You hit the nail on the head Lee, he's trying to make you pay for something he should have checked out before he pulled the engine! Let it be a lesson to him!

Those rings would never bed in properly if it was over fueling, washing the bores

Speaking as a heavy vehicle mechanic of many years I would like to say .. As engineers you dismantle, measure, machine, balance, sometimes modify and reassemble the core engine .. and from what I've seen you do this very professionally. The core now passes to the mechanic/installer who should ensure all the ancillaries are serviceable when fitted + tuned and adjusted .. In my extensive experience it is very very rare that a fault has been found with the core rebuild .. It appears the strange ring wear/smoke is due to incorrect fuel mixture + oil fumes and a lack of hours to bed in (did the customer use bedding in oil?) .. I would add .. You and your team look to be providing an excellent service and a very interesting channel .... well done to you all.

The garage owner had a DOH! moment when he realised the PCV was defective but is in total denial and trying to stiff you for his shortcomings.

This is so common now mechanics fit freshly machined engines that need breaking in properly. Breaking in needs to be carried out under comptrollers conditions with fueling that is controlled and not to rich. You have shown Classic bore wash, backed up with oil that smells of fuel. Little or no care was paid to the correct setting and tuning of the twin carbs when refitted to this engine. Can also be that the carbs are old and worn out and are unable to Control the fueling properly even when tuned correctly initially. The solution is to inform customers up front that bore wash is not a warranty claim and that it’s is the customer’s responsibility to ensure that the fuel system is in good serviceable condition and calibrated to not cause this problem. Change your up front information or you will continue to have warranty problem from garages and diy customers who simply don’t understand bore wash. It is not a machining problem. People also need to understand that the use of a proper running in oil is essential nowadays as oils are now so good components don’t run in as they should, without the use of a proper bedding in oil.

May be worth putting a caveat in the works contract that you cannot be held responsible for subsequent engine assembly or parts failure or anything else that could have been caused by a third party.

Bore wash caused by the over fueling caused the rings not to bed in obviously that pcv valve played a part in the original issue I would charge for the engine work and then pay the bill for the leaks from side covers

It's been over fueled, simple.

The PCV valve being open the whole time will suck oil vapour from the crankcase (leads to smoke out of the exhaust) and also lean up the air fuel mix this will not help on a new rebuilt engine.I was a Classic MG tec building and resoring these cars back in the 1990's seen a few of these PCV Valves fail in the past.

I get the oil examined when ana engine comes in for a rebuild . A lab sells oil test kits ,mostly used by trucking companies . I get a list of things in the oil which shouldn't be there . 😊

I certainly wouldn't pay it. People will think you're a soft touch and the bills will keep coming. You've been more than fair in your dealings regarding that engine. P.S. I don't find your voice to be annoying 😊

Coming from a guy who's ran a workshop, all I can say is fair play to Lee and the guys at berum Engines. Anyone who can show the good, the bad, and even the mistakes that they admit is their fault is in my opinion, worth their weight in gold. When the engine gets tired in my old 200sx I know who ill be taking it to. Keeps up the good work!

Hi Lee when I was an apprentice mechanic in the seventies I owned a MGB which was a tad Smokey and was advised by my elders to change that valve (mushroom valve)it certainly helped. It must have been a well known problem back then

absolutley the PCV valve, ive done hundreds of these B series engines and the PCV valve is vital.

These situations can end up exposing a business to endless (non-billable) hours trying to resolve an issue or complaint that may not be one's fault, at all. It is an inherent business risk for many businesses and the best thing, I think, is to have a consistent culture within BE, whereby, ALL aspects of a job are logged and noted., so that any subsequent audit of work can be fully accounted for. A bit more effort, but I think it's worth it and carries impact, particularly when you can read-off job notes to a complaining client; they realise you're serious about what you do, in all aspects.

Love that u got the balls to show the inner working amd dealing you have in ur business. You r helping a ton of younger people learn how to deal with these issues

Absolutely love how honest you are, absolute shame others trying to stick issues to you when you go above and beyond in sorting issues, including those which aren't your responsibility to fix. Keep up the great work and tell that garage where to go on this one

You need to say that subscribing is completely free, as many people think they have to pay!

