Changing exhuast manifold on SR

[HyperTek]

quick question.. I need to swap out my ebay manifold to my stock one, I know I originally swapped the manifolds when the motor was out of the car, what I wanted to know is how difficult is it to swap when the motor is in the car? The turbo bolts look like a pain to get at, so any tips would be appreciated.


Do i need to pull the turbo out completely? or do I just unbolt at the flanges and let it hang with the lines/downpipe still on it? Or do I have to redo everything and put i nnew fluids? I jus need to do a quick switch over and I dont really want to be taking hours on something this simple. Thanks.

[Team Rootbeer]

you can get to the turbo bolts. its just a pain
i had to do the same thing you are doing once, i used a 13mm swivel head gear wrench to get to the bolts. hope you have small hands! haha

but its much easier to just remove the mani/turbo as one and just duct tape the ends of the lines so not much comes out. then just add w/e came out when everthings back together.


good luck

[prang11]

Get ready to bust some knuckles. Just disconnect the turbo elbow from the downpipe and pull the turbo and the manifold in one peice. Thats how I have always done it. May take longer but oh well.

[HyperTek]

ic cool thanks.. luckily i dont have work tomarrow so i should be able to do it without having to drive anywhere.. gonna paint my ic piping black while im at it

[motegineon]

yea i just took off the turbo outlet and pulled off the mani/turbo together once the lines were disconnected, prolly take ya like 5 hours to have it all done n back together, depending on experience

[DrIvEsldEwAyS]

i pulled out the mani,turbo and turbo elbow, took a little while the first time but it gets easier, the hardlines are a PAIN, make sure you dont bend them or it will be harder to put back in, and its best to have a helper

[frankist]

its not to bad, but.. takes a while. get new washers for your banjo bolts before starting on it though.

[Kuzumi]

while you are at it, you might want to get some ss turbo lines :)

[slideways2004]

while you are at it, you might want to get some ss turbo lines :)

+1. i will NEVER try to put those back in. i rather pay $170 for some ss lines then to cross thread the banjo bolts into the block.

[djkowai]

hardlines are such a pain in the ass. We took out my manifold twice without aftermarket turbo lines and it was the most irritating thing in the universe both times. Yeah when me and my buddy did it we also unbolted the turbo elbow and downpipe and then just took the whole turbo+manifold off.

[sblack13]

pull it out all as one piece. Your making more work if you leave the turbo there, i don't even know how that would work. It would probably just bend the lines for anything the turbo is heavy. for begginers it should take 1-2 1/2 hours to pull it. For me about 30 minutes.

Your gonna need

14mm Wrench, 13mm Wrench, 12mm Wrench (optional)
Ratchet
Extensions
Phillips and Flathead Screwdrivers
Pliers
8mm, 10mm, 13mm, 14mm, 17mm, 19mm Socket


I'm going to tell you how I do it.

1. First unbolt all the 8mm clamps holding all the intercooler pipes on.
2. Next unbolt your intake piping along with the maf harness set it aside, remove the stock recirculating blow off valve tubing. Along with the catch can assembly. Unplug your 02 sensor from the harness.
3. Loosen all 14mm nuts holding the manifold to head, be careful and keep the nuts together with the washers. Do not remove completly.
4. Next step, get a Ratchet Extension and a 17mm socket for the Oil turbo line. Becareful and try not to lose the washers. It is best to get new ones but not reccomended to reuse.
5. Next up! the coolant lines there is 19mm close to the oil line, same as the oil line pretty straight forward.
S13 SR20: Ok if you have a s13 sr20 Nissan decided to be jerks and made it hard for us. There is a 19mm bolt facing the engine. I've always delt with by using a small extension. I had to give the water line slack, by removing a 12mm bolt on the back of the head. Once it's off you are good.
Another way is to disconnect the rubber line from the coolant line near the firewall. But I must warn you, putting it back is a bitch and a half.

S14/S15 SR20. Nissan likes us so much better, they decided to put a line going to the waterneck. So just unbolt that and you are good to go!!

6. Unbolt the 3 14mm nuts holding the downpipe to the turbo elbow. Use a deep socket 14mm duh!!

7. Under the turbo is a oil return tube. You can either use a Phillips screwdriver or an 8mm. Disconnect to tube and remove from the block.

8. Ok now remove all the 14mm nuts that are still holding the manifold on.

9. What I like to do is, remove the 10mm bolt holding the Oil Dip Stick tube onto the waterneck. I move it out of the way, to give me more space, to pull the turbo assembly.

10. Check your clearances, if anything is blocking you, remove it. Your turbo should come out. Don't be frustrated just yet, it may take a couple minutes. But it'll eventually come out.

Final Note: be careful threading the bolts back, don't freak out and panic if they aren't going back in. A trick is to loosen the line from the other side where it is bolted to give you some slack.

Should't take more than 1 - 1 1/2 hours if you don't fool around.

Thanks- Rory.

[yokotas13]

it should NO MORE than 3 hours start to finish with stock lines. hardly a bad thing.

just pull the whole assembly like everyone else

[Dutchmalmiss]

yeah +12431234123 for the ss lines. this may help, may not: undo that bolt holding the dipstick tube to the motor and move it over. it just might give you a little more room. helped for me.

[EJ253]

i didnt know it was such a paint to swap manis. i guess thats goin to the end of the list

[sblack13]

another tip i use, is to loosen up the 19mm waterline facing towards the strut tower. To allow you to line up the water line easier, this also works for the oil line. But is harder since the 12mm nut is hardier to tighten when the mani is on the engine.

I actually timed myself on this today, it took 45 minutes. Although no intercooler/ intake pipes/exhaust where on. Since we're in the middle of an sr swap.

[yokotas13]

yeah the shit that takes a while is hte intercooler piping, waiting for car to cool, training fluids etc

[HyperTek]

ugh turbo exhuast elbow catching on steering column.. weeeeeee

[sblack13]

^move the oil dip stick tube out of the way.

[HyperTek]

ugh pos .. leaking at the hardline banjo fittings.. i bought some new washers at kragens that are for oil drain plugs, they fit.. but the water line into the block leaks.. cross threaded/stripped the oil line block threads that leaks too, any way I can save this?

no one has the SS lines in stock .. G Dimensions can make me some by tomarrow

[HyperTek]

haha tomarrow gonna be day 3 lol
just becuase i dont have the proper ride to go pick up lil bits here and there that i run into, and having full days of work in between.. lol