Courtesy of Todd Kramer:
Helpful Hints:
1. Penetrating oil on all nuts to be removed. Problem areas: Accordian Pipe, Exhaust to turbo, turbo to manifold bolts. I have sheared numerous turbo studs off; this will incorporate a four day turn around with your local machine shop to tap them out. Do it the night before as you ponder your task…
2. Consumables:
a. ALL gaskets need to be replaced; they are not cheap. I used ECS tuning because they could get them to me quick and were competive with most shops (Accordian pipe gaskets, exhaust to turbo, turbo to manifold, manifold to head, oil lines (top, bottom, and block … I bought material from Checkers and cut my own))
b. Nuts and bolts: the only hardware you can re-use (Bentley’s Rule) are the header and turbo studs and the exhaust manifold washers. The manifold bolts are a $2.50 (each) dealer only item (these are a non-negotiable replacement item … they are also used to attach the accordian pipe. The only I reused my best manifold bolts with the accordian pipe, but used new for the remainder. The turbo to manifold bolts are $11.00 (ea) dealer only item .. I re-used mine and have no leaks (14 months)
c. PENTOSIN antifreeze … you will lose almost all of your coolant .. just drain it all … and beware the lower coolant hose on the bottom of the turbo .. the head hold about a liter of coolant that will end up on the floor of your garage…position your basin accordingly.
3. Removing the turbo: Disconnect the lower oil line at the block. This makes the re-installation a breeze. Trying to attach the lower oil return line from underneath the car is a royal bitch. I also pulled the wastegate before pulling the turbo … made access to the manifold/turbo bolts much easier. Be careful, I have sheared a WG stud or two in my times. (See Penetrating oil comment)
4. Cut the studs like on the link … before you do this, thread your old manifold stud bolts on, with flat face out, this is a great way to make sure you chase the threads as you back them off. I cut #4,5,6 on the top and bottom … my last intall was an IA RS2 manifold, so it had some castings that needed to be ground to ease installation.
5. If you have my 12mm wrenches (send address), they make the lower nuts less of a PITA to install, and the box end will allow you to tighten them as best as can be done. Yeah, they are short and will required a million repetions … but they are much quicker than a standard wrench or socket. I would also suggest in investing in a 12mm gear wrench from Sears. The trick to tightening all the bolts is to put the manifold on the studs, finger tighten the corner studs to hold it in place, then install the rest of the bolts. Tighten all bolts to a 1/3 of the total length of the stud … three iterations. With the manifold against the head, some of the heads of the bolts will bind such that you cannot get a wrench on them … it will be painfully obvious if you tighten one too much…
6. Once the manifold is on, get the bolts as tight as a six point box end will let you … the bolts are a copper alloy and will round very easily … so don’t get greedy. Some bolts are easier to get to from underneath the car.
7. Re-install the turbo, remember to fill the top oil hole with oil before you connect the oil line. I used a syringe and spun the compressor wheel to fill the housing with oil…keeps from dryspinning the turbine shaft. I used teflon paste on the water lines … cheap insurance agains future leaks. I also used permatex non-hardening gasket compound to help seal the oil lines
8. Re-install the Wastegate
9. Install the downpipe loosely so you can, simultaneously, re-attached the accordian pipe. This can be difficult… When tightening the exhaust to the turbo, cross-tighten the nuts so you ensure a good seal .. top right, bottom left, top left, bottom right x 2 … sequentially tighten/torque the bolts (70% torque, 100% torque) … this helps not deform the gasket as you create the seal.
10. Once everything is back together, re-fill the coolant, fire her up and check for:
a. Oil Line leaks, top and bottom (gasket compound)
b. Coolant leaks, top and bottom (teflon paste)
c. Listen for exhaust leaks (clicks or puffing sounds); I used a 2-foot piece of hose to listen to the top and bottom of each cylinder and at the turbo connections and exhaust connections.. kinda like a stethascope (sp?), make the puffing very obvious … if you hear something, tighten that spot and re-check.
11. After a tank of gas, re-do step 10 to make sure everything survived the heat-cycles of day to day driving.