Turbo replacement
 

All,
My father's turbo seals are shot and I will be heading to the junkyard this weekend to pull one so it can be rebuilt and installed in his car. I have looked in the archives, but did not find a good post detailing how big of an ordeal it is to pull a turbo. Is this easily done in a junkyard with basic tools? If not, what tools are needed that your normal DIY'er wouldn't have? I found the posts stating where to buy the rebuild kits, etc. So I am good there. I just don't want to drive 50 miles to the junkyards and realize I don't have all the right tools. Thanks in advance.

Big cheater bars if possible and lots of ball sweating! Even on a diesel be prepared to shear some bolts. I know I have on a diesel even though they don't get "as hot" as a gasser, rust is rust and grit makes life a real pain in the arse.

.........should we guess as to the engine in your father's vehicle..........???

Sorry Brian didn't even think about stating what car we are talking about. The car in question is an '83 300D. With as many of these as we have owned, I have yet to have to pull a turbo. From looking under the hood, it all looks pretty straight forward, but sometimes it is the little things that get you.

Others have pulled just the turbo from the manifold, but, I still cannot figure out how to access the four nuts..........a total PITA. My preference is to pull the manifolds and turbo together. That's relatively easy from the top..........however.........and this is the big issue..........there is a bracket that supports the turbo down beneath it. There is a nut at the top of the bracket and a nut at the bottom of the bracket. One of them must be removed. Neither of them are going to want to move. I'd bring a propane torch with some Mapp gas and some Kroil and pray that you can get one of them out without rounding the corners. I really struggled with the SD.

You can do all for turbo flange bolts with a gear wrench from above by reaching around and under the turbo. I would take that route over the full manifold pull, the support bracket is a pain in the arse. Once you have the four nuts off the flange you will need to pull the clamps on the "accordion" and remove the bolts that attach the flange at the rear of the accordion to get the it out of the way to pull the turbo off.

I have a good one with about 50K on a rebuild if you are interested. ;)

Remove the manifold - AND make sure that you remove the overflow hose from the radiator - don't lean on it and break it like I did. Plan on this repair taking most of a Saturday.

Removing the turbo by itself, without the manifold, will be really tough due to the rust weld that forms between the mounting bolts and the underlying studs. I tried PB Blaster, to no avail. I then tried using a propane torch, once again to no avail... I then resigned myself to removing the manifold, which finally worked. After freeing the manifold from the vehicle, I was able to remove the turbo using box end wrenches and a mallet.

I just did this job last sunday off a 78 300SD in the junk yard.

The air cleaner was already removed, so all I had to do was remove the manifold. For me just removing the turbo is a PITA trying to remove the 4 nuts off the turbo.

remove the banjo bolt on end of intake manifold 10mm? and the ATF dip stick tube bracket 13mm?

remove the exhaust, I removed the 3 nuts that hold the flange onto the accordion. used a drift and hammer and drove it off.

Remove the seven 17mm nuts that hold the manifold on. none hidden in a straight line from left to right.

remove the turbo oil supply line, two bolts on the turbo, a bracket on the R/R of engine and attached to the oil filter housing. or just be careful you don`t bend it.

The brace under the turbo has a bolt at the turbo and is attachet to the top rear of the motor mount arm. both are 17mm. just remove the nut on the MM arm.
If you want to fight the bolt, then use a 17mm combo wrench and slide your hand in from the front along side the eng coming in behind the turbo.
then using a wrachet and a extention & 17mm socket come in under the turbo from the other side.

there was a clip on this car that held the starter cable to the brace. I pried it off with a screw driver.

Then just manhandle it off.

Charlie ☺

Thanks for everyone's advice. I'll be heading out there on Saturday to see what I can do.

On another note, while I was at the LKQ junkyard, a nice guy was telling me about another yard up the road. For those of you in Houston, do any of you know of a yard north of West Rd, off of 45, that also allows you to pull your own parts? I have done some looking and can't seem to find what he was referring to. He indicated that the other yard tends to have more Mercedes to pick over. If any of you know, please enlighten me.