMA that’s in question. As far as the other LMA’s we would not be able to replace them since they are not in question or have any issues.

Regards,

Joe Delgado
Group-A Autosports, Inc.
2050 5th Street
Norco, CA 92860
T: 951 808-9888 ext. 206
F: 951 808-9889"

This is a lame gesture of customer service. Especially when I explained that I am not too thrilled about the risk of running a potentially defective part and damaging over $1k worth of Ferrea valvetrain.

Also did you notice my question about known problem or other failures like this was completely dodged?

Buyer's beware of Skunk2 and their lame customer service. They clearly could care less about taking care of us racers who support their company by buying their products. Somewhere along the way they must have forget we are the one's that helped them build their company.

I don't usually do this kind of thing but it seems to be the only way to get these companies attention anymore and it is a shame.

Maybe they caught me on the wrong day but this really pissed me off.

That is all
end rant

Charlie Moua

iTrader: (3)

it's unfortunate.
They should at min inspect your LMA & figure out the root of cause to see if it was poor design or just manufacturing flaw.

Thumbs down for lame response on their end.
I don't expect them to build you a new motor, but they could do more to ensure this doesn't happen to other customers.

Charlie Moua

luck4rmkc

iTrader: (2)

My thoughts exactly. I didn't ask them to replace other damaged parts just their parts. I feel that was a reasonable request.

ls joker

theres some d1ckheads behind skunk2. they didnt even try to help me out bout a month ago, with info alone. kept avoiding my questions. .. i used to be a die hard skunk2 fan, growing more distant do to there customer service.

not even gona start on how much sh$t is missing from out krsftwerks kit

0skunk2.com

Josh - If you're going to make a post and rant about your disappointment with service or outcome on any given situation, post the entire information.

After the email you posted, you replied back with your disappointment in which Joe D. replied back requesting that you call him to work out the claim as opposed to going back and forth via email. I'm not trying to come in here and argue but at least post the entire process.

In terms of the LMAs and the warranty procedure overall, if you purchased a brand new car and for whatever reason, ONE of the wheels was bent. Is the dealership going to exchange your entire set or just that affect as each of the others clearly have no issues?

That's all that was expressed, if you'd like... I can personally carry out the RMA and have the ENTIRE set brought in for inspection but that does not mean they will ALL be replaced. The damaged one in the pictures will be replaced hands down, the others would be height and pressure tested to ensure quality and if all 7 others are good, you would be sent those 7 back along with the 1 new replacement.

Give us a chance to actually carry out warranty rather than going to the boards to issue a rant. Things can be handled much quicker and in a much more professional manner keeping cool and letting the company assess your situation.

If you want me to help you, please call me directly. 951-808-9888, EXT 208. My name is CJ.

There are always ways to help with warranty but if we are not provided the complete information, there is only so much we can do. Stating, "info alone," does not assist anyone here whose looking into the company and certainly does not help the company whose attempting to help carry out any sort of procedure to get your situation corrected.

You're more than welcome to call me up directly as well but making a blanket statement like that does nothing.

On a side note; if you had ANY issues with ANY Kraftwerks or any other Group-A product, you should call us immediately so we can rectify the situation and figure out what happened and make the necessary changes so that it does not continue to happen should it have been a common issue at the time.

luck4rmkc

iTrader: (2)

If he sent a reply to my email I have not received it yet because I left the office at 5pm central time.

My frustration here is that I requested replacement and asked about if this was a common issue in the previous email and received a very generic and displeasing response.

To me it seems like many companies today will first chance given tell a customer they can't help rather than try to go the extra mile for customer service.

The people who build engines and put top dollar into them wouldn't risk running these parts over again from a safety aspect. However it seems like my first impression was that Joe was willing to risk damaging my engine because it's not his engine to worry about.

I'm sorry if you don't feel taking my frustration to a forum was the professional way to handle it but this is how the little guy gets things resolved anymore. It seems a shame to me.

I will contact you all tomorrow and talk this through as requested.

turbohatch96y7

iTrader: (15)

That's funny, don't give him a whole set because they haven't broke yet.

What if they break when he gets them back on the new build?

Is there any quality control at junk 2? Why does he even need to ask for a whole set? He lost a motor you guys don't wana cough up a couple hundred bucks???

I'm out don't want a bounty on my head lolololol

F22Master

aaaaand, Science of Speed LMA's it is...

Boosted_01 R

If you guys consider part failure the same thing a bent wheel, you guys are morons.... part failure from your S2 LMA would be the same as structural failure of the wheel.... That would result in an investigation and recall.... Not hey, we'll replace one LOL

Nothing new about S2 parts failing... broken Pro 1's, cracked Pro series cam gears, UCA balljoints that only last a few months hahaha....

