Fuel Tank and all pumps, sending unit seals, rings remove and replace HOURS/COSTS?

FIREMCD

MEMBER
1986 CHEVROLET S-10
2.8L
6 CYL
RWD
AUTOMATIC
186,000 MILES

3 weeks ago I had the truck towed in to to Tuffy's because it died in traffic on me and would crank, but would not run. I told them THEN, that I strongly believed that the Fuel Tank was fouled, as I had just replaced the fuel filter 1 year ago and had infrequent incidents of the engine not wanting to run since then.
They kept the truck for 5 days and then told me it was fixed for 250.00
When I got there I questioned them about the gas tank, and they said they recommended not pulling the bed and looking at the tank because it could get very expensive. Instead they replaced the fuel filter, replaced some vaccuum lines. And declared it fixed. Smelling a rat, but wanting to trust them, I paid and went on my way.
2 days ago it died in the road again (30 miles total driven since repair) with the same symptoms, and we dragged it in with a chain.
This time they pulled the bed, checked the tank, and declared the entire tank system hosed with rust and crud.
The fuel tank and everything inside it, seals, rings, sending unit, pump, everything after the gas line itself backwards is hopelessly fouled with rust and must be pulled and replaced. They admit that now.
I priced out the tank, sending unit and seals, pump and strainer, straps, and even a new fuel filter for up by the engine. All of this with a galvanized exact replacement tank = 250.00 to my door from Rock Auto. (Choosing quality/not cheapest)
The Tuffy's shop wants 750.00 for the repair including parts. 1st - How long in hours should the repair reasonably take if the bed has already been pulled? 2nd - are they spending way too much for the parts?
An out-of-state ACE mechanic friend of mine says this is not do-able for him because of distance, but if he were doing it, he could do it in 3 hours, and that sounded about right costs for the parts.
I wanna trust them but this just sounds HIGH to me.
ALSO, do you think I have a reasonable beef about the way they handled it the first time?
Thanks for your valuable time and attention!
P.S. Other than this fuel delivery problem, the engine purrs like a kitten, the body is in MINT condition and I LUV the truck.

3 Replies

HMAC300

MECHANIC
48,601 POSTS

When a repair shop gets parts and put them on they charge more for the part so they can make money doing it. There should be a flat rate charge for pulling the tank and replacing it hour wise and they would charge that no matter how much your buddy could do it for hour wise. As far as the first they handled it I guess you could complain to them about it and maybe take to a court and you would be at the whim of the judge for that. Buying parts at Rock auto and expecting the same price through a repair shop just isn't going to happen. They have overhead an d have to make their money besides labor. Maybe try to come to an agreement with them for a cheaper price or find another place that will do it for you cheaper or just charge you to install the tank with your parts but don't expect much from that as they normally will charge you more for labor if they decide todo it.