A very good female friend of mine has a V6 Toyota Highlander. The check engine light went on and she stopped driving it and I drove her to work. I had it towed to another good friend that owns a shop that specializes in Japanese imports. I trust the guy as I know him since high school and have gotten some work done with him as other friends have done also. He looks into it and slowly finds that it was a idler pulley that went bad that cause a catastrophic event and failure. Basically causing one part to go bad and so on and so forth. She basically needed the whole upper engine taken apart, head rebuilt, etc. He was able to explain it to us and show us the damage. $6500 total parts and labor !!! She had to decide if she wanted to just sell the vehicle and get another one or just pay the $6500. This occurred earlier this year and both new and used vehicles were very scarce and had a premium added to their price. She decided to just pay the $6500 which was basically like a new engine for her. One good thing he did also show us, is that because she has always used synthetic oil since the beginning, he was able to show how the engine still looked brand new with no wear in any of the parts that he can see and show to us, no black carbon, etc. ALL CLEAN !!! God Bless

IMO charging 4700 for lifter replacement on a v8 isn't outrageous, it's flat out THEFT. It's a 4 hour job if your taking your time to insure you don't screw it up and it's your first time doing it. For a professional shop familiar with the task it's probably a 2 hour job. As for the cost of the lifters, at a guess they are probably in the 400-600 dollar range for a complete set.

As for the Camshaft, that replacement starts with removing the cylinder heads to gain access to the lifters. After that you have to add on the time for doing the camshaft. I suspect that a newer Hemi uses a camshaft phaser to adjust the camshaft timing so that will make for a more complicated procedure and you do have to remove the radiator to clear space to remove the camshaft so at a guess it's probably a 6 to 8 hours task for a newbie and perhaps 4-5 hours for a professional shop.

So, total Book Time, it's probably in the 12 - 16 hour range due to all the horseshit covering up the engine nowadays. Figuring to 100 bucks an hour for shop time your looking at 1600 dollars in labor and probably about 1000 dollars in parts. BTW, I expect that dealers will want 200 bucks per hour for labor which is why the good independent shops are so popular.

As someone mentioned a lot of it is labor because of all the junk that needs to be taken out in modern engine compartments. Also dealer labor is more likely $150/ hour or more. My friend with his own garage is a little less expensive at $125/Hour. Also more than likely they are going by BOOK TIME. Even though it may take 10 hours for the labor, but book time says 15 hours, they will charge the 15-hours. I asked my friend why and he said that it makes up for the many times that they as a service technician have to put up with BS brought on by the customer that is not covered by book time. They too have to pay bills and make a living. I am sure any business owner can understand. God Bless !!!

The shops I've gotten quotes from all charge $150/hr labor.

Well, shit.
https://www.summitracing.com/s...-phaser-position/oem

I'm going to watch the video here in a bit and make a determination if this is over my head or not. May just have to get robbed, I dunno. Going to talk this over with my CFO.

said in hushed tones… (Good excuse to buy tools).

I've got a 2020 1500 with the 5.7 Hemi. So far I've only put about 14,000 miles on it. Is that upgrade to the Hellcat oil pump something I should think about?

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
The shops I've gotten quotes from all charge $150/hr labor.

Well, shit.
https://www.summitracing.com/s...-phaser-position/oem

I'm going to watch the video here in a bit and make a determination if this is over my head or not. May just have to get robbed, I dunno. Going to talk this over with my CFO.

There's only one auto repair place in the area where I'm sure they're honest:

Sunland Auto Service
3530 E. Broadway
Mesa, Az. 85204
(480) 834-9274

I'm sure there are a bunch of honest ones, but there are a bunch of crooks around, too.

The previous video is just a basic overview.

This guy has a more in depth one and looks like he knows a thing or two.

Powermad, thanks for the videos. While it looks relatively straightforward, I think that's a bit outside my comfort zone, even if I had the tools.

quote:

Originally posted by Skull Leader:
I've got a 2020 1500 with the 5.7 Hemi. So far I've only put about 14,000 miles on it. Is that upgrade to the Hellcat oil pump something I should think about?

The video I watched was made by a Dodge mechanic with twelve years worth of experience who has done hundreds of these. It was uploaded seven months ago. He said that as of now, it's the only thing he knows of that helps forestall needing to do this. It's a higher pressure pump. I looked it up and it's under $200. That seems like a relatively cheap way to help make this something one would have to deal with further down the road.

quote:

Originally posted by Flash-LB:
There's only one auto repair place in the area where I'm sure they're honest:

Thanks for that, I'll be calling them Monday.

quote:

Originally posted by SIGnified:
said in hushed tones… (Good excuse to buy tools).

