PSI Concepts Turbo Oil & Coolant Line Install / T3 Flange Bolt Solution

**dougyfresh** · 04-06-2011 10:21 AM

I had an exhaust leak that needed attention.

I called up Jeff@PSI Concepts and asked for a stainless steel oil and coolant line kit.

Why would I do that for an exhaust leak? Well, the stainless steel lines I have had for about 3-4 years now have not been the easiest to remove from the turbo and I also didn't like the routing and wanted to re-route things underneath and out of sight. I really like the kit Jeff put together as it utilizes banjo fittings on the turbo for coolant lines and uses swivel fittings on each end of each line as opposed to built in fittings. My current lines have built in fittings and this is what makes things a bitch when removing the turbo.

So, I mentioned something about an exhaust leak. Yeah, the manifold was leaking from the cylinder head at cold start-ups. After a minute, when everything grew due to thermals and closed down, the leak would disappear. It was bothering me and I didn't have any long trips planned for a few weeks so I figured it was time to do something about it before spring and summer came.

Out comes the turbo and the exhaust manifold. While doing this I broke my oil feed line fitting off at the turbo. Good thing I bought a new line. I was able to remove one coolant feed line as it had a banjo on it. A banjo that had a very slow leak no matter which new washers I installed. (another reason to replace)

Note the 45angle and built-in fitting. Piece of Shit..

The second coolant feed was the culprit and reason for me doing all of this. It had an M14 to -6 AN adapter on the turbo which then bolted to a -6 AN 90fitting that was built into the SS line. This 90 always hung up and I could never get it off. Besides, it required all American wrenches which I hated having to go find in my toolbox.

Wouldn't budge. Out comes the saw-zall and now the line was off the turbo. Piece of Shit

While this was apart I noticed the turbo T3 flange was kind of loose. WTF? God Damn it. I'm am tired of this thing loosening up and leaking. My wastegate also had soot on it which meant this flange was leaking too. Time to fix this.

My turbine housing and manifold went over to my friend's shop so he can machine everything. He took off 0.100" from the end of the manifold that mates with the head!

The middle between cyl 2 and 3 was the highest point. I recalled never having this surface machined when I bought the manifold and installed it. I had the T3 flange machined instead. I wonder if its been out from when it was cast at Treadstone? Oh well, its fixed now.

I also had the T3 flange machined to within 0.001". Perfectly flat! (I don't use a T3 gasket as I always blow 'em out).

first pass on the bridgeport. Damn. Looks warped.

that's much better

I then looked at my ARP bolts and realized that the threads were fucked. Hmm. What do I do next? New bolts are about $15.00. The answer? Something more expensive and known to not loosen up. I spent my lunch break one Friday searching all over the internet for my answer. I found it and it resided in California. I remembered hearing about these guys in the mid 1990s when I was restoring my Chevelle. Lots of guys use their fasteners for bolting headers to small and big block chevy heads. I didn't see the bolt I needed for my application but their website said they do custom work and also do US Military contracts. Hmm. Why not give 'em a call?

10minutes later I had four 10mm locking bolts being USPS Priority shipped to my door. Glenn at Stage8 Fasteners was super helpful and put together a custom turbo flange bolt kit for me.

The standard #3903 turbo flange kit but with 10mm 1.5pitch bolts instead of 1.25pitch bolts. They are probably going to make this a separate kit number as I am not the first to call them asking for a 10mm 1.5 pitch bolt. 4130 chro-moly hardened steel bolts (25mm length) with stainless steel 'teardrop' locking tabs and c-clips.

The design works like this
1) You install the bolts without anything on the threads (loc tite, etc..) and torque them down to 30-40ft-lbs
2) You install the asymmetric teardrop tabs so that the tab is facing the item you are bolting down. The orientation of the teardrop is such so that when the bolt starts to loosen (turns counter clock-wise when looking at the head) the teardrop comes in contact with the item being bolted down and the bolt does not rotate anymore. The teardrops are 12point which interlock on the 6point bolt head. They are ever-so-slightly asymmetric so that if one orientation doesn't work you can flip it over and it should line up.
3) Once satisfied then push the teardrop down until it bottoms out on the bolt head flange and insert the c-clip in the groove within the bolt head.
4) Done. It'll never back out now.

No more messing with NordLock washers. No more messing with loc-tite or anything else. This is a mechanical means of locking the bolt. Unless the threads in the exhaust manifold shear there is no way this will back out prematurely. Especially if properly torqued down.

The downside is a set of four bolts cost me $52 shipped. Now, before you freak out about the price think about how much it will cost you (both time and materials) to redo the T3 bolts on your turbine flange two or three times. More than $52, right? Yup. When put into that perspective this cost is nothing.

Okay. So now that my flanges are machined its time to reassemble.

