I had the misfortune of having my engine rebuilt at JMS Racing Engines, NOT my choice, via Flat-Line Customs owner Michael Montana who is equally horrible at what he does. Mike Montana destroyed my stock 4.2 engine that was in my CJ7 Jeep when he failed to properly install some simple parts. Denying any wrong doing, he sent my engine out to JMS for a rebuild & proceeded to charge me. JMS rebuilt a block that should've never been rebuilt!
What I received back was a horribly running engine. Also I was refused the failed parts I requested before the rebuild in which Montana adamantly blamed JMS for not giving to him. This is illegal by the Automotive Act of 1974 business & professions code 9880. That was a huge red flag that these two hacks work in tandem because they are friends. I personally called the owner of JMS Racing Engines Mike Johnson who is an old, angry, rude little man. He would not tell me as to why they refused me the old parts through Mike Montana that I requested. This made me very suspicious. He just kept blurting out how I was Montana's customer & not his. So be it but he was a rude jerk & had a bad attitude obviously he was covering up the truth to the failure of the 4.2 engine that Montana destroyed. They tore down that engine & knew what happened but just wouldn't tell me. I cannot understand how they didn't know this engine was not running right that's what they do all day long! I could totally tell something was severely wrong on the drive home.
Being under warranty, this poorly running engine was sent back to JMS by Mike Montana. Montana did admit the 4.2 engine should not have been rebuilt, it was ruined. The next thing I know is a 4.0 engine (Montana's decision) with the old '85 stock head had been installed in my jeep without my knowledge at Flat-Line Customs! This was really upsetting to find out. I now have a smaller engine in my jeep than what had been in there before. What kind of moron does this! On top of this nightmare this 4.0 engine that was rebuilt at JMS is defective. I demanded that Montana put in a stock 4.2 remanufactured engine but it was refused. So much for any kind of customer service or say as to what's right.
Again, under warranty & so desperate to get out of this horrible situation they both put me in, I sent this defective 4.0 Engine back to Flat-Line Customs who then again sent it back to JMS. Well, they were too lazy & didn't care about taking apart the engine to fix it so they just sent it back, defective & all! What an awful shop! JMS does NOT stand by their warranty! Montana then decided to open up the engine trying to fix it which he shouldn't have. I'm sure that made matters even worse. He gave up too.
Being completely sick of their incompetence & dishonesty I contacted the Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) for an investigation. They just went after Montana who they discovered is operating "unlicensed" so that explains why things went the way they did. According to the BAR representative this 4.0 engine is "noncompliant & illegal." You cannot just install any engine you want & deny the customer any kind of say as to what goes on. There are laws to follow. The BAR informed me to sue Montana because I was his customer. So JMS got lucky there. I was ready to sue them as well. The investigator from the BAR showed Montana I wanted a full refund for the damages he did but he still refused on every level. I won the judgement in Superior Court but not after Montana dragged to that point. If you've been ripped off by dishonest, hack mechanics like I have, immediately contact the BAR. Most of all, do NOT have JMS Racing Engines rebuild your engine because they are horrible at it!
0 Stars!!!
Video of defective 4.0 engine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lS-XXAU8G3E
BAR link:
https://www.bar.ca.gov read more