[Lscman]

I think turbo on my '79 stock 2.3T needs rebuilt because the car smokes bad and gets 250 mi/qt, despite the fact this car has super low miles and it's had a steady diet of Mobil 1 every 2K mi or less. Our other 2.3 N/A cars lasted over 250K mi on the same oil with less diligent maintenance, so the motor should be like new.

Holy cow, the turbocharger looks impossible to access.

Here's some things I'm wondering about after staring at it in disgust:

1) are there only two bolts holding the aluminum compressor flange to the intake manifold?

2) Is it better to pull the exhaust flange off the end of the turbo or unbolt the exhaust pipe from the flange & leave the flange on the turbo?

3) Should I leave the waste gate assembly on the turbo when pulling it? It seems to be buried underneath the turbo.

4) Does it make more sense to pull the whole intake manifold assembly off with the turbocharger and then separate the stuff off the car? If I do this, I'd need to deal with a cobweb of 1 million vacuum hoses.

Any advice on turbocharger removal would be appreciated.

[Lscman]

nobody ever repaired a '79-'81 turbo?

[blwncobrajet]

i just did mine and i pulled the motor out it was the easiest way to do it that i could find

[FordPro63]

Your seals finally went on the turbo.Very common and very easy to rebuild once you get it off the car.

Shop manual says to disconnect the exhaust from the flange. Do not remove the entire intake manifold as that is not needed. It will be a pain in the rear, but remove only the bolts that retain the turbo and then remove with wastegate intact. It should all come out as an assembly.
In the end, you don't have to buy new intake gaskets and you will not need to mark the vacuum lines for reference.
I had the same issue on my 80 Turbo, was finally glad to see FI for the 2.3 turbo. Much easier to work on.

Good Luck!

Originally Posted by Lscman

I think turbo on my '79 stock 2.3T needs rebuilt because the car smokes bad and gets 250 mi/qt, despite the fact this car has super low miles and it's had a steady diet of Mobil 1 every 2K mi or less. Our other 2.3 N/A cars lasted over 250K mi on the same oil with less diligent maintenance, so the motor should be like new.

Holy cow, the turbocharger looks impossible to access.

Here's some things I'm wondering about after staring at it in disgust:

1) are there only two bolts holding the aluminum compressor flange to the intake manifold?

2) Is it better to pull the exhaust flange off the end of the turbo or unbolt the exhaust pipe from the flange & leave the flange on the turbo?

3) Should I leave the waste gate assembly on the turbo when pulling it? It seems to be buried underneath the turbo.

4) Does it make more sense to pull the whole intake manifold assembly off with the turbocharger and then separate the stuff off the car? If I do this, I'd need to deal with a cobweb of 1 million vacuum hoses.

Any advice on turbocharger removal would be appreciated.

[Lscman]

Originally Posted by FordPro63

Your seals finally went on the turbo.Very common and very easy to rebuild once you get it off the car.

Shop manual says to disconnect the exhaust from the flange. Do not remove the entire intake manifold as that is not needed. It will be a pain in the rear, but remove only the bolts that retain the turbo and then remove with wastegate intact. It should all come out as an assembly.
In the end, you don't have to buy new intake gaskets and you will not need to mark the vacuum lines for reference.
I had the same issue on my 80 Turbo, was finally glad to see FI for the 2.3 turbo. Much easier to work on.

Good Luck!

Thank you, sir! I have a 6 volume Ford 1980 Shop Manual set on the way from ebay, $27 delivered. Looking forward to changing PCV and rebuilding turbo.

Tomorrow I'm installing the 4 lug 10" rotors, teflon ball control arms & spindles I removed from my 1986 GT about 17 years ago when I retrofitted 5 bolt SVO Mustang hardware. The OEM 9" rotor system is scary...too much rear brake. Looking forward to better braking with this free BBK..everything is relative.