ZMotorsports Shop Projects 2.0

[zmotorsports]

I too appreciate the tip on the 1/4" socket trick, and am I the only one that was unaware that hoods have a service position?? Good stuff as always Mike, hope the new year is treating you well so far!

Thanks Austin, things are progressing fairly well so far being 5 days into the new year. Hope they are going well for you too.

Glad you found the tip on the barbs helpful. Not sure why I didn't show it sooner as seeing those things damaged is one of my pet peeves. As I was popping the turbo vane sensor loose last night it hit me that I don't recall taking pictures of it in the past. I even did a short video and posted it to my Instagram account.

As for the service position on the hoods, it doesn't make sense for all underhood repairs but for some of the larger jobs it most definitely helps.

 

[stockerwithalocker]

Mike, on the car is old after warranty front:

My inlaws were amazed my 200k mile duramax made the 1000 mile round trip to their house. They were commenting at 60k the car needs replacing.

Are you replacing the turbo on your duramax?

Happy new year and i’ll echo everyone's thank you for you posting your work and experiences for us to learn from.

Parker

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike, on the car is old after warranty front:

My inlaws were amazed my 200k mile duramax made the 1000 mile round trip to their house. They were commenting at 60k the car needs replacing.

Are you replacing the turbo on your duramax?

Happy new year and i’ll echo everyone's thank you for you posting your work and experiences for us to learn from.

Parker

Thanks Parker, I appreciate the kind words and thanks for following along. I hope you and others can learn as much from me as I have from the many knowledgeable forum members we have here. It has truly been a learning experience from a great group of people.


Yeah, I think the 100k mile car being worn out is an old school mentality because earlier variations leading up well into the 70's and even into the 80's by the time a car hit 100k miles they were pretty much done for in terms of reliability and dependability. That seemed to be the point where things started needing serious attention and money was needing to be outlayed to keep them on the road. My dad was under the same mindset for his cars that transported the family around, just before 100k miles it was ready to be replaced and the value dropped like a rock after that 100k mile mark. On the flip side, for his pickup and farm trucks he usually went after the ones well past 100k miles to pick them up cheap and then replace/rebuild engine and whatever else it needed to make due. We always had manual transmissions so they lasted much longer than the 100k mile engine or their automatic counterparts. Unfortunately I think many still have that mindset due to themselves being old school and not changing their thinking with the times OR, they are the next generation and have lived with that mindset in the home they grew up in. Either way it is not that way these days as "most" vehicles will go 2-3 times that with minimal effort and maintenance, but they do require maintenance.

As for your Duramax, I am glad to hear it is still going strong, I think it has much more life still in it. My son's is right at that 300k mile mark and after doing the paint correction on it last year I think it looks and runs every bit as good as new, if not better. In fact, I really need to start driving mine more as I am almost certain it will be the last truck I ever own and I don't think I will be able to wear it out. I follow a few guys over on the Duramax forum that are nearing 1M miles on their Duramax trucks, many are in the 800k plus club and still going. Mine has a birthday coming up here shortly, in April it will have been in our stable 14 years. We bought the truck in 2009 when diesel fuel was at or slightly above $5/gallon. Family and friends thought I was nuts purposely buying a diesel truck with the fuel prices as high as they were but I had wanted a Duramax ever since their 2001 model year release and just couldn't justify the money as my old gasser big block Suburban with 200k+ was still going strong, although on the second engine rebuild but doing everything I needed it to do. At that point in our lives we refused to borrow for a depreciating asset ever again so we had been saving up and when the truck market tanked in 2009 as fuel prices climbed I made my move and bought one that was mechanically sound but needed a few minor body touch-ups. I found this truck out of Phoenix, AZ area and it had 58k and change on the odometer, barely broken in. It now only has 114k on it so for a 17 year old truck and 14 of those years in our care, I've only put slightly over 55k miles on it. I made some suspension and powertrain mods when I first bought the truck but that has been about it in all these years.

