Sactownog Posted June 19, 2018 Share Posted June 19, 2018 I have a person who is 80 years old and wants me to change the oil in his 1929 Model A Pickup, he is to old to do it and the former mechanic that usually works on the Truck now has heart problems and can no longer do the maintenance work on the pickup. the work he wants me to do is change the engine oil (he supplies the fluid), transmission fluid (he supplies fluid), and rear end fluid (he supplies fluid). my question, how much should I charge him? I am not looking to gouge the guy, he is old, wants the truck maintained so he can get in and go, but is to old to do the work himself. he will pay me, but I want to be fair, I have called 8 different shops and none want to do the oil change. most I can come up with is a shop saying they will charge $30 for engine oil change, $30 for Transmission, $30 for rear end. so about $90 bucks. any help is appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFranklin Posted June 19, 2018 Share Posted June 19, 2018 (edited) He is supplying the fluids, you should charge him $25. I can't imagine what backwater town you guys live in where a shop won't change a cars oil and fluids, and $90. is outrageous! Edited June 19, 2018 by JFranklin (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sactownog Posted June 19, 2018 Author Share Posted June 19, 2018 7 minutes ago, JFranklin said: He is supplying the fluids, you should charge him $25. I can't imagine what backwater town you guys live in where a shop won't change a cars oil and fluids, and $90. is outrageous! back water town = San Diego, CA! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFranklin Posted June 19, 2018 Share Posted June 19, 2018 I'm glad I live where I can still find service when it is needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloo Posted June 19, 2018 Share Posted June 19, 2018 Yeah, $25 sounds like a good price. The quick lubes, for instance, do not give you much of a break for bringing your own fluids. $90 sounds like a lot at first blush. I guess a Model A split rear axle has a plug in the bottom? And the transmission too? That shouldn't be too bad if so. Have you looked at it? Is there some way you can get the new fluid in using gravity? It will probably be 600W (or equivalent) oil for the transmission and maybe the rear axle too. Viscosity of 600W about SAE 250, really thick. Any process involving a suction gun will leave you muttering under your breath for several years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimy Posted June 19, 2018 Share Posted June 19, 2018 First, I can understand why (liability) commercial places don't want to work on it AND use the customer's fluids. Almost 60 years ago when I was working in a gas station while in HS, the station had a sign saying we won't install customer's parts and comparing it to the customer bringing his own bacon and eggs to the diner. My boss explained it to me as if we supply parts/fluids, we make money on the parts as well as the labor--why give that up? Suggest the vehicle be driven 30 minutes or more immediately before draining the transmission and differential to get the 600W warm and thus thinner to make the drain more effective and quicker. Plan on letting these components drain for at least 30 minutes before replacing the drain plugs. One-quart squeeze bottles work best for me to fill those units. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloo Posted June 19, 2018 Share Posted June 19, 2018 42 minutes ago, Grimy said: My boss explained it to me as if we supply parts/fluids, we make money on the parts as well as the labor--why give that up? I have no problem with that, It is just interesting that the discount for bringing your own oil is often 2 dollars or something like that. I sure don't expect them to give up to give up whatever their markup would have been on the oil. I use 10w30 diesel rated oil in a couple of my "modern" gas cars. If I need someone else to change it on a long trip, I go buy my jug of Rotella first and throw it in the trunk. I always ask if they have some 10w30 diesel rated oil. I will just buy theirs if they have it. So far, only Jiffy Lube in Boulder, Colorado had any. So, at most places, $40-45 to pull the plug and put on an oil filter. I don't even need them to check anything else. Sometimes they insist, but I won't have them top things up anyway. There's Redline MTL in the transmission, probably GTLMA (DOT4) in the brakes, DexCool in the radiator, etc. More than likely they don't have any of that. Nobody is gonna have 600W either, and 600W is probably what a model A owner is going to want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpage Posted June 20, 2018 Share Posted June 20, 2018 140 wt gear lube is sufficient for the tranny and rear end. Used it for 16 years in my Ford with no problems. They don't use a lot of fluid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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