I now share with you everything that has transpired over the last 59 days with Jake Weibe and NorthStar Performance. I purposefully kept everything between NorthStar Performance and myself confidential to avoid controversy. It has been an interesting ride, to say the least.
You may recall that I instituted a self-imposed gag order on Sept 23, 2013 (reply#71). He immediately posted a response admitting culpability (reply #72) and promised a quick resolution to the low oil pressure at idle condition in his engine. He also made the following pronouncement: “I will not, I repeat, will NOT build another engine for a customer until I find the root cause of this.” That hasn’t been the case as the evidence will show. I will pick up the story from that point.
Reading his post lifted a great burden off my shoulders. He had finally stepped up and taken responsibility. I was confident that he would soon deliver on his promise and find a the problem. I was still somewhat concerned with his unwillingness or inability to supply me with a sales receipt or warranty information, despite my repeated requests. How can I prove I have a new engine without a receipt? How do I increase the insurance on my car without the appropriate documentation?
One week later, on October 1, Mr. Weibe calls at 6 P.M. with the theory that the problem involves crankcase ventilation. He had me perform a test. The next day I sent him the following email with these results:
On Oct 2, 2013, at 2:44 PM, xxxxxxxxxx@aol.com wrote:
> Jake,
>
> Ran the PCV test today. Warmed engine up with a quick trip to town and came home. Shut motor off and pulled out PCV valve. Restarted engine and brought the oil pressure up to about 15 PSI. The motor did not idle rough at all. However, upon taking my foot off the gas pedal, the pressure once again went all the way down in a matter of seconds. I shut it off and put the valve back in. Spoke with Tony and he agreed that crankcase ventilation can wreak havoc with an engine's oil pressure, especially with an oil pump that is ran off the crankshaft. Hope this is helpful.
>
> Randy
Thank you Randy- just finishing a Northstar from Wisconsin today l will get back to you ASAP
Sent from my iPhone
Tony runs the shop which installed the engine. Another week goes by. Summer inexorably loses it’s grip and starts giving way to autumn. On October 8th, I contacted Mr. Weibe, inquiring if there had been any progress and sharing some oil pressure readings: 9 PSI at 1,500 RPM - 19 PSI at 2,000 RPM. His response took me by surprise:
So far nothing,
I'm almost leaning toward a defective pump. We may end up building another engine. Are you able to take the Aurora for a drive to my Ontario shop? I will work around your schedule entirely and pay for accommodations at a hotel nearby.
Thank you
---------------
Jake Wiebe
President & Founder,
Northstar Performance
www.northstarperformance.comHis shop in Ontario, is some 200 miles north of Pittsburgh. I live in southwest Ohio. That is a good 400 miles - each way. He did offer to put me up in a motel, but I would have to obtain a passport card. That was $55 dollars. Gas up and back would be in the neighborhood of $150 dollars. Plus food and who knows what else. And taking a week off from my obligations here locally for a week or so would be difficult to say the least. Besides, why do I have to leave the country to get the warranty honored? Could he at least send Tony a replacement oil pump and try that first? I didn’t really want to do it, so I put off sending a reply. However, I kept it in the back of my mind.
The next day (October 8th) he sent me another email:
Hi Randy; I came across a redesigned oil pump for the Northstar. I’m going to contact the company in the morning that makes this pump and see if they’ve done anything to improve the oil flow (volume/pressure) at idle.
This is on my mind and will be on my mind until the issue is resolved. I want solutions to the problems that the Northstar has.
Thank you
---------------
Jake Wiebe
President & Founder,
Northstar Performance
www.northstarperformance.comGreat. Maybe I won’t have to drive through Detroit after all.
And then he was gone . . . A follow-up inquiry on Oct. 11th received some kind of auto-response from his website. It said they were out of the office until Oct 24th, making stud kits, training new staff and doing lots of intense R&D on the NorthStar engine. Oct. 24 is nearly two weeks away. So much for my pipe-dream of a new oil pump . . . He did say they were working on ways to improve oil pressure at idle.
