Choate Engineering Performance

After dropping off the engine and deposit my wife had medical issues, they never called or bothered us about the engine it even went through the shop move with them. Once her situation was resolved we paid off the engine and picked it up, we installed at another shop in Fl. Engine ran great but had a issue of knocking once warmed up upon restarting never thought it was the actual engine causing it but Cass worked with me as much as he could in diagnosing the issue. We figured out it was fuel related after trying a few things found a washer in an injector cup which was letting the return fill the cylinder once engine was off nothing to do with the engine itself, I have just over 20,000 miles on build now and it pulls my 20k trailer with no issues at all my coolant stays under 196 and oil temp never went over 208 up and down hills didn’t matter never missed a beat I’m also using their valve covers which I feel helps keep the oil temp in check and keeps oil over valve train. Take extra time sealing glow plug holes and use the sealant they say to use or it will leak, once we found the issue and used the recommended sealant no leaks and will pull a building off the foundation while running cooler in all areas then stock ever did. Thank you choate for a great running engine

Would give 0 stars if I could. Purchased an LB7 workhorse full runner and sent 50% down payment immediately and was told 4-6 week lead time. Zero communication from them for the next 6 weeks, followed by multiple excuses and apologies for not getting the job done. After 12 weeks of waiting I cancelled the order and requested a refund. Poor customer service, terrible communication, and an overall complete failure. 3 months wasted on these guys with nothing to show for it. Take your money elsewhere.

This has been the worst experience with a company I’ve ever dealt with. It’s been 8 months, one failed built motor by them and another incomplete by them at the 8 month mark shipped out. Still waiting on parts they failed to send and no concern on their side. 8 months later and the motor still isn’t ready to be installed. I’d highly suggest taking your money elsewhere if you’d like to get back in your truck. There’s plenty of other quality places out there where you won’t have to be wondering 8 months later when your trucks gonna be done. STILL WAITING

I had purchased a LB7 Duramax short block from Choate back in June 2023. I received the engine in early July and had it installed by early August. After I installed the engine, the truck shook horribly, I contacted Choate to let them know about the issue, eventually resorting to removing the engine and sending it back to Choate for them to analyze. Anna in warranty was absolutely great in letting me know about what’s been happening with the engine since they got it back. Soon after they discovered the problem Anna notified me and told me Cass would call me and give me the rundown. A day or so later Cass called me and told me the issue was on them and that they would fix it and make it right for me. Contrary to a few reviews I’ve seen on here, Cass was very nice and professional with me, answering every question I had about the engine issue. I had also requested a few small modifications to be made to the engine while they had it, that I was planning on paying for, but Cass did the work on the house for me, which I was not expecting and very grateful for that. After getting the engine back in March 2024 I got the engine rebuilt and installed and I have had no issues with the engine and 3500miles so far. Update: 11,000 miles now and still no issues.

I purchased a 7.3 Daily Driver Long block. I have 1996 F350 dually with 245,000 miles. It was starting to need a bit of work. New injectors, HPOP, valve cover harness, IDM, etc. which all made it run better but never really right. I saw Cass's video about 7.3 valve issues and did a leak down and the drivers side head was bad. Knowing it's probably going to need a full rebuild. So after doing my research and saw they were using Rottler equipment for bore, deck, hone and line hone, CWT balancer, working with Billy Godbold and using Comp Cams, using Driven DBR 15w40. They clearly are using the best equipment. I was also treated to a tour of the facility while picking up the Longblock to install myself. Knowledgeable and courteous staff. Always had answers when I needed help. Everything went together nicely. Even after I did my 50 mile break in oil change I loaded up my core engine and drove it back. The truck runs amazing. Very happy customer and Choate Engineering did a great job. Chuck Mathis

