HOW TO: Remove your turbo

[CX7Haley]

I will probably update this many times as I remember the stupid little stuff so please feel free to ask questions. I do not unfortunately have pics, I was to busy trying to this fixed.

Tools:
Ratcheting box end wrenches. WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE
A 1/2 drive impact gun, got mine from HF and it is a beast!
1/4 drive, 3/8 drive, and 1/2 drive sockets 8mm, 10mm, 12mm, and I believe 14mm. (Got to be missing some)
extensions of all sizes.
1/2" breaker bar the bigger the better.
Just basically a good set of hand tools and wrenches are needed no special tools.

1. Remove the battery and battery tray. Do this first as I did not and it saved me in the end. At this point remove the intake track.

2. With the intake track removed move on to the inter cooler and all associated H/W.

3. At this point move over to the passenger side and remove the alternator, (of course after fitting getting the belt off)

4. There will be a air conditioning line running parallel with the valve cover. On the fender well or strut tower (cant remember) there is a bracket go ahead and remove nut holding it on. This allows for the line to be rotated out of the way and prevent loss of refrigerant.

5. At this point it is your choice on whether or not to drain the radiator. I did not but be warned it makes a mess.

6. Back to the drivers side now, remove your EGR. This is held on with 2 bolts, one electrical connector (please correct me if wrong) and a coolant line. Remember about it being your choice.

7. Once all this is done now start to remove all of the heat shielding. I believe it was three or four. One of them (mazda engineers you know what you can suck) that covers the cat in the down pipe, has the first O2 sensor in it. The way I found to get this out is to visit the local autoparts store and purchase a O2 sensor crowsfoot. I got the autocraft thick as crap one. Once this is all done you can remove that heat shield.

8. Next up on the hit list is the heater core lines. They work just like the PCV so if you can remove that you got this covered.

9. After all the prep down to the deed. Removal of the alternator allows for the impact to reach the down pipe studs. I soaked mine in PB blaster to ensure success. All of mine came out without issue.

10. Now jack the car as high as your jack will allow, and use jack stands of course. remove the two bolts that hold the down pipe to the rest of the exhaust.

(if you are short like I am its time to lower the car back down to ease access to everything)

11. Once the heat shields, O2 and studs are out of the turbo, use a raw hide hammer to bust loose the DP form the turbo, and out she comes from the passenger side out of the top.

12. It is big boy toy time. I used a 1/2" breaker bar to loosen the turbo studs (may need to pick balls up off the ground or get checked for hernia). Do not remove the studs just yet. get them loose!

13. The top line is the oil feed line. Loosen this and remove the bolt. Be to watch out for the 2 copper washers for the banjo fitting.

14. The two side lines are the coolant lines. Remove theses now again looking out for the copper washers.

15. Now the fun starts. That top line could not find a closer oil passage so it is located between the two locating holes for the lower mounting bolts on the alternator. Remove that bolt again another 2 copper washers.

16. Under the turbo is a bracket. That top oil line is bolted to that via stand off bracket. Remove that bolt.

17. With that oil line now loose remove that bracket. it is bolted on the bottom near the downpipe mounting location. Once all that is out of the way the oil line comes right out. The bottom drain line has two yes two 8mm bolts. Remove these and let the line sit. There is a gasket under there that was not found till the turbo came luckily i think its the cheapest dealer part in the world. 10 bucks for that guy.

!8. Now you can remove that broken turbo. unbolt it, if necessary a case of beer will bring a friend over to help with holding onto the turbo so it doesnt bash off anything important. the turbo just like the DP comes out the passenger side. Some love may need to be given via raw hide again to loosen that gaskets grip.

I wrote this in a rush so if I forgot something or you have any questions please feel free to edit, grammar bash, and add any pointers. Install is an exact reverse of removal. i used edgeautosports gaskets. Can not beat OEM. Sometimes. My motor was clogged this all happened over two weekends after doing the VVT replacement. Kerosene and brake cleaner will get all that gunky cheap ass oil crud out. Using an air gun and blowing through the hole the the alternator hides and remove the oil filter will knock all that crap out.

