Good evening everyone. I'm curious if anyone knows how long a Caterpillar 3306 longblock rebuild should take. I've got 40 hours to tear a 3306 out of a 815 compactor down to longblock form. Clean and reseal front and rear housings, install main seals, oil pump, oil pan, compressor, turbo, etc. The injection pump is being rebuilt at another location. I will have to install that as well. I feel 40 hours is a bit light. Does anyone have any ideas or opinions? Thank you for reading.
I’ve no idea,but these jobs don’t like to be rushed.
A lot would depend on how much good assistance equipment you've got to work with. A good crane, impact guns, plenty of air on hand, parts washing facility close to the job - and a helping hand for the difficult parts, when two hands are definitely required. 40 hrs is cutting it a little fine, but it's do-able with all the right equipment and an extra hand occasionally. Then, of course, this is all dependent on no broken bolts/studs, and no other holdups such as a need to source and fit extra parts.
If it’s out on the floor you should be ok at 40 hours depending on the cleaning parts time. The assembly of a 3306 is pretty easy and top end set takes very little time.
Thank you that have responded. We are a dealer so have all the amenities of a good rebuild. I'm already at 20 hours and had to inspect some parts and make an additional quote for parts that were found to be bad. Will be starting to assemble today. Leadtech thinks we're all magicians and quotes times that he thinks they should be done in. Never looks up past jobs that are similar or never contacts the spec shop to see what their times are. I just wanted other opinions. Thanks again.
Is it safe to assume the bare block doesn’t require machining in any way?
I think an engine rebuild is one of those things that really depends on what you find when taking things apart. If inspecting parts and checking if they meet spec. is part of the operation it's hard to put a specific time limit on it. Same if removing and installing is part of the job. If the engine is torn down and all the parts are there ready to be installed, then it's a lot easier to say it should be finished in a specified time.
So are you installing a rebuild engine and having to R&R all the arrangement parts? Bad Bob
40 is pretty close to what we would quote standard labor, when I was doing those as a dealer tech.
Sorry so late. It is a longblock. I have to remove all components and housings. Clean all parts. Transfer all fittings over from air compressor to new compressor. Fittings in old block to new block, etc. I had to quote another $7,000 in parts yesterday. Several gears are bad. All steel fuel lines are bad. Pulleys are worn. Exhaust manifold is cracked. Doing what I can now until all new parts are ordered. Still waiting on approval from customer for additionals.
Sort of confused, it started with a long block rebuild and now it is just a transferring over certain parts to another long block? I'd rather be paid for the job, than by the hour, then there is no nit picking on the time it takes.
Back in the 80's we quoted $1000 per cylinder on the engine rebuild alone. Removal and install was by the hour
It was always a longblock. I tore the old engine down to a long block. I removed the remanufactured long block from its crate. Now I just have to remove flywheel, housing, front covers, oil pan, turbo, exhaust, starter, alternator, air compressor, etc. Clean it all, clean gasket surfaces, install it all back onto the reman longblock. Found a few bad parts, cracked exhaust manifold, worn fuel lines, bad wiring harnesses.
An in-frame averages 40hrs. Cummins 855 or 3406 Cat. Normally 50 hours for swapping a long block. For the simple fact no two jobs are alike, there are always incidentals rarely does one escape extras, so 50 hours for that reason alone. Sometimes these jobs turn into {Of Mice and Men} no matter how careful, precise the unseen/unknown issue shows it's self. So some extra never hurts. JMO.
Thank you for this! I'm almost at my 40 hour time frame and don't even have all my parts yet. I don't know how I can go any faster. Bust my ass all day long on it.
All those extras are cost overruns from a simple rebuild, and most repairs always run into extra repair time.
Never a good idea to have to rush to do a job like an engine rebuild. It's too easy to miss something simple that could have disastrous results.
Thank you! These are my thoughts too.
With some of the prices I've seen it looks like its gone up to $10,000 per cylinder now, or maybe 6 to 8K / cyl.
It was about $2000cad. around 2005/2006.
Using aftermarket {Interstate McBee, Diesel Cast West} parts for a Cummins BC 855 Prices are as follows. Block Machine work cut for LPF liners, decked, line bored with cam bushings $2,350 Piston/liner kits with complete gaskets and seals {Double Ni Pistons} $1,675 Cam-------------------------------------------------------------------------------$900 3 sets cam followers------------------------------------------------------------$1,400 {$430 ea} 3 cylinder heads-----------------------------------------------------------------$2,150 {750 ea} Jake rebuild kit------------------------------------------------------------------$225 Crank Damper-------------------------------------------------------------------$675 HT3B reman Holset turbo------------------------------------------------------$800 Water pump----------------------------------------------------------------------$125 Rebuilt injection PT pump and injectors--------------------------------------$1,450 {injectors $89 ea} Rebuilt SS296 compressor------------------------------------------------------$600 Oil pump---------------------------------------------------------------------------$700 6 Reman Connecting Rods------------------------------------------------------$200 ea Oil cooler bundle-----------------------------------------------------------------$400. 6 piston coolers------------------------------------------------------------------$60. Depending on how many needed-head bolts--------------------------------$7 ea/ gross would be 36 bolts * That's my cost on parts, no markup, no labor. To do a complete out of frame on the stand including setting injector timing, dialing bellhousing- 55 Hours no screwing around. Nose to the grind stone. That doesn't include installing-rebuilding only. * You can't afford Cummins OEM even if you could get it, Cummins out of frame Kit only--$8,000, That's only piston/liner kits and some gaskets. But Cummins doesn't support that engine any more. * In the olden days I could long block {only}--one every two days.
My mention of cost was to have it done at an outfit, not a DIY, with whole sale aftermarket parts. Seen used stuff over 20K.
I'm not a DIY. That's cost add percentage markup and labor it will give price per hole just for a lousy old 855. Ain't cheap.
A Series 60 14L I rebuilt 6 years ago with OEM parts, $20,000. Add another $10,000 at todays costs.