Time for mechanic to change oil

M

mainer

Member
Joined
Aug 15, 2019
Messages
24
Fluid Motion Model
C-242 C
Vessel Name
Pixie Lu
Can anyone estimate how many hours it should take to change the oil,filter, and fuel filter on a Yanmar 150 in my R25?
I have a bill for almost $900 - seemed like a lot... Six hours labor was billed.
 
It took me about 2 hours to change the oil and filters in our R31 with a consumer grade oil pump system. That does not include the time running the engine to warm up the oil. Pretty easy to get around the engine in the R31
 
We just had our 20 hours service on our Yamaha 200HP

Invoice lists:
Labor: $169.00
Parts: $91

Parts were:
10W30 YAMAHA LUBE GL
FUEL FILTER 2006-PRES F150-350 Z200-300
YAM OIL 4M 10W-30 QT
YAMAHA GASKET
YAMAHA OIL FILTER ASSY 1

Total cost with tax and all = $277.55

I think the place I used charges $98 per hour for labor, but it's not spelled out on my invoice.

Not sure how above compares to what was done with your oil change but hope this helps.
 
I have a 2010 25SC with the Yanmar 150. Oil change and filters as you describe I do by myself and probably takes me about two hours taking my time. I wonder how many techs worked on the project and they billed for each one. Did your total include the Yanmar parts and oil that can be very expensive.
 
Does the $900 include parts? They're pretty expensive for my Volvo Penta; about $700 including oil. My guy can do it all in about 3.5 hours including impeller replacement. I pay him about $400 cash for labor including travel time to my boat.

So $900 for the whole shebang sounds ball park to me, but I've got a D6 435
 
Did the mechanic take you out to dinner ? Dude, you got screwed.
 
If all that was done was changing the fuel filters, oil filter and the oil it seems to be pricey. If that included an impeller change on your 4BY2-150 Yanmar then maybe it’s a reasonable price.
At $900 just for an oil and oil filter change I’d be looking for a new mechanic or watching videos and buying the oil extraction pump so you could do it yourself.
That said, I’ve paid twice to have ours changed along with other periodic maintenance (impeller and more) and the oil change part was never more than 3 hours of labor. I supply the Yanmar parts so pull the shop has them the minute I bring the boat in and don’t wait for the mechanic to get the parts delivered.
 
mainer":3ibf30vw said:
I have a bill for almost $900 - seemed like a lot... Six hours labor was billed.
Click to expand...
If all they did was change oil and oil and fuel filters, I cannot fathom what took them six hours of labor unless there was some extraordinary complication. I certainly would ask for justification of their labor charges.
 
Oil and filter change is a max 90-minute job on our 6by2 260 Yanmar. It's actually kind of a fun job while at the DM marina with a cold beer and some Dave Matthews playing on the Fusion.
 
Most service manuals have a estimated time for each procedure, I would contact your service provider and see why his time exceeded the estimated time for that procedure. I would assume you were not on the boat to supervise or verify that the time billed was the time spent on your boat. If all else fails I would chock it up to experience! Bob
 
At the Ranger Tug Rendezvous in Bremerton in 2011 (I think), Yanmar sent a technician to demonstrate an oil, fuel filters and impeller changes on an R-25 with a Yanmar 150. Ten or fifteen of us crowded around and asked him questions as he worked.

The most difficult part was the impeller change. He struggled to squeeze his large arms into the tight space, worked for a long time and came out sweaty and smiling as he proudly held up the old impeller.

There were no stopwatches, but I estimate that the demonstration lasted two, certainly less than three hours. Six hours seems outrageous for a skilled, experienced mechanic, although some charge travel time from their shop to your boat.
 
Sometimes there is more to the story than the basic bill. I would advise talking to the service manager and get a full description of the work order. There are technicians that just change oil and filter and fly and then there are technicians that as they are changing the oil they are also doing a basic pre-maintenance inspection." Servicing the engine" Normally all the inspections are written on the work order back page to document what the technician inspected. If the technician is not familiar with a boat and the engine installation it will take a bit longer to do the work. Normally a good technician will make notes as to why it has taken him longer.

( When I had to replace a turbo in my C26 the Volvo technician that inspected the turbo and the failed hose took several pictures of the engine install. Even with the modifications that I made to access the forward starboard side of the engine which is in the pilot house. He grinned at the install and said this is the worst I have ever seen. He sent all the pictures to Volvo to explain why the Labor charges were going to be far exceeding the Volvo flat rate labor charge)

When I do the service of Oil and filter change, reverse gear oil and filter, and fuel system filter change and impeller I'm pushing 5 hours. But I have done it several times in my boat. I am also incorporating other items of inspection as I do this service.

Water pump change includes cleaning and inspecting the thru hull, stainer, reverse gear cooler, water pump housing and all hose clamps associated with the raw water.

Reverse gear oil change is straight forward suck the oil out remove the filter inspect the filter for metal filings and how many are in the filter. Remove a sample of the oil to send in for analysis. Filling it being careful to not over fill. I would say the final fill and check takes more than a few minutes.

Oil change is straight forward, pull the oil out of pan, then remove the filter housing cover, clean it, inspect is for cracks, install a new seal ring, and carefully torque the cover. ( a technician that is not familiar with this could easily develop a leaker. I did once! I spent an hour trying to get it not to leak. I was not torquing it to spec because I thought that spec was too tight. Lesson learned

While I am doing these fluid changes I am giving the engine a full inspection, checking electrical connections, motor mounts, for tightness, alternator belt, check packing......

Fuel system filter change is not bad as long as the last guy to change the secondary filter did not over tighten it. If he or she did that can be a time consuming removal. The first time I changed the secondary filter I had to remove the filter housing and put it in a vise to remove the filter. I had 3 hours just changing the filter. Now it takes me about an hour. When servicing the filters I drain them inspect for water and dirt, clean the primary housing, inspect all the fuel lines, replace the sensor gasket and reinstall the sensor to the secondary filter. Then prime and run the engine for at least 10 or 15 minutes to confirm all air is out of the system. It should be after priming but I like to be sure.

It can take 3 hours with a stop watch but longer if it is a scheduled engine service. Some technicians do the minimum some technicians do the maximum to assure the customer is going to have reliability.

All this information can be attained by asking questions. Talk to the service manager, many times if they are a reputable facility they will let you talk directly to the servicing technician for a brief explanation of his work and findings.

To answer your question it depends. Make your decision after you get the whole story.
 
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