4 hours and $900 CAD to change spark plugs?

[RamDiver]

Seems very high to me. I just paid a $610 in may to have 16 plugs changed out. Can't begin to guess what the problem is, but seems like your dealership is really charging inflated prices.

610 in USA, his is in CA.

1 dollar CA = .74 dollar US.

And don't forget our wonderful HST. In Ontario, it's 13%. I believe that it's 12% in BC.

Most importantly, the fault hasn't been repaired. As Dean mentioned, I'd politely and firmly request a refund on the labour, at minimum with a reduced charge on the plugs.

If they want to play hardball, I'd call my cc company and demand they reject the charge because the work was not completed, and the fault remains.

And, looking for a new dealership. The parts canon method is even more pathetic when professionals use that methodology.
.

 

[NCRaineman]

Start with a misfire and immediately go to "change all plugs". Say what?

I could see checking and potentially changing the plug on the cylinder that was misfiring. Then if one was dirty enough to be the primary suspect go ahead and check the rest.

60,000kms is only 37,000mi. Your plugs shouldn't need changing. I believe the owners manual says 60,000 MILES for plugs, which is close to 100,000km.

In any case I'd definitely want to see the plugs they took out.

 

[Burla]

A lot of us remember the 80's and 90's when people would advertise "tune up" specials which included spark plugs and were dirt cheap. Even then they would * and say some vehicles more, basically those 179 dollar deals were for 4 ban*gers. It's just that those days are long gone. I havent even seen advertised tune up specials lately, oil changes yes, just seams tune up specials are long gone in this area. Coming from common knowledge of those years if you have some age on ya, it is a hard pill to swallow seeing pricing today.

 

[Redfisher1974]

Yes the v6 is time consuming to change plugs. Passenger side is 30 minutes, driver side can take hours.. you have to remove the intake right down to gaskets etc.

 

[huntergreen]

You believe incorrectly. They are actually quite easy to change, remove air box from throttle body, remove intake manifold, remove coils, take out plugs. Anyone that knows what they are doing should be able to do that in about an hour, maybe an hour and a half all in.

You are correct, it the air intake and that plast box on top of the engine that have to be removed. A few brackets have to loosensed, and pushed out of the way. It’s been a couple years since mine was done.

 

[GTyankee]

If i have an issue & i go to the dealership
I learned that when you tell an enterprising company , that a certain thing is broke, they will fix exactly what you told them to fix, even if they know it is wrong !
You told them what your code reader indicated to you.
a trouble code can tell you what to check, it does not tell you that something is broken.

ie:
code p 0456 Small evap leak
many people run & buy Gas Cap
best chance of a fix is to check the Purge Valve first

 

[1999 White C5 Coupe]

If that is the pentastar V6, I believe they have to remove head to get to the plugs.

Do you mean the intake manifold, not a head?

 

[1999 White C5 Coupe]

I had an engine warning light come on for a Cyl 1 misfire on my 2021 Ram E torque Big Horn. Because I have about 60,000km on it, I decided to bring to a Dodge dealer, hoping the issue was under warranty. The shop decided to change out all 6 spark plugs, hoping that was the fix, charging me 4 hours labor $540CAD, plus parts $228 for $770 plus tax. They stated that the spark plug change out fell under 'wear and tear' on the truck and not covered. I have been driving for a week after the fix and same issue, engine warning light, vibrating again when over 4000 rpm. My questions are, how long should it take to change the 6 spark plugs on this truck, 4 hours? And should changing out spark plugs on a 2 year old truck with 60,000km fall under 'wear and tear'? Thanks in advance for any advice.

Read your vehicle emissions warranty. It should cover defective spark plugs, if the Canadian warranty is similar to the USA warranty.

 

[chopperman1]

$135 per hr, CAD is crazy cheap and really doesn't sound right. Here it's $159 USD, that's north of $200 CAD. I would double check hourly rate.

