cheanging turbos

how hard it is to cheang the turbos?how should i start first.i think the rear turbo is the hardest then the oil line should be the hardest.

it can be a pain, but its not really hard. I guess i can do a mini write up for you.

Things you will need:

10 mm, 12 mm, 14 mm, 17 mm, and 19 mm sockets
at least a 3/8" ratchet
1/2" breaker bar
A universal swival joint that allows you to angle your sockets
P.B. Blaster
All the oil and coolant gaskets, and exhaust gaskets that you take apart
Upper to lower intake manifold gasket
And maybe some misc tools and a prybar

First thing you do is spray all the bolts down with PB Blaster the night before and let them soak so they will come off easier.

Step 1: remove the battery from the car, and then jack the car up and put it on jack stands.

Step 2: Take the plastic shielding off from underneath the car, drain the oil from your oil pan, and drain the coolant from your radiator.

Step 3: Disconnect the MAS, and pull the all the intake piping out of the car. Then remove the y-pipe, all the intercooler pipes that go from the y-pipe to right across the front valve cover, and remove the hard intercooler pipe that connects to the rear turbo.

Step 4: Remove the upper intake plenum and throttle body, i like to just leave them attached together so that I dont have to worry about getting a new gasket for it.

Step 5: Remove the two coolant hoses from your radiator, one on top and one on the bottom. Then undo the 4 bolts that hold the two radiator brackets in place, then pull the radiator out of the car.

Step 6: Remove the big plastic heat shield from the front and remove the big plastic heat shield from the rear. And you probably just never want to put them back in your car again because they really don't do much good.

Step 7: Get up under the car and disconnect the downpipe and let it sit on the floor.

Now its time to start pulling the turbos.

Step 8: Disconnect the oil return lines from the oil pain, then disconnect the oil feed lines from both turbos. Next disconnect the coolant lines from the turbos. If your having trouble getting to the bolts on the turbo, then just disconnect the lines from the thermostat housing.

Step 9: Disconnect both O2 housings from both turbos. There are 4 nuts on each one.

Now the only thing holding the turbos on are the exhaust manifolds. Since the front one is the easiest, lets start with that.

Step 10: Remove the 3 bolts from on top of the front exhaust manifold, and the front turbo comes right out. Be sure to place the oil return line on your new turbos before installing them. Use the new gaskets as your putting stuff back on. The new front turbo just goes back on the same way the old one came off.

Step 11: Now there are two ways you can attack the rear turbo. If you have a TD04 turbo that uses the stock turbine housing, the easiest way is to undo the clip that connects the cartridge to the turbine housing and the bolts that hold the wastegate, and just pull half the turbo out of it, and insert the new one making all the new connections. There are alignment pins to set the turbo to the correct clocking. This seems to be the easier way.

However if you need to pull the entire turbo out of the car, there is one nut on top, and 2 (a bitch i might add) underneath. Using long extensions and possibly even the universal joint, you can get the two out from underneath, then the entire turbo comes out. Just put the new turbo in the reverse process.

Step 12: Once you have the new turbos in, make sure you connect all the oil and coolant lines, and put everything back on in the reverse order, and your done.

If you have anymore questions or need anymore help, i'll be around.

Ya forgot about the case of Bud Light :D

nice info though Hotshot...maybe even FAQ worthy...??

Ya forgot about the case of Bud Light :D

nice info though Hotshot...maybe even FAQ worthy...??


lol if i ever thought about it, i would even go down into a write up of how to rebuild your engine. about the only thing in my engine bay now is the shortblock and tranny. I'll be sure to take pics sometime this weekend.

Edit: You could have a case of budlight (even though i'm not a drinker), but try to stay away from getting drunk if you do attack bud light. You want to make sure everything is attached properly and take your time so that you won't have leaks and have problems when you finished.

thanks ,how long it should take me with two people?i thought the rear turbo should be the hardest.how about the oil lines is it hard to take them out?i am worry about oil line alot.

thanks ,how long it should take me with two people?i thought the rear turbo should be the hardest.how about the oil lines is it hard to take them out?i am worry about oil line alot.

i can do a turbo swap on a saturday and sunday by myself, so if ya'll know what ya'll are doing, it shouldn't take too long

the oil lines aren't bad. Probably the easiest way of the oil and coolant lines on the turbo are to disconnect the oil return lines from the oil pan first. Then to undo the oil feedlines, on the front turbo, use a 17 mm bolt to undo the feed line from the top. For the rear, use a 12 mm open end wrench and (i think the other size you will need is a 19 mm wrench, but i'm not sure. An adjustable will work find too). Use the larger wrench to hold the adapter piece in place that actually goes into the turbo cartridge, then use the 12 mm to undo the oil line that goes into the adapter piece. As for the coolant lines, it'll probably be easier to just undo the clamps and hoses from the thermostat housing, then when you pull the turbo off, you can undo the banjo bolts with either 17mm or 19 mm sockets, then undo the oil return line from the turbo with a 12 mm socket if i remember correctly.

At this point, if your oil and coolant lines are old, i would definitely recommend replacing them. Replacing the oil lines is definitely a must though if they have seen some miles because they are probably caked up with oil. You can buy replacement lines from either mentor mistubishi (www.mentormitsubishi.com) or rockville mitsubishi (www.mitsupartsdirect.com). I recommend buying your gaskets from here http://www.store.partsdinosaur.com/page26.html

When you reattach it, attach the oil return lines and the coolant lines before you put the turbos back in. Once you get them mounted then connect the oil return line and the coolant lines back to the car. Then you can connect the oil feedlines to the turbo.

Just be careful though when mounting the banjo bolts to the turbos, not to overtighten, because they will strip. Believe me, i've done it before. At least the advantage to the banjo bolts is that they are hollow, so if you strip one, all you need is an easy out to get it out.

Ya forgot about the case of Bud Light :D

nice info though Hotshot...maybe even FAQ worthy...??

FAQ worthy indeed!

Its been added :grinyes: