Problem with Don at FBO Systems ??

[Charger_Dart]

First I want to say I am not a big fan of bashing the vendors who take on making products for our Mopar's, but at the same time I think its a good idea to share experiences with vendors.

Don at FBO Systems seems to really know his Mopar's and makes some pretty good stuff, but I just don't get why he has treated me so poorly.

My story goes like this - I have a distributor he re-curved that worked great in my Chally. I decided to send him the one from my Charger to be re-curved. When he received it the first week of July he called me and talked me into replacing the pickup in the dizzy, one of his high output coils, and one of his new HR688 ECU boxes. He claimed the orange box I have is not made well and will pull 8 degrees of timing out above 4000 rpm. Well I decided to get the whole deal so he charged my CC the full amount and I waited for it to arrive. About 10 days later I get my dizzy back with new pickup coil installed and new coil, but no ECU and nothing noted on the paperwork. I called and was told they were on back-order. I am thinking "why did he push so hard to sell me something he did not have available"  He says wait another week and I will have it out to you. Well that did not happen and by the 1st week in August I was tired of waiting so I called to cancel and guess what - it just shipped and I should have it any day.  Well sure enough it showed up priority mail a few days later. I could not wait to hook everything up so I connected everything and the engine would not start. No spark. Don passed me over to one of his techs and I tested everything he asked me to. He had me pull the box apart and I found a GM HEI module inside the HR688 with the 4 wires hooked to it. Everything tested good and he asked me to take the GM HEI module to a local parts store to verify it worked. I could not find any parts stores that could test these $25 modules, so I just bought one and put it inside his ECU case. Still no engine start.
I could repeatedly swap the orange box and his GM ECU and the engine would fire right off with the orange box, but no spark with the GM part. I guess my Charger was just not happy with this foreign part on it. 
He asked me to send both GM modules back for him to test. (at my expense) They came back to me as as testing good, but still my engine would not start with his ECU. I swapped to a parts store blue ECU I have as a spare and of course the engine would fire right off and run. Don insisted that I had bad pin connections or a bad harness. I told him my harness was 2 years old from Bill Evens and I was very careful with pin connections and verified them with my ohm meter. I got fed up and returned his ECU and asked for a refund. I then followed up with a email asking him if he received it and this was his response -
   I'll refund your money only because we need the module for another customer as we still can't produce enough to meet demand but I want it to be clear that this is not a module issue.
That was on August 29th and after repeated requests since then for my refund - Nothing     Finally I decided to turn it over to my credit card company to try to get my promised refund. I guess this can take 6-8 weeks so I don't know how this will be resolved.
This whole deal has left me with a very bad impression of how Don at FBO Systems handles product and customer issues. Maybe there is nothing wrong with his ECU, but my engine just won't run with it on the car.
Am I wrong to feel this way?

[moparstuart]

  if it aint broke  dont fix it        you were way more patient then i would have been

[b5blue]

  Don went out of his way to help me a few years ago and earlier this year with valve train setup complications. My new Evans engine harness had an improper crimp on the main blue wire for my 70 Charger, I caught it and fixed it. Had I not "pull tested" every connection it could have made me nuts assuming the harness must be fine.
  His system will draw more current as it's output is more, I'm not defending a lack of prompt refund for you, just pointing out my similar situation in replacing everything like you did. (I have the old version A688-Kit and set-up dizzy.) Did you bypass the resistor?     

[Charger_Dart]

yeah, I did by-pass the ballast resistor like he told me to. I am interested in the bad blue wire connection you found. Where was it on the harness?

[triple_green]

We could never get the FBO system to work right after many swaps and combinations and consultations...I am still screwed... I am going to show my mechanic this thread.

3X

[b5blue]

yeah, I did by-pass the ballast resistor like he told me to. I am interested in the bad blue wire connection you found. Where was it on the harness?

At the bulkhead, it was crimped yet the wire just slid out of the crimp when tugged. (A test we did in the USAF assembling transmitters for navigation.) I learned long ago to never assume anything and check then re check any parts or assembly's prior to installing. That poor crimp although a minor flaw could have cost God only knows what later.   

[Big Sugar]

I've had a similar problem with Don, He seems to have mood swings. Overall I would deal with him again and I have , But he can make it tough when you have an issue.
He's never stiffed me for $$.


Ron

[Nacho-RT74]

sooo the HR688 unit is a GM module with "Mopar" look box ?

ok, then no way I'm gonna get the HR688... as far I know the HR688 was multispark.

now wondering about the reality of his A688 module and coil ?

