Hi guys, as you can see I'm a newbie here, but I've been lurking around here for a few months now...First I'd like to say thank you for all the helpful information on this sight, and for taking the time to share your wisdom and experiences.

That being said, here is the issue I'm dealing with right now.
I've got a 2004 f250 xlt, super cab, full size bed, 4wd, 5.4 litre work truck. a couple days ago the fuel pump went out on me. I managed to beat the fuel tank and get it to run enough to get it in my driveway.

I was deciding if i wanted to try to replace it myself (I'm a very limited driveway mechanic) or just pay to have it done.

It appears I could get a new pump for around 200-250 bucks so I called a local garage and asked them how much it would (roughly) cost to R&R the pump.
After giving him all the info he told me it would cost about $460.00 give or take a little, so I figured for roughly $200 I'd just assume let them do it.

So I called AAA and had them tow it to the shop, and about 3 hrs. later the guy calls me back and starts talking about how its going to cost extra because its Cali equipped, (which I highly doubt, the truck was purchased from a dealership brand new here in CT), and that he needs to change the fuel filter for $100.00 (LOL) and clean the throttle body $150.00 (LOL), and so the total would come to $1100.00.

I almost dropped a brick in my britches...I said that I don't want a new filter or throttle body cleaning, I could do those things myself, I just want a new fuel pump. He says "Okay that will come to $850.00"

I asked why so much because he gave me a estimate of $460.00 and he said it was because my truck was Cali equipped...The whole thing seems a little fishy, and for what its worth this was a Firestone service center.

From what I could tell, a Cali equipped pump costs about $50.00 more than a standard one, so why the huge ($400.00) jump in price?

All that being said, I guess here is my question...Is $850.00 dollars a fair price to do the fuel pump? And how do I tell if this thing is actually Cali equipped or not?

Now don't get me wrong, I am a small business owner myself and I understand that business' need to make money, but I kinda feel like he just gave me that lowball original price just to get the truck into his shop knowing that it would have to get towed there and then he would have me "over a barrel" so to speak.

If I had known it was going to cost me $850.00, knowing that I could get the pump myself for around $200.00, I would have tried to do it myself in the driveway.

Oh and by the way, its a single (29 gal) fuel tank, midship.

Thanks for any input,
ctarborist.

 

I would recommend getting another quote, maybe from a ford dealer. I'm familiar with CARB compliant parts but I think at some point all vehicles were manufactured with California compliance in mind, I may be wrong though...

 

NLEV started hitting the Northeast in 1999. I have no doubt CT would have been a state to jump all over that trend.

Having said that you have rights. If he quoted you a price and essentially doubled it that is error on him. I certainly hoped he had not started any work on it because he could have left you with a mess if you went to get it and he just stopped working on it.

I would do the visit face to face with him. At that point if you want to do that yourself you can or someone else..or allow him to do it...but I would not do any more discussion on the phone.

As far as you doing it, yes you can do it. Get a floor jack, some blocks in case that floor jack wont reach it. You have the resources to get on this forum you have the resources to follow along doing a fuel pump swap.

Good luck.

 

And don't even try to have AAA tow it back, they won't do it for free.

 

Thanks to everyone for the replies...here is the latest update.

I ended up having them do it simply because I'm in my very busy season right now and I need to get this truck on the road. By the time he had called me back (late Friday afternoon) I figure I would be pretty hard pressed to find another mechanic that would get this truck back on the road by Monday, plus, as was previously mentioned, I would have had to pay to get it towed to another garage, and I'm guessing that firestone would have probably charged me with a "diagnostic" fee.

So I just picked it up and asked them for my old part back, which they conveniently placed in the box that the new pump came in.

The new pump was an Airtex model e2235m, I looked up that part and found several places that sell it for around $130.00. on my receipt, Firestone charged me $425.00 for that same part, so basically a $300.00 markup on the pump, which I think is absolutely ridiculous!

Then they charged me $220.00 for labor, (about 2 hrs.), which I'm fine with.

And an additional $100.00 for a diagnostic fee, which I feel is also ridiculous. I told them when I brought it in that the fuel pump was bad, that I had my son put the key on while I was under the truck and I could not hear the pump, after hitting the tank a few times, I could hear the pump buzz and then the truck would start just fine...in my opinion thats a pretty clear indicator that its a bad fuel pump, and not a relay or some other issue.

But its that $300.00 markup on the actual pump that really ticks me off. What this basically boils down to is that they spent a total of 2 hrs. on my truck and, after parts, made a profit of over $600.00 which equates to $300.00 per hour to install a fuel pump..SMH

I'm thinking I may call firestone headquarters and complain but I have a feeling that it would fall on deaf ears.

Thanks again,
Ctarborist.

 

If the pump has a list price of let's say $400, the average repair shop will pay about $280 for that pump. Most parts houses give between 20 & 40 percent discounts to a repair shop---I know---I own one. I just priced that pump through my local parts house--It would cost me $286.45 here in NY. You can always get parts cheaper on the internet, BUT, you have to pay shipping and wait for it to arrive, and then hope it wasn't damaged or the wrong one. I think their prices are right in line with any other repair shop.


RON

 

And how much would the down time cost you in lost revenue because you don't have a truck to use for work?

 

ya know...I'm all about business making profit but let me say this...
Monroe for example...and I'm sure other chain repair places work on a commission basis. Not saying that is what happened here but #1 their cost on that fuel pump would have been around 90$. Should they make something on the part? Yes. 300+% on a 100$ item is pretty ridiculous.
You will get much better service at a more personal localized garage. (Most times)
I own a a repair facility and my cost on that exact part is about $90. Have it in 5 mins (excluding Sunday's).
Next time maybe get with a non chain garage . I bet you won't regret it.

