I recently asked A question in the repair and maintence section and got some good some good replies. I just want to warn everbody about A company I dealt with. I purchsed A 4.0 engine from A company called search parts.co.com located in jacksonville Fl.The engine I purchased was A complete drop in motor and according to the sales rep all that was required was to pull the old motor out and drop the other one in.hen I picked up the motor at the trucking co. the a/c pump was missing the alternater was missing,power steering pump was missing and the wiring harness had been cut into. Upon contacting search parts the rep said to use the parts off of the other motor. I said I purchsed A complete motor not half of one.After 45 minutes of complaing the rep said he would replace the parts and that they would be shipped ups overnight. Two weeks of telephone calls i finally recieved the parts which were used.I tried several times to connact the complaint manager of the company and when he found out who I was he had his secratary tell me was in A meeting and refused to talk to me. And when I tried to contact my salesman I always got his voicemail and he would not return my calls.I filed A complaint withthe BBB and 2 days after i recieved A call from my sales rep which by the way the title of the sales reps are doctor. My rep was named dr.jason.I have not had A chance to get the engine installed yet so I cant say any thing about the condition. I just want to let people know who read car talk to know about this business so they can avoid problems like I had.
The accessories you describe are not parts of the motor. I have never seen a motor purchased that came with accessories attached. When swapping a motor, people usually use the accessories off the old motor.
I just went to searchparts.com’s web site and checked out a replacement engine for my car (98 Civic). Under “engine assembly” the accessories you listed are not present. I think this is a case where you didn’t read the list of parts included in the engine assembly. So they neither promised nor delivered these accessories, and they have no obligation to.
In my mind a “complete” engine means it has the manifolds and maybe the distributor, but usually it’s not understood that those accessories come with an engine. After all-- why would they need to? Usually there’s no reason why you’d need to replace all that stuff at the same time as the engine.
Its not good if they did actually claim it was complete with all those parts specifically mentioned, but otherwise it just sounds like a miscommunication to me.
What they shipped you was a complete engine. It had the fuel injectors, fuel rails, spark plugs, etc. The AC, power steering pump, and alternator are items that hang on an engine. These items use power generated by the engine, they are not part of what makes an engine run.
All the “hang on” parts have to be taken off the old engine anyway as part of the process for getting it out of the car. Then you install the new motor and rehang the AC, and the other stuff then.
I don’t think you were mislead with purpose. You just had one idea of what a complete engine means and that differs from the “industry standard” for the term complete engine. The folks at the parts company tried to explain this to you and you refuse to listen, so they stopped taking your calls.
I agree with the previous explanations, and I have to assume that the OP does not have any significant experience with auto parts and their terminology.
To attempt to illustrate the situation using non-automotive examples, let us assume that the OP bought a suit of clothing from the Sears catalogue (if that even still exists). The suit arrives via the US Mail, but the customer is upset that a belt and a shirt were not included in the box with the suit. As we all know, when you purchase a suit of clothing, you must purchase other items, like the belt and a shirt separately. Although you wouldn’t wear the suit without a belt or a shirt, those items are not parts of the suit.
A suit is just that–a suit. An engine is just that–an engine.
To automatically assume that an engine includes an alternator, a power steering pump, or other accessories driven by the engine is incorrect, and reveals a lack of understanding of the terminology.
A lack of understanding of this terminology is not a crime, but I would strongly suggest that the OP stop trashing the reputation of a company, simply because they sold him exactly what he ordered.