dont be scared neon, go buy a haynes manuel and get on it. it walks you through step by step. if somethin happens, then post on here and we can help.

 

He is said no earlier, got it back tuesday noticed problem so returned it Thursday and they have it over the weekend.

 

Haynes was kinda vague when it came to the ball joints, but the pictures on here along with the words in their print made it easy; Again, with the right tools. Fitting a square into a circle is the hardest part.

 

Dude ,seriously why do you even bother asking ,when all you do is run and take it to a shop after all the advice , can you name one thing you 've actually done yourself from all the questions and advise you got from here?, It's like you come on here ask us what the problem is, then take our knowledgeand go take it to the shop and say" hey this is what i think it is blah blah blah" then turn around come back on here and complain about how ****ty of a job the shop did, YOU and I both know you are'nt going to do the plenum, your already asking about HOW MUCH WILL THEY CHARGE QUESTION? then you will be back here posting another 25 pages about how they fuked your plenum repair up, this might as well be
"TELL DODGE YOUR ADVICE SO HE CAN RUN AND TELL THE SHOP WHAT IT IS AND GET FUKED IN THE *** FORUM" [sm=headbang.gif][sm=WTFsgign.gif]why ask when you are not going to take the "good" advice from others and not even atempt something yourself "CAN YOU PUMP YOUR OWN GAS?[sm=bangbang.gif] I know that was a little harsh, but C'MON ALREADY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!its all about the lessons

 

Cost can vary greatly depending on region but I know dealers that charge $120 hr. $75 would be the low end even for a small independent shop in my area.
As for mark up 100% isn't uncommon but anything less than 50% is rare.
We always charged book time regardless of actual time spent. Sometimes you win sometimes you loose. Any tech that can't beat retail book time most of the time should look for a different career.

Sounds like your shop is the best deal in town, how you stay in business is a mystery to me...

 

Shop labor rates around here are about $55 an hour for most work.

Paint work costs more, $65 or $70 if I remember correctly.

I have no idea what the dealerships charge here because I haven't taken it to one since I moved.

EDIT: Interesting comparison... most computer technicians around here get paid around $85 an hour to work on a computer. And I'm not talking motherboard repair or something fancy, I'm talking simple stuff.

 

Anyone can do a plenum job. I've yet to do mine but I can remove and replace my water pump & thermostat along with alternator and Ac compressor in around 30 minutes if I want, so seeing as how that stuff is pretty much necessary to do the job, if you get familiar with everything after pulling things apart and putting things back together, the job wouldn't take more then 2-3 hours or a 18 pack max. Just look at what's in front of the plenum and you'll see that it's not too much...

1. Radiator, Fan Shroud, Overflow Tank, Wiper fluid Resivoir
2. Clutch Fan
3. Alternator
4. Ac Compressor
5. Bracket for Alternator and Ac Compressor
6. Air Box
7. Throttle Body
8. Fuel rails and Injectors
9. Random wires going into sensors in the intake.
10. Intake manifold.

And Off the top of my head that's about it. Not too much to deal with but when looking at it, it just seems like more then it really is. You just have to dive in and get yourself aquainted with everything.

And as far as tools are concerned for that plenum job; Only thing that you would need besides the set would be a torque wrench and a clutch fan removal tool. The fan remover is from Napa is like $25and it's good for avoiding busted knuckles when removing the fan and good so you don'thave to lean over for at least 2 hours and some change for the job.

So 3 hour job max if your not too slow as a newb if you just keep in mind that the faster you finish, the faster you can go do some more burnouts on that "Heavy DooKie" tranny that you still have no clue about especially when it comes to the fluid inside of it... By the way, it never hurts to go down to the shop in person to make sure that they actually are working on your truck and not just keeping it around and out of the way until you decide to show up and yell at them because they're ****ing you by not fixing your truck you paid 4 grand to have them fix. And one more thing; When your down there, be very persistant and find out what kind of fluid they used in your truck. Not just by asking, but also by seeing the bottle it comes from as well as if they have any extra for sale for the next time the fluid needs to be changed so that you can see exactly what they try to give you because Dodges like yours require genuine ATF+4 and if the shop tries to use anything else, they don't have the right to work on Dodge trannys.

 

I think the 3 hours they are giving you is quite a bit faster than you will be getting it done or getting a shop to do it. Didn't Silver say it took him something like 12 hours? Now he is one of the better do it yourselfers on here. I paid like $660 or something for a shop to put my APS kit on and the shop charges $55 an hour. I know the guy that did it fairly well as I used to work at that shop and know he is one of the best if not the best mechanics around. He is older now and may take a little longer or charge a little more I don't know but it is well worth it as he is very good. He is the one that put my transmission in for $450 so when they are quoting you $600 or 650 or whatever for that I'd imagine the pleneum repair will be higher too. I think part of the $660 for me was some of the intake manifold bolts were rusted through he had to remove.

I paid someone for the pleneum repair as I just didn't think I could do it after reading through the DIY. I can do basic things like change the oil, plugs and wires, dist cap and rotor, belts, brakes, shocks, stereo stuff, change tires on the wheels, idler arms, etc. Easy stuff like that. I can do a little more it's just like you I'm afraid to try it. Most of the stuff thats harder I thought wasn't bad when I actually tried it but the part of trying it scares me. I did try to pull the old valve body off of the transmission as people told me it was easy. After trying for a while I gave up as it was just a pita and I had it taken to a shop. That was a little over my head so when guys say this other stuff is easy it now worries me some.

