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How to remove the coolant under the turbo???


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Under the turbo on my 86 GL10 is a coolant hose which needs replacing...is there a way to replace this hose without having to remove the turbo and exhaust to get at the upper part of the hose...the previous owner had the pipe replaced 2yrs ago at some shop who installed some no-name brand of rubber hose and it has now become absolutely brittle after only 18000mi. of driving...You'd think that after charging the guy $200 for labor, they could have put a better grade of pipe...I replaced the hoses made of this same material...scary to feel and a very unexpecting way to destroy the motor

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I'm sure that you could replace it without taking all that stuff off, but it would be very frustration. At a minimum I would remove that cooling shrouds. You had better use a genuine Subaru part here, the extra money you might spend would be great insurance. If the coolant hose that runs under the turbo does break or leak, I'd be willing to bet that you would know it long before you would damage the engine. The steam generated by the water hitting the exhaust would be blinding.

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I tried to replace mine without taking the turbo off, and as you can guess, the car won that little battle. The easiest way is to just take the 4 nuts off of the downpipe and use a prybar to pry between the downpipe flange and the turbocharger, pushing it toward the firewall until it clears the studs. It should pop right off. This will give you access to the nut on the mounting flange that is at the rear of the turbo. Coincidentally, this nut is partially obscured by the downpipe flange when it is bolted on. The other 2 nuts can be gotten to by using a 6 inch extension(to clear the body of the turbocharger) and a 14mm socket. Just remember before completely removing the turbocharger mounting nuts, remove the coolant pipes from the turbocharger(I think they are 17mm bolts that hold them on) and also take any clamps that might be holding rubber hoses off before removing the turbo unit itself. Before you reinstall the turbocharger, just make sure that your mounting flange gasket and downpipe gasket are still in good shape, otherwise of course they will need to be replaced with fresh gaskets. Who knows, maybe if you have the resources, you can do a little porting to the exhaust inlet and wastegate area of the turbocharger while it's off. Hope this info helps.Patrick

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Are there any other small parts to buy..for example any gaskets for the turbo..I have spare exhaust gaskets..Thanks...

I'm sure that you could replace it without taking all that stuff off, but it would be very frustration. At a minimum I would remove that cooling shrouds. You had better use a genuine Subaru part here, the extra money you might spend would be great insurance. If the coolant hose that runs under the turbo does break or leak, I'd be willing to bet that you would know it long before you would damage the engine. The steam generated by the water hitting the exhaust would be blinding.
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No unless your gaskets are damaged and leaky. Just make sure that you doon't lose the little copper washers when removing the coolant lines(they go between the pipes and the turbocharger housing and also between the bolts and the pipes).

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I just did this the other day, without removing the turbo. I just removed the cooling banjo part as well, this can be a pain too(to re-install), if you haven't done it before. It was an easy job overall.

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I did it on my turbo wagon about 5 years ago. I did it outside in the winter, and I mostly remember hating the car for about a month afterwards.

 

I managed to do it without taking the turbo off, since the nuts were all rusted solid, and I didn't have a decent wrench set.

 

Anyways, it's possible to do the job without taking the turbo off, just be prepared for more frustration.

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