I completed the installation this weekend. There are a few frustrating points during the process, but nothing a semi-experienced shade tree mechanic can't overcome. Definitely plan on spending the whole weekend on it. Nothing is particularly hard, but it all takes time working by yourself. An assistant would be very helpful. I didn't have the bolt sizes available, so there was a lot of back and forth from under the car to the tool chest. I've provided tool sizes to save you that trouble. Enjoy!
PHASE I - REMOVAL
1. Unlock car, get stuff out of the trunk (you're going to disconnect the battery). Break the lugs loose on the front passenger wheel.
2. Jack car to the minimum height required to get your body under the car. If it's too high, you'll regret it later. Remove the front passenger wheel.
3. Remove your intake. Everyone's probably got an aftermarket, so no need to explain how.
4. Disconnect both battery terminals (10mm wrench/ratchet). Disconnect 13mm battery hold-down screw and bracket. Remove battery. Remove qty 3 10mm screws from battery tray. Wiggle out battery tray. This opens up a lot of valuable space.
Ok, under the car:
5. Remove the front passenger fender liner and splash shield. There's qty 4 T25 torx that have to come out of the fender, and a bunch more underneath for the splash shield. There are all the same size. Bag 'em up.
6. Remove your downpipe. There's plenty of "how-to's" out there. Just make sure you also remove the heat shield from the passenger axle CV joint. It's two 16mm screws.
7. Remove the pancake pipe from the passenger-side fender. It's two T30 screws (they're captive - don't remove after unscrewing). Then pop the spring clamps and pull her out. See below.
8. Disconnect the DV and N75 electrical connectors. I had to use a small screwdriver to get the tabs to release. BE SUPER CAREFUL. You don't want a broken electrical connector. Unclip the guides from the wire and lay it up onto the engine cover.
8a. Cover up that stupid cross-member with a towel! Dropping things into this cavernous black hole sucks.
9. Remove the two 10 XZN (triple-square) screws from the bottom of the turbo support bracket. These are extremely close to the axle. I put my short XZN socket in, then I had to follow it up with attaching the breaker bar to bust them loose, then remove the tools, and turn them by hand. Terrible picture:
10. Remove the 6mm hex drive screw from the upper section of the turbo support bracket. Remove the bracket.
11. Remove the 12 XZN banjo bolt from the coolant return line at the turbo. This step sucks. The oil supply line and its heat shield and the firewall heat shield are all conspire to make this a pain in the ass. It's doable. Use a breaker to get it started and then finish it with a pair of vice grips on your XZN socket. You might be able to wait on this whole step until later, after the oil supply line has been disconnected, which would free up some space.
Frustration:
As you start to remove this bolt, some coolant will start to drip... not a lot, maybe 4 oz. Be prepared with a catch container. Optionally, you could drain the coolant beforehand. This isn't a bad idea, as more spills later.
12. Disconnect the oil return line using an 8 XZN drive socket to remove the two screws. If you have long XZN's, they will pay off here.
13. Remove qty 1, 8 XZN drive screw from the bracket just under the DV. This holds the oil supply line in place.
Ok, back on your feet and in the engine bay:
14. Remove the engine cover.
15. Disconnect the connectors from the coils, route the wiring harness out of a couple of spring clips and set it to the side of the engine.
16. Remove the upper coolant line going into the coolant reservoir. THIS WILL BREAK VACUUM ON THE COOLING SYSTEM. The remaining coolant in the head and reservoir is about to gush out of your turbo coolant return fitting. You may want to cover the cross-member with some plastic sheeting. Be prepared to catch about 1/2 a gallon of coolant!
17. Disconnect all of the the vacuum and coolant lines running to the vacuum and coolant hard pipes on the turbo heat shield where ever is easiest. You're prepping to remove the heat shield. Remove a 10mm nut holding down a skinny ground wire ring terminal and a T30 torx screw holding the heat shield in place next to the ground wire.
18. Remove the intake tube. God, this can be frustrating with the factory spring clamps. I used vice-grip needle nosed pliers with reasonable success and a lot of swearing. You can remove it entirely by disconnecting the PCV connector (also a PITA), or simply lay it on the motor with the PCV attached. Shove a rag in the turbo inlet if you care about it.
19. There are three screws holding the turbo heat shield to the engine. Two are 10 XZN's, located towards the driver's side of the heat shield and the second towards the passenger side. Then there's a big 6mm hex drive plug, right around the middle. You absolutely need a long/extended 6mm drive tool... a normal socket extension will not go. Here's my setup and the removed plug:
20. Remove a T30 drive screw from the block right above the turbo inlet. It holds a vacuum line to the block IIRC.
21. Remove the turbo heat shield. Success! Note where I disconnected the hoses. These locations worked well and were all accessible.
22. Disconnect the oil supply line from the turbo using a 12 XZN socket. Push the line away from the turbo.
23. Disconnect the coolant supply hose from the plastic pipe towards the front of the engine bay. Depending where your spring clip ended up at the factory, you may or may not be able to get at this clip with the noise pipe installed. I had to disconnect mine to get at the hose clip. Route it out of its path after unclipping it. Here it is removed from the plastic pipe (lower hose):
24. Remove the qty 5 nuts holding the turbo manifold to the head. Two of my nuts came out with their studs. Don't panic. They can be removed by carefully chucking them up in a vice with protection on the stud threads and turning the nut. Some PB Blaster is a good idea.
