SS down, possible engine damage

[V]

yes, the first one i was sent was obviously used. I bought it through LS1Speed inc and only after i complained, sent pics, AND returned the first one... they finally sent me another one. At 11(8am PST) i'm calling Professional products and speaking with them. I may also try ls1speed right now.

Its made by Professional Products, and called powerforce-plus. When i was reading up on them, apparently alot of GTO people use them and no one ever had any issues. It was only around 150 bucks, whereas the ATI one is about 460.

[V]

OK, i just got off the phone with someone over at Professional Products in CA. I explained what happened and they are sending me out a new balancer right away. I said i really wasn't sure if i wanted another and more of a refund. But that, i know, i'd have to take up with the company i bought the part from. That is LS1Speed.com and they dont seem to like answering their phones ever. So i'm just gonna take the new part and maybe resell it and still buy an ATI dampner.

The rep at professional products was pretty suprised by what happened and he said especially since it was the SFI version. I sent him pics just now and once i get the new one, the old one is getting sent back to them so they can see what went wrong. Plus then they can go by dates on it to know more about it. He asked where i bought it from and turns out they arent a "registered" dealer for their products so he couldnt be sure where they got it from, but he was still very helpful.

So by the time the new balancer comes, i will have decided what i'm going to do.

[WildBillyT]

I'm glad that the damage was not great and that you are getting proper service from PP. Go with an ATI damper and never look back. It probably broke because of the QC at their manufacturing plant in China being sub-par, but I digress, I don't want to take this thread on a tangent.

[98tadriver]

phew you definately lucked out!

[V]

UPDATE: I just got off the phone with John at Professional Products again, He called to tell me that he will NOT be sending a new balancer. Instead he wants me to fax a copy of the reciept from when i bought it to show how much i paid. After that, they will send me a full refund instead. He said that there were known issues with the balancers and he currently has no good ones in stock. All the bad batch were supposed to have been "purged" but apparently not. He said hed be afraid to send another and if it happens again hed feel bad personally. I bought the part from LS1speed.com, which is not a registered dealer for professional products so they have no idea where they got them from. And therefore ls1speed probably obtained the bad batch balancers some other way.

John at professional products was very nice and very helpful so i would definately recommend their products, however, just be aware of WHO you buy the parts from....

Now once i get the refund, i will be buying a Fluidampr from summit racing.

[j0n]

somewhat good news brosef!

[Knipps]

glad to hear you're getting what you want
customer service knows how to deal with people too so that's a plus

[BonzoHansen]

PP is standing tall, nice to hear. No go find that rcpt!

[best of both]

Originally Posted by SmokingSS

i wanna go home.... i called AAA at 10:45... its 12 now.... they said 90 min or less... they got 15 min. and some poor tow truck driver had to get out of bed for me hahahahahahaha..

...im really bored....

Its too bad you dont know someone who works for AAA. Maybe you will if I can make one of the events this year...

[ryanfx]

wow.. what a night!

[V]

UPDATE....

NEW FLUIDAMPR was installed Tuesday May 1st.
I made 7 runs at island at the Wed BBQ event.

Heres what the balancer looked liek before i installed it, so pretty....





and
.
.
.
.
Heres what it looks like as of the 1000ft mark on my 7th pass....






The new bolt apparently just backed out and the balancer came off... It was all torqued to spec so i dunno... When it came off, not only did it do the damage seen in the pics(k member, tierod, a/c idler pulley) it also hit the water pump pulley which now spins ever so slightly off center. so new water pump is needed now too(electric this time though). I'm also getting yet another fluidamper but an ARP balancer bolt this time and going to locktite the hell out of it..... but on the bright side, 5th run broke into the 12s at 115mph... still on street tires with a 2.257 60'.

[Knipps]

for getting it all fixed up
the pics you showed me initially were pretty bad

[trashman01]

hm u and 98tadriver going for the crown of most broken parts? u gotta beat melissa soon!

[V]

so far on the SS, this is my damage list...Currently at 49k miles...

stock clutch(splines spun in the disc itself) @10k miles
driveshaft @36k
Torque arm @36k
rear 1, initial destruction(part of carrier went out through the rear cover) @40k
rear 1, after GM rebuild @41k
block,rod,oil pan @48k
steering rack @48k
Spec clutch and stock clutch slave were wasted @48k
Balancer 1, professional products @49k
Balancer 2, Fluidampr @49k
Tierod @49k
Waterpump @49k


Repairs now will be in the range of $1100...(2k if i decide to do a tubular k member). Dumping more money into it is something im not looking forward to but what can i do. The car will be back at Island soon, but this time it'll be coming on a trailer just in case.... I'm waiting for rear 2 to go next.... i gotta do the axle brace soon too... thats another 300...ugh....

[trashman01]

haha that is why i got a truck, got tired of fixng my car more then i drove it. and now with my truck, i go down fishing trails and loggin roads but thats it. im just trying to get it to look nice nad maybe get some whips