All I could do was wait - and think about going to Canada. It seemed there wasn’t any use in trying to contact him, but on October 17th while on another leisurely country drive trying to break the engine in, I pulled up to a stop sign and was enveloped in a cloud of blue smoke. Not a large one and it quickly dissipated. But as I pulled away I gave the car a little gas and produced another cloud of blue smoke. Now it was burning oil too. Checking the level upon returning home, it was one-half pint low.
So I sent Mr. Weibe another email. To this one he did reply. I now knew that although he was “out of the office,” he was still reading his email. Jake said not to worry about it:
At 160 mi the rings won't be completely broken in yet, you can expect consumption to go down after break-in. But there is something we found that is a direct fault of GM's unfinished engineering that is costing a lot of people a lot of oil.
The engines we've built are tighter (compression/leak down wise) than stock and because of this added tightness, oil consumption is going up and not down. It's the reverse of what it should be. There is a very clear answer and we found it. Now we are working on the solution.
The vehicle we are doing some testing on; is a customers engine that was fully rebuilt by us last year. He's allowing us some time with it. This one never had the low oil pressure light at idle. We did something a bit different on this one out of necessity at the time, a bit of a different build. So while it's here we're going to test the pressure with a mechanical gauge.
I don't expect the R&D to take much longer. But we are making headway.
Thank you
---------------
Jake Wiebe
President & Founder,
Northstar Performance
www.northstarperformance.comI was now coming to the realization that a trip to another country may be the only way I will ever get my car fixed. I’m no rocket scientist. However, I found his statement regarding oil consumption to be particularly disturbing. Who has ever heard of a correctly built engine with that kind of oil consumption? If there was indeed a design defect of that magnitude, it would have resulted in a massive recall.
I remembered something my father used to say when I was a kid. “ Son, no matter what it is you do in life - always have a backup plan.”
I decided it was time to start formulating a backup plan. Just in case.
Contacted my credit card company and learned that time was running out if I wanted to file a dispute to recover my $4,325 dollars. The normal grace period is 90 days, with one 30-day extension. The deadline to make up my mind was November 9th. After that I was on my own with no leverage whatsoever. The fate of my car would be entirely in the hands of someone whom I was beginning to have serious doubts about.
So I waited some more. Two weeks roll by and not a word. Halloween was right around the corner. On October 29th I sent him the following email:
Jake,
Have been anxiously watching my email the last couple of weeks in anticipation of some good news. Now that you are back in the office, so to speak, I wanted to give you what info I have and observations made on my Aurora. First off, I erroneously reported the mileage at 160 October 16th. It was actually at 360. As of today, the odometer is at 533 miles. The oil level is now one full quart low. At what point is the engine considered completely broken in?
Had the car out on the highway a few days ago and took some readings. All these numbers were taken at operating temperature on level ground in fourth gear.
30 MPH - 16 PSI - 1200 RPM
50 MPH - 17 PSI - 1300 RPM
60 MPH - 21 PSI - 2000 RPM
70 MPH - 24 PSI - 2200 RPM
These seem alarmingly low in my experience. In your last email (10-08), you said that you were leaning towards a defective oil pump and were going to contact a firm with a redesigned oil pump regarding improved oil flow at idle. What is the status of that lead? It sounds promising.
Sure could use some good news,
Randy in Ohio
His response: THERE WAS NO RESPONSE. No phone call, no email, just nothing. What about all those promises on the ACNA website of Sept. 23rd? Where was all that “crazy research” he was talking about? Nevertheless, I still gave him the benefit of the doubt. Also started to gather the necessary documents to get my passport.
We are now into the first week of November and I have had no communication from Mr. Weibe since October 17th when he assured me that a new engine burning oil was not a problem. I began calling his cell phone. No answer. Every few days I would call his shop. No answer. I thought he was training new office staff? One would think he could have found someone to pick up the telephone . . . I left messages, none of which were ever returned. Has something happened to him? It’s possible, I suppose. I remembered he had a Facebook page for the business, so I checked it out.
