it works like a charm all the time

 

I wish you had been there when I pulled off my K26/6; the heads of the mounting bolts looked like chrome donuts. I have no idea what the previous owner was thinking (probably not much).

 

You CAN get the bolts out with power steering without moving the rack. I did it. Was a Pain in the *** but was able to do it.

 

I remember this on my 951. I remember one day spending about 4+ hours in the garage, swearing the entire time, only to emerge and tell my wife that I spent half the day removing 1 bolt! Good times.

 

I didn't have to remove the rack the past few times I took the turbo out. I don't have AC and I loosen both mounting bolts from the top side.

Travis's exhaust hardware kit is a must if you're pulling the turbo out for the first time in a while.

 

What Lart said. It worked for me 2 yrs ago on my 87 951. I had made a complete mess of the allen head bolts and the torx bit held tight. I tapped it into place with a small hammer and I was able to get them out.

 

Just did it tonight. Took me less than 10 minutes to loosen the manual steering rack.

Then those allens came out with ease.

Still trying to figure out the trick on the 4th bolt on the hot side of the turbo to the down pipe.

Mike

 

Grt news. Glad you got it out!!

 

Easy, remove the turbo with the downpipe still attached and undo the triangular 3-bolt flange.

 

Well popped some WD-40 on the #4 bolt and let it sit overnight (it's all I had at the house).

Came off with little effort this morning. 1/8 of a turn at a time -- patience is key -- but it worked.

Turbo in hand -- for better or worse - it looks great, feels great (no play in shaft), no residues or anything anywhere.

Feel like I somehow finally joining the true 951 ownership club -- I'll accept the invitation when I put it all back together and it still works :-)

Why was I pulling it?

I was pressurizing my crankcase and blowing oil out the AOS return line and blowing dipsticks when I had that line connected to a catch can, but restricted.

Now I have to decide if I should spend the $$ to have it "rebuilt" and know its good????

At least I can now do my 1" AOS upgrade.

Mike

 

I just got mine back in. Hammering in the cheesehead didn't work when I stripped the allen. Nor was it going too. My short bolt was so absolutely fused to the turbo that it would rather snap in half on the inside rather than twist out with the stud remover. In the end it needed to be drilled out and re-threaded. The guy who serviced the turbo said it was like someone had heat treated the bolt so much that it was super hard and super fragile which is why it snapped and was impossible to drill.

I replaced it with a stud and a hex nut. The longer bolt remains an allen head however as I didn't want to remove the steering rack to get a hex nut up in there. I could barely get the new allen bolt up in place with the loosened rack for some reason. I hope I don't regret not switching that one to hex as well. It's torqued properly and has a bit of anti-seize for the future anyway.

I used a dremel to cut the head off the shorter bolt and pulled the turbo straight up. It took ages but twisting it was not an option in my case.

My AOS isn't leaking anymore so hey. My dipstick tube still is. I've learned that one seal isn't enough. So now I'm going for two seals, and a bit of silicone sealant as well.

Next time the AOS leaks, I'm just going to buy some kitty litter.

 

You are going to be pissed when you have to work on the turbo again (face it – its always just a matter of time before you will pull the turbo to upgrade or deal with some other issue).

Putting in a stud and nut means that the turbo can only be removed by pulling it directly up. This will limit your ability to remove the turbo with any piping attached….

The allen head bolts are not a problem if you use a good clean allen head socket (forget any ‘ball’ type tools). I usually clean up the allen socket before trying to remove the turbo bolts – a quick touch on the belt sander gives the tool a nice square edge. Then you need to tap the allen socket into the bolt with a hammer to make sure its well seated. Works every time.

 

Way to go Mike. Feels good to rip into it doesnt it?

if you dont already have a set, I highly, highly, highly recommend a set of racheting box end wrenches for this car. So many tasks (like your #4 bolt) become trivial with one. the despot has a set that works and is pretty cheap.

 

What piping can the turbo be pulled with? It goes in and out with the stud with the downpipe on just fine but I have not tried the upper half of my 2 piece crossover. It sure would be nice to pull the turbo with that still attached but I hadn't thought it was possible. I might indeed curse the stud if it is.

But again keep in mind that my original bolt was frozen and stripped heads weren't my issue. Some perfect storm of heat cycling or rust was preventing any sort of twisting action. After I had the turbo out, I had the remainder of the stud sticking out and I soaked it for days with PB blaster and hammered on a stud remover. When I finally did get the stud to twist, it simply snapped in half inside on it's way out.

Well, at the very least, I learned to let the turbo service guy/machine shop fix that next time

 

Guys well my turbo finally gave out.......I have every taken off the turbo except the two main bolts...Ive been reading on your thread and tom I will try the torx bit. hopefully it will work. I just dont understand why owners just dont replace things.....Its like people with Ferrari's they buy them then trade them when a major service is due lol anyway that my rant....Hopefully I get to put my new turbo set up and and enjoy the 951