After my initial mods shortly after purchasing it in 2009, it has remained pretty much untouched other than routine maintenance and another set of tires, so it's been a very reliable, dependable and low cost of ownership truck. However, a few months ago it developed a turbo vane error, P2563. I did some preliminary testing and afterwards ended up replacing the turbo vane sensor thinking that must have been the issue because I was not getting any secondary codes such as the P003A that is usually associated with the P2563 in addition to power/performance loss usually associated with turbo vanes seizing up. Seeing as how I was not experiencing any performance loss that it must have just been a sensor but then a couple months later after replacing the sensor, the code came back and I realized it was not in the data collection but rather I must have either vanes coking up or a unison ring not moving through its full range. I partially blame myself for this as according to my son, I drive it like an old man. I don't "get on it" or "hot rod" it but rather drive it quite conservatively. This may not be the best option in order to keep that unison ring moving through its full range of motion and to "exercise" the vanes to keep them free and therefore not allow them to coke up from carbon. I may have to change that in the future.

So after getting caught up on my son and DIL's vehicles I decided to give my (or according to my wife, her) truck some TLC and pull the turbo to give it a rebuild. I won't be installing a new one as I want to rebuild it myself and clean it up for reinstallation. I purchased a rebuild kit from KC Turbos as well as one of their stainless steel unison rings as I have read good things about both. While I'm at it I will replace the hydraulic actuator solenoid on the turbo and since the coolant has been drained I will replace the thermostats and put all fresh coolant in the truck as it goes back together. Plus it's due for a routine LOF service and I have had a brand new FASS system sitting on the bench for nearly a year now that needs to find its way onto the truck so I have quite a bit of work to do here in the next week or so.

I appreciate you following along and hope you'll stay tuned for more turbo removal and rebuild pictures, as well as my rambling on about it.

 

[civhatch90]

Looking forward to the turbo rebuild! Thanks for the updates!

 

[SilverJimmy]

I’m very impressed that just like all great professional athletes, you’re going thru a real pregame practice on your home field before you have me bring my 06 GMC to “Z Stadium” for its chance to shine with Coach Mike!
Im kidding, really….
Maybe I’m just dreaming!

 

[Bob Heine]

Unfortunately I think many still have that mindset due to themselves being old school and not changing their thinking with the times OR, they are the next generation and have lived with that mindset in the home they grew up in.

Mike, there's also the 'extended warranty' mindset. People will buy a new car when the current car's warranty runs out OR pay "as little as $99 a month" for an extended warranty from one of those TV advertisers. That's $6,000 for 5 years but the ads make it sound like a great deal because your transmission will obviously **** out the first month you have the coverage. Not sure what car qualifies for the $99 rate but I bet it isn't one most of us drive. I'm looking at you, Camaro and CTS-V owners.

 

[signcrafter]

Mike, there's also the 'extended warranty' mindset. People will buy a new car when the current car's warranty runs out OR pay "as little as $99 a month" for an extended warranty from one of those TV advertisers. That's $6,000 for 5 years but the ads make it sound like a great deal because your transmission will obviously **** out the first month you have the coverage. Not sure what car qualifies for the $99 rate but I bet it isn't one most of us drive. I'm looking at you, Camaro and CTS-V owners.

I think the people that do that warranty stuff are people that live paycheck to paycheck and aren't good at saving any money. They look at it as if they have a bill for 99 bucks a month they will pay it and hopefully not have to pay for any major repairs. But they aren't able to see if they just save that 99 bucks a month they will be able to pay for most repairs out of pocket. Just a mentality thing for some people.

