Unbolting front turbocharger

[Ryann]

Hi all,

Has anyone here been through the process to pull the front turbocharger? If so, is there any easier way to get the turbo off the mounting bracket rather than messing with the crankcase through-bolts to unbolt the bracket?

The service manual in section 10 just boils that step down to "7. Remove hardware attaching front mounting bracket (7) to engine", but on closer examination, one of the bolts holding the mounting bracket is one of the crankcase through-bolts. Accessing the nut on the opposite side of the crankcase is buried behind a whole crapload of stuff. Tried turning the nut on the turbo bracket end of the through-bolt incase we might luck out, and alas, the through-bolt turned with the nut, at which point we stopped to regroup before proceeding. It looks like the main thing preventing unbolting the turbo from the mounting bracket in-place is trying to get the rear bolt out of the oil inlet fitting, but it's substantially blocked by the mounting bracket itself.

Did anyone figure out a way to unbolt the turbo from the mounting bracket while the mounting bracket stays on the engine, rather than messing with one of the crankcase through-bolts to remove the turbo and bracket together?