I was a mechanic in the 70s for lincoln & cadillac You do fantastic work Don't let them bother you Adam Wolf Brooklyn nyc

Ha ha, my other half walks round the house going "Hi Guys" as soon as the start of your video comes on, all good fun keep up the good work

Sometimes it get to a point where you just have to tell them to sod off. Sounds like this bloke buggered it by not replacent the pcv valve and is looking to blame everyone else bar himself.

Let’s just say you are one of the most honest channel on KZfaq. Which I think is great because most other channels don’t show anything like this or mistakes. Keep the great videos coming. Cheers lads.

Thanks for the commitment in posting the vid in lieu of Hooning around a track - hope you shake the lurgy off soon! For the MG engine, it looks like a game of ‘pass-the-parcel’ and the Owners’ Garage ‘bloke’ is just playing harder than you - absolutely right not to pay! (Side note: following my call to you a couple of weeks back (Hong Kong), would be handy if you could have a quick look at the email I sent ya whilst the shop’s quiet😉👍🏻) Keep ‘em comin’ JCHK

I've followed this engine (MGB) issue from the start - There is NO DOUBT is was the PCV right from the outset, I think you should have changed that out first and saved everyone a lot of time and trouble AND sent him the bill

their comes a time, when you need to close a chapter, and it has come, this guy is a chancer, you have went above and beyond!

I think I’d be raising the bill for what you did like taking engine out etc. replacing the bell housing bolts, engineer etc then have solicitor word a letter pointing out you repair the only thing you could find with your work and paid the garage to fix the leak. Make it clear that your bit done and that’s end of it. In future you need a term and condition that you take NO responsibility for engine tuners carb set up or ancillaries. Also state clearly your warranty/ complaint procedure that the engine has to be presented to you as it was for repair with in 1 year. If that’s a full car that’s fine bring car back if it’s a stripped engine then it’s a stripped engine. Keep strict records on file for each engine so you can Chuck back at them exactly what you did and on what engine number. Stamp your job number on block somewhere discrete. Anyone that runs a business that has not had a hard time with atleast one job is a very lucky person.

That mgb has a problem with operator error. Bore washing, engine running off load is all thats required to ruin a good engine when it's new. Simply set ign. timing in the ball park, run up on chissis dyno for 30 mins, AFR around 13:1 or 4.5%co. Run it at 2-2500 rpm showing between 20-25 hp. Reset timing and carbs (idle speed will by now stop increasing) check tappets, attend to any leaks, send it out the door. Oil& filter change @ 500 miles, re-adjust carbs change needles to correct what will now be over fueling; another 500 miles latet, do the same again. Run up on dyno for final set up, they always have different exhausts/air filters. By this point the engine will be bedded in. This is the cheap way of doing it, not the best, but few MG owners want to pay £600 for 8hrs with their new engine sat on the test bench under controlled conditions.

It can go the other way to, one I got a head done and one valve stem guide was moving up and down, when customer parked it ,it was on an angle oil would run into the cylinder, when it was started in the morning it would smoke like crazy, 😢 but it was the valve guide, needless to say I lost the customer, thanks for sharing,all the best to you and your loved ones

Another very interesting post, I am amazed people have had a dig with "warranty" issue 🙄 I'm sure a factor in this is because you're style/mission statement is that this is a warts & all record of daily & weekly workloads. Keep up the great work & content👌😉👍

I notice that you have not mentioned the oil pressure release valve, just a suggestion, liking the site. keep it going.

Been a mechanic myself it’s a nightmare Now a days as there are so much too go wrong totally out of your hands. Keep up the great work

You do way more for these guys than i ever did !

You missed a good day. Only rained for 10 minutes then cleared up. I did keep an eye out for you 👍

You said it”its the same for any business!” my strategy was jump on the problem immediately and deal with it asap. It demonstrates serious concern and conveys it is an unusual occurrence etc. firm clear reason/action puts you in the best place

Gotta be rough when you do good, careful work and still have to battle a**wipes. Hope things get better.

I am no expert but you seem to handle any problems really well.

