I think it is safe to say that kap has left the building. He had a really good idea and a good product that he put a lot of time and effort into, but he sold his CRD and is not responding to my pm. Has anyone heard from him in the last week? I hope you're just on a well deserved vacation kap, and that you're ok.

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05CRD: GDE Hot ECU & TCM tunes, Provent, Cat filter, Facet lift pump, TransGo kit, Florida TC, Samcos, stainless brake lines, HDS thermostat, Renegade light bar,
RL super sliders, Bilstein adjustables, Al's Gen 4.5 Arms, 235/85-16 Duratracs, DTT rear, Elocker front, EVIC+TPMS, Turbo timer, McNally pillar gauges, Weeks Stage II kit.

No, I haven't. I sent him a PM too... And I have not gotten anything for my payment that he requested when saying last month that everything was ready to go for shipping. So far it seems like only 2 of these things have been created - His and the one that was sent to Canada for the guy who was disabled.

I'm not very happy about this, as you might imagine. I was unemployed when I paid that, and I am still barely-employed (random contract work for small amounts) which means that nothing is stable. Extra cash? Unemployment money? Yea... I don't have any of that. So paying this REALLY took a big chunk out of what I had, but I was willing b/c I not only believed in the man and his product, but also that I knew that I had a problem that would only get worse when the weather got cold. The weather is now cold, and yes, I do have a failed component.

All I would like is what I paid for, or a prompt refund. This lack of contact is depressing, and saddens me.

Edit: I'm not a happy panda right now - I just contacted Paypal, and was basically told "We won't help you in this case, good luck on your own." Typical Ebay crap. Half the purchase was on my Paypal balance, the other half was through my Visa. The most I can expect in a refund if Mark is truly not going to finish these, is that half from Visa.

BTW: I paid on September 25th and have heard not one word since. I think I have been more than patient at this point. Does anyone disagree?

_________________
Proud supporting vendor of LOST Jeeps
TRAVELING CRD TECH. I come to you!
Need help? Just ask! I've taken it apart more than most.
Email jeep [at] maincomputer [dot] com - BOARD MESSAGING IS BROKEN
Over 225 CRDs currently driving with my valves, timing belt, rockers, or ARP Studs.
Bad noises = REALLY bad things.

Yes agree.

What a fiasco this has turned out to be.

_________________
2006 Liberty Limited CRD, Deep Beryl Green, Yeti tune, Arp studs, new cams, rockers, lifters, TB. "Green Monster"
2005 Liberty Sport CRD, Deep Beryl Green, GDE Hot Tune, ARP studs. "Rocket"
1982 Fiat 124 Spider Convertible. "Fiona"

After 45 days no more PP disputes, I always keep and eye on slow shippers and make a date on my calendar of when to start a dispute.

BTW, if you check his profile, he was on site on November 18th. He is active in viewforum.php?f=67 if you wanna post to him there?

_________________
2006 LTD Bright Silver loaded with all the needed mods, CCV intact.
Proudly supporting CRD vendors, and their development of quality parts and accessories.
Equipped with HDS thermostat, plenty of heat, faster warm-ups, increased fuel mileage.

Kap PMed me on Nov 10th in response to my query on status and timelines. I think he's up to his ears with repairs on his grand making it safe for his family for Colorado winters. He did express the sentiment that he intends to help out everyone who's requested the t-stat assemblies.

This seems like a case of good intentions simply getting the best of a genuinely well-intending person. I feel bad for everyone who's been left hanging with no product for payment, but I don't think it's a case of abandonment, simply slipped timelines.

I'm personally still holding out for a unit, since I really believe in it.

Kap, I don't want to speak for you, but some of the folks here could probably use a quick note of reassurance on the project.

Dan

_________________

2005 Silver CRD Limited
245/75R16 GoodYear Duratracs
Fumoto drain | ProVent CCV Filter
Stanadyne FM100 filter | Cummins fuel pump
GDE Eco | SEGR | BoulderBars | FrankenLift | Frankenskids

I haven't been keeping up with this thread, but after reading the last couple of pages it doesn't look too good. I replaced mine with a factory t-stat, and now I have the old one that came out of my Jeep. It was stuck open, but if anyone is planning on running with kaps idea PM me and I can send it to you for just the shipping.

Spoken for about 15 minutes after I posted this.

I have the 2nd thermostat.

Mark is a perfectionist with little time. Unfortunately when you sweat the little things, it will eat up your whole day.

He seems like a pretty fair guy to me and I believe that the thermostats will get done but just not as fast as some would like.

