Duramax injectors

[Naildriver]

Have a 04 duramax.The injectors were replced at190,000 miles on a recall due to excessive smoke. Now at 270,000 miles, the truck smokes like a train. The injectors are the problem again. The fix is $3000-$4000 ,not covered by warrenty or recall.Anyone else have the same problem?

 

[AyA]

Yes
my injectors were replaced at 3000 miles & again at 11,000 miles.
mine still smokes like a freight train & the fuel mileage sucks.
Mine were not covered under warranty niether time,dealer said there was fuel in my tank of an unknown substance

 

[REDDOG]

Smoke just means she's runnin good finally...

 

[theox]

LAST EDITED ON May-08-10 AT 08:59PM (MST)[p]
3-4k!!! wow wow!!!

 

[sagehnter]

You should be able to get a matched set of injectors for less than that. I'd take it somewhere else to have the work done.

 

[a3dhunter]

Chevy's are my job security. I price out injectors on duramax about once a week for 2000-2005 year models. The warranty coverage that ran for 7 years or 200,000 miles was a special policy for a high return rate condition, if the injector failure is due to overfueling then it is not covered.

We price injector replacement at $4800 for all 8, but have done the job for as low as $4k in some conditions......plenty of places can do it cheaper, but won't provide a 12 month/12k mile warranty.

Usually the high return rate will show extended crank times and the overfueling will show heavy smoking from exhaust.

Most of the time you dealer labor rates run $100 per hour, injectors at $350 per injector, it all adds up to more than most people can afford......unless your engine runs with that dohickymajigger thingy to compensate for warp speed fuel contamination consumption...we charge way extra to replace those!

 

[264X300]

a3

I'm a bean counter and since you layed out the individual costs I decided to "do the math". Let's see, eight injectors at $350 each comes to $2,800. You also stated that a dealer generally charges $100 per hour for labor and that you generally charge $4,800 for the entire job.

If the cost for the injectors are $2,800 and you charge $4,800 that leaves $2,000 for labor at the dealer rate. (which is probably higher than any other shop I would assume) Does it really take a qualified mechanic twenty (20) hours to replace eight injectors?

Let's see, I'll start Monday and get three of them done. Then three more on Tuesday and the last two on Wednesday right at lunch time. What is the actual time it takes to replace all the fuel injectors on a Chevy diesel? Just curious.

Let me qualify a bit, I may be a bean counter right now, but I have done my fair share of mechanic work in my younger days so I have some idea of what it takes to do what. I've rebuilt several engines, replaced countless starters, alternators, water pumps, fuel pumps etc. Granted cars have changed a bit since I have done any serious work on them, but I just did a water pump on my '03 3/4 ton Silverado HD and from start to finish it only took me an hour and a half and that was with a learning curve.

My Chevy is a gas version and I have thought about trading for a diesel when it is time, but after hearing about all the EXPENSIVE costs related specifically to diesel's (Fuel pumps, fuel filters, cost of diesel these days, etc.) I may want to just stick with my gas version and put up with the reduced towing and MPG issues.

Anyway, just a bean counters point of view.
264

 

[B_BOP_A_LU_LU]

Well 264?
When is the last time you looked under the hood of a duramax?
That compartment is jammed full of misc BS!
You'd best know what you're doing when you tear in to it!
I agree,4,800.00 is alot of money,but there are jobs best left to the pro's!
I'll give you a clue,you can see the water pump on your gas engine!}>}>}>

 

[Naildriver]

I spent over $6k in repairs on my Duramax in '09. (thru dealership)not including injector s repair. I really dont understand why injectors would fail before 300,000 miles. After my last repair ,GM sent me a coupon for 5 complimentary oil changes.Screw GM. I will drive this smoke wagon until i am forced to not drive it. After that i will buy a Ford

 

[264X300]

LAST EDITED ON May-12-10 AT 01:09AM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON May-12-10 AT 01:04?AM (MST)

B_Bop

Yea, I know I stick my nose in places it does not belong sometimes and this is probably one of those times, but two grand for labor @ $100 per hr just seemed kind of high to me.

