Breaking your turbo bolts loose after 14 years?

[4G63 GST]

I have a 90 Eclipse GST and i just bought a BIG 16G turbo for it. I have full three inch mandrel bent exhaust, crushed bov, and an srp manual boost controller. I'm probably going to install it with in a day or so and wanted some advise from people on whats the best thing to do to break the rusted out turbo bolts off with. I know theres like spray stuff you can use but im not sure what it is or what steps to take. The last thing i want to do is start unscrewing bolts and have them twist off on me, screwing up my day.

Anyone with help or advise for me with experience on a car this old please help!! thanks!!

Luke

 

[dave99gst]

break them loose while the turbo/mani is warm ( not burning hot )

 

[joeym4130]

I just changed the original o2 housing out of my 91..that was a long job for 4 bolts the day before i sprayed it on the bolts before i went to work, then when i got home i whipped out the breaker bar and carefully applied pressure, they didnt move so i sprayed them again and went to bed, did it again the next morning and then in the afternoon all the bolts came out, intact!! I will be using the same strategy when changing the turbo...just lots of patience, dont want to break things unless its the only way to get them off.

another pb blaster story, was i was trying to get the hangars off my ORIGINAL exhaust and i couldnt after spraying it for 2 days. i sprayed it again before i went on vacation for a week....then bam they came right out haha....this stuff is great if u give it the time!

 

[ProjectTalon130]

Use PB Blaster, Nuff Said.

 

[4G63 GST]

sweet how much is the pb blaster usually? where can i get it? .. and is it a common occurance to have to wait a couple days for it to fully loosen?

Thanks!

Luke

 

[psychlow]

Yes, it is common to wait a couple days. Sometimes, it might take 3-4 sprayings. I usually like to start spraying almost a week ahead of time on cars that haven't had the botls removed in a long time, but maybe I overkill it.

I also spray it down and then drive the car (if it so happens to run at the time ) and repeat. Smokes like crazy, but I've replaced two stock turbos and two stock exhaust manifolds on two DSMs, and never broken a bolt.

 

[blcknspo0ln]

i'm with psychlow. spraying one night in advance isn't a no no :thumbdown

last time i had to remove all the studs I sprayed for 4-5 days STRAIGHT. once in the morning, once at night... my exhaust mani bolts and turbo bolts came right off the second time around. I also let the car reach idle temps too before breaking them loose.

 

[ProjectTalon130]

sweet how much is the pb blaster usually? where can i get it? .. and is it a common occurance to have to wait a couple days for it to fully loosen?

Thanks!

Luke

Its around $4 or so at Auto Zone, if you go to a local shop like Napa , etc its closer to $6.... its the best penetrating oil out there.

 

[4G63 GST]

Alright .. i bought this rust penetrating spray that said it was used to break bolts loose that had been rusted on for long periods of time .. blah blah blah

I sprayed some on and im gonna prolly do it for the next couple days before i take on the task of the turbo swap.

Question: Are you guys spraying just around the heads of the bolts and stuff or what.. thats what i did but i wasnt sure if you were unscrewing them slightly to get into the threads. I doubt it but i want to make sure im doing it right before i do it again.

Any tips on spraying id love to know. Thanks!!

Luke

 

[blcknspo0ln]

The stuff just burns off once you reach half way to idling temperature.. I went kinda trigger happy on the bolts and nothing but good things came out of it :laugh:

 

[FearceDSM]

PB Blaster a few days before the job is a good start. Try not to use a huge breaker bar or pipe to break the nuts and bolts loose. Also, when you go to apply force for the tough ones, do it in short bursts and not apply constant torque to the breaker bar.

 

[1fast97gsx]

I somehow got mine loose but crossthreaded them so I got to redrill the holes in the new turbo and rethread them. Then the bigger bolts wouldn't fit into the guides on the exhaust manifold so I got to enlarge those too :laugh:

 

[Omega]

You guys are also forgetting our friend the propane torch! It might be a little hard for the turbo bolts since there is a lot of surrounding metal that will absorb the heat... but turn those bolts cherry red and they will spin right off

 

[4G63 GST]

Dont have a torch .. so ill try my luck with the pb blaster.

 

[turbolarry]

A 2 to 3 foot breaker bar plus some spray and they come right out.