Post by Terry CoombsPost by c***@snyder.on.caPost by Terry CoombsPost by Snuffy "Hub Cap" McKinneyI troubleshot it to the alternator. This time I had to get it
fixed right away to use in a paying job, so I charged up the
battery and dropped it off a the local garage. Good thing, too.
The tensioner pulley turned out to be going bad. I probably
would not have noticed that, and even if I did, I would have had
no way to get to the parts place. Total damage for R/R
alternator/regular & serpentine belt was $400. Plus tensioner
assy, $130.
This is why I do all my own work (exception is automatic trannies)
. My guess is that parts cost to the garage was in the neighborhood
of 125-150 bucks , the rest was labor and a nice markup on that
tensioner and alt .
Here in Ontario Canada dealer price on the tensioner for a 4 liter
is$73.87 and list is $111.28 from NAPA That was a month or so ago
when I replaced mine. The 3 liter will be very close.
In the USA at carpartsdiscount.com the 4 liter tensioner is a whole
$29.35 US for Gates and $26.35 for Dorman., For the 3 liter it is
$35.55 for a Dorman and $40.75 for a Gates.
Your garage WILL have paid more than that.
NapaOnline has the 4 liter one listed at $49.95
Reman alternators at NapaOnline are in the $220 range, New in the
$520 range. The alternator comes with the regulator installed.
Not sure what the situation is now, but garages used to make about
30% on parts, and labour ranges from the low $70s to over $100
depending on location.. So, say $49 for the tensioner, $220 for the
alternator - total $270-ish times 1.3+ $351 plus an hour at $70 and
you are over $420 - so all in all, at $400 for the job you did OK.
You were not ripped off - for sure.
I wasn't trying to imply he was ripped off ... I just hate to pay
someone else that kind of money to do something I can do myself . Oh
, and his total was $530 , so either the parts were more or labor
was a lot more than $70/hr . Can't see that job flat rating more
than 1.5 hours , if that . Recently our Toyota 4Runner (V6) blew a
spark plug out of the head - probably crossthreaded and/or partially
stripped at some time in the past . Total for parts was under a
hundred bucks including the reamer/tap kit and a new coil pack .
Labor was about 2.5 hours and half that time was spent machining
guide bushings and other tooling . Had that problem gone to a shop
they would have at least pulled the head , likely wanted to replace
rather than repair , and I'm certain I wouldn't have gotten out for
less than 1500 bucks . It helps that I have a machine shop , and I
understand that not everybody does . --
Snag
Just did a plug on a friend's Rotax 912 in his SeaRey amphibian plane.
Less than an hour including modifying the installation tool. Had to
over 100 dollars and hasabout half a dozen helicoils.