I have kept quiet (just because this is Mark's business) but the stats are not quite finished. I needed to modify mine to get it to to work and, as far as I know, Mark is making similar changes to your thermostats. The product is well designed, I just think that he won't ship anything until it is perfect.

But I agree, it would be nice to hear from Mark.

I sent him a PM on the 26th and an email as well and have heard nothing. I wanted on the wait list for a Tstat. but now I'm not sure. if it gets colder here and the thermostat stays more open than now I'm going to need to order a stock one. I will wait as long as I can.

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2006 Liberty CRD Limited Deep Beryl Green Metallic Clear coat, Fumoto valve, MH ProVent (removed), GDE Eco tune,
OME 790/948 springs, OME struts, OME N132L shocks, Jeepin by Al A-arms, Hercules Terra Trac AT2 245/75R16
Weeks Stage 1 EGR delete, 5 volt steel glow plugs

Hey guys, sorry for the delay, I just got Geordi's messages. I'm in Idaho right now visiting my parents. I will be back the 5th of December. Unfortunately my parents do not have internet access. I am at the library catching up on emails. I sent Geordi a message and my cell number so we can get together to talk or txt.

I am making a small design change before sending his unit out. With the new thicker gaskets I am using I wasn't using the recess for the thermostat, but after Squeeto noticed that the thermost could be slightly off center not function quite right (let some coolant past) I decided it was imperitive to go back to using the recess to center the thermostat and just machine the inserted piece. Unfortunately i have to redo a bunch of those since I had them all the proper length before changing the gasket thickness. I would reather waste material and make a better product though.

Anyway, things on the Jeep Grand are finished...at least good enough for now. I fixed the main things and that was taking priority to this project since we now only have 2 cars and it is a daily driver. It had low oil pressure and leaked a little bit of coolant. I had to do alot to her to get her up to par. It was not maintained properly prior to me buying it. Heres a link to what I was doing on my Grand:
http://www.jeepsunlimited.com/forums/showthread.php?t=533418

Unfortunately I had to prioritize my Jeep since I didn't want to ruin an engine and had to fix it quick since I thought it had low oil pressure. It ended up after pulling the pan and valve covers adn scraping wax out that the sending unit was bad also. The PCV wasclogged. The coolant leak was in 2 spots. I had a bad upper hose adn a bad thermostat gasket that dripped. I put in a new thermostat, fixed the upper hose and then it leaked at teh radiator cap and I replaced that. I also installed an oil pressure gauge and verified pressure and then replaced the faulty oil pressure sending unit.

Not trying to put this project on the back burner, but had to fix my daily driver.

I will be back in Colorado springs the 5th and will get back on this project ASAP.

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Previous-05 CRD KJ;Current-2010 Taurus SHO Twin Turbo (450HP), 2014 Subaru Forester Turbo (stock)

Glad to hear from ya! I can understand if you're busy.

_________________
05CRD: GDE Hot ECU & TCM tunes, Provent, Cat filter, Facet lift pump, TransGo kit, Florida TC, Samcos, stainless brake lines, HDS thermostat, Renegade light bar,
RL super sliders, Bilstein adjustables, Al's Gen 4.5 Arms, 235/85-16 Duratracs, DTT rear, Elocker front, EVIC+TPMS, Turbo timer, McNally pillar gauges, Weeks Stage II kit.

I second that. Mark, thank you for the PM, and I do appreciate the phone number. I think we all can understand the need to get your own life / vehicles working first, I know I do understand that.

Where I think the fear / concern happened was that the frequency of updates just vaporized without much warning. I know that the holidays do get in the way and my grandma has no internet (or anything more advanced than a VHS - No microwave even!) so the lack of access is understandable too... I think we all were just hoping for some updates when you could, even if it was a "my life is crazy, X is broke on my new vehicle, etc" kinda thing. Normally I don't think it would matter as much, but since you are the big kahuna on these thermostats... You are more than the average user / CRD genius now, we are all counting on you.

--Jim

_________________
Proud supporting vendor of LOST Jeeps
TRAVELING CRD TECH. I come to you!
Need help? Just ask! I've taken it apart more than most.
Email jeep [at] maincomputer [dot] com - BOARD MESSAGING IS BROKEN
Over 225 CRDs currently driving with my valves, timing belt, rockers, or ARP Studs.
Bad noises = REALLY bad things.

Patience is a virtue...

Glad to hear things are better with the Grand, Mark. Looking forward to seeing some of these long-awaited tstats coming down the assembly line!

