I have done some searching and have pieced some info together but I want to make certain that I can do this without buying gaskets and what not.

I have two sets of twins, one with good turbines (not leaking oil) with a badly cracked manifold. The other has leaky turbines and a very nice manifold. Would I be able to swap the good compressors/cartridges over to the exhaust manifold without having to buy gaskets?

Thanks in advance!

Justin

 

I did this on my `94. Same scenario as you except that I had just one bad cartridge. If you are talking about the gaskets between the exhaust turbine housing assemblies, I didn`t replace mine & used the ones that were already present. I did however replace the one gasket that was between the exhaust manifold from the motor to the "double intake" side on the turbocharger itself. Working fine with no problems so far.

 

It's a little tricky to break the twins apart, but it IS doable. Some notes -

- Make sure to mark the relationship of the center cartridge to the turbine housing. The center cartridge can rotate with relation to the turbine housing, and if it's clocked wrong stuff won't line up. I take my Dremel and cut a little mark on the turbine housing directly in line with the top mounting bolt hole on the center cartridge. Do this on BOTH sets of turbos so it's ready to line up with the new one.

- After swapping the cartridge over, leave it a little loose and put the water lines onto the turbos. The water line should fit on there perfectly flat, if it's clocked off by a few degrees it won't line up properly and the copper crush washers won't seal up properly. Also, check with the oil feed line as well, it should all be good and flat.

- To take the bolts out that hold the cartridge to the turbine housing, first soak them well in PB Blaster. Use a wrench, but instead of just pushing on the wrench tap on the end of the wrench with a hammer. This works like an impact gun in a way and helps to break the bolt free instead of just twisting the head off. Make sure you have a good surface to work on, as you'll be flipping the turbos around and banging on them with a hammer for a good while.

- Take your time putting the oil lines, water lines, and heat shield on. There's a certain order they have to go on for everything to work, it's like a puzzle.

Good luck with it. It's really not too bad when you get in there and get started.

Dale

 

Good to know! Thank you sirs!

 

Adding some more notes to Dale's:

- remove using a 10 mm closed end wrench to protect the hex head;
- to remove the giant e-clips on the cold side, order the giant sized needle nose plier from harbor freight;
- run a tap through to clean out the rust, put in nickel based anti-seize
- run a die thru the screws to clean out rust and threads
- torque using the closed end 10 mm wrench with a 3/8 inch torque wrench on the open end; I use about 30% more torque than for a standard 10mm screw.
- the copper washer can be reused by using a propane torch to heat up until the entire washer is a dull red (not bright red) in about 20-30 secs. cool down and wire brush and it's now soft for reuse again.
- I use Permatex 1 minute silicone on the oil return line to ensure no leaks.
- Use silicone hoses for the coolant llines with thermal sleeve to protect the silicone hoses;
- fill the turbo with oil to ensure lubrication during initial start up;

 

For what you're doing, you probably won't have to remove the compressor housings. I hope you don't, they're a BITCH to remove, even with the giant snap ring pliers.

For the coolant lines, use Mazda OEM. Mazda reformulated the rubber on the coolant lines since the FD was made, and the new ones will outlast the motor easily. Heat resistant and very sturdy. I'm not big on using aftermarket hoses for coolant lines, there's too much that can fail there. The Mazda hoses fit right, fit TIGHT, and are properly shaped for where they go.

For the torque on the 10mm turbine housing bolts, I just go good and tight. Snug them up them a few taps with the hammer on the wrench. Get them about as tight as they were originally and you'll be fine.

Dale

 

"For what you're doing, you probably won't have to remove the compressor housings. I hope you don't, they're a BITCH to remove, even with the giant snap ring pliers."

Will agree with Dale on his statement. You shouldn`t have to remove the compressor housing from the cartridge to do what you need to. I just popped out the cartridge & snail in one whole assembly & swapped them. Worked well & was quick.

Will add one other thing. Just make sure & double check that both cartridges spin freely after you have installed them into the exhaust turbine housings. It would be bad to have one rub or something after all of the work that you will do to get them back into the car.