Highboy
$100 Site Donor 2025
Pretty clean engine for 117k miles.
The Car Care Nut- Front timing cover reseal
- Thread starter Highboy
- Start date
Pretty clean engine for 117k miles.
It is a very straightforward job as long as you have a way of removing the engine.
I documented the details of doing one in this thread:
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/2008-toyota-camry-v6-p0303.346717/post-5925276
I documented the details of doing one in this thread:
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/2008-toyota-camry-v6-p0303.346717/post-5925276
I’ve witnessed @The Critic do some of this work. The 3.5L 2GR-FE/FKS/FXE/FXS V6 in the Camry-based cars is packaged very tightly in a transverse application. There’s little room to do the job in-situ.
Highboy
$100 Site Donor 2025
He says it takes all of 2 days to complete at about 20 hours billed. I know his shop rate is $110/hour plus parts so around a $2600 job.
Highboy
$100 Site Donor 2025
I’ll be there in December for a water pump replacement and brake fluid flush.
Won't be any time at all and he will be turning work away. I would have him work on my 04 Camry V6 if he wasn't six hundred miles away.
For $2600 I‘m pretty sure I would just let it drip.
Money tight for you?
Not particularly. Just doing a cost/benefit calculation.
Yet still another reason to always get the 4 cylinder engine.
I guess I’m confused a little. In one sentence, it’s said “this is a really, really well-designed engine” and just a few seconds later it’s said “I’ve been in many, many of these engines”.
Seems to me if it was really well-designed that one would not be quite so familiar with the internals?
Cool video though, time-lapse or hyper-speed videos are always fun to watch.
Seems to me if it was really well-designed that one would not be quite so familiar with the internals?
Cool video though, time-lapse or hyper-speed videos are always fun to watch.
He advised the customer of that option. Cleaning it once a year and keeping an eye on it. After a few months the customer wanted it fixed since he liked the vehicle so much and didn't want to be concerned about it.
I think he said the book time was almost 25 hours. If he has to fix a messed up repair from someone else he may bill that much because of additional work of dialing it in. But if no one else has been in there before he will bill the lower amount that's fair to the customer and takes care of all his overhead, etc.
edyvw
$50 site donor 2025
If this was BMW or VW or whatever, people would be: told you so.
Toyota? Ok, where do I pay that privilege for my refrigerator?
Toyota? Ok, where do I pay that privilege for my refrigerator?
Yes, I heard that. Probably the same sort of customer who accepts all the dealer recommended optional services. It’s a Lexus so clearly the owner has a decent bit of disposable income. If he’s always taken it to the dealer for servicing then an additional $2600 probably doesn’t feel like all that much.
Edit: I want to be clear I’m not disparaging the mechanic in any way or insinuating he‘s trying to fleece the client. I’m just saying $2600 pays for a lot of oil and engine degreaser. I’m also saying I don’t plan to ever buy a Toyota with a transverse mounted V6.
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I think warranty time is only 11-12 hours for that job and that is about how long it really takes. Obviously sky is the limit for Customer-Pay, techs bid the job at what they want...
$2600 is probably his discounted price. $4500-$6K is the going rate for that job at a dealer....out here.
A Toyota/Lexus tech just quit to come work at my shop. He always talks about how he was top dog “master tech” there and how he “overhauled” engines all the time. When I asked him about what an “overhaul” entailed, it really is just a reseal job. I asked why they call that an overhaul and he said because they have to remove the entire power train and cradle?! They don’t even touch valve adjustment. He’d only remembered removing timing chains and cylinder heads once or twice when he had to replace a short block.
Toyota techs are a different breed I guess. Valve cover gaskets and a front cover is an “overhaul.”
