winston69

iTrader: (30)

Evening all

Right, I'm considering fitting a new turbo on my drive, doing a full coolant change, whilst the turbo's off and also doing an oil change and probably fuel filter whilst at it.

I have no tools at the moment but have been thinking. Been quoted £120 to fit said turbo and then would be extra for the coolant and oil etc so probably looking at £160 - £200 all in if I supply the needed parts...

Am I mad considering doing this myself or is it not that hard of a job? I'm quite mechanically minded and have read pretty much every thread going, have changed all my brakes and suspension in the past but this is another territory for me.

As I said I have no decent tools at the moment, always used the old man's, but after today I've decided I need to buy some decent sockets etc of my own, so hence instead of using the money to pay a garage to do the work I could use it to buy some decent 'ish' tools?

All advice, opinions, guides a tips greatly appreciated

BTW it's a MY99 uk turbo, swapping out the TD04 for a VF35

Cheers in advance folks

jayallen

iTrader: (31)

As long as the nuts come off without an issues its an easy Job, i changed one in under an hour but was lucky with the nuts.

winston69

iTrader: (30)

Well the downpipe was off not too long ago as I had a sports cat fitted, so that shouldn't be too much of a b1tch. The heat shield and the up pipe are probably a completely different story though

jef

iTrader: (13)

imo you could have heavily corroded bolts/threads todeal with,

iirc some need a decent "wobbly" extension to get a good grip on some of the nuts/bolts.

its prob worth a shot

just wouldnt expect it to be a half hour job.

jayallen

iTrader: (31)

You can guarantee if any of the nuts holding the turbo on is going to be a biatch it will be the one thats tucked away!

winston69

iTrader: (30)

Well I have use of another vehicle so I'm not bothered if it takes me 2/3 evenings... Any good guides out there for all the jobs? Turbo, oil and coolant?

Any good advice on the tools I'll require for everything?

scooby uk

get yourself a teng tool socket set quite cheap and very reliable got every socket a scooby could ask for!

winston69

iTrader: (30)

Which kit?

jayallen

iTrader: (31)

The turbo removal/refitting is pretty straight forward, the oil return tube can be a little tricky sometimes...No real specialist tools needed apart from as Jef says a wobbley socket for one of the nuts.

Coolant wise, it can sometimes be a pain getting all the air out of the system when refilled...

Oil, refill the filter before fitting, fill engine with oil, disconect the cranck sensor, turn over to regain oil pressure.

Plenty of guides about fella...

winston69

iTrader: (30)

Yeah oil's not a biggy, do you need a special tool to remove the filter though?

It's the coolant I'm concerned about as it needs changing anyway, got some pink rubbish that apparently eats aluminium in at the moment so that needs to go asap...

Do I also need to keep anything off the TD04 that needs swapping onto the VF35? wastegate is it...?

jayallen

iTrader: (31)

Depends what you have got with the replacement turbo.

winston69

iTrader: (30)

Everything needed I hope - https://www.scoobynet.com/subaru-par...f35-turbo.html

winston69

iTrader: (30)

Socket set? - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Teng-Tools...ht_2130wt_1163

chasey

iTrader: (2)

I use a 2l pop bottle with the end cut off, wrap tape around the threads of the cap until it a snug fit in the header tank, then disconnect the hose going from the head tank to the small pipe that runs along the top of the radiator. Tape the end of this pipe to the top of pop bottle, if you dont water will fill up the bottle near the battery and you`ll be forever topping up the water. Fill the head tank and pop bottle with water and coolent, this gives you a slight head pressure to force all the air out of the system. Start the car and let it warm up a little but dont leave it running too long, you will notice small air bubbles escaping from the pop bottle. If you arent in a hurry it best to leave over night just to ensure all the air has been removed.

This works everytime for me, it also helps detect any head gasket issues as you will see large air buubles in the bottle if you have a head gasket issue.

Also soak the bolts on the turbo in penol or WD40 for a few hours before removal and never do it hot as you can strip the threads.

Hope this helps a little.

winston69

iTrader: (30)

Will I need new gaskets or the old ones reusable?

petethemeat

iTrader: (6)

I would opt for the halford professional socket set ( when on offer for £99) - 1/2 inch drive and much more versatile than the teng one above.

petethemeat

iTrader: (6)

Oh and this is the method I have used on two occasions recently for changing the coolant

Run your engine until the rad kicks in (this ensures your thermostat is open)

Looking down at your radiator from the top (drivers) side you will see a little tap. May be easier to see if you do it from the bottom (under tray off). Loosen this tap and this will drain the coolant – take your header cap off to aid this draining but IT WILL TAKE AGES so go and make a brew or something.

Note: At this point you may still have some coolant left in the system , looking at your radiator the right hand side you will see a coolant tank – this is the overflow and you may see some coolant left in here. When I changed mine I didn’t worry about this as I figured such a small amount wouldn’t matter. If you wanted to you could remove the bottom hose on the rad which I think MAY get this out of the system.

