Keep away RVR Barn Dale Knepp

Heads up guys. I had Dale Knepp RVR Barn put a "hybrid" 200/300 tdi in my '87 110. The engine was claimed in our contract to be top to bottom fully restored.

It was not so. I am out over $12,000 and I could not start the engine to get it off the delivery trailer. Knepp had to use an ether or gasoline spray in order to start the engine to get it on the trailer. He claimed it was a "fluke' when the engine would not start for him either at 64F.

Engine has been examined by three other "experts" and all state that the Injection Pump has failed and there is excessive smoke, and poor running of the engine.

During the 4 month process there were obvious problems with the engine and Knepp stated that if it were the IP that he would pick up the expense of a rebuilt one. He did not keep his word.

Knepp has offered $1500 for this to go away.. I would never want anyone else to have go through this kind of unpleasant experience.

Sorry that happened to you. Hopefully you eventually get satisfactory restitution. Have you enlisted legal help?

Have you taken his offer? Hopefully you will and you can fix your fuel issue.

I don't understand that at all.
From all reports he has more than a fueling issue. And furthermore, he shouldn't be doing anything but driving his truck.
The guy spent just shy of $13K for an engine swap. How does $1500.00 help him at all? No way would I accept that. That doesn't even begin to make him whole. And, accepting that is essentially saying he accepts whatever else he has and because he got a discount that's ok.
I can and have done this engine swap a number of times. $13k is a ridiculous amount of money for a cakewalk engine swap. He should have a basically new engine that starts at the touch of the key for that money.

I don't want to start a flame war, but I have been watching on the other site how this discussion is going. It's the very reason I don't participate over there and basically haven't since 2005. Certain people seem to be untouchable and others get the shit flamed out of them because they mistyped something in a For Sale ad or something.

Yeah, it's a matter of he paid a certain amount, he should get a certain thing for that certain amount.

If the truck didn't start to get it on the trailer.... it shouldn't have ever been put on the trailer.

For your part, I think you should not have even taken delivery if you couldn't get it running to get it off the trailer. Even if the driver had to leave it, don't do anything but put it on a new delivery truck and take it right back.

RBBailey said:

For your part, I think you should not have even taken delivery if you couldn't get it running to get it off the trailer. Even if the driver had to leave it, don't do anything but put it on a new delivery truck and take it right back.

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Would you have not taken delivery in this circumstances? I highly doubt that.

Joseph was not there in person to take delivery of his 110 when it wouldn't start.
The driver that picked up the 110 told Joseph that the engine needed a shot of "excellerant" to get it running.
It sounds like the IP was not producing enough fuel pressure to start the engine, but had sufficient pressure to keep it running once it had started.
Common problem for Bosch Rotary IPs.
Chris Viola was able to determine the IP needed replacing.
I have had to fix one of these where the owner ran WVO for about 5 years.
Chris Viola is really qualified and was able to diagnose it was an IP issue.
The IPs seem to work until they suddenly stop putting out adequate pressure to pop off the injectors during start-up.
That is my theory on what happened to the IP on Joseph's 110.
It worked fine until it suddenly didn't.
This also happened to a 300TDI we owned.
Turning up the fuel will sometimes get the IP to start the engine, but this fix doesn't last too long.

RVR Barn Dale Knepp run away

Everything you said appears to be absolutely accurate and I can see that you have done your homework.

As far as accepting the truck......I had planned to fly to NC and inspect the 110 prior to completion of payment. I was unable to and that was a mistake.
PLEASE LEARN FROM MY MISTAKES.

NEVER ACCEPT A TRUCK WITHOUT PERSONAL INSPECTiON. PERIOD !!!!!!

Also, please keep in mind that I had received glowing emails from Knepp that the engine was running great!

That was wishful thinking on his part, at best. I am sure the engine was running on several occasions while testing,. Knepp had mentioned that the truck would not start for him, but it was just a one time "fluke".

However, please don't forget the very bothersome issues as confirmed by Chris Viola of excess smoke on starting (valve guides?), and a poor running engine with bad noises and clunks when shifting.

Again, keep in mind that Knepp had an explanation for everything. He suggested that the engine needed an upgraded starter motor, better battery (that had already been done) and a block heater. He wanted me to run out and buy these items in order to get the engine to start reliably.

It's one thing to have a significant loss financially, but to be BS'd to your face like you know nothing about lady's is really insulting. It is also a comment on the meddle of the individual. What kind of guy takes your money and is just tickled pink to know that you have to suffer just to get your truck running after many months. I am not an unreasonable guy. I had great patience with Knepp and waited for 4 months for my truck. Our contract read 1 month completion.

I now am having patience with Chris Viola as he has had the truck well over a month.

nas90tdi said:

I don't understand that at all.
From all reports he has more than a fueling issue. And furthermore, he shouldn't be doing anything but driving his truck.
The guy spent just shy of $13K for an engine swap. How does $1500.00 help him at all? No way would I accept that. That doesn't even begin to make him whole. And, accepting that is essentially saying he accepts whatever else he has and because he got a discount that's ok.
I can and have done this engine swap a number of times. $13k is a ridiculous amount of money for a cakewalk engine swap. He should have a basically new engine that starts at the touch of the key for that money.

