Having a son with ambitions to one day rebuild a few cars, I took interest in the latest news from GM describing their decision to extend their warranty on their crate engines.

“General Motors’s Performance Parts unit is extending the warranty offered on its crate engines to 24 months or 50,000 miles, whichever comes first. Previously, the warranty was for 12 months or 12,000 miles.

A crate engine is a complete replacement engine packed in a shipping crate.

The new warranty periods cover thousands of parts, from spark plug wires to crate engines, and will be applied to GMPP crate engines, transmissions and components installed in or purchased for street legal automotive applications after March 1, 2007, and is transferable to subsequent owners (by providing required documents to any purchaser of the vehicle in which the assembly/component was originally installed), according to a GM news release.

GM also said it added a 12-month/12,000-mile warranty to its Performance Parts components, transmissions and short-block assemblies, effective March 1.

The warranty does not include any crate engines that are marketed and sold for race applications, including part numbers 88958602, 88958603, 88958604, 12498825, 12498826, and 12498827.

“When we develop crate engines, we put them through some of the most demanding durability testing on the planet,” says Randy Leininger, engineering group manager of GM Performance Parts. “We’re focused on exceeding the customer’s expectation, so if they don’t pass our tests, we don’t sell them, it’s that simple.”

GM Performance Parts crate engines undergo a 50-hour, full-throttle engine dynamometer validation, requiring that the engines perform from peak horsepower to peak torque. GMPP also installs crate engines in its own engineering vehicles for ongoing testing and continuous improvement, the company said.”
from The Daily Auto Insider