Shop Time

[Hobo,NC]

For those that think shops are over priced I will challenge ya to try some of the dog work we do sometime. Exhaust leak around manifold somewhere you can not see it, its covered up by more heat shields than the law allows. 2013 equinox 2.4 AWD with the old fashion A.I.R. emissions. Book time 5.9hr to R&R the manifold. To make matters worst it has codes for the A.I.R. system the pump has been replaced. The system is stopped up on the back of the head. No access from the bottom are sides you work from the top in the blind you use a mirror... Most all the bolts are hidden from eye site : ( This job draws blood my right arm looks like its been in a cat fight.

This is just emissions the manifold it down there somewhere.

The ones without A.I.R. are not as bad to do.

2015 f150 5.0 visiting from Missouri with a coolant leak a water pump has just been put on someone told him the freeze plugs were leaking. Its leaking from the water pump its a aftermarket it did not fit in the hole I had to pry it out. It got a OEM Ford pump it slid right in the hole.

Both these jobs stress you back and legs its not all pic'N and a grinning. My guess on the F150 as it looks to be poorly maintained low bidder got the contract.

This post was edited by Hobo,NC on 02/16/2022 at 05:44 pm.

 

[gable]

Definitely not just the job but the expertise is what should be paid.

 

[stoughtonfarmboy]

Exactly why I don't work on my
vehicles. Now, a single cylinder KTM
dirtbike is still fun (sort of ).

Ken

P.S. years ago had a Ford pickup with
an inline 6 cylinder. Could almost put
a lawn chair in there to work on the
engine.

 

[Ark68SS]

That's why I quit three years ago when I could draw my SS benefits. Too much physical pain working on the cars, too much mental pain dealing with car owners and running the business. Retirement is wonderful, don't miss work at all. 8)
BillL

 

[37 chief]

Some of the automotive engineers should be put in jail for some of the motor part locations. Want more fun, now that it's in, safety wire all the
bolt heads. I did three years of safety wiring on Navy aircraft, not fun. Stan

 

[SVcummins]

They dont print enough money in a day to take any of the
projects I see you post . My stuff is old enough its not to bad
but I still hate working on the trucks

 

[farmerjohn]

Further evidence that people who design cars have never actually worked on one.

 

[Sprint 6]

Good money makers. I did exhaust manifolds
on an '07 F150 last week. It was a refugee
from a Ford dealer. Ford dealer had
charged $800 to fix the exhaust leak. What
did they do? Applied muffler cement,
stripped the studs, and told the customer
it needed catalytic converters to the tune
of $3K to fix the leak completely. I
replaced both manifolds, drilled out two
broken bolts in the head, and did some A/C
work while it was apart. I don't know if
the dealer was afraid of the manifolds and
was just trying to blow him out the door,
or if they seriously thought the muffler
cement would work? I should have got some
pictures.

 

[Hobo,NC]

I did the exhaust manifolds on a E350 V10 that's all the Ford manifolds I wanted. I turned them down on a Ford now. My luck they have all been rust buckets I don't have to work on that junk anymore.

I brought a Pro-Max kit $600 to do the V10 the drill bits in that kit are $35 for 3 of'em. I kept snapping them off so had to use regular bits.

My hats off to ya fords are a real bear.

The other issue this is not pattern work the same job can have a different issue are issues that you normally would not account for on an estimate.

We are not cutting cookies nor have a cookie cutter for every issue.

This post was edited by Hobo,NC on 02/17/2022 at 04:46 am.

 

[Steve@Advance]

I try to tell myself I'm done doing my own repairs, then I read stories like this...

Guess I'm not quite done yet!

 

[moresmoke]

Just put a water pump in an Explorer with a 3.7. Wouldnt
be too bad if I had a lift and could drop the subframe out!

I know I didnt make book time, but its the sons car,
what you gonna do.

 

[Gene Davis (Ga.)]

The easiest vehicle I ever worked on was a 1946 Chrysler Winsdor and it had an engine compartment that would accomodate the old straight 8, but this one had just the 6 cylinder engine and of course no air conditoning. The raditor was set back a little further and there was almost room to stand under the hood in front of the radiator to work on it.

 

[Sean Feeney]

Saw somewhere they will pull the moter to do a waterpump on those, blew me away until i read more into it.

 

[warbaby]

I put a starter on a Nissan Juke a few months ago. You have to remove the front fascia so you can swing the AC condensor out of the way and remove the radiator
before you can even SEE the starter, much less get to it.