[RallyeMike]

Three words: M    S    D.

[firefighter3931]

Three words: M    S    D.

Amen brother 



Ron

[FLG]

Three words: M    S    D.

Amen brother 



Ron

Another +1

[Charger_Dart]

sooo the HR688 unit is a GM module with "Mopar" look box ?

ok, then no way I'm gonna get the HR688... as far I know the HR688 was multispark.

now wondering about the reality of his A688 module and coil ?

I was a bit disappointed when I saw this. They seem to be GM HEI modules in a very fancy aluminium box the size of regular Mopar boxes. The module had the same shape, size, connection points, and connector sizes (3 normal, 1 small) as the store bought $25 unit I got. I could find nothing physically different between the two and according to Don they would "test" the same.

[68r/t]

We could never get the FBO system to work right after many swaps and combinations and consultations...I am still screwed... I am going to show my mechanic this thread.

3X

What issues are you having with yours?
I bought the  A688 kit off him and am having a few issues, Dons answer is i need that new Barry Grant carb that he has in stock  for $600 and that it will solve all my problems.  He is good with the sales talk, his website sounds like he will help anyone with Tech info, but in reality he is a business man and once he has got your money I found him to be a man of few words.

[Charger_Dart]

We could never get the FBO system to work right after many swaps and combinations and consultations...I am still screwed... I am going to show my mechanic this thread.

3X

What issues are you having with yours?
I bought the  A688 kit off him and am having a few issues, Dons answer is i need that new Barry Grant carb that he has in stock  for $600 and that it will solve all my problems.  He is good with the sales talk, his website sounds like he will help anyone with Tech info, but in reality he is a business man and once he has got you money I found him to be a man of few words.

+1

[Charger-Bodie]

Three words: M    S    D.

Amen brother 



Ron

Another +1

And another.

[Nacho-RT74]

By now I will still stuck on Mopar stuff. ( I don't want a giand MSD module into my engine bay.

Did the HR688 had JUST the GM ign module inside or some other stuff inside ?

I don't need to get the GM stuff inside a fancy box and pay $200 for it, the GM module inside the stock box has been done already in the past ( I can't find the pic right now, but will find it ), and I can make it from any of my damaged ECU boxes I have around by myself

[Charger_Dart]

By now I will still stuck on Mopar stuff.

Did the HR688 had JUST the GM ign module inside or some other stuff inside...

I don't need to get the GM stuff inside a fancy box and pay $200 for it, the GM module inside the stock box has been done already in the past ( I can't find the pic right now, but will find it )

Yes Nacho, sorry to say just 4 wires running from the Mopar 4 pin connector to the 4 pins on the GM HEI unit. Nothing else inside the box.

[Nacho-RT74]

sorry to say no, THANKS TO SAY IT... I can make that by myself on an even A REAL STOCK box...

So, then IS NOT Multispark

try to imagine I buy that, PAY INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING to get a GM HEI module ( what I can find locally ) into a fancy box ( where I don't care the fancy look )... NO WAY.

[471_Magnum]

Ordered one of his advance limiting plates for my MP distributor a while back. After waiting a week or so for it to arrive, I call and am told, "we forgot to ship it". On top of that, he charged me 12 bucks for doing nothing more than throwing it into a Priority Mail envelope that cost about $6. Not cool. He won't get any more of my business.

[Khyron]

Three words: M    S    D.

Amen brother 



Ron

Another +1

And another.

ding

[Nacho-RT74]

Guys, this is scary... now wondering about the reality of the rest of stuff ( coil and A688 module )

[FLG]

Nacho,

Spend the cash on an msd box, these cars were made 30 years ago, besides styling not much from than can compare to the new stuff that's out. Hide the msd box behind the glove box, leave all the stock stuff on the firewall but kill the power to it so its just there for looks, do a good enough job hiding things and no one will know.

[Nacho-RT74]

for a while I can keep Mopar, will do

[Charger_Dart]

Guys, this is scary... now wondering about the reality of the rest of stuff ( coil and A688 module )

Nacho, I still have Don's coil so if there is anything you want to know about it, ask me and I will do my best to answer. I have run my car with both his coil and a MSD Blaster coil and noticed no difference if that helps. Don's is a gloss black unit and I painted my MSD black so they look sort of stock.

[Nacho-RT74]

I have chromed MSD coil and Don's coil too but haven't had the chance to check them lets say side by side. My engine is dissasembled since June last year. The only what made to switch from Mopar Chromed ECU to FBO full ign system is the MP boxes quality issues