In Australia, if a engine is not fitted and started by a certified mechanic and started, etc, you are not covered by manufacturer warranty

I had a Vauxhall engine which was leaking fuel into the sump after being reconditioned, The smoking and poor running pretty much matched your description

By the sound as described, the glazing didn't help with the ring seating. Which was caused by the unburned fuel vapor being given free access to the crank case. Both of which would contribute to odd ring wear and blow-by smoke with a likely addition of a not complete cylinder clean up. In essence, a lot of small things adding together to make a larger issue. One that could have been much worse had it not been a smoker as soon as it was after being worked on. Had the rings seated proper, it may have concealed the fuel contamination long enough to fry the bearings and turned the engine into a boat anchor. Either way it's no one's fault and it's just one of those things where it happens, you learn and more on.

The odd looking wear on the rings is, I suspect, due to the sections of the rings close to the gap not being held to the bore radius, unlike the rest of the ring well away from the gap. This leads to greater wear just on the tips at the gap and less wear for a short distance either side of the gap. Given enough time and no glazing the whole ring would bed in properly. The failed PCV valve being open the whole time must have screwed the tickover tuning up massively so it would be no wonder the engine ran rich at part throttle.

My dad always said "there's an ass for every seat" and all appearances, this fits to a tee, the original customer and the garage mechanic! Don't pay Lee!

Many years ago I dismantled lots of MGB s .I also serviced and rebuilt them. I often had Bs come in smoking heavily . This was cured instantly by blocking off the PCV with a spark plug and resetting the carbs. Smoking cured. How any body could not see the PCV as the problem is a mystery to me.

You can still buy the bearings for the VW 16v intermediate shafts, currently rebuilding a 16v myself. VW is nice and straightforward for the retro stuff.

I’ve built up MGBGT engines for about 50 years & 1 they usually use / burn oil for the first 500 to 1000 miles as that’s what they take to run/bed in ,2 with the knackered PC valve you can’t tune the mixture properly and probably would be far to rich and washing the boar’s with the excess petrol! , I wouldn’t pay them a penny as they obviously don’t know what they are doing trying to set the Carb’s up damaged valve in the first place!

i feel for u broh, my grandfather and dad just had a small engine shop, and the headaches they got from costumers would have been too much for me. people seem to think owning your own business is peaches and cream while the money rolls in. go look up how many small businesses fail because of one customer bankrupting them. u will be shocked how lil it takes.

Sounds like a classic case of bore washing from over fuelling, from this the rings were never able to bed in and rapidly worn.

Well said Lee!

Sometimes in life Lee you can be too nice and unfortunately people will take advantage. Love the channel though

You need to actually stand up for yourselves in Court this time if it gets that far, or the claims will never end.

What a headache. This is why owning a business can be daunting. You did everything a top notch business should do. I wonder if the customer will see this video. I hope so.

You spot on re MG! Re Golf try tell customer use Golf 1 original Castrol GTX.

very interesting as always have you ever seen a broken crankshaft on a 2014 transit connect 1.6 tdci engine ?

I just love it when customers don’t give you the time to tell them that you’re going to take care of the issue make this automatically get salty

Maybe more of a Wurzels accent might make her happier, Lee - ooooh arrr. 🙃🤪

May be going forward with the old skool engines . Make customers have carbs rebuild and ignition timing checked with proof with co and hc readings just make sure fueled correctly. I had a lotus esprit with twin delorto carbs. Didn't take much adjustment to get carbs running well rich on rebuilt carbs.

Like that huddy should give me one for how many vidz I've sat down and watch lol

Happy Easter, Lee. It all sounds fair to me. Some customers are NEVER happy. I used to sell car back in the day. Customers that you made a fortune on loved you the most and were always coming back for their next car. Customers that bought their cars at the breakeven price complained, complained, complained. Good sold customers, the bread and butter of our plant, were fantastic. they new we provided quality products and stood behind our shite. The "one off" customers never stopped moaning and groaning. Isn't it fun owning a small business? Take care.

Hope you get to feeling better mate.

Yup! A rich mixture will cause havoc to a cylinder. Stand your ground on this one.

Well, while you're grasping at straws on the Golf engine, I worked with a lot of high pressure gear pumps in the past and, while circumferential clearance is important, end clearance plays a huge role as well. So, you might want to take a look at that while everything on the bench if you haven't already done so. Yeah, I know, new pump should be fine, but something must be amiss someplace. Pressure relief spring, seat and associated worth a look as well.

