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What should I be paying for a carburetor rehaul?


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I live in the Bay Area, California, so mechanics usually cost around 100-175 an hour. I brought my recently bought 1981 Datsun into the shop. It didn't make it all the way home, carburetor issues. This is one of the few guys who works on Carburetors in the area. He's got solid reviews. I was quoted at 389 to get the carburetor somewhat cleaned cosmetically and running at a 9/10 functionality with a 1 year warranty on the work. I'm not comfortable with carburetor work, either removing or installing so sending it somewhere is not an option at this point. Does this sound like an outrageous price? Is it fair?

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You can do this yourself for the cost of a $30 kit, a can of carb cleaner, some newspaper, a tooth brush, Philips screw driver, small and large slotted screw driver, 12mm wrench, Q tips,  roll of paper towels, a dental pick and about 2-3 hours of your time. A digital camera helps to keep track where things go. It ain't rocket science... it's mostly cleaning dirt out. I just re-use the old gaskets they don't wear out but they can tear.

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Thanks for the post Mike and in the future, I may get more comfortable working on carbs to do what you stated. With that said, does the price seem high? I'm not sure what else he's doing besides the carb so more could be involved. I don't know. For future reference, can you provide a link to a kit you mentioned?

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I think it's quoted as a 3-4 hour job with R&R as well as the actual carb work, so at $150/hr shop rate that's not high for a complete rebuild.  It's high for a cosmetic clean and "fix the issue" which could be as simple as the A/D solenoid came unplugged or the choke wire fell off.  Course you don't know what the issue is.  It's high for a Datsun owner who usually would just slap a Weber on there but since you're in Cali that's not a viable option.  Hitachis are second only to Quadrajets in complexity IMO; way too many parts for what they do, and really easy to screw up if you forget or misplace something.  As Mike said, gotta take pictures so you know where everything goes back.

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Thanks aholic for the response. I know or at least I think I know it's not something that was unplugged. He had to order parts for it, I know that. He explained what he was going to do but it was so fast that I didn't catch everything. Something with the fuel lines too. good to know it doesn't seem that high. He seems very knowledgable and people have said good things about his work and took the time to explain everything over the phone. I asked about the weber conversion and he told me that he was willing to do it but he said I may run into smog issues because it's not CA certified and that it may require more tinkering down the road.

 

I just paid to have my carburetor worked on for my 1969 Honda ct90. Time to look at some how tos and watch some videos to get comfortable with how carbs work and what needs to be done.

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If this isn't your dd, give the rebuild a try. I did a hitachi once. It worked sorta. It had been done once and some screws were stripped so I never got all the way in there. If you do it and it's still not right, give national carbs out of Jacksonville a try. I got one from them an it was great. It stopped working but that was due to all the bs in my tank that got sucked into it. Just checked too. 100 off carb sale right now.

 

There also was a awesome how to thread that a guy made with lots of pics on how to do a z24 carb. I will go look for the link.

 

Good luck

Jef

 

Edit: All the pics are gone in that thread!!!!!!!!! It was a very detailed awesome thread too. So sad

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I wouldn't trust an Autozone or Oreilys "rebuild" carb any more than their "remanufactured" starters and alternators, which are generally more useful as boat anchors than their intended purpose.  And even if they are available, it's about the same price as the quoted one above.  I know they were well over $300 back in 1992 at Schucks, and they haven't gotten cheaper.

 

Note:  Amazon lists a National Carbs DAT706 (DCR-342, 81-83) for $229.  https://www.amazon.com/National-Carburetors-DAT706-Remanufactured-Carburetor/dp/compatibility-chart/B00I9PGTFS

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IMO, that price of $389 is f*cking outrageous. 

 

I'm a flat rate mechanic and this sounds like bullshit to me. I would have laughed at him.

 

.3 hrs to remove

2.0 hrs to rebuild

.3 hrs to install.

.5 to tune and adjust 

 

these are about the labor times i'd estimate to do something like that.

 

3.1 hr labor @ $120/hr is $360 +/- just in labor. F*CK THAT!

 

I got my weber 32/36 for $339 shipped to my front door.

15 mins to install and 10 mins to tune. runs exceptionally well.

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I didn't know they had a smog legal 32/36. Maybe that's the route I should have gone but right now I have committed to having it serviced at this shop. I have to bite the bullet. Sounds like it's about the correct labor time for the job, although I won't have a new weber at the end of it.

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I live in the Bay Area, California, so mechanics usually cost around 100-175 an hour. I brought my recently bought 1981 Datsun into the shop. It didn't make it all the way home, carburetor issues. This is one of the few guys who works on Carburetors in the area. He's got solid reviews. I was quoted at 389 to get the carburetor somewhat cleaned cosmetically and running at a 9/10 functionality with a 1 year warranty on the work. I'm not comfortable with carburetor work, either removing or installing so sending it somewhere is not an option at this point. Does this sound like an outrageous price? Is it fair?

 

9/10 of a job for almost $400!!!! Do it yourself and don't be a battered wife that keeps running back to their 'husband'. Learn to do your own work instead of paying others to learn how to fix your vehicle. You save big time and what you learn is yours forever.

 

 

What was it doing that you think it's the carb? Diagnose the problem. Could be as simple as a $3 fuel filter to replace the clogged one.

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I agree datzenmike, I love learning how to do things myself. I will in the future do all of the work on this truck myself. If the truck would have made it back home after I purchased it, it would probably be a different story but because Triple A doesn't tow to people's houses anymore, I had to tow it to a shop. Otherwise, I'm paying for a $250+ tow without AAA just to get it back to my house. The car wouldn't drive a mile without bogging down and cutting out. I know I didn't explain this to begin with but that's the whole story. 

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The guy who sold it to me, he worked at Toyota and his cousin who owns a shop where the truck was held stated it was a carb problem. Then I called a couple shops and told them the symptoms, they said it sounds like it could be the carb. Then the guy I brought it into said it was the carb. I should have hopped on here and I would have checked all the small things before taking someone's word for it. Plus, it didn't help that insinuated that I think it's the carb that's the issue.

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The symptoms were that it was start fine. It would idle great for as long as I want but when I would start to drive the car at around 20-30 would bog down, jerk, and then die. It would start right back up but do the same thing over and over again.

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On the surface that is classic clogged fuel filter. Easy and cheap to change and probably due for the change even if this does not fix the problem. Then move on and check fuel delivery from the pump etc. etc. etc.

 

I guess you could ask him to change it and try driving home.

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I'll take this as a lesson learned. An expensive lesson learned but a lesson nonetheless. I wish I would have done a little more research before dropping not it off at the shop. I think it's a little too late now to pull it out. I take people's word on it that the owner before who works at a Toyota dealership and buddy at a shop that they would have checked the fuel filter. I assume people are being honest until proven otherwise which may be a fault of mine. I also assumed they knew what they were talking about because I saw they went through the hassle of putting a new distributor on it.

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