Seems to me that a professional mechanic with all the right tools in a shop designed for truck repairs could change the injectors in way under 20 hrs, regardless if you can see them or not. That's all I was asking about.

Now, I also know we are expected to and should pay a premium for someone's expertise which is obviously part of the two grand. Mechanics, construction workers, waitresses, accountants and even dreaded attorneys work for their knowedge and we pay a premium for their services and rightly so. But 20hrs? If it takes someone twenty hours to replace eight fuel injectors even on a fully covered Duramax engine, with all the right tools and in a place designed to do the work, I doubt they are worth $100 an hour. That's my point and I am sticking to it.

By the way, if you look real hard from the side, you can see part of the water pump on my truck. Still have to pull the top half of the shroud, the air intake duct, the surpentine belt (easy to do), the top and bottom hoses, the heater hoses and thread a long extention through the fan blades to get at the six bolts that hold the pump on. Pump sets in between the power steering pump and the alternator. The trick is to get the seal plates to stay in place while you try to start a bolt on both sides of the pump when you putting the new one back on. If you had all the right tools and a shop set up for it, you could pull the clutch fan off the pump pully and get at the bolts easier. I did it in an hour and a half, in my garage at night with pieced together tools. A good machanic could probably getter done in half that time or better. Dealer wanted $520 to just replace the pump and antifreeze. I did the pump, new belts (Surpentine and the A/C), antifreeze and a new thermostat for $260 and an hour and a half of agravation.

Fun stuff ain't it?
264

 

[a3dhunter]

264,
I don't have the numbers in front of me right now, but I want to say it is $1200-1400 for labor. The rest is fluids, seals, gaskets, fuel filter, etc...
rough out...
Injectors $2800
labor $1200
gaskets, seals, fluids, filters $400
Tax and shop supplies $300
Total comes to $4700 plus $100 extra to cover anything that comes up.....an extra hoses, seal, gasket...whatever. On a job like that you don't want to make a 3rd or 4th phone call to tell the customer they will owe an extra $45 for a special hose, they are usually already pissed about paying for injectors.
Doesn't make a difference if you quote $4500 or $4800 at that point, better to quote more and come in under price if it is not needed than to quote under and not be able to make it happen.
Have you ever seen someone who was quoted $4500 and shows up to find a $4600 bill? It's not pretty.

As far as doing them yourself, go ahead. Plenty of people are capable.....but there is always that one person who ends up doing something wrong and then gets a $12,000 quote for a replacement engine. I am sure with proper research anybody mechanically inclined can do it, it's just nuts and bolts......

 

[a3dhunter]

I guess I should add, I don't hold anything against anybody not willing to pay these prices. I know I wouldn't! I would find a qualified mechanic and pay him on the side to do the job.

 

[264X300]

a3

I concede - since you layed out the entire job and there is more parts and products than just the injectors involved. When I did my pump I also did the belts and the thermostat which only makes sense give you already have it apart. If you are doing the same thing then your job makes sense too.

I would not try to tackle an injector job on a diesel since I hae no experience working on diesels. I'd have to pay for your expertise on that one as I noted in a previous post.

I have to tell ya though, I hear how diesel trucks make towing so much easier and are much more fuel efficient, but then I hear these horror stories and think, wow, my ol' gas guzzler may not be all that bad after all. My main concern is the tranny since I understand Chevy's tend to have tranny issues. Just did a fluid flush & replace and filter change on mine at 96K and I hope I don't have any other issues with it.

Thanks again
264

 

[a3dhunter]

The Allison transmission in the Chevy is the best Trans on the market. The transmission should be the last thing you worry about.

Make sure you change external filter regularly, and trans flush every 30k and you should never have a trans problem.

I would also suggest injector cleaning every other fuel filter replacement and instead of doing fuel filters every 15k miles do them every 10k miles.