Skunk 2 is SSautochrome with better marketing

efHondefender

I'm not necessarily trying to stand up for anyone here, but ****, have you witnessed how these idiot kids put **** together. I'd be willing to bet that damn near every case of cam breakage is from improper installation. I can't count how many heads I've seen getting passed around on craigslist with missing cam caps. LOL. And don't even get me started on the ball joints. Mine have been on my car and working fine for months and I drive 60 miles a day, but you know what? My car isn't hella stupid slammed flushy flush tite with the UCAs sticking upward and the ball joint cocked bottomed against the collar at ride height getting banged out like a Brazillian tranny on every bump.

Charlie Moua

iTrader: (3)

I think OP just felt like he was "brushed" off in the email. I'm sure he's been in the game long enough to have used ebay parts, to higher quality parts & in both cases seen parts fail eventually.... so it's not a surprise. What is a surprise is the customer service one would expect from more established company compared to ebay vender..... at least that's how I take see it from OP view.

OP, relax and try giving skunk2 a call again to see if you get different results.

drocto3000

Had similar experience with s2s customer service lately. I purchased a ultra race manifold and it didnt come with the correct size fittings/plugs. Emailed back and forth with customer service and was told.. after reviewing your claim and pictures we have determined you recived the correct amount of fittings. I replied yes correct number but wrong size. The replied that i should go to my local hardware store and get the correct size fittings. No biggie i guess but i figured i paid for the intake that was supposed to come with fittings that fit in the hole i should get them. 2$ in fittings will keep me from buying another s2 part.

kingofbattle909

iTrader: (6)

kidcool1977

in for the gang bang.

And I will take this as a lesson to never buy anything S2 makes.

shotoutacc0rd

Let me get this straight, 1 person's penny votes dont matter, but when they share their experience and effectively convince others that they shouldn't patronize your business, you bring out a professional and leave the idiot customer service reps back at the office? Retrain the reps who are giving customers a hard time.

Hire competent employees, and obviously, get better quality control.

1HGEJ2

iTrader: (1)

are skunk2 lma not oem honda lma?

blackeg

i remember hearing somewhere that the oem ones dont do well with cams at or above .500" lift. op - what cams are you running?


and sk2's customer service has always been poor. back in like '04 i bought their cam for the sohc vtec. it hit the head casting when it spun and they wouldnt even take it back to look at

10sec4door

Skunk 2 = bobo of race parts

efHondefender

Mr2 guys like me have to grind clearances into the casting to run higher lift cams in a 2g 3sgte head as well. Sometimes you just have to do these things. Would you be upset if you had to notch a block to run a stroker crank with fat H-beams?

luck4rmkc

iTrader: (2)

I am running comp stage 3 all motor cams. I believe the max lift of OEM LMAs you are thinking of has to do with the piston type LMAs like my GSR head had in it from the factory.

efHondefender

can you see a wear pattern on the others? Maybe too much lift is pushing the vtec rocker to the very edge of the wear plate on top.
Also, was this from the same cylinder that dropped a valve?

luck4rmkc

iTrader: (2)

Charlie Moua you have hit the nail right on the head in your assumptions.

I will call them today and talk to them some more.

Charlie Moua

iTrader: (3)

I think youre maby referring to hydraulic lma having issues with higher lift cams like pro2, mx24, ect.

However h22 behive style lma have not given anyone any issues that i'm aware of even with bigger cams.

lastly .500" lift cam?... thats a custom setup right thur... I don't think a cam need "that" much lift.

efHondefender

if the cams he has are the ones I found specs on, then they're 13mm (.511") lift.

98vtec

where is your vtec engagement point?

I have seen time and time again, h22's with big cams (pro1-pro3) that really want a 6000rpm engagement point and the LMA simply cannot control the rocker arm and ends up beating the hell out of the retainer. Ive seen this cause dropped valves, cracked retainers, broken cams...etc. If the LMA was not properly shimmed and just dropped in leaving the rocker sloppy to begin with, i dont see that being a Skunk2 problem. Just because they sell a product, does not mean its not in your best interest to make sure it suits your needs and is properly fitted.

The only way i see that spring breaking (which, lets face it, has very little stress on it compared to the rest of the valvetrain) is if the clearance between the rocker and LMA is too large and literally hammering it, causing it to fracture and eventually breaking.

breaking stuff sucks it really does. I have had bouts which ended up breaking or damaging a skunk2 product but i dont know if they knew i was a moderator (well, i know they did but that was back with Brian and Tony) and were sucking up to me or if they understand my stance in the community or that they genuinely wanted to help but they have always treated my fairly and gone above and beyond to help me. I dont know how you went about conducting business with them when this failure occured but when i contacted them, i did my best to cover all my basis from it being my own mistake, a skunk2 product failure, or something completely off the wall that had nothing to do with me or their product so they knew i wasnt just trying to get free parts for somethign that was my fault.

Anyway, good luck with the repairs.