 

[Keith True]

I quit working on cars in the mid 70's because this was starting then.I worked at a garage next to the JD dealer,and
the owner thought I would be a good fit working on farm equipment.Then kind of fell into the heavy equipment and
truck stuff with him.Now I do some old car work,and some nut and bolt stuff on cars.I did do some manifolds on an F-
250 with a 5.4 Triton.I did them from the sides with the front tires off.I didn't fool with them,I smashed the
manifolds up with a four pound hammer and an air hammer.When I got done I had eight bolts with cast iron around them
hanging on the heads.I pretty much spun those all out.

 

[Fritz Maurer]

I never felt shop rates were out of line. All the scanners those guys need cost money... have a friend who just bought a Matco scanner that he has to pay a monthly fee to keep updated, Matco updates it through the internet. People keep clamoring for this high-technology stuff; but they dont understand that it takes expensive sophisticated equipment to service it. The exception to this rule would be John Deere. Expensive shop rates are one thing, but locking up the software so one is forced into their shop at their price is playing dirty. But... I havent noticed any real decline in Deere sales, so either nobody cares, or this right to repair litigation is just a bunch of overblown nonsense.

 

[SVcummins]

Wrong again

.

 

[Traditional Farmer]

Probably right about JD the people that buy new aren't the ones that will be repairing them in the future it'll be the 2nd or 3rd owners that will be doing that and they aren't buying new tractors so no reason for JD to worry about it.

 

[Fritz Maurer]

The Deere equipment website notwithstanding, as of 1/25/22 the litigation was still in hot pursuit, unless Deere capitulated in the last 3 weeks.

 

[Sprint 6]

I have a friend that is a regional service manager for a Deere chain. We have talked about this stuff at length. Basically, Deere will sell whatever access or tools you want, but it costs money. He also says these farmers don't know what to do with it when they have it. They just think it should be free.

 

[Fritz Maurer]

Aside from some local mom-n-pop farm store trying to promote repeat business, I doubt repair literature was ever free. Certainly not in the last 20years, outside of a photocopy or two. Not disagreeing with you, Im sure there is some faction that figures John Deere owes it to them for the money they spend, I just wonder where they would get that idea.

 

[rlp in Co.]

Do you have to get paid by book time?
Working on manifold has always been hard.
I have spent 8 hours just getting one
broken bolt out! These cars now days are
really hard to work on! My horn went bad
on my 92 Plymouth Colt. It is impossible
to get your hand on it! Maybe only by
taking off the bumper. I had to put on
another horn off of an old car!

 

[Hobo,NC]

Do you have to get paid by book time?

NO

Book time is a guide that's all. On this one book time is 1.9hr. I pulled up the last one I did I pulled up the ticket charged 3hr and thought I had done good. Lucky me before he left it I pulled the air cleaner off and said WHUTS DAT (A.I.R, System) The first guide I pulled up (Chilton) said 1.9hr I them went to a Motor guide it said with AWD 5.9hr. this one had AWD : ( I don't know what AWD has to do with it other than AWD's are the ones with A.I.R. ? dunno.

Its not new you add time for age are other issues. Its rare I do an estimate sometimes it makes me mad to do one. I am lucky to have customers that can afford it. I don't have to do this anymore I hope all get there one day.

Its back with A.I.R. codes the fun part some of the info is not in diagnostics. I found the new pump that was on it full of clear water the pump fuse blown and one A.I.R. valve not sealing. The good I know the system is clean it was stopped up at the head I took care of that while I had the manifold off. The bad the parts are not cheap it has two selector valves on it they are in the $300 range a piece.

For the ell of it I would like to know where the pump relay is # KR25 the information does not show it other than its mounted on a fender...

 

[gbs]

Wife's cousin's pickup with a 5.4 Ford Triton had a go and come misfire and the valve train was clicking away, I noticed someone had damaged the coil pack wiring on the # 5 cylinder, I fixed that and it solved
the misfire. I done that at no charge, then he starts about repairing the clicking valve train to which I replied I wouldn't touch one of those engines with your 10'pole let alone mine, him and his brother
which are die-hard ford laughed and asked me why not. I told them they neither one knew what kind of problems you could run into, a few of which explained, especially that thing being shoe horned into that
body wasn't something I desired to work on at the time with one tractor torn apart for a clutch and water pump, and 3 more sitting in line for repairs.