Well She is Down Hard Now!

[lessard.dcj]

Thought i would do a little down pipe upgrade today after work, followed Airjor13's write up. all was going smooth untill...

step 6. "Break" the 3 bolts (10mm) holding the DP to the hot-side of the turbo, top 2 are accessible from the top, the 3rd one is easier from the bottom. Once the DP is free, remove the small plate by the shifter cables, 3 bolts, when you see it you will know what I am talking about.

i dont know if Ford knows what Never Seize is but i got 2 of the bolts out after spraying with Deep Creep, still took a while and a slow go as they were in for life.
Bolt number 3 the upper one you cant see without sticking your head way in there came out nice until the last third of the threads it suddenly jammed up, so i tried to put it back in and try out again but it jammed some more. left it sit with some Creep on it for a bit and when i came back it started to turn until a sharp and sudden SNAP...

i am so Fnckin pissed right now i could burn the car and whoever decided that exhaust bolts should be installed without Never Seize on them.

off to ford it goes i guess. Unless someone can give a suggestion!

 

[_Hunter702]

Just drill the bolt out with a small diameter bit.

 

[lessard.dcj]

would try that if i could get a bit 6-8 inches long to reach. the location is damn near impossible.

but thanks i may look into it in the morning.

 

[JPGC]

I snapped off one of mine too when I did my downpipe. Lol it's still like that...I just got the others nice and tight. No leaks for now. I may eventually fix it when I upgrade the turbo in the future, but as long as it's not leaking or causing me problems, I'm going to leave it be. I do know your pain. The bolt in mine was straight up cross threaded.

 

[Sekred]

That's real bad luck there. Sounds like the threads have "picked up". It happens some times, it happened to me heaps of times over the years.
Once its seized up like that you can't go either way, the bolt breaks as you found out.You need to pull the turbo, take to a good work shop to get it drilled and the thread re-tapped. The bolts are high tensile stainless steel too, not the easiest to drill. Must be drilled dead centre or you will have more problems.

 

[Kip2MyLou]

Is this a common thing when upgrading the downpipe? I would like to know so I can tell my mechanic to watch out.

 

[lessard.dcj]

Is pulling the turbo from here a big job? I have a drill press. If pulling the turbo isnt going to be bad then i may do that.

All turbos should have v band clamps.

 

[lessard.dcj]

Can i pull the turbine side of the turbo off? Just to get the part i need to fix.

 

[SecretSquirlTuned]

from the point your at now, taking the turbo off is another 20 min. just soak the remaining bolts with PB Blaster and let sit for and hour then carry on. If you have a drill press your set!

 

[CanadianST]

I guess I was one of the lucky ones where my bolts came out nice and easy with no problems. As others have said make sure you're drilling dead center or you'll run into problems lining everything back up when you're done.

What I always do is take a center punch with a sharp point (if you don't have one use a bench grinder or something similar to make one) and a 5lbs hammer and make an indent in the center of the bolt so there's something for the bit to find it's way into. After that it's just the slow process of drilling it out, if you don't have good hardened steel bits I'd highly recommend them they make life so much easier than trying to drill with a cheap bit that will lose its edge in a few seconds when drilling through hard metal. After that grab a tap and dye set and put new threads into the hole. Not sure if you knew all this already but throught I'd mention it just incase

 

[Sekred]

I have not removed the turbo, why don't you ask Sourskittle. he has probably remove the turbo more times than anybody else on this forum.
If you have a drill press, drilling the bolt dead centre will be easier. Use a pilot drill bit first. I think the bolts are 10mm so use a 10mm "taping" drill-size wise next. I always use a metal cutting compound when drilling high tensile steel, it reduces the effort needed by about 50% and helps stop the drill bit blunting and there is less chance of breakage.

 

[RAAMaudio]

You can just take the housing off and make it easier, just be careful of the turbine wheel and you will be fine.

BUT, if you take off the turbo you can do the much needed and very worthwhile manifold porting

 

[Kip2MyLou]

So you need to remove the turbo to install the downpipe?

 

[rodmoe]

So you need to remove the turbo to install the downpipe?

No DP can be installed without removing the turbo

 

[Kip2MyLou]

I'm lost then. What's this thread about? Ha.

 

[rodmoe]

I'm lost then. What's this thread about? Ha.

He broke a bolt while taking his Stock DP off and needs to get at the broken part to drill it out and for that you need to remove the turbo and get it on a drillpress or some such device..

Here is the picture of the broken bolt it is the shiney silver bit inside the hole on the flange for the turbo.

 

[Kip2MyLou]

That's what I thought. I'll be getting a new downpipe installed by my mechanic so I wanted to know how hard it is before so I can warm him. Ha.

 

[lessard.dcj]

ok so i finished with the repair about 3 hours ago 740pm now. ill post a write up on what i did. took all weekend and almost didnt make it thanks to a 2j de-fouler improperly made.

 

[lessard.dcj]

for write up

 

[airjor13]

Good lord man that must be frustrating given the location sorry man