29-44 Labor Costing Study 2012 Layout 1 5/29/12 8:47 AM ... · 29-44 Labor Costing Study 2012_Layout 1 5/29/12 8:47 AM Page 30. Chevy’s reputation for performance greatness may

29-44 Labor Costing Study 2012_Layout 1 5/29/12 8:47 AM Page 29

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Chevy’s reputation for performance greatness may havebeen forged with the introduction of the 350 smallblock backin the ’50s, and it may have been secured with the introduc-tion of the LS engine family over the past decade. But in manycases, “performance excellence” takes a back seat to “excellentperformance,” and for millions of car, minivan and crossovervehicle owners, the development and growth of the 3.4L/3.5Lplatform of V6 engines has been just as important.

Back in 1980, with the introduction of its new line of frontwheel drive cars, GM built an all new V6 for the Chevy

Citation and the other “X” cars – theOldsmobile Omega, the Pontiac Phoenix and

the Buick Skylark. While the front wheel drivecars sold well, they had enough problems that many

people still look back on that era with amazement. The V6 engine in those cars originally displaced

2.8L/173 cubic inches, but over time it grew into a3.1L/191 cid, a 3.4L/207 cid, a 3.5L/213 cid and finally a

3.9L/237 cid version in 2006. As it grew, GM’s technologygrew as well, and the engines have gotten a roller cam, distrib-utorless ignition system (DIS), electronic fuel injection, alu-minum heads, variable cam timing, and “active fuel manage-ment” that drops three cylinders under light loads.

The level of sophistication in these engines today is impres-sive, according to Engine Builder Contributing Editor DougAnderson. In the March 2011 issue of Engine Builder, Andersontook a look at two of these engines, including both versions ofthe latest 3.4L that was used in the Chevy Equinox (and

Pontiac Torrent). The ’05-’06 3.4LEquinox engine was built in Shanghai,China. GM called it RPO “LNJ”, butwe know it as VIN code “F”. It sharedthe same bore and stroke as the 3.4L thatwas used in the FWD cars up through’05, but it was updated in almost everypossible way, starting with the block.

www.enginebuildermag.com | ENGINE BUILDER 31

REGIONS NUMBER OF STATES

IN EACH REGION

EAST NORTH CENTRAL (5)EAST SOUTH CENTRAL (4)MIDDLE ATLANTIC (3)MOUNTAIN (8)NEW ENGLAND (6)PACIFIC (Including Hawaii) (4)SOUTH ATLANTIC (9)WEST NORTH CENTRAL (7)WEST SOUTH CENTRAL (4)

B Y D O U G K A U F M A N , E D I T O R [email protected]


ENGINE &PERFORMANCEWAREHOUSE

32 ENGINE BUILDER | May 2012

National Average, Median and Mode Labor Charges For Rebuilding The GM 3.4L/3.5L Engine

Service Average Median Mode 95% CI range

Head WorkClean/disassemble/estimate valve job (both) $63.07 $55.00 $40.00 $58.92-67.23Clean & pressure test both cylinder heads $90.34 $84.00 $90.00 $86.22-94.46Dye penetrant inspect heads $56.36 $48.50 $40.00 $51.05-61.66Basic valve job both heads $156.99 $150.00 $150.00 $150.05-163.92Install 1 valve guide $18.10 $15.00 $15.00 $16.71-19.49Install 6 guides $57.81 $54.75 $60.00 $54.82-60.80Machine and install 1 valve seat $26.03 $25.00 $25.00 $24.31-27.74Machine and install 6 valve seats $85.43 $75.00 $60.00 $81.09-89.77Weld damage in combustion chamber $67.04 $65.00 $75.00 $60.48-73.59Crack repair using pin (ea.) $43.07 $35.00 $10.00 $34.97-51.16Straighten cylinder head (each) $64.81 $60.00 $50.00 $59.89-69.73Surface cylinder head (each) $43.35 $40.00 $40.00 $43.63-47.07Install spark plug thread repair insert (each) $30.27 $25.00 $25.00 $28.64-31.91