Oh, I already tried that. "Home Depot has tool rental, and so do a lot of other places." I wasn't going to argue it lol.

Here is a video talking about the PSIs from the stock oil pump compared to the Hellcat oil pump. Pretty interesting, but seeing what he has to do to change the oil pump makes me want to have a shop do it.

https://youtu.be/wpl8aZiPK0E

I feel your pain, literally

2005 E350 van, been reliable as the day is long,

had the filters (fuel) changed every inspection

wife and I out in it to pick up a carpet and it dies,

fuel injector modula, $1300 later and a few days in the shop and all is well,


died on my on the way to the local gunshow (with my setup loaded in the back) after 50 miles since the first repair, same symptons,

so back in the shop, now they (recommended dealer, for Diesel repairs) are saying over $11K to basically flush and replace the entire fuel system, including boiling the tank,

motor, as in block etc, is still good, no compression issues,

was told the fuel had water (BS, I used to run a few stores that had gas stations , I know better) and that it sat too much, again, BS, it is low mileage, for a 2005 at 108K but if not going to a show, it may sit 4-5 days, then short trips,

so, the Foad dealer was supposed to call me this past friday to pic up, but did not,

so I will call them when I get back from the NOVA gunshow (rented a van) and then once I pick it up, drive it every single day to make sure it is good to go,

I have 2 more shows , one a 4hr drive one way, in Oct, then 5 in a row thru November,


new Van,, was told 6 month wait if I ordered,
or take what they can find (while the dealer told me they sold at MSRP, I have seen some on there site way over MSRP,, so I will have to find one eslewhere,,)

Would this be covered under Rams lifetime power train warranty? If you are the original owner.

Page 12 https://www.dodge.com/crossbra...y/pdf/08_LX_LPLW.pdf

Don't buy another ram

Lyman, that's brutal. I hope you find something that works out and doesn't bankrupt you.

quote:

Originally posted by gpbst3:
Would this be covered under Rams lifetime power train warranty? If you are the original owner.

Not the original owner, so it's a moot point.

Flash-LB, I called Sunland, they're putting together a quote for me.

Are you going to find a comparable truck that won't also likely to need a bunch of repairs for $13,700?

No?

So, there's your answer.

The only reason to buy another car is because you want another car, because your car gets wrecked and all the combined pieces outweigh the price of replacement vehicle, or the parts for the car have become rare and expensive.

Cars are essentially a collection of consumable parts. Repairing will always make the most economic sense, even if the repair exceeds the value of the car. After the repair, your car now has a fresh xyz part, which now adds to the overall lifespan and value.

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:

Flash-LB, I called Sunland, they're putting together a quote for me.

I hope it's a more reasonable quote than the ones you've gotten.

quote:

Originally posted by Flash-LB:
I hope it's a more reasonable quote than the ones you've gotten.

I heard back, they're doing another Ram 1500 right now, and he's sitting right at five grand. That's pretty much in line with what I heard from the other two shops, and part of the work is already done for them, so I told them I'd send my truck over there. I keep hearing mid fours to five grand for this job. If you say they're honest, that's good enough for me.

Called Geico, they're going to handle the tow from the one shop to the other for free. Called the first shop, the tech and the counter guy I've been dealing with are at lunch, my truck is still up on the lift with no wheels on it. Told the guy I talked to that the tow truck is coming at 2:30 and left my card information. When the counter guy I've been working with comes back, he'll call me and finalize everything and the tech will put the wheels back on it and they'll pull it out where the tow truck can get it.

No, it's not cheap, but I guess that's just the state of vehicle repairs right now. Truck isn't worth anything in current condition, I can try to sell it once it's running if I can figure out a better option. That, or just get it fixed and have a Hellcat oil pump installed, and drive it for another sixty thousand and sell it.

Look around for a complete replacement engine, many trucks/cars are totaled in accidents but the engines are in great shape.

https://www.swengines.com/city-phoenix-arizona.html

Might be less expensive to swap in a new used engine than a $5K rebuild, you could change the oil pump before it's installed if you think you'd keep it.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
Look around for a complete replacement engine, many trucks/cars are totaled in accidents but the engines are in great shape.

https://www.swengines.com/city-phoenix-arizona.html

Might be less expensive to swap in a new used engine than a $5K rebuild, you could change the oil pump before it's installed if you think you'd keep it.

Thanks, that was worth looking into. They have a direct replacement for my truck for $3,895, but it's only got four thousand less miles on it. I just wonder about swapping in a new engine for a problem that's due to crop up within ten thousand miles or so. For that, plus tax and labor, I'm probably right around the same cost.

I'd buy a cam and lifter kit and do it myself.