As the title says. The manifold gasket on a friend’s Century is supposedly leaking. She had dropped the car off for some other work and hasn’t budgeted for the repair. The shop estimates $700.00. Is that high or about right?
The other option is for me to replace it. For what it’s worth, I won’t do it unless the job takes a day or less of straightforward work and doesn’t require evacuating the air conditioning. I had a Clymer’s for her car. Unfortunately, it’ packed up and I can’t find it.
I’d say 700 is about right. It’s a lot of work, and if you haven’t done one before I wouldn’t count on getting it done in a day. Proper bolt torquing procedure is critical, so it’s important to be sure that repair information is adequate. The A/C system won’t be disturbed.
So, new intake manifold gasket - let me guess on the breakdown? Gasket $30.00 Shop supplies $20.00 Labor $650.00.
How do you get into this racket?
No, seriously. I’m thinking of getting into this line of work. You can obviously make a small fortune off people who don’t know one end of the wrench from the other. What do you have to do? Maybe this should be the topic for a new thread, but I’m serious. Gary T, I’m pretty good with a wrench, and could be better with training. How do I go about becoming a certified auto-repair technician.
Watch the “Spike” channel on weekends. Pretty much every commercial break will have ads for places like Wyoming Tech and someone else whose initials are UTI - I can’t help but giggle at a school that named itself after a urinary tract infection, so I don’t recall their actual name. I’m sure there are other schools, and with luck, someone will wander by with their names.
As for making fortunes, I’m sure **Gary ** and **Rick ** will be by shortly with real-world numbers on how expensive it is to start up and run a shop, and how much of that hourly labor rate is immediately gobbled up by various entities like your state’s auto repair board, workers’ comp, liability insurance, payroll taxes, continuing education, skills certifications, building lease, etc.
I’m not a mechanic but I know enough to say there is a lot of work involved to replace a head gasket. 700.00 doesn’t seem unreasonable to me at all. You can be great with a wrench but if you don’t know the proper procedure you are screwed.
oops I see that you said manifold gasket. Easier but still a heck of a lot of labor involved.
On the other side of the engine, it turns out the supposed header leak I posted about awhile back has now gotten big enough so the mechanics can find it now (:dubious:), and that’s just about the estimate I was given. With a similar breakdown to what DJ Motorbike listed. FWIW, the labor rate was $80/hr, and about seven hours were quoted for both sides.
I replaced the intake manifold gasket on a 1992 Buick Regal, 3.0 liter. It took me two tries as I replaced the wrong gasket the first time.
The second time, I did it in about 5 hours or so. The only specialty items, besides a metric socket set, that I needed were a manual (I had a Haynes), a torque wrench, and some gumption.
I’m not a machanic and this was a spare car that could sit around broken if I screwed it up.
I was sooooo damn proud of myself when I got it back together and it actually ran. Drove it for a year or so and it didn’t leak. Then gave it to somebody that needed it more than I.
Wait a minute what is leaking? Coolant or oil.
GM V-6’s are notorious for leaking coolant. This can some times be fixed with block seal.
I have fixed 3 different GM cars with block seal and all three remained leak-free at least while in my possession. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
Once you have two years of professional work experience you can take the ASE certification tests. If you pass, you’re certified. You might get hired by a shop with your current experience, or you may need to go to a trade school to be attractive to an employer. Odds are you’ll need to buy more tools, maybe a LOT more tools.
Few people in this “racket” are rich. There are easier ways to earn money that don’t require near the investment in time, training, and tools that is needed to be competent at auto repair at the professional level. Be aware that the “labor” charge goes to the shop, and probably less than a third of it is paid to the mechanic. There’s a lot of overhead in running a good auto repair facility.
That said, if you like working on cars, have mechanical aptitude, and enjoy a combination of working with your hands AND with your head, it’s certainly possible to make a good living in auto repair. The demand for qualified repair personnel far exceeds the supply (the gap is filled by the not-so-qualified). The need will continue for a good while. One significant aspect, though, is that automotive technology is one of the most rapidly changing areas of modern life. Ongoing training is a given for the serious professional.