JDM Orlando- Buyer beware!!!!!
 

I am creating this post, hopeing, it will gain sticky status, therefore preventing other members from being ripped off, like I was.
If your searching for a good JDM motor, please do your research, and only buy from a repitable vendor...that has good reviews, and good customer service, incase the worst happens....a better deal...isnt always better.
I made the mistake of ordering an F20B with lsd and 5 speed from JDM Orlando, for my 2000 prelude....because it was $200 cheaper then the JDM organisation out of California...which had good reviews.
Now i am seriously regretting not spending the extra cash.
When the engine arrived, it was like 9pm, and I was trying to get the kids to bed...so I didnt even get much of a chance to look at it till morning.
What I found the next morning, kind of pissed me off.
The motor was on a pallet, covered with a garbage bag, with 2 metal straps sort of holding it in place...all fine and dandy, but the imbisiles didnt even put no card board in between the strapps, and the valve cover...so of course the nice blue power coat is scratched, and gouged up.
So anyway, I cut the strapps, and the bag off the motor, to find the coolant neck, and starter broken...like the motor took a hard impact....ok fine, so I contacted JDM orlando, and sent them pictures. After hagling with them for a bit...I got them to send a worn out starter, that dont even look the same.
Well, anyway I was planning to cam this motor up a bit, and do a ballance shaft delete, so I removed the valve cover, and the oil pan..to find the whole inside of the motor is covered in an orange baked on varnish, that I was told was caused from lack of oil changes, getting too hot, high revs without proper lube...etc.
One of my buds who is an ex motorpool mechanic, inspected the motor with a flashlight, and found quite a few reasons, why this motor needs a full rebuild....everything from wear on the cams, and rockers...to the greenish hue on the bottom of the one piston skirt we can see...that he told me indicates ethanol fuel getting past the rings....the old oil in the motor smelled alot like old gas.
So, once again I contacted JDM orlando, and they told me to email them pics, and I did just that.
Well after 5 days of no response from them...I called them....they said they recived no email....so I sent it again, and again....then I used a different device and sent it again....this morning i called them again...and they basically told me to sit and spin. 17 hundred dollars...gone!
So now im stuck with a motor that needs to go to the machine shop...and then a total rebuild....$$$$$$
My 195k h22a looks way better inside then this supposed sub 60k F20b

I just today filed detailed complaints with the Attorney General of Florida, The FL dept of agurcultue, and consumer affairs...and the federal trade comission, as I dont take getting the shaft laying down.

Do yourself a favor...avoid JDM Orlando like the plauge....they are crooks!

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re: JDM Orlando- Buyer beware!!!!!
 

Doesn't look that bad to me but it's hard to see a lot of detail in pictures. Looks pretty clean inside. That gold/orangish color usually means it had the oil changed regularly. If you ran a high detergent oil like Rotella in that for a few oil changes it would clean most of that up. The cam lobes will always show some "wear" but usually it's just the blue coating wearing off from normal operation. If nothing on the lobes or rocker pads catches your fingernail then they're good to run.

Anyway I recently went through something similar with an F20B I purchased from an importer on the upper east coast who I will not name. I took a chance on them because my normal supplier was out of stock. I even told this company to send me a clean engine before I ordered. The engine was BEAT externally, missing parts, timing covers ruined, crank pulley ruined, leaking oil everywhere. Upon draining the oil I found that it was pitch black and full of chunky sludge. The entire inside of the engine, every nook and cranny, covered with black sludge and grit. A few camshaft lobes were chipped, the water pump broke in half when I removed it. I could go on. They told me they sent me their cleanest engine. What a joke that was. It was 10x worse than what you've got pictured here.

Unfortunately buying something sight unseen on the internet has it's drawbacks. Most of the importers don't even check the engines. They take them out of a shipper container, power wash them so they look shiny, MAYBE compression test it, and send it on it's way. I'm surprised they sent you a new starter honestly. They consider all external accessories as "free gifts" and don't warranty them at all.

re: JDM Orlando- Buyer beware!!!!!
 

Its not the first time iv heard of people buying a JDM engine from them and thinking its bad cause the color inside, even I got a JDM D series but from HMO who is the best known in my area and it has the same dark orange color when I pulled the VC, that engine ran smoother than a babies butt cheeks. Don't be so quick to think its bad till you run it and or do a proper leak and compression test. Sucks the VC got damaged those Blue VC's are nice, I think the garbage bad was nice I got mine just strapped to a pallet.

re: JDM Orlando- Buyer beware!!!!!
 

I hear what your both saying, and the cam wear doesnt bother me much, as it was getting changed anyway...what has me consearned is the fuel getting past the rings, and everything we cant see yet. You are right about the pictures not doing it justice though....cant even make out the greenish hue on the piston skirt...looks red in the picture.
So the orange color is from using a non detergent oil? Interesting, i was told it was varnish from not changing the oil.
There are also numbers written in grease marker on the insides of the cam girdles...making me believe this motors been apart before.
Im not gonna lie, my 195k h22a looks cleaner inside, and has less wear on the cams...we just had it apart 6 months ago, because my ballance shaft seal pushed out, and I lost all my oil....so i did the seals, timing and ballance shaft belt.

This whole ordeal has become less about the condition of the engine, and more about the shadyness. lack of customer care, and unwillingness to abide by their own warranty.

re: JDM Orlando- Buyer beware!!!!!
 

Not necessarily using entirely non-detergent oil. Most consumer grade oils for gasoline engines don't have that much detergent in them and will turn the engine internals a gold, brown, sometimes even red-ish color. Diesel oil(like Rotella) has a LOT of detergent in it and will clean engine internals to look like brand new if used regularly.

Another option is that it could just be where the engine was sitting for awhile. The oil will degrade whether the engine is being run or not. You have to consider that almost all of these engines are nearly 20 years old now. It's also possible the slight hue could be due to the fact that some importers will add a bunch of ATF into the cylinders to keep the engines from seizing while being stored. Eventually it will run down past the rings and end up in the oil pan with everything else.

Judging from what I can see, I would probably run it as is. Maybe change the oil at shorter intervals for the first 10k. I deal with JDM engines and transmissions regularly and I have seen way worse that actually ran perfect.

I get what you're saying about customer care though. Luckily the place I dealt with treated me very fairly.

Re: JDM Orlando- Buyer beware!!!!!
 

Ok, well thanks guys...i will cam it, and run it.
I may be a paranoid person...but sometimes you cant trust nothing in life.
I also understand...I may have over reacted a bit.
But I still do not recomend JDM orlando, as there is a big customer service disconnect...they are rude, they dont answer emails...etc.
I also love the fact that they advertise their engines...with ecu.....lol
They dont tell you you cant use the ecu....but its there....as a selling point

Re: JDM Orlando- Buyer beware!!!!!
 

You have all the right to be upset and worried. Worse case you can put it up for sale for $100 to $200 cheaper than what it cost you and sell it to someone. That's the loss you will have to take but sometimes the extra cash is what you have to put up to make up for your mistake of choosing the wrong shop. Save another $200 or whatever and buy the same engine from a reputable source I recommend HMO, they test them before selling them as far as compression and leak down then start over, I wouldn't risk the engine if the source has such bad service.