Anticipation....

[XGoldman]

How long does it take for penetrating oil (I'm using PB Blaster) to loosen an exhaust housing? I started spraying it 4 days before I removed it from the truck and have been spraying it twice a day for the last 3 and still no luck. Previous threads have said not to tap on the housing for fear of bearing damage. What should I try next?

 

[JFitzgerald]

I just swapped mine a couple weeks back. I sprayed it with PB Blaster too, about 4 times during the week before. All the bolts, and the connection of the turbo to the hot side. You can give the turbo a pretty good whack without fear. I used a big rubber dead blow hammer on the cool side housing. I wouldn't use much force with a steel hammer though. Just be holding it when it does come loose so the fins don't get bent by it falling, or hitting the housing. Maybe mine came apart easier than most. Even the 4 studs into the manifold came out easily.



I left the hot side attached to the engine and removed the turbo. That way, the engine acts like a vise and holds it nice and sturdy. It is a snug fit, and it seemed to work best if I worked it side to side evenly.



Oh yeah, make sure you remove the lower oil return line before you try to remove the turbo from the hot side. I learned the hard way. The turbo came loose, but the oil line was still holding it in place.



HTH, John

 

[BushWakr - RIP]

Some of the guys have really had a nasty time getting theirs off, others, like me had no problem at all. I did just what you're doing (with liquid wrench) and pulled the whole turbo off to work on it.

I did not use the hammer trick personally, but I was ready to, as a last resort.

What I did that worked real nice was to start the bolts out, then place a metal spacer between the bolt head(s) and the drive side of the housing, using it as a "base" and, in an "X" pattern, slowly back one at a time out in sequence. The spacer acted like a wedge in reverse sorta thing.

Some have done it this way and used an occasional "persuasion" with a hammer which has worked.

I used an old plastic milk crate with a hole in the bottom to hold the turbo still and slowly wound out the bolts.

It popped off like a bad tooth.

JFitzgerald made a good point, be sure to try and keep the housing from hitting or bending the turbine fins, if you do your hooped

One last thing, make sure that if you remove the whole turbo, you mount it straight up and down so the oil inlet/outlet are verticle to allow for good oil return.



Bob.

 

[MDKram]

It is a very easy job if you leave the turbo bolted up to the exhaust manifold. Remove the air inlet hose, disconnect air outlet clamp, remove oil drain tube, disconnect oil lubrication line. Loosen the 4 bolts in the exhaust housing of which only the 2 side ones will come out initially. The pressure gallery and drail gallery prevent the upper and lower bolts from coming out. Next, use a combination of 30mm and 35mm long M6 bolts with nuts to act as little screw jacks to separate the center section from the exhaust housing. (A little variation on BushWakr's technique) No matter how stubborn the housing is, it will separate in very short order. By leaving the turbo on the manifold, you can continually spin the shaft to ensure there is no binding during separation(without having 3 hands!). No big hammers involved! I spray penetrating oil on the region in question before I grab my tools. Let it sit for 20 minutes and you're ready for action. Turn each of the little screw jacks (bolts + nuts) in 1/4 turn increments. I usually use 3 equally spaced between the compressor housing and the exhaust housing. When you reassemble, put some never seize on the mating surfaces. Hope this helps.

Marc

 

[XGoldman]

Thanks for the info guys. In my first 2 hr session I tried everything that I could lay my hands on to use as spacers for the existing bolts. I did lightly tap the exhaust housing with a hammer. My net result was a minor sunburn and approx 1mm of movement. After a trip to the hardware store I made up some M6 bolts/nuts with washers and 1/4" sockets as spacers. With these "mini-jacks" I finally got the housings apart. Everything is back together and ready to go now. (exhaust is next) How long should I hold my breath to see if I hooped my bearings in the turbo?