I don't want to start a flame war, but I have been watching on the other site how this discussion is going. It's the very reason I don't participate over there and basically haven't since 2005. Certain people seem to be untouchable and others get the shit flamed out of them because they mistyped something in a For Sale ad or something.

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Of course, you are absolutely correct. All I can do now is keep this from happening to someone else. I say that from the heart. I feel very strongly about this.

1of40 said:

Have you taken his offer? Hopefully you will and you can fix your fuel issue.

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I did not take his initial offer of $1000 to make this go away. I had asked for $2200, but after assessing the amount that needed to be done I withdrew the $2200 offer.

That's all I can say for right now as the legal process is taking a different turn from how I started out. You are not allowed to talk about negotiations.

Mistake is mistake. It doesn’t mean it is your fault for accepting delivery, so I’m not blaming you. I think I would have had a hard time accepting it if it would not start while trying to get it off the trailer. At the very least, I’d make sure everything was being filmed at that point. And I’d be on the phone as well.

RBBailey said:

Mistake is mistake. It doesn?t mean it is your fault for accepting delivery, so I?m not blaming you. I think I would have had a hard time accepting it if it would not start while trying to get it off the trailer. At the very least, I?d make sure everything was being filmed at that point. And I?d be on the phone as well.

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Yes, I did video it not starting on the trailer. As it turned out I also had on film the driver's comments about Knepp using a spray to get it started. I knew I was in trouble when Knepp started speaking legalize and the heads up email was "inadvertently delayed".

Oh... wow..... yeah, just take him to court and get it over with. Easily enough for a small claims case.

havens51/Joseph,

I don't know you, but I find your attitude towards all this refreshing.

I haven't gone to Defendersource since this site's inception. I went there to read your thread on this. First off that site sucks even more now and is like every crap forum in existence with the cheap layout and heinously inserted ads. It looks like every Jeep forum I see trying to find OME coils for my WJ.

Secondly, I am so pleased that you are taking legal action against him despite the effort and cost. When I saw that in the thread and where you will not allow the threads about this scenario be deleted after court all I could think of was you aligned your chi despite the annoyance and pain of dealing with this and mastered not giving a fuck.

Don't feel pressure to keep us updated as it goes on, but definitely let us know how it ends.

nas90tdi said:

I don't understand that at all.
From all reports he has more than a fueling issue. And furthermore, he shouldn't be doing anything but driving his truck.
The guy spent just shy of $13K for an engine swap. How does $1500.00 help him at all? No way would I accept that. That doesn't even begin to make him whole. And, accepting that is essentially saying he accepts whatever else he has and because he got a discount that's ok.
I can and have done this engine swap a number of times. $13k is a ridiculous amount of money for a cakewalk engine swap. He should have a basically new engine that starts at the touch of the key for that money.

I don't want to start a flame war, but I have been watching on the other site how this discussion is going. It's the very reason I don't participate over there and basically haven't since 2005. Certain people seem to be untouchable and others get the shit flamed out of them because they mistyped something in a For Sale ad or something.

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I agree, this is a mess but in the grand scheme of things this type of thing happens more often then I think a lot of people understand. What this OP is doing is the right thing to do. Attempt to resolve and if the results are fair, state the facts and educated others. It’s unfortunate that Dale has not stated his facts about the case but we only assume it is for legal reasons at this point.

It does sound like the IP has shit the bed. This hits close to home as I feel for this dude. I bought a 200 thinking it was all ready to do a swap based on seller’s opinion so I had grand plans to lock and load within a month. Didn’t happen and I ended up having to replace every major component; trans, injectors, turbo, glows, radiator, etc. Completely sucks.

mgreenspan said:

havens51/Joseph,

I don't know you, but I find your attitude towards all this refreshing.

I haven't gone to Defendersource since this site's inception. I went there to read your thread on this. First off that site sucks even more now and is like every crap forum in existence with the cheap layout and heinously inserted ads. It looks like every Jeep forum I see trying to find OME coils for my WJ.

Secondly, I am so pleased that you are taking legal action against him despite the effort and cost. When I saw that in the thread and where you will not allow the threads about this scenario be deleted after court all I could think of was you aligned your chi despite the annoyance and pain of dealing with this and mastered not giving a fuck.

Thanks for the encouragement, you are a wise man.

Don't feel pressure to keep us updated as it goes on, but definitely let us know how it ends.

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Thanks for the encouragement, you are a wise man.

I just want to thank everyone on this sight for letting this thread be informative, as it was intended & not making it the shit show it is on Dsource.

Have you found a solution the vehicle's problem?

Just reading through these threads, I had a realization: the ex-MOD trucks may be basic and rough and not look like the civilian 5-doors that everybody wants but, damn--for $15K I got a solid truck that I drove from Galveston, TX to Tacoma, WA with only an oil change. Much of this trip was on dirt and rough dirt at that. Withams was easy to deal with and there was zero drama. I'm more happier than ever with my choice.

chris snell said:

Just reading through these threads, I had a realization: the ex-MOD trucks may be basic and rough and not look like the civilian 5-doors that everybody wants but, damn--for $15K I got a solid truck that I drove from Galveston, TX to Tacoma, WA with only an oil change. Much of this trip was on dirt and rough dirt at that. Withams was easy to deal with and there was zero drama. I'm more happier than ever with my choice.

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100% agree. I attribute my great Withams experience to the flawless execution and white-glove customer service of Craig Stark