Dropping The Turbo

[HParfitt]

Hi,

I need to drill for a pre turbo thermocouple. I just don't feel comfortable with not dropping the turbo. My question therefore is. When the 4 nuts are removed from from the flange above the turbo is there enough play in the exhaust to put a thin piece of aluminum to block off the turbo inlet? Or does the exhaust elbow need to be removed? If the exhaust elbow needs to be removed have you been removing the oil return line from the turbo to protect it from possibly being crimped?

 

[LightmanE300]

I've read of several folks that were able to drop the turbo just enough to slide a piece of cardboard or something in there to catch shavings. Myself - I drilled between cyls 3 and 4, and used a magnet to sweep up the shavings. No issues many miles later.

 

[Jeff_K]

Just loosen all the bolts and leave the nuts on a couple threads so it does not come right off. The turbo only needs to drop enough to get a small piece of cardboard in. I put some duct tape around the edges and made a little box so when I pulled the cardboard out nothing fell through. You are not really going to hurt the exhaust side of the turbo if ant shavings get in there anyway, so just get as much as you can and don't worry if a few fall through.

 

[Mark_Kendrick]

Hi,

I need to drill for a pre turbo thermocouple. I just don't feel comfortable with not dropping the turbo. My question therefore is. When the 4 nuts are removed from from the flange above the turbo is there enough play in the exhaust to put a thin piece of aluminum to block off the turbo inlet? Or does the exhaust elbow need to be removed? If the exhaust elbow needs to be removed have you been removing the oil return line from the turbo to protect it from possibly being crimped?

Don't bother. Most of the shavings are deposited outside the maifold. the few that do fall will blow through. Turbos are a bit more durable than a couple of metal shavings. A little grease on the bit and the tap will minimze the the already miniscule risk.



don't make it any harder than it has to be.



Later,

Mark

 

[TDovi]

I installed the three gauge Autometer package last summer and used a tip from the internet. I offer it to you as a suggestion. Tape your exhaust outlet almost closed with duct tape. Leave a very small opening for exhaust to exit but closed enough to build up backpressure at idle. Drill the manifold with the engine running. The back pressure BLOWS the chips out. Have your drill and tap ready. It just takes a couple of minutes to do it all. The manifold hardly even has a chance to warm up. BE CAREFUL. The chips exit with a vengance. Use eye protection. I was very worried about drilling the man. I can tell you this worked great. I am POSITIVE not one chip fell in. Hope this helps.

 

[drewRoberts]

I just made sure to keep the drill bit greased up good. then when I tapped the threads I did the same and pull the tap out, cleaned it good, applied new grease and went back to cutting threads. I went a full turn each time I pulled out to keep as much metal out of the mainfold.



put in the temp probe, fired the truck up, heard a few pings of metal hitting the turbine blades, reversed the thermocouple leades since guage was running backwards, hoped in and left, no problems yet.

 

[Cattletrkr]

Put a vacuum cleaner hose next to the drill bit. Worked for me 3 times. Once for an EGT and twice for boost. I also shoved a rag into the intake and pulled it out when I was done, removing any shavings with it. Not sure if grease really does any good as the shavings it's going to catch are already on their way up.

 

[LesStallings]

I used wheel bearing grease and tried to be careful, cleaning the drill and tap frequently the re-greasing.



Droping the turbo seems a little over-rated. If you have time to burn, OK, but many of us have be sucessful not doing it.



I never heard a thing when I started it up. I do like the idea of restricting the exhause, but be careful with the motor running and don't get hung up in the fan or belts.

 

[NDanecker]

Pulling the turbo down isn't that much work. You can do it easily from the wheel well by removing the liner. I don't think its necessary as most shavings won't even fall or get to the turbo outlet (cardboard) until you start it up (probably fall on horizontal portion of exhaust manifold).

If you drill the manifold right before the flange/turbo, be careful where you drill. There is a flange inside the manifold that splits the front and rear cylinders.

Here are some links that make for some good reading.

Good Luck


https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?t=111380

https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?t=111912

 

[robertyoke]

I installed the three gauge Autometer package last summer and used a tip from the internet. I offer it to you as a suggestion. Tape your exhaust outlet almost closed with duct tape. Leave a very small opening for exhaust to exit but closed enough to build up backpressure at idle. Drill the manifold with the engine running. The back pressure BLOWS the chips out. Have your drill and tap ready. It just takes a couple of minutes to do it all. The manifold hardly even has a chance to warm up. BE CAREFUL. The chips exit with a vengance. Use eye protection. I was very worried about drilling the man. I can tell you this worked great. I am POSITIVE not one chip fell in. Hope this helps.

if you have an exhaust brake, turn it on and you will have the same effect.

 

[PBerry]

I was worried too before drilling mine. I set a shop vac hose right next to my hole and when i got close to going through added some grease to the bit. there were only a few bigger pieces that fell through and used a q-tip with grease and fished them out in a jiffy. I would not hesitate to do it again.