I know of one guy who has 192k miles on his 07' Duramax, he runs about 5k-7k miles a month but maintains his vehicle on a regular basis.
I know another guy who ran crappy fuel through an 08' and was replacing injectors at 14k miles, the new style injectors are easier to change but more expensive per injector. Cost him almost $6k on that one, had to drop the tank and completely flush the fuel system as well.

 

[B_BOP_A_LU_LU]

Got a friend with a Duramax that has never hauled/pulled anything heavier than a dog in the back of it.
He bragged on that truck alot,"my tranny is Guaranteed for 100k" he said many times.
At 101k the tranny goes out,yes it's an Allison,GM wouldn't do a thing for him!
He also paid 4k+ for a new set of injectors at 50,000 miles.
Probably a little better than aYa's average but still.......

 

[BuckSnort]

>Got a friend with a Duramax
>that has never hauled/pulled anything
>heavier than a dog in
>the back of it.
>He bragged on that truck alot,"my
>tranny is Guaranteed for 100k"
>he said many times.
>At 101k the tranny goes out,yes
>it's an Allison,GM wouldn't do
>a thing for him!
>He also paid 4k+ for a
>new set of injectors at
>50,000 miles.
>Probably a little better than aYa's
>average but still.......

Why didn't his warranty cover the injectors at 50,000?

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[B_BOP_A_LU_LU]

Because they sampled & tested his fuel!
Theres alot of people here that work in the oilfield Snort!
They kinda like to get Free Fuel whenever possible off the drilling rigs.
Well,his fuel was red & the whole fuel system was full of fine silt,I guess that's why!
I just wonder if all the FREE things people think are FREE are really Free in the end?

 

[BuckSnort]

That figures...

Disclaimer:
The poster does not take any responsibility for any hurt or bad feelings. Reading threads poses inherent risks. The poster would like to remind readers to make sure they have a functional sense of humor before they visit any discussion board.

 

[a3dhunter]

I can also say that at 101k miles GM says you are on your own. They figure they already have the best powertrain warranty in the business so why should they extend it.

Any type of fuel contamination will void the warranty and I agree with that. It is not a part failure if the fuel put into the vehicle caused the failure.

On the other hand, why is there not a better filter system in these vehicles to account for debris and water in the fuel???

You would think with the millions spent on these rigs that they would have a better fuel filter setup to protect the fuel system, and be able to stop blaming every failure on fuel contamination......

 

[BuckSnort]

As much money that we all spend on these trucks they should come with free fuel and daily BJ's...

Disclaimer:
The poster does not take any responsibility for any hurt or bad feelings. Reading threads poses inherent risks. The poster would like to remind readers to make sure they have a functional sense of humor before they visit any discussion board.

 

[OnlyBowhunt]

BBop, I have 2 Duramax, one is an '02, the other is an '07. I have three dodge's. 1 '05 and two 06's. All Dodge's are diesel. The only one that is worth the steam off my piss is my 2005. The other two Dodge's are extremly poor trucks. You want to talk about warantees, lets talk about Chrysler for a minute. They would NOT honor the warrantee on my on '06 because "the transmission is not part of the powertrain". That was said to me straight from Hinckley Dodge in SLC. They red tagged the warrantee on my truck because the turbo went out for a 2nd time at 80k, and they would not replace it under warrantee. My Chevy '02 has had so few problems at 210K it is almost funny to me. I pull heavier trailors than anybody I know, considering I'm in the footing and foundation business. Trailors are at 25,000 lbs. In my experience, Dodge is a POS. I've pulled a lot more weight, for a lot more miles in a day than most people will in a years time. One '06 Dodge has had 2 trannys, 2 turbos, two front ends, a rear end, and a transfer case. This truck still has less than 90K on it. Fantastic truck for sure. My other '06 is just a gutless pile. Now my '05, I have zero complaints for that truck. Just the standard clutch and brakes here and there, that is it. My '02 Duramax will still take 25,000 lbs up the point of the Mountain at 60 MPH. Allow me to put that into perspective: 10 years ago, a brand new truck could not do that. In today's world, my '05 Dodge which is a pulling SOB, will go 65 up the point with a trailor. We all have our preferences, we all have our dislikes. Chrysler will never get my business again. GM will because I've had a lot better luck with the truck, and very few problems with them. The few I've had, the warrantee was not a problem. Can't say the same thing for Dodge, they do NOT stand behind their product the way I want them to.

