Latest Labor Time Guide Provides New Add Times for Transmission Repairs, Reduces Need for OLH

When performing internal transmission repairs on GM transmissions (Fig. 1) under warranty, current labor times focus on replacing the damaged part(s), with Other Labor Hours (OLH) as the only option for diagnosis or inspection and cleaning procedures for re-using components that are part of the overall transmission repair. The focus on part replacement can lead some technicians to be hesitant to spend too much time on the diagnostic and cleaning procedures necessary to identify and perform all aspects of a transmission repair. This labor time policy of using OLH for work beyond the base repair also can act as a disincentive for some technicians to invest in the training needed to become a specialized transmission technician. GM is out to change that.

 

Fig. 1

 

By listening to many dealership technicians about their concerns with transmission labor times and related transmission repair procedures, GM is updating the Labor Time Guide with new Add Times for transmission diagnosis, cleaning and inspections. The goal is to assure technicians that the labor time for a complete transmission repair will cover all of the actual time spent on the repair.

The updated Add Times allowances will still require technician comments and punch times to support the extra time spent on repairs, but Service Management approval is not required as long as the time claimed is within the variable published allowance. And for difficult repairs that exceed the Add Time allowance, OLH is still available to cover the extra time needed with Service Management authorization.

The new Add Times will bring transmission repairs more in line with the allowances for transmission replacements, where technicians are allowed Add Time for diagnosis as well as add time for disassembly and assembly.

 

Updated Add Times

Add Times will be released for select internal repairs on all GM automatic transmissions over several months, beginning with 6-speed transmissions in the May Labor Time Guide. Published allowances (Fig. 2) will be:

Diagnosis Time – 0.0-1.0 hr.

  • You may claim up to the allowable labor hours depending on actual time to perform diagnosis, i.e., test drive, pressure tests, GDS2 diagnostics, etc.

Cleaning and Inspection – 0.0-2.0 hr.

  • You may claim up to the allowable labor hours depending on actual time to clean debris and inspect components for reuse. For example, when a component failure has introduced metal throughout the transmission, requiring further teardown, cleaning, and inspection of parts to determine if they can be reused.

 

Fig. 2

 

The rollout for the release of the new Add Times in the Labor Time Guide are:

May 1, 2021 – 6-speed automatic transmissions

June 1, 2021 – 8-speed and 9-speed automatic transmissions

July 1, 2021 – 10-speed automatic transmissions, Allison transmissions, electric powertrains

With the new Add Times, technicians can be sure that their time spent on the necessary procedures – including diagnosis, inspections and cleaning – will be covered to make a proper transmission repair without OLH.

 

– Thanks to Steve Bruder and Mark Kevnick

 

Updated April 30, 2021

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16 Comments

  1. A 2021 6l pays 16.8 in prodemand for r&r and overhaul. Best time I can find in gm is 7 hours so even with 2 hours to clean and inspect gm is half as concerned about the quality of the repair.

  2. DARCY GRAHAM says:

    Updated Add Times

    Add Times will be released for select internal repairs on all GM automatic transmissions over several months, beginning with 6-speed transmissions in the May Labor Time Guide. Published allowances (Fig. 2) will be:

    Diagnosis Time – 0.0-1.0 hr.

    You may claim up to the allowable labor hours depending on actual time to perform diagnosis, i.e., test drive, pressure tests, GDS2 diagnostics, etc.
    Cleaning and Inspection – 0.0-2.0 hr.

    You may claim up to the allowable labor hours depending on actual time to clean debris and inspect components for reuse. For example, when a component failure has introduced metal throughout the transmission, requiring further teardown, cleaning, and inspection of parts to determine if they can be reused.
    a cording to are district warranty manager 3.0 add time is for over haul time . i don’t read that in this document and there is no olh i think all should be on the same page . GM should get the managers on the same page before there’s no tech’s left

  3. DARCY GRAHAM says:

    LABOUR TIME AND OTHER LABOUR HOURS , THE POST JUST KEEPS ON MOVING
    LABOUR TIMES ARE NOT DONE THE SAME AS YEARS AGO. NOW WE GET X AMOUNT OF REPAIRS DONE AND TAKE AN AVERAGE FROM THAT. THERE IS NO STEP BY STEP TO SAY HOW TO DO THE REPAIR . THIS IS WHY SO MANY LABOUR TIMES ARE STRAIGHT TIME . WHAT HAPPEN TO DOING PROPER TIME STUDIES.
    GENERAL MOTORS OWN’S THE BALL AND GLOVE AND WE’RE JUST SUPPOSE TO LIVE WITH IT . SOUNDS LIKE AND LOOKS LIKE A BIG BULLY .

  4. Ed Popelas says:

    I too am the only trans guy in a very busy shop and while I do appreciate the raise in labor time I hope GM keeps working on this. I enjoy trans work and hope to always be doing it but… and maybe I’m speaking for myself, it is a labor of love. It’s not like we are turning the big numbers the heavy engine guys are and sitting on the clock simply isn’t an option. You are so busy once you get done with one job you have to slam that finished button and get on to the next job which has probably been sitting there for a week or more. With 6 speeds, 8 speeds, 9 speeds, 10 speeds, CVT’s, hybrids, and Dual Clutches coming out all in a 10-15 year period there is a lot to keep up with. My suggestions would be punch early punch often; punch and test drive, punch and pull, punch and tear down then sort it out at the end of the day. For GM realizing that to have to story a ticket with several punches is a pain. I often spend up to an hour looking up documents, part names, labor OP’s and putting the story together then find and sit down with the Manager to put it all in writing just to make sure I get paid, you don’t see this with any other areas. The comment on 6 speeds is point on. Converter destroys just about everything and there are days you crack that egg open and say “man this is so bad I should just put a unit in” but it prices out, you fix it and then hold your breath on the test drive hoping you didn’t miss something and will have to start all over again.