Block WorkDisassemble, clean short block & est. repairs $123.96 $105.00 $100.00 $116.46-131.47Clean cylinder block $64.20 $60.00 $50.00 $61.03-67.36Magnetic powder inspect block $45.72 $40.00 $50.00 $43.14-48.31Pressure test cylinder block $85.93 $80.00 $100.00 $81.78-90.09Bore oversize and hone block $145.11 $140.00 $120.00 $138.85-151.36Install cylinder sleeve & bore (1 sleeve) $110.70 $100.00 $100.00 $106.18-115.23Resize big end of rods (per 6) $81.93 $75.00 $72.00 $77.44-86.41Clean and magnetic inspect rods (per 6) $47.06 $42.00 $30.00 $44.24-49.87Straighten connecting rods (6) $46.43 $36.00 $30.00 $41.18-51.68Install rods on pistons (6) $50.44 $48.00 $60.00 $48.10-52.79Resurface block deck $114.53 $120.00 $100.00 $110.57-118.49Machine block main bores $161.36 $150.00 $150.00 $155.02-167.70Install core plugs (all) $28.53 $25.00 $25.00 $26.03-31.02Wash block (final) $42.67 $40.00 $25.00 $39.14-46.20

Crankshaft WorkClean crank & check for cracks $42.62 $40.00 $40.00 $40.16-45.09Straighten crankshaft $40.09 $35.00 $25.00 $36.42-43.77Weld journal (per journal) $65.37 $65.00 $100.00 $59.88-70.86Weld & grind journal (per journal) $90.79 $77.50 $75.00 $80.52-101.05Grind & polish crankshaft $122.34 $120.00 $125.00 $118.01-126.66Polish crankshaft $43.59 $40.00 $35.00 $41.74-45.45

Miscellaneous ServicesBalance engine assembly $212.53 $200.00 $200.00 $205.82-219.23Assemble short block $285.09 $250.00 $250.00 $268.76-301.43Assemble long block $460.13 $400.00 $400.00 $435.01-485.24Clean all sheet metal/covers $56.26 $50.00 $50.00 $52.75-59.77Pressurize oiling system (incl. oil/filter) $48.48 $45.00 $40.00 $44.05-52.90Sim test engine $262.31 $175.00 $500.00 $196.22-328.40

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The original 3.5L was installed inseveral ’04-’07 Chevy cars andcrossovers. After explaining the detailsthat went into this engine, he gave anoverview of what to expect when yousee the “late” 3.5L with variable valvetiming (VVT) that was introducedalong with the 3.9L in 2006.

Anderson’s detailed coverage of thisengine platform explored the blocks,cranks, rods, pistons, cams, timing com-ponents and cylinder heads. In typicalAnderson fashion, the article wasloaded with technical details and pho-tos that explain the differences in com-ponents over the years. You can readthe complete article on Engine Builder’swebsite (www.enginebuildermag.com) bysearching for “Anderson Chevy 3.4L.”

With the changes and the multipleversions of the engines, it may be diffi-cult for you to know where you standon price when it comes to rebuildingthis engine. While you should never setyour pricing directly based on whatany of your competition does, it’salways helpful to understand the ball-park in which you’re playing.

To help, we present here our currentlabor costing study on rebuilding 3.4Land early 3.5L engines, with a look atnational and regional average laborcharges. The study covers various head,block and crankshaft service proce-dures as well as miscellaneous laborcharges.

The individual charts begin on page35. In addition, the detailed chart on page32 represents the national average, medi-an and mode labor charges for all of the

procedures covered in our survey.The “average” for a specific labor

charge is the result of adding all of thecharges for that service from all respon-dents and then dividing that numberby the total number of respondents.The “median” is the result of rankingall of the survey responses from highestto lowest and then finding the numberthat falls exactly in the middle. The“mode” is simply the most-oftenreported number from all surveyrespondents.

Additionally, our chart provides the“95% Confidence Interval (CI)” range.In real terms, if you were to ask all ofthe machine shops in the country whattheir labor rates were for each opera-tion, it is 95 percent certain that the“true” average labor cost would fallwithin this range.

You may find your prices are eitherlower or higher than these averages.Don’t worry – as we’ve tried to explainfor years, we believe that knowing yourcosts is the only sure way to set yourpricing. You may have updated equip-ment that allows you to be more pro-ductive than these charts indicate.

Conversely, you may find your costsare significantly higher than others inyour same area. These discrepanciesshould not be seen as indicating thatyour costs are either too high or toolow. But they will hopefully give youan incentive to look carefully at whatyou charge for services…and why.

