Engine replacement . Ecoboost and GM 5.3

$6500 Sounds really high for a 5.3 replacement

twodownzero wrote:


I do wear a suit and am a professional, and I used to teach the difference between revenue and profit to students. As such, I know that I could certainly make more than I make in a month if I could get two $3,000 jobs that took me 4 days to complete. Even if I could only do it at half the speed of book rate, I could work 8 days instead of 20 days a month and make the same money. That sounds like a pretty good deal to me!

So where is this $3,000 coming from? Based the OP that gave zero specifics on the quote other than total cost. But everyone here seems to know not only the components that are included in the quote but also the shops costs on those components. Seems everyone is tossing around a lot of assumptions how this shop must be putting their kids through college on just this one job.

mkirsch wrote:
Also out of that $3000 comes any gaskets, hoses, cables, fluids, and other parts that should be replaced as a matter of course in a proper engine swap.

If you're doing it yourself you can take all the shortcuts and make the professional mechanic look like a crook. However if anything goes wrong due to those shortcuts, you've got nobody to blame but yourself. ANYTHING goes wrong with the professional job, you'll be blaming the mechanic for taking shortcuts...

A new engine has a warranty, sometimes even one that covers the labor if the engine fails. As long as you didn't get it hot or run it without oil, it'd be pretty hard to screw this up!

mich800 wrote:

twodownzero wrote:

Lantley wrote:

twodownzero wrote:

mkirsch wrote:
Good lord people! Do you expect the mechanic to work for free?

We have one poster quoting the long block from Jeg's for $3500. This estimate is INSTALLED for $6500. Doesn't seem that out of line to me.

If you will pay me $3,000 to install a plug in, bolt in engine, please line up and I will quit my day job.

Well you don't get to keep the entire $3,000.
You have to pay insurance,utility's,rent,disposal fees, licenses and permits and taxes.
You can keep what's left and hope everything went well and you don't have any call backs.

It takes me a whole month to make $3k, net. If you're telling me I could do two 16-17 hour engine swaps and make that in 4 days, I will hang up the suit forever and do that for the rest of my days.

If you wear a suit and presumably a professional, you surely understand the difference between revenue and profit. Not to mention only the OP has the quote to even see what is part of this swap.

I do wear a suit and am a professional, and I used to teach the difference between revenue and profit to students. As such, I know that I could certainly make more than I make in a month if I could get two $3,000 jobs that took me 4 days to complete. Even if I could only do it at half the speed of book rate, I could work 8 days instead of 20 days a month and make the same money. That sounds like a pretty good deal to me!

mkirsch wrote:
Good lord people! Do you expect the mechanic to work for free?

We have one poster quoting the long block from Jeg's for $3500. This estimate is INSTALLED for $6500. Doesn't seem that out of line to me.

I don't think it's too far out of line honestly. To be generous, I'd guess 12 hours to pull the old, 12 hours to install the new, so 3 grand across 24 hours is $125 hr shop rate. Wonder if that quote also includes the Tax?

No doubt some of that cost will go into consumables, oil, fluid, coolant, etc. as well.

twodownzero wrote:


It takes me a whole month to make $3k, net. If you're telling me I could do two 16-17 hour engine swaps and make that in 4 days, I will hang up the suit forever and do that for the rest of my days.

Where you live, grossing $45k a year is actually about the median income. Where I live, that qualifies as poverty level.
If you're so gung ho about this, why aren't you turning wrenches on the side to supplement your income?

twodownzero wrote:
I would like to know what the actual book time is on this job. I used to work on cars, boats, and industrial equipment for a living and it is certainly a strong paying job. If the book really pays $3k for an engine swap in a full size Chevrolet pickup truck, that is all the more reason I do my own work and have my entire life. You can think I'm innumerate if you want, but I'd rather give up my weekend and do the work myself than pay that kind of money. Even if that is the going rate, $3000 for two days of that kind of labor is way beyond that which I value my time. In fact, I would pay, perhaps, half that if I had to have it done. And I think $1500 for that job is plenty. That said, it has been a long time since I did this kind of work for others for pay.

And yes, the F150s since 1999 are a total bear to do any serious engine work on.

You're 100% correct that, in general, a person with a box full of tools and some mechanical aptitude can save money by self performing mechanic work. No different than any other service I can think of. Mow your lawn? $10 depreciation in your lawn mower, $3 in gas and some "free labor." Lawn maint outfit charges $80! That's highway robbery! NOT
I'm like you, in that I save a great deal of money by being smart enough and motivated enough to do many tasks, both menial and skilled, myself vs hiring it out.
However, you are either showing your ignorance or acting innumerate if you are professing that there aren't many real costs above and beyond the mechanic's take home pay that go into a "rate" that is charged for a service.
In a recent example of re-roofing our house and shop, bout 70sq of roof. Cash, side job price, I buy materials, and get dumpsters, forklift and a couple cases of beer for the guys at the end of the day is about 9 grand cheaper than the best price for bonded, insured, taxed contractor to do the same work. Gotta weight the risk and I'm weighing 9 grand in favor of the cash job.
If I did it myself, I'd save 18 grand off the Contractor price or 9 grand off the side job. And I could do it all myself, every weekend from now until April!

Also out of that $3000 comes any gaskets, hoses, cables, fluids, and other parts that should be replaced as a matter of course in a proper engine swap.

If you're doing it yourself you can take all the shortcuts and make the professional mechanic look like a crook. However if anything goes wrong due to those shortcuts, you've got nobody to blame but yourself. ANYTHING goes wrong with the professional job, you'll be blaming the mechanic for taking shortcuts...

twodownzero wrote:

Lantley wrote:

twodownzero wrote:

mkirsch wrote:
Good lord people! Do you expect the mechanic to work for free?

We have one poster quoting the long block from Jeg's for $3500. This estimate is INSTALLED for $6500. Doesn't seem that out of line to me.

If you will pay me $3,000 to install a plug in, bolt in engine, please line up and I will quit my day job.

Well you don't get to keep the entire $3,000.
You have to pay insurance,utility's,rent,disposal fees, licenses and permits and taxes.
You can keep what's left and hope everything went well and you don't have any call backs.

It takes me a whole month to make $3k, net. If you're telling me I could do two 16-17 hour engine swaps and make that in 4 days, I will hang up the suit forever and do that for the rest of my days.

If you wear a suit and presumably a professional, you surely understand the difference between revenue and profit. Not to mention only the OP has the quote to even see what is part of this swap.

I would like to know what the actual book time is on this job. I used to work on cars, boats, and industrial equipment for a living and it is certainly a strong paying job. If the book really pays $3k for an engine swap in a full size Chevrolet pickup truck, that is all the more reason I do my own work and have my entire life. You can think I'm innumerate if you want, but I'd rather give up my weekend and do the work myself than pay that kind of money. Even if that is the going rate, $3000 for two days of that kind of labor is way beyond that which I value my time. In fact, I would pay, perhaps, half that if I had to have it done. And I think $1500 for that job is plenty. That said, it has been a long time since I did this kind of work for others for pay.

And yes, the F150s since 1999 are a total bear to do any serious engine work on.