Good story thomed. Factory trained mechanics...yeah...I've had lots of them tell me things that weren't true, I've basically given up. I do everything myself, unless there's warranty involved. Rods through the block on brand new engines, reminds me of the Mitsubishi V-16's I used to work with in Canada. Brand new engine, 45 mins into a full load test, TWO rods through the block. Mitsubishi warranty is interesting, they cover the part that failed, in this case 2 con rods, but NOT the damage caused by the failure, in this case the block. Gotta love the fine print