How to remove bolt under the cat/turbo

[twfry]

Any suggestions on how to remove the bottom bolt that is between the cat and the turbo?

Even with the air box removed and a variety of swivels, etc I cannot see how to remove that bolt. Below are pictures of the cat and turbo's top two bolts (taken from where the airbox used to be) and a shot of the bottom bolt under the cat.

Is there a specialty 17mm wrench required or any suggestions on how to reach this?

Thanks!

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[imnuts]

Things that come to mind would be an ignition wrench, crows foot wrench, and/or universal adapters.

[MichaelvdBerg]

I have done it through the underside of the car with a very long extention and swifel or through the top with a wrench shortened with a grinder.

Also you can losen the rest like exhaust header and turbo support bracket, hose etc. Since the exhaust is flexibel/movable you can have someone lifting the whole stuff up to create more working space beneath.

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[cleoo]

17mm S wrench from Harbor Freight.

[Dr.B6Banter]

I actually had to tighten that bolt this morning so its somewhat fresh in my mind. Mind you I have a test pipe which doesn't bulge out as much as the cat so your best bet would be to use a swivel + long extension or a crows foot. Both would need a long enough extension to put your wrench/ breaker bar in the void between the downpipe and the axle.

[BumblebVR6]

I believe I used the open end of a stubby last time I did it if I remember correctly.

[Gekko]

Long extension from the bottom worked for me too. Kinda difficult but definitely doable.

[a1dan_87]

I remember having to go up from under the car, behind and below the cat to get to it. It was quite the pain

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[Gunnarrrrr]

I always find it easier to remove the manifold, and just hook the turbo onto an engine hoist to pull it up a couple inches.

I'd recommend replacing those 3 nuts with some smaller 14mm nuts instead of the stock 16mm. I got a pack of them on amazon for $8. they're still M10x1.5, just thinner, easier to get a socket in there next time.

I remember having to go up from under the car, behind and below the cat to get to it. It was quite the pain

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This is pretty much what you're going to have to do if you want to leave the turbo in place though.

[Dr.B6Banter]

I always find it easier to remove the manifold, and just hook the turbo onto an engine hoist to pull it up a couple inches.

I'd recommend replacing those 3 nuts with some smaller 14mm nuts instead of the stock 16mm. I got a pack of them on amazon for $8. they're still M10x1.5, just thinner, easier to get a socket in there next time.



This is pretty much what you're going to have to do if you want to leave the turbo in place though.

I feel like removing the whole manifold just to get that that one nut is getting a bit too far into the weeds lol. I do agree with the smaller nuts though, They're even more of a help with high flow cast manifolds where some of the 12mm nuts are almost impossible to get a socket on where the 10mm ones are a breeze.

There is a good inch of room between the bottom stud and the exhaust heat shield so I feel like the simplest way would be to use a crows foot wrench and a wobble extension (~12") to get your wrench/ breaker bar under the cat, and just reach down through the engine bay to twist it off. It may be a bit tough to turn if it's never been off before but I'm pretty sure that how I did it and mine wasn't hard to get off. I definitely didn't have to go under the car, and I understand not everyone's car is the same but mine being in the rust belt should be on the worse end of stuck and perished bolts/nuts.

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[twfry]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

I tried several approaches, including indexable ratchets where the heads flex sideways, and others. The issue is a deeper socket is needed to span the extra bolt length, but there is practically no room before the cat starts to bulge out so I couldn't get any combination of a socket plus flexible extensions on it.

In the end the S wrench from Harbor Freight linked above was the only thing that worked, and it worked very well. It took maybe five minutes to get the two harder to reach bolts out once I got the wrench. By the time I finally bought the wrenches I had been hitting the bolts with penetrating oil for a week so they broke free with little effort. Thanks again!

[Dr.B6Banter]

Glad you got it figured out!

These cars always require a little bit of imagination when it comes to finding the right tool for the job...