Engine replacement . Ecoboost and GM 5.3

[MARK_VANDERBENT]

Have 330,000 on my 2009 suburban 5.3 . Pricing out New motor for the future . Can get New motor installed for around 6500. My mechanic had a 2012 f150 he was replacing ecoboost motor on, and he told me that motor replacement was 11,500 with new turbos . Was thinking that was crazy expensive! Is that really a realistic price for replacing those motors?

[Fordlover]

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.

[Grit_dog]

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?

[Grit_dog]

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!

[mkirsch]

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...

[mich800]

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.

[twodownzero]

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.

[parker_rowe]

rhagfo 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.

Once again, in a shop there is a difference between what you pay for hourly labor, and what they pay the mechanic.
They need to cover the cost of doing business.
Shop rent/payments
Property taxes
Business taxes
Social Security tax, (you only pay Half)
Power bill
Water Bill
Garbage
Pay the mechanic
Profit

Yea, most people don't realize how much it more it costs to have an employee on top of their salary, or to be self employed.

Big difference between that and those doing it on the side and not reporting the income.

I get sticker shock when I hear what people pay to have their cars worked on. But not everyone has the ability or interest in doing the work themselves.

And I don't know about the newest f150's, but a few years ago the engine is halfway under the windshield. Not as easy to swap, so I can see why that would cost more on top of the more expensive replacement engine.

The GM gas trucks are way easier. But it costs a lot more to have a shop do the work. Wouldn't hurt to shop around though if you have other shops around you trust. I've seen a lot of hack work come out of "real" shops too.

[valhalla360]

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.

The labor rate you pay usually only has around 1/4 to 1/3 going to the mechanic as hourly pay... then drop it by 30-40% to cover taxes and benefits...so suddenly you are back to a full time job doing engine swaps to net $3k/month.

[rhagfo]

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.

Once again, in a shop there is a difference between what you pay for hourly labor, and what they pay the mechanic.
They need to cover the cost of doing business.
Shop rent/payments
Property taxes
Business taxes
Social Security tax, (you only pay Half)
Power bill
Water Bill
Garbage
Pay the mechanic
Profit

[twodownzero]

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.

[rjstractor]

I don't know what the reman engine costs, but from what little research I did a long block swap should take around 16-17 hours. High end labor rate should be about $120/hr, so labor should be about $2K. Adding in the "hidden" extras like fluids, new belts, hoses, shop fees, etc would add a few hundred more.

[Lantley]

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.

[twodownzero]

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.

[theoldwizard1]

MARK VANDERBENT wrote:
All my vehicles are paid off so doing a motor just makes sense over dropping all that cash on a newer one.

I can't believe any one living in the upper mid-west would say that ! Winter and salt cause a huge amount of damage to the underside and the body.


Get a price from a Ford dealer for the EcoBoost engine. Ford certified remanufactured engines come with a 3 year/36,000 mile warranty and the warranty is good at any Ford dealer.

[MARK_VANDERBENT]

The quote I got for my motor is a jasper reman 3 year 100,000 mile warranty. It comes with new water pump, plugs , wires , belts , hoses. I had 3 different quotes and they were all within 5 to 7 hundred different.