Hi all,

I have recently installed the Alta Catless full exhaust and have been attempting to remove the stock DP to install an Evolve DP; however one of the bolts which connects the stock DP to the turbo has proven difficult to remove. The uppermost bolt will not loosen any further after backing halfway out of the turbo side (meaning after loosening the bolt as far as it will go toward the DP side, approximately half the bolt remains in the turbo side).

The issue has been further compounded because the nut on the bolt is not permanently attached and has backed off the bolt. The two other bolts connecting the top of the DP to the turbo came off without any issues. I used red thread locker and epoxy to re-secure the nut to the bolt in an attempt to remove the bolt without success. The nut always backs off and the bolt essentially stays in the same position.

I have used penetrating oil in an attempt to loosen the bolt. I do not have access to a torch of any kind to apply heat. As a last resort, I'm considering using a dremel to to grind down the circular bolt head to make a square bolt head in order to use a wrench to back out the bolt. The bolt is not very thick, possibly an M8, not sure. In any event, there is not much material, and I don't want to make a bigger issue than I already have. Has anyone encountered a similar situation? What was your fix? Thanks in advance!

 

the stud can stay in there? you just need to remove the nuts and you can remove the factory downpipe sometimes the nut sticks to stud but that's ok just put it back In that way

essentially if you got the nut off just remove the dp that's all that holds it

maybe take some pictures so I'm sure we are talking about the same nuts and bolts

 

Yes, the stud stays in place and will only back out as far as shown in the picture. The 13 mm nut is held in place with epoxy and red thread locker, which does not provide a strong enough bond to back out the stud. Whatever the factory used to bond the nut to the stud was not strong enough either. The other 2 studs backed out without any issue whatsoever. Pictures are attached.

 

Ok IIRC the dp is not threaded as long as you remove the nuts the dp will slide right off the studs are threaded into the turbo and are there for alignment purposes and the nuts are what clamp down the dp

sometimes they rust so much it's easier for the stud to come out with the nut rather than just the nut breaking free of the stud

 

This is high temp heat area, OEM calls for copper anti-seize.

 

Try taking the two bottom nuts off that secure the DP to the engine block, then remove the nuts that hold the brackets to the block to completely free the lower end of the DP. Sometimes the bottom attach point can cause one or more of the upper bolts to bind. Hopefully that's all it is. Otherwise corrosion may have built up on the stud to the point that it can strip the starting threads on the turbine housing. When reinstalling the the new DP try starting all of the bolts both upper and lower then slowly snug them all down a bit at a time.