Hi. I was thinking that the problem could be a Crack that opens up as it warms up. If you can pressure test the oil system with it assembled

Regarding the MG. I accidentally covered the tiny breather hole in the top of the PCV on mine and it sucked engine oil out of the sump and blew it out the exhaust like no tomorrow. Took me a while to figure out why my very good engine was smoking so badly all of a sudden.

Lee, You cannot discover every small chip, crack or installed component manufacturing weakness. I believe anyone with a business providing a service such as yours has the same problems and yes some are problems caused by the customers servicing and operating of the component you carefully remanufactured. Try as hard as you can to have a quality program in your business to reduce your problems and that's the best you can do. Have a check off list covering all the expected procedures required of the entire job. Really enjoy your videos and seeing how you respond to the different problems you have with your customers. Remember they are only human. (😀) It's tough as hell paying top dollar to get something restored and then breaking it yourself. Remember, there is always the human nature option to try a warranty repair. Explain the failure to the owner and try and sympathize with him/her. They will appreciate the effort you put out trying to make them feel better. At least until they have to reach in their pocket and fork out a few more quid. Sam

Oh not this saga of a BMC PCV valve on an old MGB again? Remember folks, rubber perishes! How old??? Oh dear.... 😎👍

hi Lee, I fitted a goldseal engine from bmc in the mid 80's to Morris miner 1000 very Smokey bmc told me if After 5000 miles still smokey contact them again, 1 pint of oil 400 miles was excetable for the First 2000 miles which I thought was poor,

What I've found on rare occasions with some particular customers is that once you've touched something off the car you become responsible for the whole lot of it!. The responsibility with a new engine is down to the person/garage installing it and a lot of people don't realise that something like that PCV valve/over fuelling, or even over-heating and incorrect run in procedure can completely ruin a new engine. Maybe you need to have a check list printed and given to people with their new engine stating do's and donts and that you won't be responsible if they run the engine with faults and incorrect set-up and subsequently damage it. At least you got it sorted - just a shame they tried to stuff you.

The PCV diaphragm was the Problem I worked on MGB s for 25 years and this was a common problem you would back off the gas and because of high manifold vacuum it sucks the oil out of the crank case

The worst part of running a business is the customers. The most important part of running a business is the customers.

Am curious if the car was driven by owner? With the bad pvc and all the petrol in oil I wonder if someone went out to thrash the new engine and it glazed or didn't break in properly?

You have acted very fairly here as usual so well done 👍

A PCV valve will cause oil burning so not your problem. The petrol in the oil will screw up the ring bedding in. Some people will blame anyone but themselves. Once dealt with a customer who was claiming the crankshaft was warped as it had been measured by an 'engineer' with vernier callipers! The engine was 200K miles old, and had a refresh at 180K.

In the USA the minute you touch something like an engine, any problems it has even if it's not your fault, becomes your fault according to the owner of it, no matter what. It seems there is always this back and forth of blame and it is always is not the owners fault it seems. To combat this many shops these days here in the USA video the complete teardown especially documenting the problems they find and then the repair processes used to fix the problems just in case it comes down to it. A video documentation always helps if it comes down to going to court as well as written documentation

It was said before.... You should have given the engine back with the faulty Pcv valve fitted and advise them of the suspected Pcv valve.... then when it continued to smoke then go round there and fit the new PCV valve and then show them the smoking has stopped. To top it all off.... Bore wash with over fueling will really bugger up the ring bedding in process which obviously compounds the problem. It's just a down hill spiral! On top of that you have a customer who refuses to admit fault and take any blame or responsibility!.... It's his car FFS, he seems "clever" enough and knowledgeable enough to think the rings "are like 50 pence pieces" and that that was the fault.!!!! The mind boggles at the customers you have to deal with Lee.

Lee, can a faulty crankshafts ie the casting be sort of XRayed ? I’m talking of the LR Discovery 3 and 4 short block diesel the crankshaft snap in exactly the same place on some at very low mileage others go on and never snap - just a thought

You need something to run motors on before you ship them. Or when you get them back.

Who knows how the mg B is getting driven. At the end of the day it's a Morris Oxford/ Austin Cambridge engine. Made for pottering around in not ragging about.