When I was just getting my license over 25 years ago a family friend that was a mechanic went with me to look at a used car. He told me that cars are expensive to fix so either learn to fix yourself or buy new and sell when warranty is up. Since there was no way I could afford a new car at that time I learned to fix my stuff. Not sure I totally agree with his statement but I think it does hold some truth. I've been lucky in that I've had the mentality to fix whatever needs fixing. I've bought the tools over the years to be able to do this and they have paid for themselves by what I save on what I would have paid someone to fix my stuff. I've also made money fixing others stuff over the years. The older I get and the more specialty tools I need to buy I sometimes wonder if it's worth it vs just paying someone else to fix my stuff. Guess I'm starting to put a higher value on my time the older I get. I work a lot to get where I am but I also see friends and family that I do work for that just go to 9 to 5 and relax after work. They dont have a shop or tools and dont have to put in extra time working to pay for all that stuff on top of supporting family. And they dont have all the extra stress of these repairs. Sometimes I think that might have been a better road to take. But then i come to my senses and realize i wouldnt have been happy just sitting there letting others fix my stuff. I would have to take up golfing or something and I dont enjoy that and golf is expensive and doesnt pay for itself like tools do.

My daughter just bought a used car with around 80 thousand miles on it. I went with her and looked it over. While it seems in good shape I told her that all cars need repairs over time. After 100 thousand miles things wear out in my experience. Things you cant help, like suspension component, alternators, bearings, etc. Just part of the game. She asked about extended warranty and i told her not to and to just put a little extra away every month. And explained she is pretty lucky in that she gets her repairs done for the price of parts. But I can see where a warranty would give some comfort to those that have no choice but to take car to shops and that cant save money on their own.

 

[zmotorsports]

I think the people that do that warranty stuff are people that live paycheck to paycheck and aren't good at saving any money. They look at it as if they have a bill for 99 bucks a month they will pay it and hopefully not have to pay for any major repairs. But they aren't able to see if they just save that 99 bucks a month they will be able to pay for most repairs out of pocket. Just a mentality thing for some people.

When I was just getting my license over 25 years ago a family friend that was a mechanic went with me to look at a used car. He told me that cars are expensive to fix so either learn to fix yourself or buy new and sell when warranty is up. Since there was no way I could afford a new car at that time I learned to fix my stuff. Not sure I totally agree with his statement but I think it does hold some truth. I've been lucky in that I've had the mentality to fix whatever needs fixing. I've bought the tools over the years to be able to do this and they have paid for themselves by what I save on what I would have paid someone to fix my stuff. I've also made money fixing others stuff over the years. The older I get and the more specialty tools I need to buy I sometimes wonder if it's worth it vs just paying someone else to fix my stuff. Guess I'm starting to put a higher value on my time the older I get. I work a lot to get where I am but I also see friends and family that I do work for that just go to 9 to 5 and relax after work. They dont have a shop or tools and dont have to put in extra time working to pay for all that stuff on top of supporting family. And they dont have all the extra stress of these repairs. Sometimes I think that might have been a better road to take. But then i come to my senses and realize i wouldnt have been happy just sitting there letting others fix my stuff. I would have to take up golfing or something and I dont enjoy that and golf is expensive and doesnt pay for itself like tools do.

My daughter just bought a used car with around 80 thousand miles on it. I went with her and looked it over. While it seems in good shape I told her that all cars need repairs over time. After 100 thousand miles things wear out in my experience. Things you cant help, like suspension component, alternators, bearings, etc. Just part of the game. She asked about extended warranty and i told her not to and to just put a little extra away every month. And explained she is pretty lucky in that she gets her repairs done for the price of parts. But I can see where a warranty would give some comfort to those that have no choice but to take car to shops and that cant save money on their own.

Scott, I think you hit the nail on the head for the majority of people who carry extended warranties. They think about that person that told them about their $5k transmission repair and that's all they get out of the conversation, nothing else is considered. They don't take into account the odds of that happening and figure $99 a month is better than $5k at once. I have tried to explain to our younger mechanics in the shop as well as even family members on both sides that they are doing themselves harm by thinking like that as that is how a poor person thinks. Some get offended but I try to demonstrate and personalize it a bit by saying I was one of those who lived paycheck to paycheck at one point, until I had enough.