At this point in the game I realized I forgot one thing... The bolt heads are HUGE. The size of the bolt head flange is about the diameter of a nickel. They require a 14mm socket. My turbine flange did not have a flat face for the bolt to be properly torqued down onto. I didn't have these bolts in my possession when at the machine shop. Knowing that the critically stressed part of the bolt is the fillet from the bolt neck to the bolt head flange I knew to get the proper pre-load and torque I needed the bolt head to sit on a flat surface. Out comes my angle grinder and about an hour's worth of very delicate grinding on the turbine flange to ensure flat surface.

Now we can torque this flange down proper. I used 40-45ft-lbs even though I was told 30-40ft-lbs.

as you can see I took quite a bit of material off in areas.

Also note the orientation of the teardrops.

Not to within 0.001" but good enough for an angle grinder. Note the slot machined into the bolt head for the c-clip.

I like this picture. This is about as much as I can do to match Tyler and Chris.

all done

all re-assembled and properly clocked. time to go back in the car.

(some Agnostic Front playing on the iPhone)

Jeff also sent me a new exhaust manifold gasket. I run a gasket between the head and the manifold but not on the T3 flange. I also used new copper lock-nuts I bought from germanautoparts.com. The 8mmx1.25 copper lock nuts.

Now we can get back to the turbo oil and coolant lines. My oil return line was a tad short to begin with but I've been 'okay' with it even though deep down inside I wasn't comfortable (the Engineer in me). Jeff's oil drain line was also significantly shorter so I couldn't use it out-right. In the end I wound up using my existing stainless steel oil drain line but using the PSI Concepts adapter for the turbo side. Why? It was much thicker than the previous one I had and it provided just enough flexibility in the drain line to make me happy.

Here you have my existing coolant lines after I cut them out of the car.

The line on the top came from the upper radiator hose and across the front of the motor. It then went over the compressor housing and into the side of the CHRA closest to the engine.

The line on the bottom came out of the block under the exhaust manifold, under the turbo and up against the frame rail into the side of the CHRA closest to the fender.

Jeff's lines come with all the necessary adapters and items for our cars. The lengths are designed (I believe) for the PSI Concepts exhaust manifold. Turbos that are placed in similar locations can also utilize these lines. My turbo is slightly further away from the engine so the PSI Concepts oil drain line wouldn't work but the coolant lines and oil feed line worked fine. I just had to figure out a nice routing scheme.

My routing scheme for the PSI Concepts coolant lines.

That is everything you receive, minus the dirty fitting on the right side. See the fittings in the lower left? I opted not to use them. I believe they are for the fitting on the side of the block but I didn't like that 90deg fitting. That is where the dirty fitting on the right side comes into play. This is what my old lines had coming out of the block. It is a M14 to -6 AN adapter that is threaded into the block.

With the lengths of the PSI Concepts coolant lines I opted to use my fitting and have the shorter line come straight out of the block. It then goes straight up to the banjo fitting and onto the side of the CHRA closest to the engine.

Now, you may notice that I just switched the routing from where it used to be. That is okay for the Garrett turbos have a flow-through water jacket and you can have the coolant lines hooked up either way you want.

coming out of the block

I put a rubber hose around the end as it is adjacent to my DV line on my TIP. I didn't want the stainless steel braids wearing a hole through the DV line.

down underneath the manifold making its way up to the banjo on the turbo

banjo on the turbo

Now onto the next line... This line will come out of the turbo and run underneath the compressor housing and TIP. It will come out right by the fan and up to the front of the engine by the timing belt cover. Here it will transition to a rubber hose which attaches to the coolant hard line that runs over the intake manifold. Since it goes near the frame rail and aluminum TIP I also covered sections with rubber hose to prevent wear over time. The braided line will eat through aluminum as aluminum is a soft alloy.

out of the turbo and down and forward

through the TIP (my TIP routes down and under the frame rail so the coolant line is going along the frame rail so to speak..)

up near the timing belt cover for the transition to rubber hose

and into the coolant hard line above the intake manifold

Next up was the oil feed line. It runs along the back of the engine and is long enough for me to run right above my downpipe and into the 90deg fitting provided. Then into the Garrett oil restrictor into the turbo. The 90deg fitting and oil restrictor is just the right height to place the oil feed line above the turbine housing.

Coolant lines under the turbo for that 'clean' look and the oil feed line is in-line with the downpipe for that 'symmetric' look.

Victory!

I then gave the car its spring cleaning. painstaking wash on the exterior, engine compartment and undercarriage to get rid of the winter salt. Then summer wheels came on.

17" studdless snows

mix and match

2inches on rim diameter is big

and all done.

No more exhaust leaks. Turbo oil and coolant lines are rock solid and nothing is leaking anywhere. I have about a dozen or two heat cycles already on that T3 flange and things are rock solid. I am excited.

**justin** · 04-06-2011 04:38 PM

Very cool stuff Doug. I think Neil might find this useful real soon.

**03b6avant** · 04-06-2011 09:43 PM

I read this last night! Good Post Doug thanks for putting it over here. I used some of this today to bolt up the new Turbo and lines. More details to follow once i get her in proper running order.