Before doing this job, think very carefully about if you really want/need to replace or upgrade your turbo. I am not a professional mechanic by any means, but I can safely say that I am good at working on my car. Replacing my turbo has been the worst job I have ever done in a long time. I absolutely underestimated it. So here are a few tips for those considering this job:
- You will come across steps or situations where you can choose between trying to make something work to make the job easier, or doing everything that you might have to do to take more time and do the job more properly. Often times this can be beneficial when working on a car. Do not do that with this job. Taking the turbo muffler off always sucks, but taking the turbo assembly out with it still attached sucks more. Removing the CBFA's extra O2 sensor while in the engine bay sucks, but taking the turbo assembly out with it still installed sucks more. Do the job the slow way. In this case, slow is fast.
- At this point, our cars are getting up in years and their mileage is rising as well. You're gonna have seized and snapped hardware. Know that going in and be ready to decide what to do when that happens. I had read about people in the past snapping studs that hold the manifold to the block. I didn't have to worry about that because I had a snapped stud before I even started the job. I had no idea. So get some good penetrant to prep the hardware and be certain that you NEED to take off a piece of hardware before you actually go for it.
- Just drain the car's coolant. This is something that someone had previously posted a few years back. I am glad I did because I still had a coolant mess even though I drained it. Skip the stress and just drain your coolant before you start.
Hopefully these tips help anyone considering this job. Happy wrenching!
- You will come across steps or situations where you can choose between trying to make something work to make the job easier, or doing everything that you might have to do to take more time and do the job more properly. Often times this can be beneficial when working on a car. Do not do that with this job. Taking the turbo muffler off always sucks, but taking the turbo assembly out with it still attached sucks more. Removing the CBFA's extra O2 sensor while in the engine bay sucks, but taking the turbo assembly out with it still installed sucks more. Do the job the slow way. In this case, slow is fast.
- At this point, our cars are getting up in years and their mileage is rising as well. You're gonna have seized and snapped hardware. Know that going in and be ready to decide what to do when that happens. I had read about people in the past snapping studs that hold the manifold to the block. I didn't have to worry about that because I had a snapped stud before I even started the job. I had no idea. So get some good penetrant to prep the hardware and be certain that you NEED to take off a piece of hardware before you actually go for it.
- Just drain the car's coolant. This is something that someone had previously posted a few years back. I am glad I did because I still had a coolant mess even though I drained it. Skip the stress and just drain your coolant before you start.
Hopefully these tips help anyone considering this job. Happy wrenching!
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