Some 1st post. But, I've NEVER heard anything good about that company. Hope you can get it all settled. Maybe send a PM to ynot. Don't know if he can help or not, but worth a try.

 

I also have heard numerous horror stories about that crowd up there. I personally know a man here locally that paid well over $40K for what he was told was a 800HP 3406B. In short, my homemade 3406C I built for less than $5K could spank him every day of the week, and twice on Sunday. He had several issues with Rick, and the last time we spoke, had never had them resolved. I even heard one horror story of them building an engine, and it never made it out of the shop. I know they use off brand parts. Clevite, and Michigan 77 are what I call off brand....others may like them.

PM me and I'll give you a name and number of my neighbor who had bad dealings with Great Lakes.

As far as melting turbos, it sounds like theres too much fuel and not enough air...or boost. Sounds like retarded timing and high EGT's. Ynot can help further...

 

He is having some MAJOR problems with Great Lakes Performance Diesel in Lackawanna,

PLEASE! Do NOT do business with Rick Plauman or Great Lakes Diesel! If anyone else has had problems PLEASE contact me so we can talk.

I have also read he goes by Great Lakes Performance Diesel, Great Lakes American Diesel, and Great Lakes American Performance Diesel.

Sorry your Dad dealt with those clowns, I think you will find that almost anyone who has dealt with them says the samething. the only things these clowns can do is advertise. :nunu:

 

I've dealt with them for over 20 years. They have NO repeat business, cept warranty, which is NEVER honored. In the past, we had no where else to go. Just like the hi HP blow-uppers from PP. Same deal. Now we have PDI and a few others joining in, so as soon as they learn what they actually have and sell, they may be OK. Up in the air thus far.

If your Dad goes after them in any way for compensation, they immediately Chapter 13 and change the name, so unless you can tie it right to Rick, chalk it up to a real bad experience. They already have enuf BBB and Attorney Gen complaints for class action, but no one in that position really cares. I have fought with Rick and Bruce over retarded timing for most my life, but some people are just born with the Gale Banks attitude. "We built it so it's the best. If it blows, YOU did it"...

Very sorry bud. I'm surprised someone hasn't gone thru the side of the building yet :nunu:

 

BTW, the truck can be fixed. Just needs to be far from there!!!!!!!!!

 

great lakes diesel has been banned from ebay several times but they keep coming back with a different name but they still run the same high performance caterpillar ads with outrages claims and bikini girls

 

great lakes diesel has been banned from ebay several times but they keep coming back with a different name but they still run the same high performance caterpillar ads with outrages claims and bikini girls

Real ones, or just some trash tossed together with leftover pieces laying around?? opcorn

 

I have never heard anything good about those guys. Sounds like they did there typical turbo set up. Put a smaller turbo on with high drive pressures, timing way off etc.. They forget boost=restriction.

 

They forget everything!!!! :fan

 

Thanks for all your kind words guys. Just in case anyone here is board I have done my best to make sure that if someone at least researches them on the internet they will find all of these posts about their bad business dealings. A simple Google search brings up over a page of bad reviews I have made around the net......listed right under his website.

I'm glad I found some other people that have gone through the wringer with these clowns. I will tell you one thing.....on some of the other forums there are some truckers that have nothing else to do but start a fight with someone. I made the same post over there and I immediately get attacked for my "poor business decisions" and what-not. Losers.......

All I can do is warn them, and do my best to get them to stay away.

 

I'm glad I found some other people that have gone through the wringer with these clowns. I will tell you one thing.....on some of the other forums there are some truckers that have nothing else to do but start a fight with someone. I made the same post over there and I immediately get attacked for my "poor business decisions" and what-not. Losers.......

Thank you, I found the same thing, I listed them on another site for sale and got attacked from every corner.

I feel for your father and hope it turns out alright for him.

 

Thanks for the thread, LavaSurfer. It is good to see Great Lakes get the "free" advertising they deserve....:happymugs

 

Here's a PM I sent to BlackDog - he asked me about them.

It's a long story, but I'll make it short (hate typing).

Went to Frederick and Robert in @1999 to get his "650 HP tune up" which included new turbo, nozzles, turn up pump, set timing and springs in oil and fuel pumps for more pressure.

Within 2 weeks the #1 & #6 pistons warped during a climb. Pyro never got over 950. My choice was to let him rebuild it and change the high compression pistons to lower B model style or I could go to CAT and pay them to rebuild it back to stock.

I let him do it thinking it would be on his dime. Then I get charged 8 grand on top of the $3600 I paid for the tune up.

I contacted the NY State DMV and in the end after an administrative hearing they were to pay me back all my money.

They just cease operating that corporation and change a word in their name and start a new corporation and business as usual. I see they have a new ad in Overdrive and they stuck "American" in their name now. They must owe someone else a lot of money!