Check the oil pressure on the vw or look inside the tapit cover it looks looks like the zambez River that is the problem

You have always been more than fair and GOOD ONYOU (and both business yt+be)

I'm starting to think these videos are doing more harm than good. People are seeing that you're a decent, honest person, willing to stand behind your work and they're willing to use your good nature and take advantage of it.

If he changed mechanics because he wasn't happy that bill is on him in my book. He should of gone to this mg specialist in the first place is your comeback same as the gearbox you stuffed up that's was on you because your not qualified with gearboxes.

Always difficult when a garage sends you a car to repair that they can't themselves, just creates more headaches

The rubber gasket on the front cover plate (the one with the breather) is slightly too small… you need to be very careful when applying it as the front cover is slightly larger than the rear cover. The best solution is to use the hard gaskets… but haven’t seen any available for a few years…

Put simply, if he can detect a difference between the new PCV and the old PCV (ie it wont run with the old one) that proves the PCV is knackered!

I saw a Russian video, that had an engine no head on it with an electric motor. He demonstrated that a rebuilt engine, where the rings have not bedded in yet throws a decent amount of oil in the bores. That might be the smoking issue. Just send him the bill for rechecking the engine and fixing the sleeves where it had been glazed and mention the oil sample and that you would get back to him as soon as you get the results of the engine oil. If there is too much fuel in the oil, then you know it was over fueling and you can attribute the issues to over fueling. Yes there will be trace amounts of fuel. The maximum tolerance of fuel in the oil should say if it is too much or acceptable.

I've had it done to me, I got the blame for an issue caused by the person who repaired a camshaft cap. He said I'd overtightened it and pulled the thread out of the cap, when in fact he hadn't put a Helicoil in it, any way he put a Helicoil in and sorted the problem, but I neve went back to him.

Hiya.This one baffles me totally.Knowing the PCV was toast why was it not changed before all of the strip down?Ok it may have made no difference but it explains why the bores have glazed and smoked.So maybe the damage had been done but to rebuild it and still use that valve?Also those push rod covers warp so be it cork or rubber gasket they can still leak.Triumph 2000,s were famous for it for some reason.I guess cheap tin back then?Also these types of engines were never designed to run on modern super synthetic thin oils so can leak like a sieve and burn oil.The A series is a good example.You may want to put out a video on what oils you use on various engines?

If the rings were not beded in --- was this not due to the engine not being set up correctly ie running rich and thats not your problem. Why has the car now been moved to another gurage?

Set the carb up wrong bore washed the new engine, probably glazed because it sat for nearly a day idling while they messed about try to set the carbs up with the knackered pcv

It seems to me Lee, that the MGB guy won’t be satisfied until you pay for a new engine. To many coincidences with the PCB Valve and the fuel drenched oil and ring edges.

You did the right thing but there's people who no nothing about setting up an engine an will pass blame to anyone except themselves I know of a Mini really nice car 1430 the car needs a distributor when they got stuck outside my Dads I offered them a spare but I see it years later still breaking down it boggles the mind I wish I was getting the money for Towing lol

Sounds like the garage are a bunch of complete amateurs. PHV valve failure = cannot set the carbs up properly. His issue

I'm absolutely gobsmacked that @Anyone, be it garage or final customer, would send an engine back for inspection under warranty with a PC valve, or any other vital ancillary, busted like that one was. If I was a total b'stard I'd have binned it & fitted one from the local scrapper.

Mate i feel for you i spent 5yrs doing this work and you usually find its another party that causes you grief sounds like the garage had a fueling issue and could have had heating issue causing the rings to lose tension just my thought from listening to your description

Does this block have oil sprayers for the pistons? If one was missing it seems that the pressure could be down. Good luck with this one!

Garages fault by the sound of it,bolts missing,radiator broken, do I go on

Must say I enjoy your videos about actual work being done much more than the ones about litigation. If I want to see things about litigation I'll watch Barum Barristers

I think you guys need to get an engine Dyno

Send him bill for the bolts you had to replace that where missing and work you had to sort out lee

On the Golf engine where is the oil pressure relief Valve is it in the block and not ben checked

i was surprised by the engine size. then i realized its Golf engine not golf. i was thinking about golf cart :D