Larocca's is NO GOOD AT ALL!!! STAY AWAY

[shttygtstang]

burn that shaznac

 

[93 teal terror]

Obviously something is wrong......converters shouldnt heat up like that. I question when you say that if you run an off road h pipe the smell is unbearable. Ive been around a 550hp 95 cobra that had no cats and sure it smelled but it was not unbearable. You said that you had to use EPEC as a stand alone system to get it tuned right. When they told you that, that would have been when I stopped spending money on high dollar parts and returned the car back as close to stock as I could until you figure out the problem. If there is a problem with the harness to your computer, what does your wire harness look like? Is yours one of those cars where you pop the hood and all you see is spade connectors and wire nuts? First thing I would do is take off the supercharger, and reconnect your 02 sensors. I assume they can bypass the 02's with the EPEC system, but I would even go as far as to take the EPEC system off and hook the EEC back up. Get the car running right n/a and then if you want to add boost fine. If you still cant get the car to run right...take off all your expensive stuff, get an autoparts store rebuild motor and jump ship. Start with a car that runs well before you start adding stuff to it ESPECIALLY if you dont do your own work. Its one thing if you can spend all your weekends chassing down a problem, but as you found out it gets expensive when your paying for someone help.

Now Im not saying you deserved your treatment from them and I would be very pissed if my car was being stored in damp weeds. If I had had a problem for 7 months and then the owner comes and says "well looks like your screwed" I would be irate.

Just a thought but if you have too much back pressure maybe a 3" exhaust would help. I would have tried that before I tried a new motor and heads. what size headers are you running?

I do realize that you had this problem before they took the car in, but you said that your headers were glowing and they fixed that. Im wondering if maybe once they fixed that problem there was simply too much back pressure in the exhaust. You said they tried a stock h pipe??? a 2 1/4" non mandrel bent h pipe with 500rwhp??? Its not wonder it got hot.

Not trying to be an ass, just trying to help as I would be pissed if I spent 9k on something like this

 

[Quick5pnt0]

Did you pay by credit card? or cash?
If by credit card, call up your CC company and ask to have the payments stopped, and file a complaint against them. This isnt the first time i've heard bad things of them. A friend of mine went there and said they are "hacks".....personally i've never been there.

 

[MadMatt5oh]

I got tired of reading responses. Heres my take, they took advantage of you. Bluntly putting it It doesnt seem like you know very much about your car. You should sue those bastards because they saw you coming from a mile away before they charged you with the first huge bill.

You need o2s its a must. Your car has to maintain an AF ratio. You need a functioning smog pump, while your at it might as well get a 3" exhaust as well

Just my observation

 

[89MustangGX]

Don't worry about the smog pump -- it's not needed with the new style converters (thus why new cars don't have them). The O2's I question -- but I also know it wasn't uncommon to disconnect them back in the day on blower cars, I suppose some people still do.

I almost hate to say it, but I suspect some type of wiring issue or something that is probabkly impossible to test for and you'll only find by looking at every inch of wire or replacing more stuff. I dunno...sounds way too fishy...

 

[drgn5.0]

this is not the first post about laroccas i've seen concerning bad treatment.. I'd contact a lawyer and see what recourse you have.

 

[cjman15]

sue those mother-effers

 

[stangman_ia]

SMALL CLAIMS COURT! GO GET"EM!!!!

 

[347 Special]

i feel for ya. i had a shop here in Vegas do a 347 for me they had it for a few months. And when i got it the damn thing blew up after 1 1/2 miles it went back and it blew again(2days) went back and 3 weeks later picked it up and took it to be chipped/dynod 249rwhp(joke) took it back got it a week later and it blew again. This time he said i need more $$. I got lots of excuses though, bad tq wrench, the new guy worked on it, etc. i make 2000 flyers about the shop and put them on ATM.s around town, tried for a class action suit but nobody would join in.

 

[SLiM JiM 156]

I'm tired of hearing about this shop screwing you over like this. My best guess would be that your wiring harness is screwed up and it has something to do with those o2 sensors. Do they still glow when the car is reved up instead of left idleing?

 

[SLiM JiM 156]

Oh yeah, call up the BBB and have these guy's license taken away from them and sue these bastards, this is complete bull****

 

[DirtyD916]

seriously you should contact a lawyer. No joke take cahrge of the situation because what do got to lose?

 

[67stang390]

Hey I just read up to the part where you have no o2 sensors or smog pump, so sorry if I'm repeating what someone else has already said. But you have NO smog pump or o2 sensors?! Uhhh man there's your frikkin problem right there. Just how exactly does your car know if it's running rich or lean without o2's? Sure maybe at higher RPMs on a dyno at LaCROCKa's they can tell you your A/F ratio, but what about at idle or just low cruising RPMs?