ONE LAST NOTE. GO VIP AND GET ACCESS TO THE MANUAL. IT HAS ALL THE TQ SPECS AND INSPECTION OF THE TURBO.

[Ozynigma]

Suggestion for us antipodeans. Refer to right and left not passenger and drivers side because half the world drives on the left hand side of the road.

[CX7Haley]

So sorry about the driver side passenger side thing will edit today. I'll put a note all directional is looking at the car from the front looking rear. Barney style lol.

[Ozynigma]

Originally Posted by CX7Haley So sorry about the driver side passenger side thing will edit today. I'll put a note all directional is looking at the car from the front looking rear. Barney style lol.

Suggest left and right off the car not as viewed from front. It's absolute that way.

Keep up the good work. I will have my experience to add when I get mine finished.

[CX7Haley]

I think I can manage that sorry about the forgetfulness of the write up, it is now our only daily driver, so getting it removed and put back together was a huge priority. I have to ad once I can sit down and go through it all again. And yes it is a PITA and really I would say a preference thing as far as which way to pull the turbo. I happened to do a quick Google machine search and noticed that other sites said you had to remove the transfer case and driveshaft which I thought and found out was completely useless info. There is always more than one way to skin a cat.

[Ozynigma]

@torquemaniac for your input. Do you think its easier to remove exhaust manifold than alternator to get to the down pipe nuts?

Also OP you can clamp the coolant hose rather than drain the radiator.

[CX7Haley]

Originally Posted by Ozynigma @torquemaniac for your input. Do you think its easier to remove exhaust manifold than alternator to get to the down pipe nuts? Also OP you can clamp the coolant hose rather than drain the radiator.

I personally removed the alternator to ease access to the DP bolts. After that it just seemed easier to get everything out of the car to rather than up and over the engine. Also I was concerned with the exhaust manifold bolts being corroded due to the block being aluminum and them being steel, getting physically to them and then worry about breaking them off. It just all seemed to go much smoother. If you do try to get the mani off let me know if that works. To me fighting taking/putting the belt back on was worth it.

[torquemaniac]

Originally Posted by Ozynigma @torquemaniac for your input. Do you think its easier to remove exhaust manifold than alternator to get to the down pipe nuts? Also OP you can clamp the coolant hose rather than drain the radiator.

I prefer to remove the manifold because it will be easier to put back the turbo from the top rather than the side due to the oil and coolant lines (its already a PITA to align the turbo with the oil drain line from the top...)

However, you can easily remove the alternator ducting (the plastic thing with the insulation on top) to gain some clearance (just 2 nuts to remove)

You can definitely clamp the coolant feed line (the rubber section of the line)...no need to drain the radiator, unless you plan on doing a rod swap

[torquemaniac]

Really nice initiative from the OP, but some pictures would really improve the how-to (although I know it is your daily driver and getting the turbo out/in was the priority)

I will post some pictures here when I take the K04 out for my HY35...

OP, did you rebuild your turbo or put a new one in?

[CX7Haley]

Yeah I feel bad about the pics I understand they bring life to the words. I'm gonna installing new boost pipes this weekend so I'm gonna snap a few that I figure will help out. A how to can really help out when looking at an assembled engine. For instance I had no idea the egr had coolant in it till I got a face full of it, and by that point it was all over the place. So clamping off the coolant lines will save a butt ton of effort for sure.

[torquemaniac]

I didnt need to remove the EGR when I removed the turbo...but I cursed a lot in the process

Did removing the EGR help with the access to the oil drain bolts?

[CX7Haley]

For myself yes it did it opened up a lot of room. Removal of the egr was more exploratory than necessity, but saved my rump in cussing and bleeding. I learned from working on aircraft if it's in the way and not terribly important just move it then reinstall. Saves time and knuckles.