The poor person mentality is thinking how much per month and if they can afford it, rather than just asking how much, period. By convincing yourself you are not a poor person and will not be there forever a person can start to adopt a "richer" way of thinking. Even back when my wife and I didn't have two nickels to rub together we didn't think that was how it was going to be forever and we would someday be much better off, but we had to consciously force that mindset because our surroundings and savings account said something totally different. Now, I hate to use the term "rich" because we are not in my mind rich. However, the term rich can describe much more than one's net worth. It can most definitely reflect how we look at life overall and take ALL aspects of our life into account, not just what is in our account (see what I did there?).

I had some very good discussions with my SIL's after their divorces and tried to explain that if they simply made a few alterations to their lifestyle and look long term at what they wanted their lives to look like that it could be possible to someday have the money they wished for. By saving a little at a time and putting away for an emergency fund then one day they would see that emergency fund had grown enough to start a savings then investment portfolio. If they would take that monthly payment on whatever extended warranty or new phone and put it away each month as though they already had it, how long would it take to save up enough that they could buy it outright IF the need arose? Then when the time comes you will find yourself asking if you really "needed" that or was it just a want? You'll find that you don't need it after all because you know how hard you worked to save up X amount of money and so you'll just leave it there for now. Then that behavior continues and more money builds, then more and more. Then a small hiccup isn't such a big deal and guess what, you've just created an entirely new path in life. All this was possible with a simple change of mindset. By taking care of things and more importantly not having to have the latest and greatest "X, Y or Z" on the market they could begin to put money away to the point that IF they had a breakdown then they could pay for it out of pocket rather than relying on someone else or some other establishment such as a warranty company. These types of decisions move people away from the "victim" mindset to more of the "I'm in control" mindset.

Over time having a $5k transmission repair that would have felt like an eviction notice, could eventually be "ok, I've got that." Not saying $5K isn't a big chunk of money because it is, but in the overall scheme of things with having some money set aside it would still be an impact but not to the point that everything else will snowball behind it and you're sinking. To me I still think $5k is a ****-ton of money but if I needed it for an emergency repair life wouldn't look any different tomorrow in the big picture.

I then asked about if they had some form of life insurance? And why? With an appalling look I get a YES! Ok, I'm not debating on its necessity, I'm just asking why? Is it for getting your kids through college? Making sure the house isn't lost if worse case scenario a death occurs? Making sure life goes on for you kids and eventually another spouse are good reasons to have life insurance (term). But what if one day you wake up and realize all of those needs could be met with what you have in your bank account? Would you continue to pay a monthly life insurance policy? THIS really get's people thinking because they can begin to imagine what their life would look like if they had enough in the bank that they could get their kids through college or pay the mortgage off if needs be. They begin to imagine themselves IN that mindset where they are not having to pay out for inner peace. It is rewarding to see people finally come to that realization and actually visualize themselves at that point in time. And all it takes is a simple change of behavior today to live that kind of life in a few years and not be dependent on others to make sure your needs are met.

Personally, I wish more of our society would and could see their true potential to build wealth and how it starts with such a small behavioral change and such a small amount. Unfortunately, I think so many people these days are living paycheck to paycheck that they can't see the forest for the trees. So rather than make these behavioral changes or change their mindset when it comes to money they just stick to what they know and play the victim when **** goes south. It frightens me read statistics and see how many people are under water in so many different ways, yet keep making the same decisions that got them there in the first place. I realize the economy is **** right now but my feelings are no matter who is sitting in the White House, it doesn't change the way my wife and I manage OUR money in OUR house. Bitching and moaning about the economy isn't going to change it and continuing to do the same thing expecting different results is in fact, the exact definition of insanity.