 

[turkeybird56]

Not sure I would complain about a rate lower than US, LOL. But at the same time, comparing $$$ to CAD IMHO moot. OP dealing with CAD, what he gets and paid in, whereas us "southerners" on this continent deal with greenbacks, LOL.

 

[huntergreen]

Do you mean the intake manifold, not a head?

Yes I did !

 

[OnTheTrails]

I had an engine warning light come on for a Cyl 1 misfire on my 2021 Ram E torque Big Horn. Because I have about 60,000km on it, I decided to bring to a Dodge dealer, hoping the issue was under warranty. The shop decided to change out all 6 spark plugs, hoping that was the fix, charging me 4 hours labor $540CAD, plus parts $228 for $770 plus tax. They stated that the spark plug change out fell under 'wear and tear' on the truck and not covered. I have been driving for a week after the fix and same issue, engine warning light, vibrating again when over 4000 rpm. My questions are, how long should it take to change the 6 spark plugs on this truck, 4 hours? And should changing out spark plugs on a 2 year old truck with 60,000km fall under 'wear and tear'? Thanks in advance for any advice.

When you posted this I think you already knew the answer somewhere inside, which is that (in general) a dealership cannot be trusted and must be pushed to work within some boundaries. Even then you will nearly always pay too much. They have A LOT of overhead, so they need to charge a lot for that, plus they maintain good profit margins. If you learn to do as much as you can yourself and then use a trusted smaller business for your work in the shop out of your ability, you will be better off.

I change 4 plugs myself on my 4-cylinder truck in less than an hour usually, and usually a little longer for the 6 plugs on my V6 SUV.

Yes, changing plugs are wear and tear. How could it not be? But too soon is too soon, unless you see an obvious issue with one or more.

Did they do something that didn't make sense? Yes, why change all plugs and ignore the problem?

Did you get ripped off and still have the original problem? Yes, but as others have mentioned, did you let this happen by not being incredibly clear with them and setting boundaries? Then standing up for yourself right away?

Other things to consider: fuel filter, injectors, related sensors, wires, and some more.

 

[Jim welsh]

I changed my plugs in about 1 1/2 hours not a big deal everything was easy to get to and the 6 cylinder has room between radiator and engine I just stood on the ground

 

[DJW01]

To change the plugs on the V6 they need to pull the intake manifold to get to the driver side plugs, so it's a bit more work and parts than in the old days. If you had a misfire, they should have also checked the coil packs and injectors. No way you should have needed new plugs at 60 000km unless they were defective or something funky is going or maybe bad fuel. When my 2016 had a misfire on #2 (at 140 000 km) my mechanic did all the plugs (and they needed it), but also checked the coil packs and swapped #2 and #4 just in case it wasn't the plugs and cleaned and tested the injectors (for less than you paid for just the plugs). The CEL came back on driving home, at that point it was a valve train issue - had to go to the dealer as my mechanic didn't want to take the engine apart. Had a bad cam follower and worn camshaft, had to replace the cams, lifters and followers on the passenger side (CDN$2700 all in). Driver's side might cost more because of the intake location. Cam/lifter problems are common in these engines, the newer ones are better but they still have them.

 

[Hardracer]

I changed 16 this past weekend..right at 1.5hrs in the driveway...is that a pretty decent time?....cussing the whole time..lol

Dunno anything about the v6,sounds like a bear to do.