“Some shops may include certainoperations in the process of doing oth-ers,” says Bob Roberts, Market

Research Manager for BabcoxResearch. “This may lead to a higherdollar amount charged. Additionally,some shops may have given us an ‘each’price when we wanted ‘all’ or they mayhave included an ‘all’ when we asked‘price each.’”

In a few cases, we did not provide aregional breakdown for certain servic-es listed in the overall chart on page 32.We asked for information involvingspecific machining operations or stepsin the rebuild process.

The information provided did notvary enough to give interesting region-al breakdowns for “Dye PenetrantInspect Heads,” “Weld Damage inCombustion Chamber,” “Crack RepairUsing Pin,” “Straighten ConnectingRods,” “Weld Journal” and “Weld andGrind Journal,” so only the nationalinformation is presented.

Roberts says while the overallresults are statistically reliable, the waysome respondents answered the ques-tion may have skewed certain numbersslightly.

“Some shops reported to us thatthey perform some repairs on a ‘time’basis. We did not use a dollar-per-hourvalue if they provided it. A few shopsprice all their repairs on a ‘time’ basis.This is most common with weldingrepairs. Some shops do not perform allthe operations listed and this leads to asmaller number of observations andthus a less reliable average,” Robertssays. However, he says “In all cases, thenational average will be the most accu-rate figure.”

This survey and its results were coordinated by Babcox Research, the market research division of BabcoxMedia. Babcox Research specializes in custom research in all areas of the automotive aftermarket, offeringcomplete research capabilities, including questionnaire design, database creation and report preparation.Surveys are conducted via mail, phone, fax, e-mail or the Internet.

Charges reported in this study were compiled through a survey faxed to nearly 1,700 machine shop mem-bers of the Engine Builders Association (AERA), as well as a sample of Engine Builder subscribers. A total of300 completed questionnaires were received for an effective return rate of about 5 percent.

For more information about this or other studies, or to have a custom study done for your company or indus-try, contact Bob Roberts at Babcox Research: [email protected]; 330-670-1234, ext. 252. If you have sug-gestions about engines to select for future labor cost studies, contact us at [email protected].

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Clean/estimate valve job Pressure test cylinder heads

Basic valve job (both) Install 1 valve guide

’05-’06 Equinox vs ’05 FWD Car ’07-’08 Equinox vs ’05-’06 Equinox

Block: Revised bolt bosses Cam bore about 0.200˝ larger

Crank: Revised, 24X reluctor wheel Updated with 58X reluctor wheel

Cam: Same as ’05 car with 1X trigger Larger journals, 4X cam trigger

Rods: Revised, PM with cracked cap Same as ’05-’06

Pistons: Revised, narrow oil ring groove Same as ’05-’06

Timing Chain: Revised, narrow chain and gears Same as ’05-’06

Heads: Same as ’05 car + temp sensor hole Same as ’05-’06




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Surface cylinder head Install plug insert (ea.)

Machine & install 6 seats Straighten head

Machine & install 1 seatInstall 6 guides




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Bore oversize and hone block Install cylinder sleeve & bore

Diss./clean short block Clean Block

Magnetic powder inspect Pressure test block

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Install rods on pistons (6)

Mag particle insp rods (6)

Resize big end (6)

The Equinox came with the same heads that had been usedon both the 3.1L and 3.4L since ’04, but they had an extrahole drilled in the back of the one on the passenger side for atemp sensor.

The crank for the FWD cars had 7 notches (right), the onefor the ’05-’06 Equinox had a 24X reluctor wheel (center)and the ’07-’09 Equinox had a 58X wheel (left).

The 3.4L forged rod (left) was replaced by the powdered metalrod (center) for the 3.4L Equinox. The one for the 3.5L (right)is similar except for the difference in bore sizes.

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Resurface block deck Machine main bores

Clean crank & check for cracks Straighten crankshaft

Wash block (final)Install core plugs (all)



Assemble long block Clean all sheet metal/covers

Assemble short blockBalance engine assembly

Polish crankshaftGrind & polish crank

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29-44 Labor Costing Study 2012 Layout 1 5/29/12 8:47 AM ... · 29-44 Labor Costing Study 2012_Layout 1 5/29/12 8:47 AM Page 30. Chevy’s reputation for performance greatness may