I have siblings and friends ask me why I still work on **** for people when I have a decent paying job? First of all because I enjoy what I do, but more importantly, habit. When times are good, times are good, however, when times are bad if you've planned and are prepared they can still be pretty good. I just realize that times are not always going to be good and want to be prepared for when they are not so good, like now.

Reminds me of this saying that I like.



Sorry, I think I've rambled long enough, again.

 

[WoodsTruck]

I find it interesting on how many consumer goods are offered with extended warrantees. TV, phone, appliances, motor vehicles, etc. What are the chances they will all fail at the same time? Likely extremely low. Why pay out for each of the warrantees, when a user can have their own "extended warranty" account that would cover any failure of any device no questions asked or denied. And if the time elapses and no "warranty" had to be paid out of that account? You don't lose it and have the option to spend it on something else, like buying tools.

 

[zmotorsports]

Made a bit more progress on our 2006 Duramax last night.

The night before I had soaked down all of the exhaust fasteners with Kroil so they would have time to soak and hopefully not break any as seems to the theme when removing these turbo's. I got to the point of the heat shield removal on Wednesday evening and after turning it multiple ways I came to the conclusion that it was simply not coming out. I went in for the night to do some research, yes, I do research as well on projects I am not as familiar with, and found that on the Duramax forum there are two schools of thought and neither in my opinion are options. First thought that seems to be the most popular is "toss the heat shield, it's not needed". That seems to be the most common remark followed by "I haven't run one for several years and mine runs fine without it." The next common theme was bend it into an "M" shape and it will come out, then toss it because it's not needed. Holy ****, am I alone in my thinking that these were put there for a reason, like maybe heat deflection and to keep heat in the turbo which makes it work more efficiently to start with???

Anyways, I will be reinstalling the heat shield so I wanted to remove it in a fashion that won't destroy it and render it useless. I marked a line across the narrowest area and cut it with my small Matco pneumatic saw with a 24 TPI blade. Cut through it like butter and then easy removal in two pieces.


My plan is to tack a small strip under one piece then screw the halves back together making it look like it was never cut other than a couple additional machine screws. I guess I could just have one OEM fastener on the one half and the two on the other but I'm almost certain that would result in some form of rattle or vibration so I will just join the two halves back together and it will look as close to OEM as possible with no actual physical damage to the shield.


Next I moved down to the backside of the engine block to remove the downpipe heat shield and then the down pipe. Neither were quick as they had to be finessed and turned to find the right angle of the dangle to be removed from the small opening. Unbolting the transmission dipstic tube bracket and slightly raising it and moving it back aided greatly in allowing a bit more space.


Downpipe heatshield, downpipe and passenger's side up-pipe removed. Not a single broken fastener. Thank you Kroil.


The three fasteners holding the driver's side up-pipe to the back of the turbo were also removed successfully.


The pedestal fasteners securing the turbo down to the block were not easily accessible and required a 17mm swivel socket. Reach right next to the band clamp joining the compressor housing to the turbine housing and you can break it loose and remove it. It is tight.


17mm swivel socket used to remove the turbo pedestal fasteners.



I was nearly at a point to remove the turbo last night and determined I have one more step. I initially thought I could leave the driver's side up-pipe bolted to the exhaust manifold and just force the oil drain line out from under it. However, upon further thinking that when going back together this will be a bit more problematic to get the oil drain tube over the studs and not damage the new gasket so I figured I would remove the driver's side up-pipe to aid in removal a little and definitely aid during reassembly.

Thanks for looking.

 

[Seagoon]

I'm with you Mike. Manufacturers never spend a penny if they can avoid it so they wouldn't have put that heatshield there if it wasn't needed.

 

[zmotorsports]

I'm with you Mike. Manufacturers never spend a penny if they can avoid it so they wouldn't have put that heatshield there if it wasn't needed.

I was just dumbfounded when tossing the heat shields was the most common practice on that particular forum. I remember when I joined that forum shortly after purchasing my 2006 Duramax and being impressed with the wealth of knowledge there. I don't go on there much these days but holy ****, tossing the heat shields is the most common practice.

