I spoke with Jerry Lemond about the issues with the 3.5 and how I could fix it when I rebuilt my motor. He said that Isuzu came out with a modified piston that basically had 4 additional holes drilled into the oil groove of the piston. I had to have my block bored .020 over which meant I had to have aftermarket pistons since Isuzu does not make oversized pistons. My new pistons did NOT have the additional holes in them but Jerry informed me how to modify the pistons which I passed on to the machine shop. Jerry told me to break the motor in and put about 400 to 500 miles on the motor to seat the rings. Then switch to 5W40 synthetic Rotella diesel oil. That is what I've done and no usage to this point. Of course I only have a few thousand miles on my build too so only time will tell.

Personally I've been skeptical on some of the high volume builders. I've read some real horror stories on quality issues and warranty claims. I've never had any personal experience with any of them though. But since I plan on keeping my VX I rebuilt mine using all (minus pistons) Isuzu parts. I worked with Merlin and asked where would he reccommend an aftermarket part vs an OEM part. He was very honest about what parts I could go aftermarket and where it was better to get from him. Ball joints and other suspension stuff I got through Rock Auto and saves a substantial amount of money.