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Up-Pipe and Oil Leak Questions

2K views 10 replies 4 participants last post by  crashz 
#1 ·
I had determined that my up pipes were leaking at the riverside manifold and that I needed to replace them.

First - I think I was wrong. I think I was hearing the EBPV instead of a cold exhaust leak. The up-pipes to collector and manifold connections are are rusted tight. But I'm committed now.

What I did was loosen the collector bolts first. The manifold bolts were so rusted, that they barely resemble the originals. so i cut cut them with a hacksaw blade on the drivers side. The problem now is that they are rusted tight in the manifold and I can't get them out. They are soaking now in penetrating oil, but I'll try a little heat next weekend.

Not sure how to tackle the passenger side. One nut came off, but the bolt heads are basically gone.

BTW- every nut bolt and clamp was a nightmare to remove. I soaked everything in PB Blaster before I started, but it was not enough. When people state that you should pre-soak for a couple days, they aren't kidding! i wish I could dip the whole truck in a vat of PB Blaster for a week!

My waste gate head is rusty, so when I [pulled the red line off, the nipple came with it.

I was able to remove the turbo, but the rear bolt was broken (completely loose and likely my oil leak). The front bolt broken during removal. Thats OK because I'm doing the EBPV delete, so I have the new exhaust outlet and pedestal.

I'll be putting the new outlet on the turbo and a anti-surge wheel from RR. I bought the rebuild kit, but I may hold off for now. Not sure I have the time. And the shaft has no noticeable play, spins smoothly and doesn't rub.

So my questions for the group:

- Does the wheel and shaft need to be balanced or can I just screw this one on?
- Any ideas how to remove the exhaust bolts on the passenger side manifold? Its awful close to the starter and I'm afraid of breaking the manifolds. Tight spot for torches or a drill too.
- Should I replace the waste gate, upgrade or just cap the line and run it?
- Should I really spend the extra time to re-build the turbo? I feel like everything I touch is breaking already.

Thanks for any and all advice!
Leo
 
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#2 ·
Yes, get it balanced. It spins too fast to have any imbalance. And to question 4, yes rebuild the turbo while its off. Its not hard and there are step by step instructions on dieselorings.com Welcome to BDrummonds Van Turbo Rebuild Web Page

No one takes out the manifold bolts. Just cut them. They aren't screwed into the manifold - they go through a hole and then through a flange on the up pipe with a nut on the other side. Cut them and knock them out. Welcome to Pocket's International UP-Pipe Replacement Web Page

Yes, get a wastegate. Maybe not rebuild yours, but get a Big Head or TurboMaster. You don't want to blow up your freshly rebuilt turbo the first time you pass a rice burner.
 
#3 ·
Thank you RT! That's exactly what I needed!

I can only think of only one shop within an hour's ride of here that does turbo work, so I may just drop the turbo off with them and have them rebuild it with the new parts. I'll get a quote first, but since I'll need to make the drive anyway to have the turbine, shaft and compressor balanced, I'm thinking that's the way to go. Plus, its less parts that I have the opportunity to break!

I'll cut the remaining parts of the bolts off and maybe the heat generated will help loosen the stuck plug portion. Was just a little worried about snapping off the ear on the manifolds. Would need a 55 gallon drum of PB Blaster for those bolts!

I quickly checked Rock Auto for the stock wastegate and they don't list a replacement part. But I see BD and aFe make a upgraded part. I'd like to adjust it to maintain stock boost levels (I'm adding my gauges finally too).
 
#4 ·
Just an update:

Those bolts in the manifolds are so stubborn, that I have only gotten one out successfully. They are all cut at this point, and the upper passenger-side one looked to be the most promising point to start. I beat on that bolt for hours, without it budging. I used the old nut to center my punch, and only peened my punch over. I've been soaking them in PB blaster for a month! I heated it with a small torch with no luck, heated with my O/A torches until it was cherry red, nothing but a near fire in my engine bay. The bolts are so hard that center punches peened over without giving me a starting point for a drill. Didn't matter, because cobalt drill bits wouldn't touch it anyway. The only headway I made was this past Saturday with a Dremel tool and carbide cutter bit. It ground a hole in the bolt, which I then drilled out (wasting two 1/4" bits). One down, three to go.

The other three have some part of the bolts left that I can grab with locking pliers, so, I'm hoping to be able to twist them out.

Never buy a truck from the northeast...
 