 

[Bob Heine]

I then asked about if they had some form of life insurance?

Mike, under some circumstances life insurance can be an important asset. I agree completely on the monthly payment deal. When I retired at 50 I received an unexpected extra year's salary. My pension wasn't a huge amount but combined with investments and retirement accounts we would be able to live comfortably (especially when I turned 59.5 and could withdraw IRA/401k money penalty-free). Because my father died unexpectedly at 55, I used a portion of that extra year's salary to make a one-time payment for a whole life insurance policy. The policy would provide an annuity payment to Liane that would make up the difference when the pension payment dropped to 25% upon my death. The dividends from the insurance policy pays the annual premiums and the excess adds to the cash value of the policy. Should I live to 90, I can withdraw the cash value, which will be the same as the full benefit amount. We have collected the 75% pension amount for 28 years and will soon have collected more in retirement than I made in the 30 years at IBM. Lack of mortgages, car payments or credit card balances makes it pretty easy to live well on less money than you would expect.

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike, under some circumstances life insurance can be an important asset. I agree completely on the monthly payment deal. When I retired at 50 I received an unexpected extra year's salary. My pension wasn't a huge amount but combined with investments and retirement accounts we would be able to live comfortably (especially when I turned 59.5 and could withdraw IRA/401k money penalty-free). Because my father died unexpectedly at 55, I used a portion of that extra year's salary to make a one-time payment for a whole life insurance policy. The policy would provide an annuity payment to Liane that would make up the difference when the pension payment dropped to 25% upon my death. The dividends from the insurance policy pays the annual premiums and the excess adds to the cash value of the policy. Should I live to 90, I can withdraw the cash value, which will be the same as the full benefit amount. We have collected the 75% pension amount for 28 years and will soon have collected more in retirement than I made in the 30 years at IBM. Lack of mortgages, car payments or credit card balances makes it pretty easy to live well on less money than you would expect.

Bob, I agree that life insurance can be a benefit at some points in life and in various/different circumstances. I have some through work as part of my benefit package but that's it, and at one time had purchased some term life through an outside source earlier in life when we were at a point that if something happened to me either my wife's or son's needs would not be met or their futures would be greatly impacted. My feelings, and what I was trying to convey, was that by paying yourself up front in life and not living the month to month, paycheck to paycheck attitude most people could get to the point where once the important things in life are taken care of there would be no need to carry life insurance.

For example, all the kids moved out, home paid off or nearly paid off and $1M plus in portfolio, does it really make sense to carry a $500k to $1M policy and pay several hundred a month? I think not. That was more my point, trying to get them to think beyond today, tomorrow and next year and let them envision what a life could be with money in the bank and that debt monkey off their backs all by changing a few materialistic behaviors now.

 

[Ohmthis]

Mike, I’m a big believer in Kroil also. It’s saved me a lot of grief. What’s your process for removing stubborn fasteners? If heat won’t affect the area around it, I’ll hit it with the torch really quick. My friend is a gorilla, he’s constantly breaking fasteners and won’t try another method, I’m just glad I don’t have to fight them. Good work as always!
Home warranties are another scam. I know a couple that are big believers in them. The few times they’ve tried to use it, they still ended up paying a bunch for repairs/replacement. I take for granted that I am skilled and can do so much for our family. A home warranty has never crossed my mind.

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike, I’m a big believer in Kroil also. It’s saved me a lot of grief. What’s your process for removing stubborn fasteners? If heat won’t affect the area around it, I’ll hit it with the torch really quick. My friend is a gorilla, he’s constantly breaking fasteners and won’t try another method, I’m just glad I don’t have to fight them. Good work as always!
Home warranties are another scam. I know a couple that are big believers in them. The few times they’ve tried to use it, they still ended up paying a bunch for repairs/replacement. I take for granted that I am skilled and can do so much for our family. A home warranty has never crossed my mind.

