Turbo Crossover Pipe
Removing the turbo crossover pipe is not fun. The four bolts that attach the pipe to the turbo charger inlet give you very little space to work with. You are mostly limited to using open end wrenches. Also, the bolts are extremely rusty after 20+ years, which makes them extremely hard to use an open end wrench. I recommend trying to use the box side of the open end wrench as much as possible. You may have to double up two wrenches as a cheater bar. It took me many days to remove this pipe. The bolts just would not budge, so I would spray them down with PB Blaster for the night and work on it the next day. If you need to remove this pipe, I recommend doing the same.
First, to get to the four bolts on the turbo charger inlet, you must remove the intake manifold. Use the separate write up on that particular subject.
If you haven't already done so, remove the tube from the inter cooler exit and remove the J-boot. Spray the turbo vanes down with a light coat of WD-40 and put a rag to keep junk from getting inside the turbo and/or damaging the vanes. Remove the hose on the bottom of the coolant reservoir that goes to the suction side of the auxiliary turbo pump. Before you disconnect it, pinch it off so that the coolant does not escape the reservoir, and keep it as high as possible. Remove the hose clamp on the discharge hose of the auxiliary coolant pump where it attaches to the nipple on the engine. If you have an '87+ car, you will have a curved hose with a straight nipple instead of a curved pipe like shown here. Unbolt the auxiliary coolant pump from the bracket by unbolting the two bolts. The bracket has the nuts welded in the back, so you just need to remove them from the front. Pull the auxiliary turbo coolant pump out. The discharge hose should remain with the pump. If you want, you can also pull the support bracket for the auxiliary turbo pump. This will give you more room when removing the turbo x-over pipe bolts. I decided not to remove it, as it didn't seem to be in the way during my x-over pipe removal. If you have an '86 951; now would be a good time to update the curved pipe with the newer style curved hose. So, go ahead and remove the curved pipe from the engine. Here you can see the difference between the '86 model method and the '87+ method. The update kit is available from www.944online.com at a very reasonable price. This hose is pretty time consuming to get to, so if you have not replaced it in a few years, I'd replace it just so you don't have to get under there again. It sees lots of heat and deteriorates fast. I once had a coolant leak I couldn't find. It ended up being a hairpin leak in this hose and caused me to get pretty hot one night when it finally decided to blow to a larger hole. Secure the suction hose for the auxiliary coolant pump by tiptoeing it up against this other coolant hose. This will keep all the coolant from coming out of the coolant reservoir due to hydraulics. Unplug the oxygen sensor from the harness in the engine compartment. Then remove the oxygen sensor from the x-over pipe by crawling underneath the car. Now you can see the four bolts that attach the x-over pipe to the inlet side of the turbo charger. Not a lot of room in here to work! Remove the top bolt closest to the front of the car first. Note my method of using two wrenches as increase leverage. Remove the bottom bolt closest to the front of the car. Note that I am using two end wrenches. I just couldn't get a socket in there! Remove the top bolt closest to the rear of the car. I was actually able to get a flex head stubby 3/8" ratchet in here. Remove the bottom bolt closest to the rear of the car. This bolt has the nut welded to the flange of the x-over pipe, so you only need to use one tool. Now, move towards the passenger side of the car where the header attaches to the x-over pipe. Remove these six small bolts. Remove the three bolts that attach the small exhaust pipe to the waste gate from the x-over pipe. You might have to gently force the x-over pipe out using a hammer and a brass punch or a dead blow hammer. Eventually, it will come out. Note how many tools it took me to remove the turbo crossover pipe due to the lack of room, strange angles, and rusty bolts involved.