I think the pleneum would be time consuming but it's worth trying yourself if you don't have a good mechanic to do it. I think it's a little tougher job than I'd want to tackle at first though since you don't even change your own oil.


I think you should start off with that instead of paying $70 or whatever for that. Buy some wrenchs and make sockets incase they are really tight and then go get a oil filter wrench. I have a cheap one from Wal-Mart I've used for years and it works great.

It's like a 20 minute job if that and on these trucks you don't even have to jack it up just roll under there. Loosen the oil drain plug and let it drain for a few minutes then unscrew the filter. It may be tight enough you need a the oil filter wrench. Make sure the gasket from the old one is still stuck on the old one when it comes off. If it's stuck to the truck and you put a new one on it will not seal as it will have 2 gaskets. So just make sure the gasket is still in the old filter when you pull it off if not get it off the truck before putting the new oil filter on. Then put a light coating of oil on the new oil filters gasket and put start screwing the new oil filter on. Tighten it with your hands. Don't use the wrench to tighten it. I try and get it as tight as I can with my hands. Then put the drain plug back in and tighten that. Just don't overtighten it or cross thread it. Now open the hood and start filling the truck up with oil. It takes a little under 5 quarts. What I do is put 4 quarts in start it up and let it run for a few seconds until the oil light goes off. This just makes sure the filter is full of oil. Then check it on the dipstick and add as needed until it gets close to full.


I think I pay around $50 for a oil change doing it myself. Thats with a Purolator Pure One filter and Royal Purple oil. I'm not sure I pay quite that but it's close. It might be $40 or so. I used to run K&N oil filters on the Honda but they got too expensive at $11 a filter so I quit doing that. You can pay for your tool set quickly just doing your oil change from the sounds of it.


As for a tune up I probably have $150 into it give or take a little and thats with MSD wires, Napa dist. cap and rotor, and Champion Platinum plugs. Thats under half what you paid and way better wires and probably just as good or better plugs and dist cap and rotor.


What kind of plugs did they use when they did your tune up? If Bosch pull those out as those could cause your misfire. Bosch plugs suck.

My Dodge also didn't seem to like Autolites. After a month or two they didn't seem to run as well. Idk though might have been in my head. When I switched back to Champions it seemed a little better.

I'd put only Champions in a Dodge. Autolites are good for Fords. My buddy that used to work at Advance then at the Dodge dealer said that Dodges seem to foul Autolites very quickly as they are pretty picky about plugs so to only run Champions. This is my experience too.

Are you sure they changed the cap and rotor? If you truely have a miss I'd check the plugs then the cap and rotor and make sure they look okay. You can go to sears for $10 and get a little tool that looks like a pin. You stick it on the plug wire and it will show a spark to tell you if the wires are good or not.

If it's not one of those things which are most common for a miss you may have a cracked head. Lets hope you don't. If would be my first guess if none of those other things fixxed it. Seeing as it seems like shops there suck I'm wondering if they even did what they were supposed to? A lot of places like to charge for stuff and not actually change it thats why I say check all that.

Also make sure none of the wires are touching each other.

 

..I guess I'm at somewhat of a loss here man. Did you miss the part about me saying I'm going to start tackling the jobs that are just simple stuff? I mean, what more do you want from me? I admitted I have an issue, and I came up with a proposal to fix it. Hell, I even apoligized for being a "bitch", and always making you guys speculate on what a shop is doing to my truck as opposed to asking you guys questions and then me doing it. I asked how much they charge because I was interested how much I would be saving if I did it myself, plain and simple. The money I'd save looks to be pretty substantial. But first, I need to learn myself around an engine a little more before I dive into a job like the plenum. As hometheater has said, it's not so easy that a beginner can hop into it. I know there's learning aspects to it, but in reality, someone who doesn't know what they are doing could really mess something up. I don't know what's worse, me ****ing my own truck up, or someone else ****ing my truck up. I am not going to jump right into the plenum. I plan establish a base first with tools (sears kit). Then I'd like to wait till it's spring and it warms up a bit. I guess before even spring, I need my damn truck back first. Anyway, I guess I missed something because there must be a small disconnect. I thought you and me saw eye to eye their for a second, am I wrong? I said I'd get a tool set from Sears, and begin doing small projects to start learning and becoming more familiar with the engine and what not. Just kind of suprised your attacking me again when I went out on a limb and already admitted my issue and even came up with a proposition. I still stand by my word. I want to get better first. Then, when I'm ready to try the plenum myself, I will try it. Knowing me, someone around here would charge me $800 for a job like that. The minute you need someone to open up an engine they just start jacking the price, because in reality,it's a ****ty job no doubt. So, I pledge what I said, you can decide to take it for face value or not, but I am giving my honest word, can't really say more than that.

 

Ya, 3 hours is pushing it...

I dont know if thats even posiable with the proper cleaning, and just disasembally.

Took me about 9-10 hours at my first time, and I can wrench pretty hard so I would expect more time for someone that doesnt have much experience.

I know that I COULD do it in 3 hours, but it wouldent be good... it took about 30 mins just to tourqe up the intake manifold.