 

What would you say if they just changed the pump as you said it was bad and the truck still didn't run? Say a rodent chewed a wire,the fuel pump relay was the problem but they already installed an electrical part that cannot be refunded? They have to do diagnostics in this case you were right but it could have been different. I hope that pump lasts forever by telling them not to install a new fuel your warranty is void. Every pump i ever bought states fuel filters must be replaced for warranty to be honored. I do agree the markup is a bit steep. Common markup is 25% or so around here.

 

I would not darken a "Firestone" shop's doorstep. Ever. Sorry to say it man, but you got royally hosed over. I'd call their national number, and also go back and file a BBB complaint, and call the regional office as well. Plus I'd figure out how to use that "Yelp" service and whatever else I could find to put the word out about their practices.

 

I work at a repair shop and my price on that pump is $149.93, with a list price of $311.28. It's normal for shops to mark up prices a bit to cover their labor if they have to do the job again because a part is defective and needs to be replaced under warranty. But what they did to you was excessive, IMO.

I doubt you'll get any money back from them, but I definitely wouldn't go back, and I would warn everybody else I know not to go there, either.

 

Thats all well and good, and like I said, I'm all for business' making money...I own a small business myself. Firestone could charge $20,000.00 to put in a fuel pump for all I care, its their prerogative, but what I don't appreciate is the fact that he gave me a price of $450.00 over the phone to install a fuel pump into a 2004 f250, 4wd, 5.4 litre with a 29 gal. midship fuel tank, (which he told me included parts, labor and tax) and once the truck has been towed to his shop, call me back and tell me that its going to cost me $811.00 to install a fuel pump into a 2004 f250, 4wd, 5.4 litre with a 29 gal. midship fuel tank. Now don't get me wrong, I'm a prety easy going guy, if he fixed my pump and said " we had a lot of trouble getting the old pump out so its gonna cost an extra 40 or 50 bucks" I'm fine with that, I understand that stuff happens, but to give me a quote over the phone and then 3 1/2 hrs later call me and tell me that its going to cost almost twice as much before you even put the truck on the lift, is a bit fishy.

 

This is one of the things that I factored into my decision...let me explain...

The truck died on Thursday night, Friday morning I looked up the price for a new pump and found that it would cost me $240.00 at autozone to buy a new one. Realizing that dropping the fuel tank out of a 10 year old truck can be a pain in the neck, I figured I would call and see how much it would cost to have a repair shop do it. Firestone told me it would cost about $450.00. That, to me, made perfect sense ($250.00 for pump, + 2 hrs labor @ $100.00 per hr. = $450.00). For the $200.00 I would spend in labor I would gladly pay that to the mechanics and spend my day with the kids at the park rather than spending my day wrestling with a gas tank. But then the guy calls me back 3 hrs later (after I had the truck towed to his shop) and tells me the job is now going to cost me $811.00. So now that friday afternoon at the park isn't costing me $200.00, now its costing me $561.00...at that cost I would have spent my day wrestling with a gas tank. But now its kind of too late because my truck is now sitting in his parking lot which means I would have to pay to tow it back to my house, and for all intents and purposes, I've just lost the better part of a day. The whole thing just seemed rather sleazy.

 

I understand what your saying regarding the diagnostics, but heres my point...The truck went from running perfectly to not running at all.

I climbed under it and had my kid turn the key while I was listening to the fuel tank. I heard nothing. At that point, I whacked it a few times with my fist and heard the tell tale bzzzzz, click. I then told my kid to try to start it and it fired right up. She then ran perfectly and I made it to my driveway. This was Thursday night.

Friday morning I tried to start her and got she wouldn't start. again, I had my kid turn the key while I was underneat with my ear next to the fuel tank...Heard nothing, whacked it again a few times and again, heard the Bzzzz, click noise. told my kid to try to start it and she stared right up. this time she only ran for about a minute and the pump quit again. I highly doubt your gonna fix a bad relay or a broken wire by tapping on the gas tank. these are pretty tell tale symptoms of a bad pump. And now that I think about it, I can't help but to wonder if he even hooked it up to the computer, and heres why...

I've noticed over the course of the last week or so that my ABS light has been coming on sporadically. Now I'm no car guru but I would have to think that if the computer in my truck is telling my ABS light to occasionally come on, wouldn't that show up on a diagnostic test? and if it did show up, wouldn't you think the mechanic would at least mention it to me? Hmmm?

And regarding the fuel filter, the guy wanted $125.00 to have his mechanic take 4 minutes to install a $15.00 filter...uh, no thank you, I'll replace that myself tomorrow, it'll take me 15 minutes and I'll save $110.00.

He also recommended that I have him clean out my throttle body for another $125.00. again, tomorrow I'll spend the 6 dollars on TB cleaner, and take the 10 minutes required to clean my own throttle body and save another $119.00.

I guess I can just chalk this up to a lesson learned, and certainly never take any of my vehicles back there again.

 

Just last week replaced the fuel pump myself on my 2002 SD (5.4L midship tank). Cost of pump from NAPA was $172.48 (plus tax). When removing tank discovered that filler pipe was rusted quite badly and the fuel tank straps were not so good either. From Rock Auto new filler pipe cost $120.79 and tank straps were $67.79. Used a transmission jack to lower and raise the tank so overall labor effort wasn't too bad.