Your cooling system takes around 7 litres, pre mix this to a 50:50 concentration and prefill the system via the small rectangular header tank (near the driver’s side suspension turret) – take it SLOW and periodically stop to squeeze the top and bottom hoses to expel any air. At this point when you have some fluid in the system run the engine (get a mate to keep their eye on the temp gauge). It will be useful to raise the revs slightly as this will aid getting rid of any air. Fill this up until it is brimmed.

Then move on to the expansion tank on the RHS of the rad and fill this to the max marker.

Run your engine until the fan kicks in, keep your header cap off (near suspension turret) and keep topping up as required. It will take a little time to fully settle around the system.

Once your happy leave it to cool and check the levels a few hours later , topping up if necessary.

The above is the method I used, which did the trick and resulted in no airlocks etc.

winston69

iTrader: (30)

OK thanks. How would you go about flushing the old coolant out?
The halfords professional set are 12 sided sockets and not the recommend 6 sided ones though?

winston69

iTrader: (30)

Anybody else have any words of wisdom please? And I guess the answer to the original question 'Am I mad', would be a no?

burbling1

iTrader: (1)

I changed the turbo on my old 95 wrx and found it quite easy. I would get a good penetrating lubricant and give all the bolts a good squirt the night before. The hardest part I found was trying to get the intercooler pipe back onto the turbo. Changing the oil and coolant is easy make sure you fill the oil filter with fresh oil first (its suprising how much it takes to completely fill it) as for refilling the coolant take your time as mine was a bugger at air locking and I found that removing the top pipe from the expansion tank then holding my finger over the pipe outlet on the tank then sealing my mouth over the tank filler and blowing until only coolant came out of said pipe was the most effective way of getting rid of air. Make sure there is always plenty of coolant in the tank. Hope this makes sense and good luck. Try not to rush it and improvise on the tools you use as not having the right tools can make an easy job into a complete f*ckup.

Green01323

Hi, i`ve just fitted an SC36 to my classic, was in the same boat as you, never done before. i brought myself a halfords professional tool kit £100 on offer, comes with a lifetime garantee and they are very good quality tools.

When changing the turbo just make sure you know exactly where everything goes so it can be put back together with ease and get some decent gaskets too!

winston69

iTrader: (30)

Is that toolset always on offer or should I grab one asap?

winston69

iTrader: (30)

???

mickywrx

iTrader: (29)

They are on that offer fairly frequently, but, would get one whilst you can.

I would personally take the radiator out and give it a good flush through with a hose pipe, there's only two bolts that actually hold it in place.

You'll probably need new gaskets for the turbo.

winston69

iTrader: (30)

Yeah going to get new gaskets and bolts. Good idea to flush the radiator, thanks for the advice fella

elad89dale

No your not madd me and a mate just took my engine out my bug eye this weekend with no engine crane and only a halfords pro tool set.
Sure ul be ok

midnight

iTrader: (10)

Winston go for it ,i last changed a turbo on a MG montego turbo I had 15 years ago and it was a right ballache,but i did it.After that i vowed i would never do another turbo swap in my life.Since owning my 2 impreza's i have swapped the turbo's 3x, and a fitted 5 x td05's to my mates cars.
A couple of tips : get your gaskets from here:http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Subaru-Imp...item518fc5d91f

All genuine subaru gaskets at the fraction of dealer price.

You also might want to consider some of these,which are always handy to have:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1306714996...84.m1423.l2649

When taking off your turbo bolts ,forget all the bull about soaking them in wd40 overnight ,Wd40 is a water repellent spray.I have found they come off a lot easier if you make sure the engine is HOT when you undo the bolts. If you get some really stubborn bolts , there is a spray which i use that you can spray on the bolts and it is 95%guaranteed to get them off without snapping.
Once it is off just check the top water inlet on your vf35 is facing the same angle as your td04,and swap them over if is not.When fitting your new turbo make sure that the bottom oil return pipe fits into the hose and a good set of extra long nosed pliers will allow you to pull the spring clip up to secure when its fitted.
Take your time and check all your pipes and prime the turbo before fully starting. Hopefully it should all go well,and if your stuck post back up here.As your car is a 99 it may not be that bad,i recently changed a 96 wrx and had to use the spray ,but got them all off intact.Best of luck.

winston69

iTrader: (30)

What's the spray fella?

petethemeat

iTrader: (6)

Re spray - I use super slacks on almost everything that is stubborn - its quality stuff , I am sure on occasions I would have been stuck / faced with snapped bolts in the past without it. Unfortunately I got it given so not sure where to purchase.

In terms of flushing the old coolant out - It didn't worry me as the amount remaining was minuscule. The drain on the bottom of the rad will do the business.

The halfords pro kit has a selection of 6 and 12 sided sockets. Good luck!

tom-r33

iTrader: (2)

blow torch if nuts are really stubborn!

try to use 6sided sockets, less chance of rounding off heads. breaker bar helps alot

halford professional range is good for lifetime warranty but they do break! fairly easily, especially the ratchet spanners - so bear that in mind if you're putting alot of force thru them!