Discussion
Any ideas how to tighten the passenger side forward nut (one of four)that hold the turbo onto the exhaust manifold on a 91 SE ? The location is very difficult, I can touch it with my fingers but that's it. I'm hoping someone who has replaced their manifold will remember this nut and have some ideas on what tool(s) they used or created. Thanks
Yep. Take a 12mm box end wrench (I think it was 12mm nut, can't remember), a small one about 5 inches overall length, and cut it in half. You want the box end section you end up with to be about 2.5" long.
Take your bench grinder and grind down the outside of the "box" section that holds the nut so that it is thin (yours might be thin enough, mine was not). Needs to go on the nut easily with no clearance issues with the castings.
Then, put this tiny little "wrench" on the nut and use a 1.5 ft rod and small hammer to tighten it up. End up doing it 1/4 turn at a time but you'll get there.
There are probably other ways, but this worked for me and was easy to do. Oh, when tapping it tight I was accessing the nut from the left rear wheel wheel where you almost have a line of sight on the nut.
>> Edited by rlearp on Tuesday 19th October 12:35
>> Edited by rlearp on Tuesday 19th October 13:37
Take your bench grinder and grind down the outside of the "box" section that holds the nut so that it is thin (yours might be thin enough, mine was not). Needs to go on the nut easily with no clearance issues with the castings.
Then, put this tiny little "wrench" on the nut and use a 1.5 ft rod and small hammer to tighten it up. End up doing it 1/4 turn at a time but you'll get there.
There are probably other ways, but this worked for me and was easy to do. Oh, when tapping it tight I was accessing the nut from the left rear wheel wheel where you almost have a line of sight on the nut.
>> Edited by rlearp on Tuesday 19th October 12:35
>> Edited by rlearp on Tuesday 19th October 13:37
Use a u-joint socket. Not a socket plus an added u-joint, but a socket with an integral u-joint. The working space is limited and a separate socket and u-joint snapped together won't fit. The u-joint sockets are common. Snap-On probably makes the best in the US. It's fit on the hex-head is very good and the chance of rounding off the hex is minimal. The Sears unit is shorter than the Snap-On and fits in the space available a little easier, but both fit.
The head of the rachet handle will be too big to fit directly on the socket down behind the turbo, so use an extension to move the handle back behind the turbo.
The easiest access to those fasteners involves a little more work. Removing the boot floor/ bulkhead really improves access to the turbo... see the recent thread started by Dr. Hess titled "Boot Floor R&R" for more details. It's really pretty easy and sounds worse than it is. With the boot floor/wall out, you can use a long extension to get the handle comfortably out behind the turbo where you can easily grasp it and apply some real torque.
Be real careful about torquing used turbo fasteners. It's easy to snap a stud or twist the head off of a bolt. Along that same line of thought... if you go with the shortened box-end wrench, be very paranoid about tightening the nut by hammering on the wrench. That throws "controlled" torque out the window and imparts shock loads to an embrittled fastener. Smoothly applied torque is best.
All the turbo/ manifold fasteners are installed with lock plates. Was the nut that came loose installed with one? If not, it will probably just loosen up again. It would be best to install a lock plate and bend the tab over after the nut is tightened.
Good luck,
Tim Engel
Lotus Owners Oftha North
>> Edited by Esprit2 on Tuesday 19th October 16:07
The head of the rachet handle will be too big to fit directly on the socket down behind the turbo, so use an extension to move the handle back behind the turbo.
The easiest access to those fasteners involves a little more work. Removing the boot floor/ bulkhead really improves access to the turbo... see the recent thread started by Dr. Hess titled "Boot Floor R&R" for more details. It's really pretty easy and sounds worse than it is. With the boot floor/wall out, you can use a long extension to get the handle comfortably out behind the turbo where you can easily grasp it and apply some real torque.
Be real careful about torquing used turbo fasteners. It's easy to snap a stud or twist the head off of a bolt. Along that same line of thought... if you go with the shortened box-end wrench, be very paranoid about tightening the nut by hammering on the wrench. That throws "controlled" torque out the window and imparts shock loads to an embrittled fastener. Smoothly applied torque is best.
All the turbo/ manifold fasteners are installed with lock plates. Was the nut that came loose installed with one? If not, it will probably just loosen up again. It would be best to install a lock plate and bend the tab over after the nut is tightened.
Good luck,
Tim Engel
Lotus Owners Oftha North
>> Edited by Esprit2 on Tuesday 19th October 16:07
Tim,
I dunno how you get the 12mm U socket on that thing. I bought the Craftsman 12mm U socket (U$9) specifically for that one nut. Could not get the thing on there for anything. The turbo compressor is in the way. I finally got it off by removing the oil drain (return) line from the turbo and using a regular combination wrench.
Other notes: The left front nut was a PITA. Got it off by removing the exhaust flange from the turbo, which gave me some more room to work in. I think that if I took a 12mm open end wrench and bent it into a S shape, that would be ideal. Box end wouldn't fit. The left rear nut was accesable with an open end, but I had to wait until all the other nuts were off because I had to lift the turbo a little to get the nut off because it was hitting the body at the end of the thread. The right rear nut I could get off with a standard socket on an extension, no problem.
Taking the floor/wall out was definetly the way to go. It would be extremely difficult without doing that.
Dr.Hess
I dunno how you get the 12mm U socket on that thing. I bought the Craftsman 12mm U socket (U$9) specifically for that one nut. Could not get the thing on there for anything. The turbo compressor is in the way. I finally got it off by removing the oil drain (return) line from the turbo and using a regular combination wrench.
Other notes: The left front nut was a PITA. Got it off by removing the exhaust flange from the turbo, which gave me some more room to work in. I think that if I took a 12mm open end wrench and bent it into a S shape, that would be ideal. Box end wouldn't fit. The left rear nut was accesable with an open end, but I had to wait until all the other nuts were off because I had to lift the turbo a little to get the nut off because it was hitting the body at the end of the thread. The right rear nut I could get off with a standard socket on an extension, no problem.
Taking the floor/wall out was definetly the way to go. It would be extremely difficult without doing that.
Dr.Hess
I found the problem.. The exhaust gasket between the manifold and the turbo is bad. The previous owner used a standard gasket, not a metal one that's required. Does anyone know if the gasket can be replaced without completely remove the exhaust manifold? (maybe by moving the turbo enough to slide the new one in?)
Thanks
Thanks
I happen to have the very gasket you speak of in my hand right now. I am using it to model a flange in CAD. I think that the way to go is to remove the turbo, not the manifold. If you loosen everything up going to the turbo, you should be able to lift it enough to clear the studs and put an new gasket in. I think you can leave the water and oil in alone, but you may need to loosen the bracket the water pipe goes through.
Dr.Hess
Dr.Hess
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