There he is, alive and well chatting about this and that. Much too busy to respond to a customer though. Especially one who is trying to get in touch with him over a $4,325 dollar engine that won‘t hold oil pressure. The oil pressure upon a cold startup seems to be dropping with each passing week. Back in October it was 56-58 PSI. This morning, which was rather chilly, it read 42 PSI. (these readings are from car’s DIC system)
Finally, on November 6th, a full three weeks without any contact from him whatsoever, I had to make a decision. This was the very day I applied for my passport. My credit card company would not grant me another extension. It was now or never. They said if I could convince Mr. Weibe to refund the purchase price, I could buy another engine from him immediately and start the whole process over again. Otherwise, I would be at his complete mercy with no real recourse whatsoever other than a lawsuit, which is the last thing I want to get involved with. I sent him a last email:
Jake,
What do I have to do in order to have a dialogue with you? Since September 4, 2013, I have done my level best to give you the benefit of the doubt regarding your promise to repair or replace the engine you sold me. You made repeated promises and public pronouncements of your intent to rectify this problem. And I believed you. What happened? It has been 64 days now and my car is no closer to being fixed than it ever was.
Every email, every phone call has been routinely ignored since October 17th. I have sent you repeated inquires. I have sent you data I have gathered regarding oil pressure at various speeds, all in an effort to support and assist you in resolving this problem.
While I understand how incredibly busy you must be with your company, you must understand my position as a customer. Your indifference has left me with no other option. I have decided to place our transaction for $4,325 dollars into dispute with my credit card company. Please contact Complete Auto for arrangements to remove the engine at 937-696-5041.
I am saddened it has come to this, buy you leave me no choice. If by chance, this action somehow compels you to finally contact me, I would welcome that conversation.
Randy in Ohio
That one got a response.
"You're not giving me the time needed. You give me the time needed and I will look after you."
Sent from my iPhone
I don’t want to be looked after. I want my damn car fixed. I replied with this email:
On Nov 6, 2013, at 11:52 PM, xxxxxxxxxx@aol.com wrote:
> Jake,
>
> That's just the thing. I am out of time. The engine was rcvd July16th. There is a 90-day period that a dispute can be filed. That date came and went October 17th. I was able to obtain a 30-day extension, but that expires in a few days. I was weighing the possibility of letting that date pass by. Had you given me any reason, I probably would have. But you just hung me out to dry.
>
> On your ACNA post of Sept 23rd, you publicly proclaimed that there was a defect with your engines. Am I to understand that you have not shipped a single engine since then? You spoke of a redesigned oil pump that you had found on Oct 9th. You said you were going to speak with the company reps. I waited for a followup - never heard a thing.
>
> And the very next day you vanished. For two weeks building up inventory and doing intense research on the engine's oil consumption and pressure issues. I waited with great anticipation on that one. What did I get? Nothing. I later sent you detailed info regarding oil pressure readings taken at highway speed which appear quite troubling (low). What did I get back on that?
>
> Who wouldn't become a little skeptical at this point? I am sorry but I have lost all faith in your willingness to deal with me in good faith. You know the old saying? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice . . . shame on me. My investment in this engine is too great to trust it to a guy I have never met who won't even talk to me.
> And now people at ACNA are asking for updates. What do I tell them?
>
> We are at a crossroads. I cannot in good faith trust you at this time. There may be a way I can continue to work with you, but you are now going to have to trust me.
>
> I will attempt to call your office in the morning. If I fail to make contact, call me back. Failing that, I will begin faxing everything I have, including these emails to my credit card company.
>
> Randy
His answer:
"You continue to believe what you want. You're not the one who has to fix mistakes made by a multinational corporation. You just drive the car.
I emailed you telling you I want to see you at my shop in Ontario and no reply whatsoever. Why not?" Sent from my iPhone
And then the phone rang - as I was getting into bed at about 1:05 in the morning. I knew exactly who it was. He was argumentative, to say the least.