#5 ·
Holy cow!!!!! I thought my up pipe's where a challenge, yours sound like a freaking disaster, mine looked bad but I too soaked everything in PB blaster for several weeks before starting the project. I can't believe even your turbo bolt's broke, the torque spec on those isn't that much.

Good luck my friend:winking:
 
#6 ·
This truck had a tough life. It never plowed, but saw a lot of salt either way. The dump body is literally rotting away.

It was a builders truck, probably used as a mobile trash can. So it sat around a lot. It also sat around in the area north of Boston (North Shore) and probably saw quite a bit of the coast. So road salt and sea salt has had its way with her.

Surprisingly - the usual rot areas, besides the lower doors are rust free. And the frame is really clean for a 13 year old truck in this area. That's what sold me on it. Also being a 7.3 with a 6 speed stick didn't hurt!
 
#7 · (Edited)
Brutal work.
Sometimes shocking it with water when hot will break the bond.
You have a good frame and body is workable, you can take care of rest.
Get on all the sheet metal and frame while still good. Pull the door panels, check for rust, adress, spray Boeing's Boeshield in there. Pull rubber plugs on sill and repeat.
Pull body, paint frame, install aluminum work body.
All else can be dealt with.
Definitely balance center rotating assembly.
Check out a thread Arundel Diesel balances it up right.
Customer of mine flew me to Detroit because he had to have an extra cab long bed stick. Redoing his turbo and sent him and the guts down there. He now has photos and video of Arundel and the assembly being spun up and balanced on the latest state if the art machine. He has video of his injectors getting flow tested after sonic cleaning, into graduated cylinders.

He is moving to Alaska so I brought him into this community to make friends and connections. He has given me full carte blac to do everything that is being worked on to be done the absolute best it can. I have been photoing everything along the way and forwarding to him.
He is extremely excited to start his thread to share with all of you his new trucks chronological journey thru high end services and and its journey from Maryland to Alaska.
 
#8 ·
I look forward to seeing that thread!

Yeah - first thing I did was scrape and paint the frame with Rustoleum, then did the "holey" body. I ran it last summer that was for a while, then before the winter hit, I covered the frame and cab with Fluid Film. I've used that on my last three trucks, and it has done wonders to keep the underside rust free. Only downside is that its greasy and smelly. I'll keep up with annual applications of FF and it should be good. Doors will need replacement someday, but on the lower priority list.

The dump body needs to be replaced or seriously patched. Right now, I can save it, but its gonna be some work. Replacement body is upwards of $5K and I really don't want to spend that much.

I really need to get this thing finished. Or at least running again...
 
#9 ·
Update again.

Got one more bolt out by force on the drivers side and another partially drilled out. The drill walked on me, and cut into the cast iron manifold, to the outer edge of the "ear". Better than going into the manifold pipe section, but not great. I'll use a carbide cutter to remove the rest of the bolt.

The remaining passenger side bolt (lower) is soaking and I was using a new nut and tapping it with a hammer to loosen. No luck as of yet, but I'm hopeful.

it absolutely sounds ridiculous to say that I spent all of my Saturday getting one bolt out and nearly 6 weeks since I started the project, but it has. Maybe I'll qualify for the worlds slowest mechanic?
 
#10 ·
Finally got the bolts removed. Nothing short of a miracle. Had to use a carbide cutter tip on each one, and they all eventually came out. Might have ground a little of the exhaust flange, but we'll see how it mates up. Up pipes are on and awaiting the turbo. Got the new pedestal on too.

I chickened out on the turbo. Since the bearings had a little play, I didn't want the headache of a shop balancing it (I have no time during or near regular work hours), so I ordered a new turbo. Its a new unit with "upgraded" wheel. Got it from Rock Auto, and I think its by Rotomaster.

Next weekend I hope to have her running again.
 
#11 ·
Its done and running again!

And I must have been wrong in my second diagnosis, because it is much quieter and runs so much smoother, I really can't believe it. Its like a new truck. Honestly, its still no comparison to a new 6.7, but its much quieter than a 12 valve Cummins, which is what it was on par with before. I really should have gotten some sounds levels to compare, but I was not expecting this much of a difference. The only difference I can think of is that the EBPV is gone and the up-pipes are wrapped. Wow!

Power is good, but I only took it on a short test trip to check, so I really didn't notice a seat of the pants difference. But power was never a problem. Just noise and vibration.

There is some break-in smell to the new parts, but another thing I have noticed is that the acrid exhaust smell is gone. Not that she ever smoked, but the exhaust seems even cleaner than before. More efficient turbo?

Very happy PS owner here and it was completely worth the trouble.
 
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