Well ive had a few days off from work so went fishing yesterday and did the motor today. My plan was to remove the turbo and manifold "without" removing the head or dropping the subframe, this was indeed a very! knuckle crunching experience to say the least, ive read lots of turbo removal guides and read lots of peoples experiences with the issue.
As i thought there are 3 ways to remove the turbo 1) remove subframe and work from underneath (my pit was already in use as the bmw isnt very well atm so that wasnt much of an option). 2) remove the head and go at it full frontal! (easiest option but most costly aswell) I stupidly went for option 3) work around the head and and try to remove it that way...... Epic fail!! this method lead to some unkindly remarks every 10mins followed by a cigarette and cuppa tea and to wash the blood off my battle wounded hands/forearms.
I did mechanics and engineering at college and know my way around engines and thought this would be a "walk in the park" as i had most tools to hand. I started the day at a bright and early 8am, by 10am i was hopeful with my success and thought that its not as hard as every1 makes it out to be. with the heat shield removed and all other bits out of the way i had a go at the bolts from the turbo-downpipe, nut 1 one top flew off, Mawghhhh! i thought . nut 2 wasnt much of a problem either, then came the bolt on the underside of the DP.
This was where it all went horribly wrong, after an hour trying to bend my arm in ways thats not humanly possible i thought id give something else a go. so i moved onto the oil/water-return/send pipes. 2 of these where straight the other 2 bolted behind/underneath just blew me away and i soon gave up and moved back to the DP bolt. After alot of harsh words many fags and alot of caffeine i was beaten, i was left with 2 options: move the bmw off the pit and put the s3 there and go from below or take the head off.
As i wanted to remove the manifold aswell i decided to take the head off. This was the route i should have done in the 1st place. with everything off and head ready to be unbolted i scanned over elsa for a quick bolt removal sequence and went for it, "Owww NO!" whats this? these head bolts look funny and then the saga got worse. by this time it was late afternoon and i got on the blower to find out if any of my mates had the correct ribe key to fit my head bolts. with no luck i went to see a good friend who owns a scrappy, he supplied me with an M10 ribe key. WHOOP! i thought, so i raced back home and low and behold the key didnt fit, it was to big. so i had a read on here to find out why it didnt fit. back to the scrappy i went to grab a M9 ribe instead.
I know this wasnt the right size as the audi one is a M10 (but a very odd M10, more like an M9.5) the M9 fitted with some slack, but snug enough to use my 2ft breaker bar and slowly edge them out. Bingo! head bolts out and head removed. then shortly after i had the Turbo off. with the manifold and turbo now sat on the side in the garage i inspected them for any damage.
A crack on the outer edge of the housing and one in the middle, both of these could be seen on the outside.needless to say im guessing thats why my car was down on power.
The crack goes all the way around!
I was hoping that neither the turbo or mani would have a crack, I'll now be shelling out on a New K04 and i already have a V3 xs mani to go on it. Im also tempted to do the rods while the head is off as im going to drop the sump to change the pickup and have a friend baffle it for me.
Tho one quick question: should i fit new rings or will the old ones be fine?
Lesson to be learnt from today is: Do not attempt to removed the turbo without either dropping the sub or removing the head or you will get hurt! your neighbors will! think you vile for swearing so much, your kettle will constantly be on feeding you much needed caffeine and if you smoke; buy 40! youll need them
As i thought there are 3 ways to remove the turbo 1) remove subframe and work from underneath (my pit was already in use as the bmw isnt very well atm so that wasnt much of an option). 2) remove the head and go at it full frontal! (easiest option but most costly aswell) I stupidly went for option 3) work around the head and and try to remove it that way...... Epic fail!! this method lead to some unkindly remarks every 10mins followed by a cigarette and cuppa tea and to wash the blood off my battle wounded hands/forearms.
I did mechanics and engineering at college and know my way around engines and thought this would be a "walk in the park" as i had most tools to hand. I started the day at a bright and early 8am, by 10am i was hopeful with my success and thought that its not as hard as every1 makes it out to be. with the heat shield removed and all other bits out of the way i had a go at the bolts from the turbo-downpipe, nut 1 one top flew off, Mawghhhh! i thought . nut 2 wasnt much of a problem either, then came the bolt on the underside of the DP.
This was where it all went horribly wrong, after an hour trying to bend my arm in ways thats not humanly possible i thought id give something else a go. so i moved onto the oil/water-return/send pipes. 2 of these where straight the other 2 bolted behind/underneath just blew me away and i soon gave up and moved back to the DP bolt. After alot of harsh words many fags and alot of caffeine i was beaten, i was left with 2 options: move the bmw off the pit and put the s3 there and go from below or take the head off.
As i wanted to remove the manifold aswell i decided to take the head off. This was the route i should have done in the 1st place. with everything off and head ready to be unbolted i scanned over elsa for a quick bolt removal sequence and went for it, "Owww NO!" whats this? these head bolts look funny and then the saga got worse. by this time it was late afternoon and i got on the blower to find out if any of my mates had the correct ribe key to fit my head bolts. with no luck i went to see a good friend who owns a scrappy, he supplied me with an M10 ribe key. WHOOP! i thought, so i raced back home and low and behold the key didnt fit, it was to big. so i had a read on here to find out why it didnt fit. back to the scrappy i went to grab a M9 ribe instead.
I know this wasnt the right size as the audi one is a M10 (but a very odd M10, more like an M9.5) the M9 fitted with some slack, but snug enough to use my 2ft breaker bar and slowly edge them out. Bingo! head bolts out and head removed. then shortly after i had the Turbo off. with the manifold and turbo now sat on the side in the garage i inspected them for any damage.
A crack on the outer edge of the housing and one in the middle, both of these could be seen on the outside.needless to say im guessing thats why my car was down on power.
The crack goes all the way around!
I was hoping that neither the turbo or mani would have a crack, I'll now be shelling out on a New K04 and i already have a V3 xs mani to go on it. Im also tempted to do the rods while the head is off as im going to drop the sump to change the pickup and have a friend baffle it for me.
Tho one quick question: should i fit new rings or will the old ones be fine?
Lesson to be learnt from today is: Do not attempt to removed the turbo without either dropping the sub or removing the head or you will get hurt! your neighbors will! think you vile for swearing so much, your kettle will constantly be on feeding you much needed caffeine and if you smoke; buy 40! youll need them
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