This is a very long review, but trust me, you will want to read the whole thing before you plan on doing business with this company. I ordered my engine (Workhorse 6.4) in early 2022. I received the engine as promised and all seemed well. I got a professional diesel shop to replace everything they required, did the whole 9 yards to satisfy their warranty requirements. After about 6 months and 40k miles, the engine began knocking and smoking heavily one morning. I contacted Choate immediately and emailed them a video showing what was happening. Cass (the owner of Choate) had me drain the oil to measure the amount, to see if there was dilution, which was not the case. Then, the rep (Leo) from Choate Performance Engineering told me to test drive it to see if there was a noticeable change in the drivability of the truck. At the point, the truck died completely. I called them to tell Leo. I was told to have to have the engine removed and shipped back to them. I did one better, I shipped the whole truck to them, in the beginning of October 2022, so they could verify everything. Leo tells me that they are really busy, but they should be able to look at it but the beginning of November. No big deal I tell him, just keep me informed. I started calling about once a week to inquire the status of my truck the first week of November, only to be strung along. The week before Thanksgiving when I called yet again, Leo told me that the engine blocked cracked and that the repair is covered under warranty. The week of Thanksgiving I called once again. Leo told me that my engine is completely built but they are short staffed to install it. The first week of December when I called yet again, I was told that Leo no longer works for the company, and that my original sales rep would now be handling my claim. I bought up to speed about what I told up to this point by Leo. He then informed me that my engine is not ready, but had only just been torn down and inspected. This is where everything went south. The rep emailed me pictures of damaged gears and informed me that Cass will not honor the repair under warranty. Cass claimed that a "foreign object" was dropped in the engine during installation. I explained to him that after 40k miles, I highly doubt that was the case. I asked him what they found that brought him to this assessment. He said just very fine metal shavings, nothing that could be identified. I explained to him that it was not possible for something to go through an engine and literally leave no evidence of what it is, especially to make it 40k miles before becoming an issue. I then drove 400 miles to perform my own visual inspection in person. When I arrived, I was that none of the alleged “debris” was saved. Furthermore, they were unable to provide me any photos of said “debris”. After debunking Cass's theory not once, not twice, but three time, he then tried to play the "I'm smarter than you" game and tried to convince me that the laws of physics don't exist in this scenario. I was recording the inspections an interactions with Cass and his employees. I later emailed Cass my assessments, but received no response. And to this date, Cass will not respond to any communication via email. The only response I got is from his (I believe) wife/co-owner, and she only said to call him, I assume so he can deny anything that would be verbally discussed, as had been one regarding my phone conversations with Leo. From everything I have learned by Cass’s behavior, he truly believes his word is the absolute truth and will not tolerate being questioned. While relatively young (38 years old), Cass has more experience than the other 6 companies to whom I have spoken, who all say that there is no way what he is claiming can be true, and that he should be repairing this under warranty. I will be pursuing all means to resolve the situation and to inform the entire diesel industry consumer base of this company and of Cass, and to be wary of working with his company. I will add a link to a more detailed review on Youtube later

The worst experience from any business I've ever delta with. Horrible communication. Customer service! Do not stand behind their work !! Their warranty policy is minimal for how expensive they are. Our motor only has 40,000 and needs replaced already!! Never use this business!!! We will be turning them in to the BBB

Edit 5/17/25. Choate still has not returned my calls, or emails. The repair ahop tried as well. Best way to get in touch with someone is to tell them you want to buy parts. Good luck with warranty or defective products claims. The lady on the phone must like men with 2" weiner because she only answers to Cass .. This is regards to their oiling valve covers for the 6.4 psd and their unwillingness to return calls, their unwillingness to acknowledge faults and their simple lack of accountability . Ive owned a 6.4 brand new long block from another rebuilder from Peoria Illinois. Engine has been great other than the choate oiling valve covers and wide tolerance in the diameter of the glow plug holes. They don't seal very well, and fit very loose, even with a new glow plug harness. I have contacted, along with the builder- choate in regards to this. Calls and emails were both attempts 3 times on each method of contact. A lady gives a run around on the phone stating " we've never had this issue before ". Of course they didn't. It seems based on reviews that Choate doesn't take accountability for seldomly any issues of theirs. They claim they will call or email back... nothing. If you call at 10 am and make human contact and make a formal complaint then call back the same day from the same phine, you can almost count on not having your call answered . Here's the issue . The grommet around the glow plug insert fits loosely and leaks or pops out of the holes. Choate claims it's a faulty engine, not a poorly milled glow plug hole. Take time to read all the reviews with these guys and caution yourself. It's crucial. Choate spent a ton of money marketing and having a fb crowd build their name on social media on diesel pages starting heavy around 2013 and really heavy in 2015 . They seem to rather spend money to create an online reputation vs build a quality part with good accountability for mistakes or failures. I'm going to take the valve covers off, take them to a machine shop along with another new glow plug harness and see if they can be milled out and an aftermarket glow plug grommet be made to truly fit and seal. Unfortunately after a 2400 purchase, shops say to expect another 3 to 5 k for a mold to be made to make our own grommets after machining the holes out to true perfection. Never again. Ever The shop in Peoria has been good, but can only do so much as a retailer.

I am giving this company a 1 star rating because I cannot give less than that. I did not and am continuing to not have a good experience with this company. I purchased a "daily driver" long block from Choate and received then engine completed but had nothing but problems from day 1. After my mechanics shop installed the engine and went to start it up to complete the break-in procedure the engine lost all oil pressure. The "warranty" division of Choate is a joke and would not provide direction for my mechanic to perform diagnostics for over a week. After 2 weeks they gave their approval to remove the engine which revealed a broken oil pump shaft. After the oil pump was replaced per Choate's recommendation and then engine was reinstalled, the oil pump broke the shaft again. After a 3rd oil pump was installed and broken once more at which point the engine was removed and returned to Choate. I spoke directly with Cass Choate who attempted to blame Ford's machining for the issues although the amount of work that they claim to do for new engines would have revealed the issues long before the engine was sent out the first time. I decided at that point (12/3/24) to get my money back which still has yet to happen even though I was told that the refund would take about 30 days. I am currently at 76 days. I would not recommend buying anything from this company.

They loose a star for communication and tardiness. I ordered a set of oiling valve covers for my recently built workhorse 6.4. Only 8k miles so far on the engine and doing valve covers on next oil change. I was quoted 1 week lead time. Three weeks later I called. And kept calling. They were always polite and helpful. But it took 6 weeks. It would have been ok if they were more realistic about the lead time. I can't wait to install new oiling valve covers and hear how much it quiets the engine noise. Keep up the good work.