Hey guys-

Started the k04 swap a couple days ago. I'm an engineer, and I have hands-on know-how, but I'm no awesome mechanic. That being said, I've never done a turbo swap before, and was a little wary about doing it, since most diy's made it sound so easy. Most said it took 4 hours start to finish.

That is total crap. Maybe if you're an expert mechanic, and you've done it before, and you run into absolutely no snags... but that's not the sort of person that's going to read a DIY... so needless to say, fairly misleading.

I guess I should document my progress, in case there's anybody else out there who wants to know, or wants extra information if they're going to try it themselves.

First thing I did was go out and buy some high quality 5w40 amsoil and a filter. Got home 50 bucks later, and drained the current oil (almost due for a change anyway). Let it drip.

I popped the hood, and took out the airbox. Pretty simple, there's a couple screws to a heatshield, a couple screws for other various attachments, etc. When I got it all disconnected mechanically (there were still electrical wires running to it) I just pivoted it up and rested it close to the windshield. It's nice and out of the way, so I don't have to worry about mixing up the connections when I put it back together.

Next, I took off the turbo / cat nuts and washers. The top two are reasonably easy to get, the bottom one I had to reach all the way up from underneath back near where the exhaust system levels out (farther back) with a couple long extensions and a universal joint. Not too bad, since I've done that before. They came off pretty easily.

I then decided to take off the turbo / manifold bolts. This is where I made my mistake. The outer two (passenger side) came out with some decent force, nothing crazy. The inboard one (near the block) started to come out about the same as the others, and then suddenly started to get difficult again... I didn't understand. I figured it was just a rust spot, and would work itself out as I wrenched harder. Not so. I gave it a little more force and sheared the top of the bolt right off. I screamed at the top of my lungs many curses. Dad tells me if when taking a bolt out, it gets hard again, you need to use some PB Blaster, tighten it up, and "love" it out. That's my inexperience biting me in the ***. Live and learn, right?

So instead of taking off the bottom mount and hoses / lines, I set to work taking off the manifold. It was actually pretty easy, there's 13 nuts holding it on. 8 on the top, 2 on the bottom outside of the ports, and 3 in between the ports on the bottom. After I got those off (the only tough thing was catching the nuts and washers after loosening them), the manifold had a pretty good wiggle.

Looking at the turbo, there was two very obvious fluid lines running into the top of it. The outboard one is the oil input. It came out remarkably easy, with a tiny bit of oil dripping out after I removed it. The other one was coolant, which of course gushed everywhere, and I had to run around like an idiot getting a drip pan for it. Probably a solid gallon or so, just guessing. I thought by holding the line up after it was disconnected, it wouldnt gush out.... wrong again. came out of the turbo connection. (Sometimes I wonder how I manage to walk and breathe at the same time).

I had a slightly difficult time getting the 6mm allen bolt out that connected the turbo to the bracket on the outboard / down side, but with a little perseverence, that came out.

I disconnected the oil return line at the oil pan, since that'd be really hard / impossible at the turbo. I rotated the turbo towards me a bit with the wiggle room, pulled the manifold out, and that gave me access to the other coolant line. Took that guy off without too much effort, and then was able to pull the turbo itself out, with a little help from the bottom, someone feeding the oil return line up through.

That's where I am right now. Took a few pictures of the old and new turbo, and the empty hole in the engine bay.

Next, I'm going to go buy a new exhaust manifold gasket, new assorted nuts and washers, and at least one new turbo / manifold bolt to replace the sheared one.

After that, I'm going to swap all the fittings from the k03 to the k04, and installation is reverse of removal, right? Har har. I'll document that too.

Also, I'll go through how I made my fmic from an ebay diy kit (cxracing). I don't have any pictures right now.

Pictures!


The hole


Closeup, you can see the exhaust ports.


The old k03


The remains of the sheared off bolt. I guess I'll try and vice-grip it out with pb blaster and a torch if necessary.


exhaust manifold and gasket. I had no idea the gasket was like tri-ply... there's 3 little ones all jammed together. Hooray german engineering.


The k03 and the g-popshop k04.


one more pic of the ugly old k03.

I'll post again when I make more progress... probably wednesday. (scuba class tomorrow, Graduate seminar and Machines/Mechanisms first day of classes tuesday night. I'm excited. )

 

looking good - DIY's always seem to have something pop for me too. Its never as simple as it looks. But in the end you can look back and say you saved yourself some $$$.

 

nice dude, looks like your making some headway, sux you hado to remove da mani....good luck w/ da re-installation!

definately post some pics of da KO4 in da bay, and the diy FMIC....

I am sure you already can feel all of this hard work paying off, can't wait to follow in your footsteps!

 

Sucks you had to take the turbo off with the manifold still attatched.. Its a good idea to soak all the bolts with pb blaster the day before, and day of the "operation" and also have some propane on hand. The support bracket bolt and fishing the oil line from the oil pan were probably the hardest parts right?

 

i like the natural ice commercial on the last pic

 

damn...i like to wait till i have more money and let a shop do it.

that way if anything happens i can take it back and make 'em fix it.

 

Natural Ice + Diet Coke = [8D]

 

Cool, looks like a fun learning experience. Props for doing it yourself, it'll make other work on your car seem like a cakewalk, and you'll be proud to say you installed the turbo yourself.

 

Thanks for the responses. Yeah, the support bracket bolt sucked pretty bad, and the oil return line was somewhat tough to fish around... but no biggie. and yeah, i thought somebody might notice the natty ice. I don't drink it, dad does. (weird... i'm the college grad and i actually spring for the "expensive" alcohol.... labbatts, stella, wine.... and he says 'natty ice is cheap, get off my back'. Wierd. He also drinks it warm, which is just disgusting.

 

By the way, that new turbo looks so pretty, even more so when placed next to the old oily k03.