I spent a few weeks hanging around their shop and I saw things and saw people get screwed while I was there. Seen a burned up engine arrive from the junk yard, steamed off, parts installed, 2 days later it was shipped to some sucker in Calif as a "blueprinted" motor for $17,000!
They pass off used parts as new, they charge outrageous prices for things that you can get somewhere else for 1/2 price or less.

They can build a good engine if they want to. I'm still running mine but I paid out the nose and lost a lot of time with them. But if they screw up or you have any issues with their work you are S-C-R-E-W-E-D no matter who you are.

I heard all the bad stories after I went to them. Wish someone would have warned me first.

Dude you and your dad should have done an internet search before you went there. From what I was told back then by a lawyer you can't go after him personally, just the corporation. The best you can do is call the NY DMV and have an administrative hearing.

After all the stories I've heard about guys losing their trucks I'm surprised the Plaumans are still walking this earth. Although if the doctor told me I had 6 months to live I'd be taking a trip to Buffalo in 5 months!:nunu: I heard a few years ago some guy was out $29K and beat Rick with a pipe. Obviously he was a few whacks too short.

Merry Christmas

 

Here's a PM I sent to BlackDog - he asked me about them.

It's a long story, but I'll make it short (hate typing).

Went to Frederick and Robert in @1999 to get his "650 HP tune up" which included new turbo, nozzles, turn up pump, set timing and springs in oil and fuel pumps for more pressure.

Within 2 weeks the #1 & #6 pistons warped during a climb. Pyro never got over 950. My choice was to let him rebuild it and change the high compression pistons to lower B model style or I could go to CAT and pay them to rebuild it back to stock.

I let him do it thinking it would be on his dime. Then I get charged 8 grand on top of the $3600 I paid for the tune up.

I contacted the NY State DMV and in the end after an administrative hearing they were to pay me back all my money.

They just cease operating that corporation and change a word in their name and start a new corporation and business as usual. I see they have a new ad in Overdrive and they stuck "American" in their name now. They must owe someone else a lot of money!

I spent a few weeks hanging around their shop and I saw things and saw people get screwed while I was there. Seen a burned up engine arrive from the junk yard, steamed off, parts installed, 2 days later it was shipped to some sucker in Calif as a "blueprinted" motor for $17,000!
They pass off used parts as new, they charge outrageous prices for things that you can get somewhere else for 1/2 price or less.

They can build a good engine if they want to. I'm still running mine but I paid out the nose and lost a lot of time with them. But if they screw up or you have any issues with their work you are S-C-R-E-W-E-D no matter who you are.

I heard all the bad stories after I went to them. Wish someone would have warned me first.

Dude you and your dad should have done an internet search before you went there. From what I was told back then by a lawyer you can't go after him personally, just the corporation. The best you can do is call the NY DMV and have an administrative hearing.

After all the stories I've heard about guys losing their trucks I'm surprised the Plaumans are still walking this earth. Although if the doctor told me I had 6 months to live I'd be taking a trip to Buffalo in 5 months!:nunu: I heard a few years ago some guy was out $29K and beat Rick with a pipe. Obviously he was a few whacks too short.:thumbsup

Merry Christmas

..........

 

Il tell ya a guy who u can trust to build u a Quality motor is Tony Welch... Had him build my 3406B. He comes right to your shop or wear ever, pulls all the new parts right out of the boxes and u can watch him put it together right in front of ur own eyes, good way to do buisness.You know ur getting a quality product from Tony. Im very pleased with the work Plus it was kinda fun to watch and learn a few things tooopcorn Cant wait to strap it down on the dynoeelout Thanks again Tony...:happymugs

 

who is this phantom 309 imposter?^^^^???

I digress,.
at the toronto truck show 20 yrs ago,. rick was there witha chromed up "B" cat,. tried to talk to him,. but it was money up front first,. kept harping about "pin ' timing the motors for peak performance,. ,. i finally walked away after making the comment infront of 3-4 other guys,. "all cat motors are pin timed ya blowhard,.",.and the questions were just starting as i left,.
what i loogan he is,. any fool can make horsepower with the allen key and the 10mm socket,..but making it reliable ,. thats the difference.

Nick

 

J'ai entendu dire que la société pendant la jolie longue période de temps où j'étais plus jeune et vivante aux USA ce temps un de mon freind du magasin de pompe d'injecteur a obtenu le vent {l'histoire} d'il y a ces environ 20 ans étranges juste avant je recule en France si le nom juste collé dans ma tête.

Je serai endigué ils ne changent jamais la voie qu'ils font pour les derniers 20 quelque chose des années.


I have heard that company for pretty long time when I was younger and living in USA that time one of my freind from the injector pump shop got the wind { story } about this about 20 odd years ago just before I move back to France so the name just stuck in my head.

I will be dammed they never change the way they are doing for the last 20 something years.

Merci.
Marc

 

Well guys....the story is getting better and juicier.

My dad has been talking with another trucker that purchased one of his engines just a couple months before my dad got his. In fact....Rick even gave him his number so this other trucker would tell him how awesome it was. At the time, it was doing great for him and he was having no trouble with it.