 

[David James]

I had an engine warning light come on for a Cyl 1 misfire on my 2021 Ram E torque Big Horn. Because I have about 60,000km on it, I decided to bring to a Dodge dealer, hoping the issue was under warranty. The shop decided to change out all 6 spark plugs, hoping that was the fix, charging me 4 hours labor $540CAD, plus parts $228 for $770 plus tax. They stated that the spark plug change out fell under 'wear and tear' on the truck and not covered. I have been driving for a week after the fix and same issue, engine warning light, vibrating again when over 4000 rpm. My questions are, how long should it take to change the 6 spark plugs on this truck, 4 hours? And should changing out spark plugs on a 2 year old truck with 60,000km fall under 'wear and tear'? Thanks in advance for any

I had an engine warning light come on for a Cyl 1 misfire on my 2021 Ram E torque Big Horn. Because I have about 60,000km on it, I decided to bring to a Dodge dealer, hoping the issue was under warranty. The shop decided to change out all 6 spark plugs, hoping that was the fix, charging me 4 hours labor $540CAD, plus parts $228 for $770 plus tax. They stated that the spark plug change out fell under 'wear and tear' on the truck and not covered. I have been driving for a week after the fix and same issue, engine warning light, vibrating again when over 4000 rpm. My questions are, how long should it take to change the 6 spark plugs on this truck, 4 hours? And should changing out spark plugs on a 2 year old truck with 60,000km fall under 'wear and tear'? Thanks in advance for any advice.

I had all 16 replaced on my 2016 5.7 Hemi at 100k miles. A prophylactic measure. Cost me about $500 P&L. In your case, I’d start getting on Chrysler zone managers about this issue. That is not high mileage nowadays

 

[chri5k]

Thanks for the reply Dean. I told them what my code reader stated the issue was and they confirmed same issue. The dealership told me that the first troubleshoot fix is to replace all spark plugs, quoted the price and stating "wear and tear is not covered". I was in a rush to get my truck back and not knowing any better, I gave the green light to fix. After getting truck back and still having same issue, I have had time to think about 4 hours being waaaay too long to replace plugs. So now I am asking questions, doing the homework......maybe too late for a break on that price though but was looking for conversation ammo that I intend to have with the service manager re: 4 hours.....

The 4 hours part is water under the bridge. They told what the price was and agreed to it. As to another suggestion to dispute the charge with the cc company, that probably wont fly either as you authorized the charge.

 

[GeoffG68]

The MOTOR rate to replace 6 spark plugs on that vehicle is 1.9 hours. So if the labor charge you state you paid is broken out by operation and they charged more than 1.9 hours, you need to find out where they're getting their flat rate data from and verify they didn't overcharge you. I highly doubt that a 2021 model year vehicle with the equivalent of less than 40,000 miles needed spark plugs. Per the owner's manual it's not due until 160,000KM or 100,000MI. In Michigan you are entitled to the return of any parts replaced that don't have a core charge on them as they are your property. It would have been useful to get a look at the condition of the plugs.

In short, this sounds extremely fishy to me. Time to get on the horn with the service manager for starters, and escalate to the zone rep if necessary.

 

[BluDodge]

I changed 16 this past weekend..right at 1.5hrs in the driveway...is that a pretty decent time?....cussing the whole time..lol

Dunno anything about the v6,sounds like a bear to do.

Your 2010 sounds like my 2008.... The last 3 plugs, in the back, on the bottom are too much fun!

 

[GeoffG68]

I changed 16 this past weekend..right at 1.5hrs in the driveway...is that a pretty decent time?....cussing the whole time..lol

Dunno anything about the v6,sounds like a bear to do.

Spark plug replacement on a 2011 5.7L Hemi takes me a couple of hours. The plugs nearest the firewall, especially the one under the brake booster, require patience and are easier when sitting in the engine compartment. Last time I did these I put NGK Iridium plugs in; it's my understanding that Ram changed their recommended plug and the change interval correspondingly goes up to 100K miles. My truck should have around 200K miles on it before it needs the plugs changed again if rust or crazy Michigan drivers don't take it out of commission first. We'll see what happens. At 12 years and 104,000 miles I'm starting to get tagged with nuisance nickel and dime stuff, like worn out TPMS batteries, a bad hood latch switch, and various other small things. I'm hopeful that I'll get all of that stuff out of the way and have another 5-6 good years with it.