I had never heard of Kroil until I started as an Industrial Maintenance Mechanic in 1988 and it quickly became my "go to" penetrant. I have tried a few others over the years such as PB Blaster and recently Seam Foam's Deep Creep but for those absolute "in deep **** if something breaks" moments I still reach for the Kroil.

I work with a guy who breaks fasteners routinely and even Snap-on ratchets but he is one of those who doesn't have a connection between his brain and arm, and he has big arms.

That being said, it depends a lot on the appearance of the fastener, the sourrounding component that it is securing and to be honest, my gut. Worst case I break out the oxy-acetylene torch as that is still a very viable solution but more often after finesse. On these exhaust fasteners for example, after they soaked for a night or two with Kroil, I smacked the head dead on with a hammer. Theory is to shock them to break any surface rust and/or corrosion and then make absolutely certain the socket is dead perpendicular on the fastener, otherwise you're already waging a losing war. At that point I will give it some pressure on the ratchet and see if any movement, then maybe go backwards about the same in the tightening direction. Then switch back and go again towards removal. In each of these fasteners that worked and worked like a charm. I was anxious because of how many I have see on the internet where people had broken at least 2-3 fasteners doing this exact job.

Thanks for following along and I hope that answers any questions or at least confirms how you've been doing it. Not saying my way is the right way but it's worked for me for many years and although I've broken a few fasteneras during my career I feel I have a great track record in that category.

 

[GRN96WS6]

Last night after arriving home from work I thought I'd take a few minutes and connect the Noco battery maintainer on the Camaro. I had let my last one go with the Harley back in August and hadn't purchased another one for the Camaro until right before Christmas. I had the wife order one and it arrived last week but I didn't have time to mess with it until last night when I made time.

I pulled the cover back, popped the hood and connected it to the battery connection points while monitoring it with my DVOM to ensure everything was working properly.


After watching it for a while I closed the hood to the first detent and reinstalled the cover and put her back to sleep until we get some nice weather. I also still need to do a full paint correction sometime before spring.



I then continued on with my next project that I pulled in the shop the night before. My 2006 2500HD Duramax, although my wife informed me the truck and Camaro are hers now. Not sure how I lost two vehicles in a matter of months. The wife said I never lost the Camaro because it was hers from day one.


Truck racked with the hood in the service position. I also need to replace batteries so they were removed from the engine bay.


Here are the parts I'll be needing for the job at hand.


Front tires removed, passenger's side inner wheel well removed and coolant draining by pulling the lower radiator hose as this vintage of GMT-800 chassis does not have a radiator petcock.


After draining the coolant the night before and allowing it to fully drain I replaced the inner O-ring and put the lower hose back onto the radiator spigot. I have NOT had good results reinstalling the lower hose with a used O-ring in the past and seem to have weeps so now anytime I pull a lower hose on a Duramax I replace the O-ring. Sadly, you cannot buy these O-rings from the dealership or anywhere for that matter by application so I had to spec out the O-ring and order them by size years ago. I ordered enough to hopefully last me a lifetime of pulling lower hoses. A little Sil-Glyde was applied to the O-ring before inserting into the groove and then another light smear after it was in the groove. I then run a light coating around the tapered spigot on the radiator to aid in installation without damaging the O-ring.


Lower radiator hose slipped right on and then the lock ring installed.


Which this application of Sil-Glyde brought me to the last of the tube. I've had this tube for many years and it looks like it's time has come to land in the trash can.


Time to break out the next tube in line of succession.


And a new tube on deck.



Thanks for looking.

Oh the stories the tubes could tell! I'm gonna snag me a tube of it now while I'm thinking about it!

 

[SilverJimmy]

Are you going to replace most of the exhaust fasteners due to the many high heat cycles they’ve been thru? My 06 Cadillac CTS-V has a couple or more exhaust bolts broken due to all the heat related cycles and expansion. I’m still trying to decide if I want to chance attempting to remove them using the Lisle guide/drill plate or just pull the head and do it the safe way. Nissan or Toyota back in the 90’s had such a problem with broken exhaust bolts the factory replacement bolts came predrilled for easy removal!