25. LIFT the turbo up and out of the engine bay! Gravy! Plenty of room. No need to drop the axle and go out the bottom.
PHASE I - REMOVAL
1. Unlock car, get stuff out of the trunk (you're going to disconnect the battery). Break the lugs loose on the front passenger wheel.
2. Jack car to the minimum height required to get your body under the car. If it's too high, you'll regret it later. Remove the front passenger wheel.
3. Remove your intake. Everyone's probably got an aftermarket, so no need to explain how.
4. Disconnect both battery terminals (10mm wrench/ratchet). Disconnect 13mm battery hold-down screw and bracket. Remove battery. Remove qty 3 10mm screws from battery tray. Wiggle out battery tray. This opens up a lot of valuable space.
Ok, under the car:
5. Remove the front passenger fender liner and splash shield. There's qty 4 T25 torx that have to come out of the fender, and a bunch more underneath for the splash shield. There are all the same size. Bag 'em up.
6. Remove your downpipe. There's plenty of "how-to's" out there. Just make sure you also remove the heat shield from the passenger axle CV joint. It's two 16mm screws.
7. Remove the pancake pipe from the passenger-side fender. It's two T30 screws (they're captive - don't remove after unscrewing). Then pop the spring clamps and pull her out. See below.
8. Disconnect the DV and N75 electrical connectors. I had to use a small screwdriver to get the tabs to release. BE SUPER CAREFUL. You don't want a broken electrical connector. Unclip the guides from the wire and lay it up onto the engine cover.
8a. Cover up that stupid cross-member with a towel! Dropping things into this cavernous black hole sucks.
9. Remove the two 10 XZN (triple-square) screws from the bottom of the turbo support bracket. These are extremely close to the axle. I put my short XZN socket in, then I had to follow it up with attaching the breaker bar to bust them loose, then remove the tools, and turn them by hand. Terrible picture:
10. Remove the 6mm hex drive screw from the upper section of the turbo support bracket. Remove the bracket.
11. Remove the 12 XZN banjo bolt from the coolant return line at the turbo. This step sucks. The oil supply line and its heat shield and the firewall heat shield are all conspire to make this a pain in the ass. It's doable. Use a breaker to get it started and then finish it with a pair of vice grips on your XZN socket. You might be able to wait on this whole step until later, after the oil supply line has been disconnected, which would free up some space.
Frustration:
As you start to remove this bolt, some coolant will start to drip... not a lot, maybe 4 oz. Be prepared with a catch container. Optionally, you could drain the coolant beforehand. This isn't a bad idea, as more spills later.
12. Disconnect the oil return line using an 8 XZN drive socket to remove the two screws. If you have long XZN's, they will pay off here.
13. Remove qty 1, 8 XZN drive screw from the bracket just under the DV. This holds the oil supply line in place.
Ok, back on your feet and in the engine bay:
14. Remove the engine cover.
15. Disconnect the connectors from the coils, route the wiring harness out of a couple of spring clips and set it to the side of the engine.
16. Remove the upper coolant line going into the coolant reservoir. THIS WILL BREAK VACUUM ON THE COOLING SYSTEM. The remaining coolant in the head and reservoir is about to gush out of your turbo coolant return fitting. You may want to cover the cross-member with some plastic sheeting. Be prepared to catch about 1/2 a gallon of coolant!
17. Disconnect all of the the vacuum and coolant lines running to the vacuum and coolant hard pipes on the turbo heat shield where ever is easiest. You're prepping to remove the heat shield. Remove a 10mm nut holding down a skinny ground wire ring terminal and a T30 torx screw holding the heat shield in place next to the ground wire.
18. Remove the intake tube. God, this can be frustrating with the factory spring clamps. I used vice-grip needle nosed pliers with reasonable success and a lot of swearing. You can remove it entirely by disconnecting the PCV connector (also a PITA), or simply lay it on the motor with the PCV attached. Shove a rag in the turbo inlet if you care about it.
19. There are three screws holding the turbo heat shield to the engine. Two are 10 XZN's, located towards the driver's side of the heat shield and the second towards the passenger side. Then there's a big 6mm hex drive plug, right around the middle. You absolutely need a long/extended 6mm drive tool... a normal socket extension will not go. Here's my setup and the removed plug:
20. Remove a T30 drive screw from the block right above the turbo inlet. It holds a vacuum line to the block IIRC.
21. Remove the turbo heat shield. Success! Note where I disconnected the hoses. These locations worked well and were all accessible.
22. Disconnect the oil supply line from the turbo using a 12 XZN socket. Push the line away from the turbo.
23. Disconnect the coolant supply hose from the plastic pipe towards the front of the engine bay. Depending where your spring clip ended up at the factory, you may or may not be able to get at this clip with the noise pipe installed. I had to disconnect mine to get at the hose clip. Route it out of its path after unclipping it. Here it is removed from the plastic pipe (lower hose):
24. Remove the qty 5 nuts holding the turbo manifold to the head. Two of my nuts came out with their studs. Don't panic. They can be removed by carefully chucking them up in a vice with protection on the stud threads and turning the nut. Some PB Blaster is a good idea.
25. LIFT the turbo up and out of the engine bay! Gravy! Plenty of room. No need to drop the axle and go out the bottom.