Yes... it was MY motor that this Titanium retainer broke in... I was making a whopping 162whp on the dyno... Is this really enough to make a retainer look like a dunkin donut?

I did not have a huge setup, I don't run hard on the street.... I was trying to have some fun with NA and I figured I would go with what I thought was the best... I only have CTR cams, nothing to agressive... I used Crower's Dual Springs, and merely did what they suggested which was go with their Titanium retainers.

I figured, "What the hell, if the space shuttle can use titanium and not break it, how the hell can my little 162whp motor do anything?" and bought them... My last Crower product, ever.

I had them installed by John, who has installed many upon many springs and retainers. Not more than a week ago, I took the car to a Honda Certified Tech to adjust valve lash and asked him if everything else looked good, He said "Yep, pretty stong and good looking car you got...".

Once I post pics (I don't have ANY faith that crower will do crap for me) you will see why I am redass. I was doing nothing "EXTREME" with the motor at all.... Hell, at 162whp I was barely around a good Type-R... And I broke a Titanium Retainer???

This is OBVIOUSLY a manufacturing defect. I have also spoken to several others (3 others now) who this EXACT thing has happened to... Crower did not do anything for them.

If people still want to buy Crower, up to them, better have a spare motor in the garage. With all the stuff I have heard and seen with my own eyes, along with what I am personally expierencing....

You would have to be out of your mind to trust Crower for any quality product.




[Modified by GSR_Hacker, 1:05 PM 2/25/2002]

 

Did you install new valve keepers or you reuse your old ones?

 

Well considering my motor only had 10,000 miles at the time of install, I kept the factory retainers, which were not at fault... They held, Pics coming tonite for all you people who think it was not a defect...

I currently have around 14,000 miles on my blown motor... thanks Crower...

 

factory retainers??? u must be calling the valve keepers,retainers right? anyway,with all the money you spent on the spring set and titanium retainers,i wouldve spent the $50 or so and put new keepers in.

 

see that was the interesting thing. The keepers are still attached to the valve. The retainer didn't break in half, it's just the inner portion seperated from the outer portion. The keepers and broken inner portion are still assembled on the valve stem. Wait for the pics, we're going to give crower a chance to redeem themselves.

 

the keepers are in no way at fault for this. Fact remains, this was a mild setup. You'd think an OEM camshaft would not be able to overpower a titanium retainer.

 

Here's a pic of someone else's (not mine, not GSR_Hacker's) broken Crower cam shaft. I will say, however, they broke exactly like mine did.

 

i wonder how often this occurs...
my guess is crower would offer to repalce the reatainer, at no cost to joe (except shipping of course)...anything else he is going to be sol against. sorry bro.

 

well, I now know of at least 4 confirmed cases of Crower retainers coming apart, and countless numbers of Crower cams breaking. In comparison, I have seen very few other brands of cam breaking (Skunk2 had some early problems, Toda B's in a very few cases), and I have never heard of another aftermarket retainer breaking.

 

daym i was considering gettin some crower **** when i rebuilt my motor too. i would stick to skunk2 retainers or any of their products. they are reliable.

 

of course crower will just try to throw a retainer at joe, what the hell does 1 retainer cost them? $5? id be filing legal action against them, along with the other people that had broken parts by them, and if they didnt repair all the damage, i would take them to court with the other cases.




[Modified by Markaccord95, 1:19 PM 2/25/2002]

 

Well, I called and spoke to Brian... There was no promises, but just merely a request to see pics... so pics he will get tonite.

I don't mind a company that will stand behind their product, so if they make good I will have no quam with them and will not take any action... I will also not buy anything further from them, but as least they would be a respectable company.

Let's see how this story unfolds...

 

i had crower cams fail on me........it was a minor installation issue on my behalf but crower quicky took care of the situation.

they have great customer service (well they did for me) and i still trust their products.

i think they make good stuff but their products require a little more care and consideration apon installation. take you time and be very carful with the break in.

well........let us know what your outcome with crower is.

 

"Snap into a Slim-Jim" I too have heard bad thing about valve train, I went with Ferrea.

 

Here are 2 pics of the titanium retainer that failed.... Take note of the fact that the keeper is still attached with the center part of the retainer which shows that the installation was good and held, this was simply a problem with only the retainer....

 

its hard to see with the rocker arm in place,got any pics of the retainer all by itself yet?

 

I will be getting those pics soon... This is only the start...

 

Never a problem with Web Cams springs and retainers. Anyone else?

 

Could be either an defective valve spring or valve spring installed at incorrect height too besides retainer

 

Well... maybe... just maybe... Brian Crower might stand behind his product.

He asked for pics lastnight and I sent him 15 of them. He saw the pics and I spoke to him. He said he "would like to do what it takes to get my motor back on the road...". Now granted this could be all BS until I see a check and cash it.

He asked for the retainer that broke, so I will be pulling the valvetrain and sending him the outer ring of the retainer and keeping the inner part that broke. I will be taking many pics and documenting the whole removal. I DONT want this swept under the carpet. I want my motor fixed...

Let's see if Crower is a respectable company... If he offeres to fix all the damage to my motor, I would be satisfied as a customer and I would at least be able to say that the company will stand behind it's product, shitty or not....