Labor hours for repairs

[breaksr]

I'm repairing a friends '95 Q and I'm wondering how many book hours it is to do the following:

replace radiatorreplace water pumpreplace fuel pumpreplace thermostatre-seal both valve covers

I'm only charging about $25/hr.

[Jeff Williams]

I am not sure what the book says.

Here is what I think:

Radiator: 2 HoursWater Pump: 2 HoursFuel Pump: 3 Hours (change the filter too, and get a new o-ring)Thermostat: 1 HourVC Gaskets: 6 Hours (TCS makes it harder)

I have done the pump and VC Gaskets, but not the others. I will be cahnigng the thermostat soon.

Be sure to search the archives of this forum and Infiniti General. There are some great write-ups on this stuff. Also check out the article section and browse Q45.org.

Later

[breaksr]

Thanks Jeff. I guess I should of prefaced with I have already done all of the work I just have to send the bill. BTW The car does not have TCS but re-sealing those valve covers is a major pain. I used the existing rubber seals, cleaned them, and then put gasket sealer on the heads and on the rubber seals that go into the groove on the valve covers. They were leaking so bad that the oil was smoking on the headers.

[elwesso]

replace radiator- 1hrreplace water pump-1hrreplace fuel pump-3hrreplace thermostat-1hrre-seal both valve covers-8hr

Those are my figures, IMO.

[Q451990]

I'm not sure about that rocker cover resealing method, but 8 hours is about right for book time. Not sure on the others, but I think wes is pretty much on track...

Heath

[Q45tech]

Why would you spoil someone with an unrealistically low LABOR RATE?Isn't your work/spare time worth more than that?

Charge at least $40-$50 and don't worry about book time just use real actual time. I pay the techs $40 plus travel time to the shop on weekends.

[EQwhipD]

Hey man if you are charging $25/hr let me know!!! I've got alot of work I can give you. Just kidding, I know that you are doing this out of the kindness of your heart for your friend. I have a good friend who is my mechanic and he has a 1994 Ivory-Quartz Q45, and he still charges me $35 an hour for work. what part of NC are you located?-EQwhipD

[louiegz]

re-seal both valve covers

Hey, isn't it a good idea to do the spark plugs at the same time you do the valve covers. You should tell your buddy about that. Might as well do it now.

[breaksr]

I love the work since I don't have to do it 9-5. Also I do this on weekends and some nights so I've had the car for a while. I'm not one of those types who can do this in one eight hour session. It took several days over a few weeks. I spent more then 10 hours doing all the work given what it takes to do those valve covers. My intention here is to save the car from the junk yard and make a little money on the side. Also I looked at the plugs and they appeared to be fine since they only have 45K on them. Didn't want to add any more parts dollars to the car given how much this person is into already.

One issue I have not been able to resolve is even with a rebuilt alternator from Infiniti the battery died again. It's a Walmart battery and has a date of January 06 so I suspect I can get a brand new one for free.

I'm located near Greensboro, NC.

[Q45tech]

Remember a bad bad battery will kill even a Nissan speced reman alternator............rare but ocassionally.

[Jeff Williams]

Since the valve cover gaskets are $11 each, even at $2 an hour, it is a good deal to replace them. Mine were so brittle, that they broke into pieces. If Oil gets into the spark plug tubes and cooks, it will ruin the coil packs.

Also, the plugs should last 60K. DO NOT PUT ANY PLUGS BUT NGK IN THE CAR!!!!! Everyone htat has tried others is sorry. I know I am, and I am a Bosch guy from way back.

I usually charge $25 an hour for my shade tree work, if I don't do it for free.

I am glad you kept one more Q out of the junk yard.

[breaksr]

I own a '91 Q and when I had to pull the plenum, a few weeks back, all of the hoses were so dry and brittle they mostly broke apart. On this '95 I was amazed how all of the hoses were very soft and were very easy to remove and put back on. The gaskets were fine and I didn't see any reason to replace. No oil in the spark plug sockets it was only leaking at the back and onto the headers. Plugs are NGK dealer installed. I'm going to get a new battery at Walmart today. Car does not look that great but runs better then my '91 (no hesitation).