SUE THEM. Sue them for everything; their kids' dental plans, retirement funds, take it all. I had a machinist here in the Seattle area mess up big time on machining my block when I was installing the stroker kit. He mangled several oil passage block plugs which eventually failed, causing my motor to have no oil pressure. I had to pay for an entire rebuild because I was out of state at the time. $3000 dollar cost because some idiot machinist messed up a $5 part. I got zero dollars back because "machine work is not guarenteed in performance applications" even though if it was a stock rebuild it's an essential part. It's about time someone stopped letting so-called "mechanics" charge outrageous amounts for pathetic work.

 

[bmo37]

Larocca's are down right thieves!! I still have the same problem now after doing every single thing they suggested . Now they are blowing me off telling me my car is fine and take it somewhere else if I don't think so.

My problem: glowing catalytic converters

I spent close to $9000 there in the past 1.5 year plus I had to buy a new shortblock (not included in the $9000) because my newly rebuilt one blew up while they were dynoing for about the 20th time to see why my converters were overheating. They had my car 7 months and treated it like no one would want theirs to ever be. Left it parked under trees in a wet and weeded area across the street from the shop. Car looked like total $hit afterwards. Alot of my new stuff got rusty real quick.

My converters were glowing when I brought my car to them. They had me replace a brand new set of Roush 200 heads that were worked, a brand new Comp Cam XE274HR, my entire new MSD ignition, and my just rebuilt 306 after they killed it on the dyno. I was furious to say the least.

At this very point (before I went ahead with the new block) I asked Jimmy Larocca himself had my glowing converter issue been resolved. His answer was "Yes. Just go with the new sb from DSS and you will be good to go". So I decided to do so. This way it gives them no "out" to point the finger at anyone elses work if something doesn't work from this point on. I figured they have done everything and no one else has touched the car but them so there is no one else to blame.

Needless to say after the new motor was installed I came home with a very large bill only to my suprise to see that my cats were still glowing. I called back and said what the hell is going on. You told me that 100% my converter issue was fixed. Jimmy Larocca's answer was "If you converters are glowing now (as if they weren't before) then the converters are no good"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. After I just spent all this money they have the nerve to give me that answer. Couldn't they have determined that before I spent $9000 + $2300 for shortblock????
So I said to them I will buy a new set of hi-flow converters (Random Technologies) and I should be good from here? Larocca said "Yes". The cats cost me $380 alone (not including h-pipe). But before I could put them on my brand new Vortech started making a crazy whining noise. Bearing was messed up. It was all rusty looking along with my entire blower bracket from sitting for 7 months in that damp a$$ area that they had it parked in. I called Larocca up to ask if they could take the blower off so I could send it for repair. They said that I would have to wait one month before they could get to it. So I had a friend take it off.

When I got it back from Vortech my buddy put it back on then I took it back to Larocca's just to make sure nothing changed with the tune. At this time I just put the new converters on and even went so far as to have the car towed to Larocca just so there was no chance of me screwing the converters up by driving it there out of tune.

End result: Converters still glowing!!!! Jimmy Larocca says that it's fine and there is nothing more for them to do. He then asks what gas I am using. I say Sunoco 94. He says "try another gas. Sunoco 94 is all hype and actually has less octane than others." Is this crazy or what??????

My entire center console is almost burning to touch and is warped from so much heat. The cats get cherry red after 4 minutes idling. My car could literally catch fire from this.

Forget about all that stuff you read in the mags about Larocca. It's all BS.

This turmoil cost me $9000 + $2300 + $380 and I am still at the same place as when I started.

You may ask yourself "why not just put an offroad h-pipe on and be done with it" My answer is "My car smells to HOLY HELL like you have never ever smelled in your life. Not even from an all out race car!!"
I am going to attempt to get some money back by any means necessary.
Comments anyone?

I remember reading your first post about this, its really a shame cause this guy has all kinds of buisness because of his racing reputation (EFI renagade champion), if you ask any one in jersey or new york, hell even the whole east coast who the best tuner in the east is and the answer you'll get is Jimmy Larocca. As far as dyno tuning the guy in my opinion is the best but he is really arrogant. The only way you'll get quality work from him is if its working on his own car. That place is so busy that they don't have enough time to work on cars like they should, so there forced to push cars out in volume.

When I had a gear swap done by them the next day my tranny was leaking from the speedo, they said the just filled the tranny up to high and was leaking off excess, So i said bs and went to a local tranny shop, they said the cable was cracked. Turns out when I dropped the tranny a year later both places laroccas and local tranny screwed me over. Seems laroccas stripped the speedo hold down bolt and it snapped in the tranny housing, so they just stuck the speedo in there, the local guy lied and said the speedo was crack so he replaced that and zip tied it in place. which eventually came loose and chewed up my speedo gear. So from now on the only person that works on my car is myself. Engine building, transmission, clutch, suspension, are all done by myself. Only thing I hate is body work.

