Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) What's a reasonable price?

[dcasselberry]

I'm getting ready to get the KDP killed, but don't want to do it myself. I called one shop who has the jig and they charge $300 to do the fix. I'm not sure how long it takes to do it, but that seemed on the high side in my opinion.



Anyone out there had the fix done by a shop and what did it cost?

 

[Six_Man_Diesel]

No Way

That would be 150 $$$ an hour labor..... should take no longer than 2 hours, less for a good mechanic I would say. All I can say is I hope I make 150 $$ an hour after I get outta college.

 

[Dave Remillard]

Seems way high to me also. It took me a little over two hours on mine, but that did include a couple phone calls and wife interuptions. Keep in mind that was the first and only time I've udes the jig. Perhaps you could get the directions for doing the job, and have a couple other mechanics look them over and give you an estimate. Good luck.

 

[Rammin On]

$300 is highway robbery!!! A person with experience using the jig can do the job in way under an hour ... ... . I average around 45 min to kill the pin using the jig .....

 

[Ben Rumson]

parts will cost you...

under $60. ASSUMING you fix via the TAB method. That's for a new gasket, front seal, spare pin, and a tube of Cummins Silver gasket sealer rtv.



I have air tools. I am not a mechanic. My first ever fix took 4 hours. Getting the new seal in the timing cover took 1 of those hours... I was new here. Plus I removed and re-torqued the other bolts while I was in there. My second and third jobs (for friends) took 2. 5 and 2. 0 hours respectfully.



$60 Parts + 2 hours Labor (At $60/hour estimated shop rate) = $180. I could see someone charging you as much as this, maybe a little more depending on the shop and what their rates are... a good mechanic is a good mechanic. But I think 2 hours labor is justified. More than this... ?



This is a fairly simple, non-technical procedure. You don't need a NASCAR Pitcrew Technician to do it. Take a few parts off, fix the pin, install a new seal in the cover, and reinstall the parts you just took off (it's more time consuming than anything). The most technical part is torquing the bolts to the correct setting and spacing the crank position sensor away from the vibration dampener about the width of paper clip - there's no rocket science here either... as long as your Tach works then you're position sensor is spaced OK.



Good luck negotiating...

 

[Bseg]

$300 seems high, a group of us that belong to a club out here on the west coast got together and pitched in to buy the jig. We repaired at least 10 trucks in less than 8 hours. Of course we learned as we went but I would say once a person knows how to do it, it should only take 45 minutes. I would say that $100 is more than fair enough to pay someone. Check around and see if you can find other people in your area and maybe you can get a discount price if you all go to the same person or get enough people and buy your own jig.

 

[bighammer]

Isn't there an east coast jig floating around? Borrow it and send a donation to CPFF.



I sure wouldn't want to pay 300 for it. At that price I'd be tempted to leave it and hope for the best. Assuming a repair bill of $1500, that is 20%.

 

[Desperado]

I did my first KDP using the jig only took 1 hr 15 min, but then again I have also rebuilt several different engines, it doesn't take rocket science to do it, going to do two more tonight then off the jig goes to the next person.

 

[The patriot]

Well IMO if theyre tabbig it, that aint too bad. Slightly high.

If theyre going to use the jig, that's too much.

More labor and parts doing the tab.

I tabbed mine, and the hardest part was taking the windshield pisser bottle off the fan shroud.

Second hardest part was getting the seal in straight.

Took me about 4-5 hours. Lots of lemonaide breaks (was real hot out!!)

Call Autowurks for a price.

You might want to try Hans's in Englishtown. He is a little closer than Autowurks, and I think he works on these trucks too.

His # is 446-3416. I think it's 732 area code.

Ask for Hans. I never had anything done by him, but my brother had plenty work on his big rig done at his shop. My brother is pretty fussy about his truck, I dont think he'd go anywhere where they wouldnt do a good job.

Keep us posted.

Eric