  5. 0.0-2.0 is still way to low. When you get 14.2 on mitchell and Alldata for R/R overhaul. Maybe you guys should just pay us what we need to be payed properly and quit lowballing us. Than you wouldn’t be losing good trained transmission techs.

  6. Tom Williamson says:

    All these comments are right, it pays the same to replace as it dose to repair it. And you don’t know if you can get parts.

  7. FIRST OFF ED MAY 7 THE OLH IS NOT BEING CHARGED TO GM DUE TO MANAGEMENT NOT WANTING AUDIT – SO OLH IS not HAPPENING . AND ZACK CLEARLY THE PUMP METAL HAS BEEN CAUSING THE CONVERTER FAILURES ALL ALONG , SO UNTIL THE CONVERTER GETS RECOGNIZED AS A COMPONENT IT WILL BE THAT WAY , WHEN THEY CORRECT THE LTG MAYBE THAERE WILL BE SOME TRANSPARENCY ON THAT SUBJECT, and totally agree . when i started in GM TRANS HEAVYLINE 15-20 YEARS AGO THERE WAS A .3 DIAG AND UP TO 4.0 OLH . THAT WAS CHANGSD IN 2010 TO 2.0 BUT WAS REMOVED BECAUSE IT IS NOT REALISTIC .SO THE OLH WAS MANAGERS RESPONSIBILITY- SINCE WPC IS NOSING AROUND AND CAUSING HAVOC LIKE REJECTING PARTS THAT TAC SENT US RESTRICTED AND MINI AUDITS MANAGERS ARE NOT GOING OLH PERIOD. SO THERE YOU HAVE IT . NOT ENOUGH TIME TO FIX – NOT PAYING RENTAL-NOT GETTING THE PARTS IN TIME TO REPAIR. SO LOOKS LIKE ALL OF US LIFE TRANSMISSION TECHS ARE GONNA BE BURGER FLOPPERS SOON .–STAY UP TO DATE ON EV TRAINING YOU WILL BE GLAD YOU DID.

  8. True, but the repair/build and also replace labour times have been decimated. You would think you were rebuilding a powerglide by the labour times.

  9. Frank M Funaro says:

    I haven a transmission Technician for 34 years for GM I have seen really good Tecs leave GM and work for the aftermarket and we can not replace them. I have trained many of them and its my concern it ‘s to little to late. Added time will be a postive.

  10. Michael Marvin Haney says:

    I prefer build over replacement any day.

  11. GM should just go with transmission relacement when internal repairs are needed. like most other major manufactors do , get the customer back on the road faster ,cut all the other b/s transmission are a losing battle it sucks when you lose before you begin. simpler,easier faster!

  12. The issue has been corrected in the Global Warranty System so claims will not be rejected. The Labor Time Guide will be updated with the next release in June.

  13. joe vettori says:

    I just looked up the labor op for silverado 6l’s for torque converter replacement. The labor is wrong in SI. it shows 0.0-0.2 instead of 0.0-2.0 hours. Same with Cadillac and GMC. This needs changed please!!!

  14. Marshal Buzbee says:

    Being a Certified Master Technician for GM dealerships ,specializing in transmissions with over 45 years experience , I have watched transmission times be cut to literally near nothing as compared to back in the day. I have watched and been a part of GM’s technology taking us from simplistic models to some of the most advanced units in the world. Clearly with this change in the labor times manual, GM is finally figuring out that the labor times have diminished to the point that GM has lost most of their ability to hire and maintain Transmission Technicians that have the ability to properly diagnosis and repair transmissions and drive lines. I have not seen the updated labor time guide yet but I hope that it finally compensates trans techs for their time. Thank you

  15. OLH is still available for repairs that require above the 1.0 diagnosis and 2.0 clean and inspect add times. Using your example for multiple failures, the torque convertor should be used as the causal part for the type of failure described. For any subsequent failures, such as the clutch or pumps, use OLH to repair those items.

  16. Zack Mullaney says:

    I am a Transmission Specialist at a very busy dealership. Because there are limited Technicians that do Transmission repairs, we get a lot of business from surrounding dealers. I average 6-8 transmissions a week, a majority of them being the 6Ls. Many of these units that I tear apart as a result of torque converter failure have other distressed components that need reconditioned, such as clutch components, fluid pumps and housings. I am very familiar with the 6Ls, but even so 2 hours just isn’t enough time to properly and thoroughly clean all the internals. Maybe in a very minor case, but 90% if not more of the 6Ls I see have extensive metal contamination and require full on overhauls. Meaning clutch housings disassembled, pistons removed, valve bodies separated, and pump disassembled. I spend minimum of 4 hours inside a unit reconditioning it, due to the severe amount of metal debris contamination incurred from the torque converter failures. I also don’t ever have comebacks, which I attribute to the ability to be able to spend the necessary time to perform a proper repair. If the goal is to ensure that us Technicians get compensated for our time, then there cannot be such a low amount of time allotted for such an intricate and complex repair. I have concerns about how this will effect my ability to do a thorough repair.

    1. When a unit has severe failure and metal contamination which would require more than 2 hours of cleaning time spent to properly ensure all metal contaminates are out of the unit, is OLH still available or do we just utilize the time spent best as possible?

    2. When there is multiple failures, how do we get compensated for the extra amount of time spent repairing/reconditioning those other components? Example: Most common failure on a 6L is a torque converter, but often times takes out the 4-5-6 clutches and the pump as a result of the failure. Using the converter as the causal part, how do we get the added time spent addressing these other subsequent failures/damage?

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