I just got off the phone with a mechanic, in the neighborhood because i am looking to have my spark plugs changed......This guy stated that the manual indicates that this vehicle requires 2 hours labor cost to change spark plugs, at $80.00 dollars an hour...so thats 80.00 X 2 = 160 dollars for labor costs alone..and thats not even adding the cost of the spark plugs......
I want to know how many of you guys on here are fortunate enough to make $80.00 dollars an hour?

 

Where do you live? I'll change the spark plugsout for a six pack of beer

 

seriously, buy a $20 tool kit with the right sockets (someone can chime in on exactly what you need), a six pack, and give yourself a few hours since you've never done it before. no offense, but you'll never learn unless you go at it. and even if it takes you 4 hours, that's like you making $40/hour yourself. remember to just use the stock Champion copper plugs. apparently these engines don't like anything fancy

 

2 Hours for 8 plugs? They must be crazy. I dont know how the layout of the 4.7l engine is but 2 hours for the plugs is rather excessive. I changed my own plugs on the 5.7l (believe me I am not mechanically inclined) and I can tell you that if it took me 2 hours it was because I am short and hand to climb on stuff to reach them and because of my trips in and out of the house to either tell me kids to lower the volume on whatever music they were listening or because I wanted another cold beer.
I am with the fellas above. Get the right tools and do it yourself. You will learn a bit more about your truck and you will save some money.

 

You can change plugs in about 30 minutes with the right socket set... Its just a PITA to get at the rear plugs... but with patients a little kid could do it.

One IMPORTANT POINT... DO NOT DROP THE NUTS! The 4.7L Intake manifold/heads have DEEP crevices that can swallow a NUT in a second. Normally you would have to remove the intake to get to it. So JUST DON'T LOSE YOUR NUTS!

1) REMOVE INTAKE
2) Unplug Coils
3) Remove 8 Coil Packs (I rest them and there NUTS on the cowl)
4) Lossen plugs
5) REMOVE
6) Add ANTI SEIZE to plug threads
7) Replace ONE plug at a time... You dont want to have ALL 8 plug holes exposed... lessens the chance of you dropping somthing inside.
8) Snug them down tight till they stop but do NOT over tighten.

9) Re-install Coils/NUTS
10) Plug coils in
11) Re-Install Intake
12) Fire her up

If I missed a step I appologize.... But I think I hit them all.

SPEED SAFE, AIR RAM

 

Whats sad about it though is it may only take them 30min to do a "2 hour job" and yet they still charge the 2hrs labor. Thats one thing I have learned about mechanics, they all have a specified time frame/pay ratefor each job for labor costs. If a job requires 2hrs but they finish in 1hr then they just made an extra $80 but on the flip side of that if they took 4hrs instead of the 2 required then they just lost $160.

 

actually, they also have a multiplyer. they take the standard hours for a job and multiply typically by 1.5, some places multiply by 2. this gives them a little buffer and in general bumps their $$. i ahve a feeling the crappy mechanics complained that they weren't making enough, so now there is an (almost) industry-wide norm of multiplying standard hours. so most jobs are expected to be finished ahead of time, but they will still charge you for the multiplied full time.

 

Most likely no mechanic makes $80 an hour, but that labor rate also covers overhead, like electricity to run the air compressor and lights, tools, liability insurance, workman's comp, health insurance for the employees, property taxes, etc. I work in a totally unrelated field, but my company charges $95/hour for labor, and I don't make anywhere near that.

 

Oh I absolutly agree but thats where they make their money though. If you are really fast and can knock out 2-3 2hr jobs an hour more than likely you'll be making more than someone who can only do 1 2hr job at a time. My company charges $85 an hour for my time and I dont see half that.

 

My company charges $145 for the first hour and $125 every hour there after! Even if we show up and it takes 5 minutes they still get the $145! And we mark up all parts 100%. Granted I live in the middle of nowhere, but with the price of diesel going up everything is going up!