Well just a couple weeks ago his camshaft busted. I'm not really sure how or what happened. He got it fixed and then sent the parts back to him to get refunded. When they hit the doorstep of Great Lakes Diesel all he did was return them back COD. He didn't even open the box.

I just don't believe the hole this guy is digging for himself.

 

Sounds like he needs :nunu:

 

Litigation

With the amount of information available on the Internet about this fellow and his business, and the amount of times he has obviously changed his name to avoid honoring his well advertised warranty, I find it hard to believe that no one has hired an attorney to pursue Great Lakes under "Preach of Warranty" or other statues. My suggestion would be to contact a "Lemon Law" type of attorney in the state where Great Lakes operates (NY correct?)..

We had issues w/ a Volkswagen, which I understand is completely different that this, but we were able to use an attorney to file suit against VW and prevailed. This cost us absolutely nothing up front. In the end they got 30% of the settlement...

P.S. At least the girls look decent.

 

bell206b3 Read what I posted: He folds the corporation when you sue him. Then he re-opens a new corporation with a slightly different name and waits for the next victims. So there is nothing to sue - old corporation shut down, cleaned out and gone.

 

I understand what you are saying, and I understand that when Incorporating you generally can/do isolate your personal assets from litigation and liability... BUT... given the number of documented incidents... I honestly believe that there would be an attorney who would consider suit against the Incorporation, and then specifically name the owner, outside his role in the Inc. itself.

Let's say this... You were involved in an accident w/ your truck, where you were negligent... the ambulance chasing attorney's would sue you, and your trucking company / incorporation.... if / when they were able to prove your negligence... your personal assets WOULD be exposed... here you have a fairly clear example of a man whose engines do not perform as stated, repeatedly, and he repeatedly changes names to avoid his customers, and subsequently fail to back his claims of warranty. I think Breach of Warranty would be a good start, and I think w/ some investigation and phone calls you might be able to find an attorney who would work ... with no charge to you unless he/she prevails.

Besides that I wish you the best of luck sir... I can only imagine your frustration.

 

They've had this practice for 25 years, that I know of, and no one can touch them. It's an entirely different scenario for ambulance chasers, as there would have been an ambulance involved (i.e. personal injury suit. Completely different)

 

True, but with the ability to file a class action, they could nail personal assets. The reason you could file as a class action is the defendants are beyond state lines. You could find a lawyer who would take this and if you could get enough people who have been screwed the class action could be taken up in a court, granted the judge granted the motion for a class action.

It's been awhile since I took my Biz Law course, but I do know that a Corporation only protects to a certain degree. Incorporating does not allow you infinite default and to infinitely deny liability. Find the right lawyer and the right judge and you have a case. As much as everyone hates those Tort Law lawyers, there is a place for them, and this country is the only developed country with a tort law system, if we were in Europe, Canada, or Australia they would laugh at you.

 

I agree, and thought I said that also. May have been to Steve on his blowed up ACERT tho. CRS anymore... :gaah Anyway, as a Small Corp or LLC, it only takes three for a class action (most states)

 

Would a class action really help? Seems like the lawyers get most of the money out of those anyhow? (I know nothing about this stuff. Just thinking out loud here.)

 

Let's say the lawyers got between 33-50% of the settlement... It would still be more money than these gentlemen are going to get out of the business on their own.

Right now, my understanding is that the gentlemen's father is out $18K himself.

That would shut my little one-truck business down...

 

Let's say the lawyers got between 33-50% of the settlement... It would still be more money than these gentlemen are going to get out of the business on their own.

Right now, my understanding is that the gentlemen's father is out $18K himself.

That would shut my little one-truck business down...

16g's nearly shut me down,. i had to convince the two brothers of a chicken processing plant that 16g's would get them a life sentence of looking over their shoulders,.
18g's would be motivation enough to buy a nice big bore firearm with a sneaky big suppressor,.
nuff said

nick

 

im new to this thing...but glad i read this thread, iWAS going to buy some flowed injectors from them.....aint gonna happin now

 

Welcome to the forum Jr. As you have already read, not many happy customers from G/L's.
Search the forum or ask, there are many guys on here with alot of knowledge and information. These guys can get you in the correct direction with your injectors, etc.
No one has asked dumber questions than i, and these guys are always extremely helpful:happymugs.......

 

No need to kiss my :bubba Tony. :haha :haha I don't like ya THAT much! :haha :haha

 

:guitarthis can't go anywhere good:fan

 

:whs :gaah

 

well plauman has certainly hit bottom,..
wow,....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/PETE...tem2a043c1cbaQQitemZ180459674810QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

nick
just assing up the thrread,...

 

:damnit :whs

 

what ever happened??

what ever happened with ur motor lava? we were recently hosed by rick also and are looking for answers. thinking about going to the press and radio also. being i have personal connections both with sirus road dawg and many trucking mags. but that still doesnt fix the 25K dent in our pocket and truck that wont run. where should we go now? looking for anyone thats been screwed by rick, please contact me.