_________________
2006 Jeep Liberty CRD, Limited
GDE Eco Tune, GDE TCM Tune, Bauer 203* Tstat, Amsoil EaA 201 Filter, Clean MAP, Samco CAC Hoses, Magnaflow Muffler #12226.
New Mopar Fuel Filter, K&N Filterminder, Fumoto Oil Drain Valve
225/75R16 Hankook Dynapros

As far as this thread is concerned, Murphy's law proved itself to be real and predictable.

I had put my name on the "list" for one of these modified thermostats a few weeks ago, and received a quick response that it would be a while before my turn comes up. "No problem" thought I, I'm a patient fellow. But reading all of these dire comments of no response and the disappearance of our friend, I finally threw in the towel and earlier today ordered a standard replacement thermostat.

So it goes...

I guess you can all put 50% cardboard in front of the rad while you wait for the Kap Tstat?

_________________
2006 LTD Bright Silver loaded with all the needed mods, CCV intact.
Proudly supporting CRD vendors, and their development of quality parts and accessories.
Equipped with HDS thermostat, plenty of heat, faster warm-ups, increased fuel mileage.

Being under a extended warranty I stayed with the OEM thermostat when mine was failing this summer. It didn't come up to normal on a 90 degree day
The new thermostat runs very close to the center line, just a tad to the left. It's never ran that warm. But checking the coolant temperature using vag-com it was 178f, still cooler then prefered though. I wonder if this was a tolerance issue or they upped the opening temperature 2 degrees??

_________________
Atlantic Blue 06 CRD Limited (his)
Joined by a 2000 XJ Classic (hers)

If you are running 178*F that is very good for a factory thermostat and it is running like new. They open aorund 176*F.

_________________
Previous-05 CRD KJ;Current-2010 Taurus SHO Twin Turbo (450HP), 2014 Subaru Forester Turbo (stock)

It's probably best that you went factory for now. I haven't updated the list in awhile and I am getting more and more interest in this and I have a whole flood of PM's to go through when I get back home to update the list and show everyone's standings. First on my list of things to do is get the units I have done/nearly done finished and sent out. Unfortunately I've found out that just keeping up with the PM's and the list can be very time consuming and takes away from shop time. Maybe someday we can automate this.

_________________
Previous-05 CRD KJ;Current-2010 Taurus SHO Twin Turbo (450HP), 2014 Subaru Forester Turbo (stock)

Yeah, I understand and will try to be better about updates. Feel free to txt/call me anytime.

I have to admit its hard to come on here and "update" you all and have nothing good to tell you. I feel bad coming on here and saying stuff like "I'm working on my own car and have not done anything on this project" because it sounds selfish and I feel a bit guilty I haven't got anything done on these projects. Unfortunately like I mentioned when having 2 vehicles and 2 people that work, they both have to be good to go. Glad to hear you all are not giving up on me. I'm online checking weather real quick. We leave tomorrow. We're driving back through idaho, montanna, wyoming and colorado to get back to Colorado Springs and I'm just getting an update on the roads. They were pretty bad in spots on our way out here. I drove through one area in montanna that was -7*F On our way here. Our charger is AWD and has studed tires so things go good as long as there is not alot of traffic.

- Mark

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Previous-05 CRD KJ;Current-2010 Taurus SHO Twin Turbo (450HP), 2014 Subaru Forester Turbo (stock)

No problem at all Mark, I recognize this is a "hobby" project for you and a favor to us CRD owner - not a full time business, so I understand the issue with time constraints. I just thought it was amusing that the day I decide to order a standard unit we all find out (despite the nay-sayers) that you're still in the game. Only time I would have been worried is if I'd sent funds and hadn't received any updates or products. As it stands I'm glad you're still at it.

Please keep my name on the list, no matter how far down it is at the moment. Heck you can even bump me down to the bottom for now as I expect I'll be good for a while. Once I replace my thermostat I'll have an old one you can use to build the the new design.

Please refer back to the page offering free beer as a thanks for all the solid work thus-far. I'm sure if we went around the table (country), we could keep you buzzing for a while, Mark. Don't get disenfranchised because you have standards, my friend. You are in (mostly) like company.

Dan

_________________

2005 Silver CRD Limited
245/75R16 GoodYear Duratracs
Fumoto drain | ProVent CCV Filter
Stanadyne FM100 filter | Cummins fuel pump
GDE Eco | SEGR | BoulderBars | FrankenLift | Frankenskids