I have a really dumb question, I was wondering if it is necessary to remove the turbo when drilling the manifold for an egt probe. Is it necessary to remove the small metal particles left from drilling and tapping, I mean, most of the shavings are going to be on the outside, but there will be a few small ones left in the manifold, will they damage my turbo? Or should I take the turbo off and suck them out?

 

Use a pencil magnet and you can get most of it out. What you don't get will blow through.

 

Some people say yes and some so no. I don't think it's nessecary to do so. Just dip your bit in greese or some thing to hold onto the shavings and if there are any shavings after drilling use and extendable magnet to get the rest of the shavings out.

 

Drill the hole while you have the engine running, the exhaust pressure will blow any shaving out. Be sure and wear eye protection as the shavings really fly up fast and hard!

Doug Smith

 

Hopefully the guys who are telling you to leave the turbo on will pitch in for a new turbo if necessary.

Chances are you'll be fine, but it's still a gamble.

I'd recommend loosening the turbo and placing a piece of cardboard over the turbo's opening. After drilling, start the truck for a couple of seconds to blow the shavings out. Remove the cardboard and button her back up ... easy and safe!

Good luck!

 

We took mine off. Rather be safe than sorry. It wasn't too bad, however, you can do it the other ways as well...

 

I just put some thick grease on it where i was drilling and went slow, when I got through just used a pencil magnet and ran it down in there a bunch and kept wiping it off. It should deffenitly get all of it and wont affect your turbo at all. And drilling it while running also sounds like it would work good as well just have never tried it but it makes sense it having pressure on it the whole time wouldn't allow anything to enter.

 

I put grease on the tap. I would make a couple of turns then remove it and clean off the grease/metal. I then re greased it and went a little farther.

An old fabricator showed me that trick many years ago.

You can't go all the way with it in one run. You MUST go a little at a time and clean it off to keep the buildup down. Worked like a champ on mine and a friends. NO metal got into the manifold.

-Dave

 

Same here....

 

Oh, forgot to mention, I did it with the drill bit too. You must go slow enough not to get it hot enough to melt the grease. You must also stop and clean it off just like with the tap.

-Dave

 

Drilled mine with no grease and engine not running.

Metal shavings that fine go right out.

 

I think I'll drill almost all the way through, then use grease to finish off with and then use grease on the tap. Thanks for your help guys!

 

I didn't want to risk it. It's only 4 bolts and 5 minutes to pull the turbo back far enough...

 

I did it this way, for the first time recently .... repositioning probe. I did ,however do the tap in one operation. Also greased and cleaned the drill bit often. Worked ok (did not lock up the turbo,,, and no grinding noise) but I was surprised how many shavings I got on the magnet afterward the tap. All very small...but still???
This may say more about my skills than the method?

RJ

RJ

 

Ok, I did it, I drilled it with the engine running and tapped it with grease. I'll let you know if my turbo blows up. Although I'm sure it won't .

So far so good.