 

[OnlyBowhunt]

Oh and before I forget, I've done injectors on my '02 Duramax, and I've done Injectors on ALL of my dodge trucks. My work truck that I drive has 104000 miles, and I have done all six injectors in that truck 3 months ago. My other '06 with 90K has had all 6 done 2 months ago. Only one truck was covered under warrantee as the other truck has been red tagged courtesy of Hinckley dodge.

 

[justr_86]

My dad has an 02 duramax and has been very good about preventative maintenance. All he has had go bad was an idler pulley on his way to san Carlos Mexico (huge pain to find diesel parts in Mexico!) he is up to about 110k and the truck is still in excellent condition. It gets a new fuel filter every other oil change. Great truck!
My brother in law has an 06 with over 150k, gets the oil changed when he remembers, chipped and ran hard! No problems! I have an 05 with 55k and haven't had any problems! Take care of your trucks and they will take care of you, if your lucky you will get one like my bro in laws.


You find out who your friends are when you see who shows up to help pack your bull out!

 

[B_BOP_A_LU_LU]

Easy there Bowhunt!
I'm not knocking any Brand of Truck,I've drove them all,and as I've said over the many years of driving them You'll find a good one once in a while on different years within the 3 major brands.

What I am saying is:
Once in a while they do build a good one and then in the newer/future years they ain't as good,WTF is up with that?

Just stating above what has happened to peoples/friends trucks that I know as fact!
I know for a fact some of the newer Dodges ain't as good as just a few years back & damn sure ain't pulling as good of fuel mileage either,WTH is up with that,we are trying to conserve fuel on this earth right?

The Tranny is not part of the powertrain?
I must of missed something in auto mechanics when I was younger?

I surely ain't knocking your Duramax,they are nice rigs,GM finally pulled their head out of their Ass,but here's my question?
It's guys like you that give trucks a real test,with 25K behind your Duramax(calculated with a calculator & actual Mileage)(Not that POS digital readout)what kind of mileage are you averaging?

Pulled with alot of trucks,never seen any of them compare with the mileage of mildly chipped Cummins,with 25K behind them they are all fuel guzzlers!

 

[B_BOP_A_LU_LU]

One more thing!
I don't really think it matters which brand of truck you replace the injectors on it's going to be damn spendy!

 

[a3dhunter]

>One more thing!
>I don't really think it matters
>which brand of truck you
>replace the injectors on it's
>going to be damn spendy!
>


Exactly!

I don't "need" a diesel so I didn't buy one.

 

[OnlyBowhunt]

What's up with the POS fuel economy these days? Well, I would think the huge restrictions on not only the fuel, but the exhaust systems is 100% to do with it myself. Ultra Low Sulfur actually gets worse fuel economy. And oh buddy BBop, the cummins is flat out a much more economic vehicle by leaps and bounds of my Duramax's. I guess in a way, I'm having a hard time swallowing the pill that you pay so much for these vehicles, and so much BS comes right with em. I pay no attention to the digital readings in the trucks, my '02 Duramax doesn't have one of those things anyways, but my dodge's do. We pull from a lot of cities back to where we were the week before, etc...and you can pretty much see how much worse the Duramax is on fuel than the Cummins, hands down.

 

[B_BOP_A_LU_LU]

I hear ya bowhunt,
If my truck had an Obama pipe on it that f'r would be comming off pronto!
I noticed a nice power loss when the new Obama Juice showed up,and it makes me wonder if the engines will last as long with fuel with way less lubricants/oil in it?

You don't buy a Dodge cuzz it's perty!
You don't buy a Dodge because it drives the best!