Swapping Downpipes and O2 housings

[Gregory]

It's been a while since I've posted on the forums, so hello to everyone!

First, here is the question. Essentially, what I want to know is can I swap 02 housings without taking the turbo off the car? It looks promising, but I wanted to check with you guys first.

Here's my question with a little history... A while back when I upgraded to an E316g, I had a problem meshing the stock downpipe with what I was told was a "stock ported O2 housing." To make a long story short, somehow I ended up with the evoIII housing, so I had to throw on the stock unported housing back on. Now, I've finally sprung for an upgraded downpipe that should fit the evoIII housing, so my question is, if I take off the bolts on from the O2 housing to the turbo and unplug the O2 sensor, will I be able to just drop that down out of the car with the downpipe without any trouble? Of course, I'll also be reversing the process with the new parts.

Thanks for any help!

Best,
Greg

 

[BoostedinSoFla]

Shouln't be a problem at all. It will be a PITA though because of where a couple of the bolts are but with the right tools you should be fine. I take it you got a RRE downpipe to mate to your Evo III O2 housing?

 

[Gregory]

Yea, I think I should be ok with the tools. Yea, I got the RRE one with the different angle for the EVO turbo. I put it off for so long because the price of the downpipe succeeded the price of my cat and catback combined, but I'm glad I did now because they seemed like really good honest people and they were very quick and professional.

If anyone else see this being a problem, please let me know. I think I'm going to try this all tonight at my friend's shop.

 

[Cnock]

let me know how it goes and what tools are exactly needed. I have to swap my O2 housing soon and have been putting it off.

 

[mccurdy]

I did my 3'' cat eliminator downpipe and my o2 dump tube install myself, and i didn't drop the turbo.

However, i did have to unbolt and plug my coolant line (or some metal line) that ran right where i needed to put the o2 housing around. That part made it a pain in the arse, but i avoided dropping the turbo. If you can angle it right and get it up in there, great, if not be prepared to have spare liquids handy to refill whatever you may have to drain when getting past your turbo/engine lines.

Oh yeah, my install took like 3 hours b/c of the hiccups. Be prepared

 

[Gregory]

let me know how it goes and what tools are exactly needed. I have to swap my O2 housing soon and have been putting it off.

Will do. I'll post to this thread when it's all done; probably tonight or tomorrow.

I did my 3'' cat eliminator downpipe and my o2 dump tube install myself, and i didn't drop the turbo.

However, i did have to unbolt and plug my coolant line (or some metal line) that ran right where i needed to put the o2 housing around. That part made it a pain in the arse, but i avoided dropping the turbo. If you can angle it right and get it up in there, great, if not be prepared to have spare liquids handy to refill whatever you may have to drain when getting past your turbo/engine lines.

Oh yeah, my install took like 3 hours b/c of the hiccups. Be prepared

Thank you for the heads up. I'll make sure I have some around, otherwise I'll be stranded . I really really hope that I don't have that problem because this is going to be a major PITA as it is because we will be doing some cutting and welding to make this exhaust work the way I want it to, so I really hope I don't have to spend stupid amounts of time on the O2 housing. Thanks for the reply!

 

[mccurdy]

Yeah i feel ya man. I dont remember if it was turbo return lines getting in the way, but theres this really long and thin tube/line that totally blocked the way for my install. hopefully its turbo related and your turbo isn't a PITA like mine was. Good luck.

 

[DSMunknown]

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/newbie-forum/267054-removing-o2-housing-without-removing-turbo.html

 

[Gregory]

Thanks for the link. BIG HELP. I had to push the project back to tomorrow night. Till then...

 

[Gregory]

Ok, so it was done. The dipstick did become a little bit of a problem and had to be removed because the bolts weren't super easily accessible. After that, it was a breeze with everything else. Very happy with the results. It's now 2.5 inches until after the drop on the downpipe, and then 3" from there all the way back.

 

[Cnock]

what exactly did you have to do to remove the dipstick? Do you think it will make a difference that im AWD? What tools were used? Sorry ive just been putting it off and i want it to go as smooth as possible.