I hope you get it fixed, Question did you have a chip on the car prior to the burning cats. the tune could be wrong also as far as thermactor, egr, and smog pump being tuned on/off. If I were you I throw all the emissions stuff back on install the o'2 and start over with a stock tune on the epec and build from there.

 

[bigb64]

why don't you just take the cats off?

 

[jrichker]

Looks like one of my closely held beliefs has been proven true again. If you are going to own a high performance car, you better be prepared to be your own mechanic. If you don't, then someone else will own your bank account.

If the car sat for seven months, you obviously had some other wheels to drive. That means you had time to learn the necessary elements of mechanic work and time to do it yourself. If a place to work and tools to do the job was an obstacle, then rent a locked storage booth in one of the outdoor self storage parks to park the car inside and do the work. That way, the car, necessary tools, and parts would be safe, secure and dry. Nine grand would pay for all the parts, tools & storage rent you would need to do the job, and with a considerable amount left over.

At this point you have two options as far as the car is concerned.
1.) Remove the supercharger, special computer and associated equipment and return to car to as near stock, naturally aspirated condition as possible. Install the smog pump, O2 sensors, original computer, wiring harness and all the emissions equipment. Chase and fix any codes and driveablity problems that appear after you are done. Then you can pursue the glowing cats issue, if in fact they are still glowing. Once all the problems have been resolved and the car runs good without any problems, then add the supercharger back into the mix. The stock computer can handle almost anything you can do to the engine with some help from a Tweecer or other similar type device. Once again, you need to be able to master the car, or someone else will master you.

2.) Sell the car where is, as is, no guarantee for the best price you can get. Start over with something you can do yourself, one step at a time.

If the tone on my post came over as rather harsh, it wasn’t my intention to bash or put anyone down. It just expresses the truth that we all need to deal with when it comes to owning a high performance car.

 

[mustang90]

Easiest way out of this one is, give JD Performance a call and ask for Joe at 2159389270. I have been in the same situation you are in but I decided to put an end to it. My friend refered me to him and the customer service is great, the work is outstanding and they are great guys. Seems whenever I went to Laracoos or Crazy Horse they had no interest in talking to me and treated me like a piece of garbage. Jd actually explains the problem and is very friendly. Let me know how you make out.

 

[slvr302]

I need to address a number of posts so here it goes-

ecu5.0 -My exhaust is 2.5". FRPP Ceramic headers. MAC hpipe with Random Technology cats, flowmaster catback. Not sure on initial timing or total timing. Fuel pressure I will have to check when I get home.

kdog x - At some point Larocca connected the smog pump to blow air downstream to the cats. This really made my MAC cats glow even more intensely (like adding fuel to a fire). Running with no cats, the way my car is smelling, is a definite NO GO!!!. I did not try pulling codes.

93 teal terror - Believe me when I say It is well past unbearable. The EPEC is not on my car. An Autologic chip is piggy-backing the EEC. At one point Larocca had the EPEC on to try and diagnose the issue but thatt never proved anything. I haven't personally looked at my harness to the computer but I will. No...No spade connectors and BS as you have seen under some hoods I am using FRPP ceramic shorties.

Anything Larocca's said they fixed or have seen while troubleshooting is all unconfirmed by anyone but them. I don't believe a word they say about anything. I mean who would.

Quick5point0 - I paid all by credit card and that is where I am going to start to get money back.

89MustangGX - I have posted about whether it is normal to tune with or without O2 sensors and the responses back were "Some tuners do this. It's the tuners preference"

SLiM JiM 156 - If I rev the car as if at cruising speeds and look under there the cats are no longer glowing. I verified this when I first noticed my cats were glowing but not since then.

bmo37 - I didn't have a chip on prior to the burning cats. Like I mentioned earlier.....the EPEC is not on my car.

jrichker - I understand your intentions. No problem.


Everyone: FYI -

EPEC is not on the car. Car has an Autologic chip (Larocca). I would have went with an offroad pipe a long time ago had the smell not be a shorrid as it is. You guys that don't believe the smell is as bas as I say, come on down and check it out (if at all possible). I am in the process of trying to get money back either by way of my credit cards or lawyer. I will post my entire current setup later on (Right now at work and dont have time to). Selling or burning my car is not an option.

 

[93 teal terror]

I really believe that were are not getting the full story here. First they say there is a problem with the harness and they have to run a stand alone system. Then they put a chip on and call it a day. Somethings not right there

 

[DJTR]

I have a bat and Like to burn things can I help?