It's an easy enough job to do it yourself if you are averagely competent, some of the clips can be fiddly and a PITA to remove, but there are no super specialist tools required

In very brief, you'll need to get the front end up, remove the cold side pipe work and hosing, then unscrew and replace the throttle body, undo an electrical connector, then put it back together

Frosty Fez had some limp mode issues and switched his out in a fairly recent video, he picked up a replacement throttle body of ebay for not much money and did it all himself

You could also check out Boomba Racings video for the their Throttle Body spacer install, that would give you a good idea of the work involved and a step by step to refer to

As for the main dealer costs, it is what it is and they will charge premium rate for the man hours and new parts price, but you get to go back to them if there are issues and have a nice receipt for when you sell it (if you keep them and do that type of thing.)

 

I'm prob not confident enough to do it myself to be honest. The upside of using ford is like you say you have the official receipt plus if their diagnosis is wrong I havent wasted the money myself.

 

I'm prob not confident enough to do it myself to be honest. The upside of using ford is like you say you have the official receipt plus if their diagnosis is wrong I havent wasted the money myself.

Have a watch of the boomba video, it's not that complex a job and you may surprise yourself, certainly do-able by the weekend warrior at home, you may know someone that has the tools and can help

That said, It's always better to be honest with yourself, if you don't feel like it's something you can do yourself, that better than jumping in and coming un-stuck and creating additional issues

You would find a local garage cheaper, but then it's finding one you'd trust that's the issue, although that could be said for some main dealers as well

 

Buy a set of clip removal pliers and the job is easy.

 

ok if it's that easy why are they charging so much?

 

ok if it's that easy why are they charging so much?

Because people pay it.

I was completely useless with ANY car stuff. Didnt even know how to jack it or anything.

Now ive managed to change my own intercooler, fit a rear engine mount and a short shifter.

Ive said easy 250 pounds in labour costs and learnt loads in the process.

 

ok if it's that easy why are they charging so much?

Because they can is part of it, but so much relative to what exactly?

Consider the costs they have themselves, wages to pay, National Insurance and pension contributions, costs of running the premises, profits to make to ensure they stay in business, supply and demand for their services, advertising & marketing campaigns

A bigger organisation does more ancillary things and as a result has higher costs which its offsets by charging more, the local garage does less and can afford to charge less to still make the same profit

The way things are is just the way it is, it's how our society has been built and functions, I can't see our society moving to barter trade system unless there is a serious collapse of infrastructure.

So what can you do?

Do research on how to do it yourself, ask friends that may be able to help, try a local garage that will do it cheaper or pay the price Ford are asking, each option has a cost and time implication, but at this time of year I think it's worth remembering you do have the freedom to choose which option to take.

 

Probably find a big chunk of the quoted price is the cost of the new throttle body, buying new genuine parts is alsways going to push the price up. You could probably buy used and get a garage to fit for a fraction of the cost.

 

I hate it when the term genuine part is used because it is very ambiguous and creates a misconception that if you don't buy a part from the dealer then somehow that part is not genuine and will void a warranty.

This is a fact with all car manufacturers, they don't make the majority of the parts used in their cars.Literally everything is supplied from another manufacturer, eg Bosch, Siemens, TRW, ATE, NGK, TMD....

Now, when you have some work done at a dealer, you are paying for parts that have been rebranded and have a high markup because dealers operate their parts with a retail mindset, ie for profit. Throw in labour costs which again have a markup element to create profit, this is why costs are high.

You can pickup a throttle body (Bosch) for around £80-£100.

Personally I do as much as I can and do not like using dealers or local garages. However, sometimes I dont have all the tools to do a particular job and if the costs of buying the required tools + parts I need are more or about the same as a dealer price then I might be inclined to use a reputable dealer.

One option you could do is get a break down of the costs in your quote, specifically parts and then ask to supply the parts yourself.

 

I hate it when the term genuine part is used because it is very ambiguous and creates a misconception that if you don't buy a part from the dealer then somehow that part is not genuine and will void a warranty.

This is a fact with all car manufacturers, they don't make the majority of the parts used in their cars.Literally everything is supplied from another manufacturer, eg Bosch, Siemens, TRW, ATE, NGK, TMD....

Now, when you have some work done at a dealer, you are paying for parts that have been rebranded and have a high markup because dealers operate their parts with a retail mindset, ie for profit. Throw in labour costs which again have a markup element to create profit, this is why costs are high.

You can pickup a throttle body (Bosch) for around £80-£100.

Personally I do as much as I can and do not like using dealers or local garages. However, sometimes I dont have all the tools to do a particular job and if the costs of buying the required tools + parts I need are more or about the same as a dealer price then I might be inclined to use a reputable dealer.

One option you could do is get a break down of the costs in your quote, specifically parts and then ask to supply the parts yourself.

Don't most companies try to make a profit? The higher the overheads the higher the labour costs

 

No, most of them are as greedy as they can be.

In the case of Ford there is a set RRP for everything, so this is why franchise vs franchise pricing tends to be the same/very similar regardless if one franchise has lower overheads than another.

Don't most companies try to make a profit? The higher the overheads the higher the labour costs

 

No, most of them are as greedy as they can be.

In the case of Ford there is a set RRP for everything, so this is why franchise vs franchise pricing tends to be the same/very similar regardless if one franchise has lower overheads than another.

Ford set the RRP (as do makers/suppliers of most products) which has their profit and the dealers profit on that part built in. Dealers are given a time that repairs should take and quote for that based on their hourly rate, which will differ between franchises, maybe not much in the same area or region they'll want to be competitive against each other without losing money) compare a dealer in the southeast with one in the northeast and there will be a difference, small 1 site franchises will be less than those with multiple sites.

 

When mine went the cheapest I could find a brand new bosch throttle body of the right part number was nearly 300 quid. Recon and pattern parts were half that, (ended up a low mileage one off ebay was £50)

 

When mine went the cheapest I could find a brand new bosch throttle body of the right part number was nearly 300 quid. Recon and pattern parts were half that, (ended up a low mileage one off ebay was £50)

what was up with yours, how you know it went?

i'm recently experiencing revs hanging when i'm changing gears

 

threw a bunch of maf/map codes to start with,then wouldnt idle, then started throwing throttle position errors and overheat issues, going into limp home, crapped itself, then went into emergency limp mode when it couldnt get the butterfly to close..

turned out it was jamming about half way through its travel.

easily diagnosed (if youre not Mcrae and thicke)

I thought theres a rev hang built onto the standard map.