I tried to explain my position; that his continued lethargy and unwillingness to respond to any of my emails or phone calls left me with no choice. There was no way I was going to surrender the only leverage I had, because frankly, I did not trust him anymore. I furthered explained that if he wanted me to undertake an 800 mile round-trip to another country and all that involves, he was going to have to trust me and refund my money. I would then re-purchase the engine and bring the car to his shop, thus giving him another 90 days. He said, “Not in a million years, am I going to give you your money back with my engine in your car.” He became increasingly belligerent. “The only way you will ever see a dime is when my motor is setting in a crate waiting to be picked up. I asked him if he was accusing me of being dishonest. “ You are dishonest and this is the end of our conversation!” He hung up. I shook my head and went on to bed. I felt like I was dealing with a 12-year old girl.
The following afternoon he sent this gem:
"If you change your note and your attitude and stop believing that I am attempting to rip you off; here is my proposal.
Get the documentation you need to come to my shop in Ontario. Drive the Aurora to my shop in January. I will repair or replace that engine if found to be defective. I know what the proper oil pressure is to be at and I will not be using a digital readout from an electronic sensor. It will be checked mechanically with a proper pressure gauge.
My time from here until January will be spent addressing any potential problem that may arise from the remanufacture of a Northstar engine. I will follow through with the last of my R&D. You and I will go for a test drive after the repairs are complete and I will show you; whatever issues that apparently are present; will no longer be present.
If you interfere with the R&D that I need to do; not only to help with your potential problem; but any other of my Northstar customers; it will not help you; it will not help me; and it will not help any other Northstar owner out there. And if you believe for a second that GM made no mistakes; ask yourself in the first place why your original engine came out.
You can post this to ACNA, as I am sure you will.
I am here to help people as I have been from the beginning when I started Northstar Performance nearly 6 years ago. You don't have to believe that. Follow my lead and I will prove it. But it will be according to my schedule. It has to be. Because I know what needs to be done."
---------------
Jake Wiebe
President & Founder,
Northstar Performance
www.northstarperformance.comI don’t know why he keeps insinuating that I am some sort of GM apologist. I worked in a GM plant 25 years. Believe me, I could tell you some horror stories. Equally perplexing is his pronouncement about using a mechanical gauge versus a digital electronic sensor. He is fully aware that a mechanical pressure gauge was used to check his engine. This has been explained to him. More than once. There are two postings on this thread on that very topic. The first is dated 09-04 (reply #51), the other is from 09-24 (reply #75).
I declined his offer and notified him on 11-15-2013 that his engine was ready for pickup. That same day I went back to his business Facebook page. Suddenly, everything made sense:
Northstar Performance
November 15
"Thanks to two of the network shops we work with, two past customers, and a lot of R&D, we have nailed down the oil pressure issue. The issue is completely electrical and has nothing to do with actual pressure readings. All of the engines built were within manufacturer's specified pressure range from hot idle to cold. We had a couple of vehicles back for testings and we got vehicle owners that had engines built by us both in Detroit MI and in Charlotte, NC take manual readings with a mechanical guage.
Repair instructions once available for this electrical fault will be posted to our website. Partial credit for this goes to Jose- you know who you are. One hell of a good technician. Thanks my friend!"
SO . . . It’s an electrical issue. Can’t wait to see that posting, although I’m not going to hold my breath. I think what we have here is a deliberate act of desperation on his part. Mr. Weibe promised a 5-year 100,000 mile warranty. He would not honor that commitment. He would not even provide me with a copy of it. Or a sales receipt. Who does business like that? He insisted I bring my car to him - in another country. Woe to the customer that lives in Arizona. Or Florida, or Connecticut or about 43 other states.
If I had done as he insisted, if I had jumped through every hoop he placed in my way, would he have honored his warranty? Looking at the position he is now taking regarding an electrical failure, I sincerely doubt it. Look at his last two statements again. Can any reasonable person conclude that he will honestly address this problem with his engines? Problems that he has publicly admitted too?
I fully expect him to respond to these charges with wild accusations directed towards me personally about how I never gave him a chance and how impossible I made it for him to address this issue. That is fine. It is up to you who have read these posts to make your own, informed decisions.
I wish him all the best. Really. It is time to move on. I only hope that he can somehow, someday come to realize the importance of dealing with his customers in an honest and deliberate fashion. I hung in with him for 64 days, but ultimately became convinced the best thing for my Aurora was to get it as far away as possible from Jake Weibe and Northstar Performance.