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

Will you replace the turbo drain? I know the isb6.7s in our fleet suffer fatigue failure, not sure about dmax.

 

[Ohmthis]

I had never heard of Kroil until I started as an Industrial Maintenance Mechanic in 1988 and it quickly became my "go to" penetrant. I have tried a few others over the years such as PB Blaster and recently Seam Foam's Deep Creep but for those absolute "in deep **** if something breaks" moments I still reach for the Kroil.

I work with a guy who breaks fasteners routinely and even Snap-on ratchets but he is one of those who doesn't have a connection between his brain and arm, and he has big arms.

That being said, it depends a lot on the appearance of the fastener, the sourrounding component that it is securing and to be honest, my gut. Worst case I break out the oxy-acetylene torch as that is still a very viable solution but more often after finesse. On these exhaust fasteners for example, after they soaked for a night or two with Kroil, I smacked the head dead on with a hammer. Theory is to shock them to break any surface rust and/or corrosion and then make absolutely certain the socket is dead perpendicular on the fastener, otherwise you're already waging a losing war. At that point I will give it some pressure on the ratchet and see if any movement, then maybe go backwards about the same in the tightening direction. Then switch back and go again towards removal. In each of these fasteners that worked and worked like a charm. I was anxious because of how many I have see on the internet where people had broken at least 2-3 fasteners doing this exact job.

Thanks for following along and I hope that answers any questions or at least confirms how you've been doing it. Not saying my way is the right way but it's worked for me for many years and although I've broken a few fasteneras during my career I feel I have a great track record in that category.

I first used Kroil in the early 2000’s. I was working in a local power plant and was fighting a series of corroded conduit fittings. One of the maintenance mechanics asked if I wanted to try some. It was like the clouds parted and rays of sunshine from the heavens shown down on me. I use the back and forth method with the most success. If I have to use the torch for heat, that fastener is getting replaced guaranteed!.

 

[MadeByMiller]

I don't have anything different or of value to add to the financial conversation other than to agree with you Mike. I'm going to go out on a limb and say you've heard a minute or two of The Dave Ramsey Show. My wife and I started our debt-free journey together even before we were married, and it's one of the best decisions we've ever made. Self-employment and all of the amazing freedom and opportunity it offers my family would not be possible if we had debt (besides our mortgage) hanging over our heads.

Thank you for sharing your wisdom and experiences.


By the way, am I correct in assuming that the only way of removing the heat shield intact would be to lift the cab out of the way?

 

[bowtiguy]

I couldnt help but think the same thing. I felt like I was back in financial peace university for a moment there. I wouldn’t be surprised if our man mike has taught a class of three over the years. Baby step #7 here and I still do all my own business / personal maintenance & repairs, mow the lawn, pick up after the dogs, shovel the white stuff...

 

[bigdave_185]

Mike, I re viewed the blue intercooler elbow. That is black glue or something similar on the outer most corner not a rip in the boot. The clamp line showed me where your rip was.

Are you going to add the larger turbo down pipe while you are that far into the tear down?

 

[jbmatth]

Mike, had to do similar to you on your LBZ, I got to the point of pulling the up pipes and couldn't get the fasteners to budge and was to the point I was worried they'd fail. I took stock of the situation and realized I was only 30 minutes away from being able to pull the cab so I went that route, really pretty simple and made the task a ton easier being able to stand up and right behind the engine. You are close enough now it doesn't make since, but worked great for me. I'll echo your accolades for Kroil, I was introduced to it at work and have been using it religiously, it works wonders.

On the financial side I also agree with most of what you are saying, we've lived below our means since we got married and now live well below them thanks to paying off all debt other than my Viper and her Jeep, even the mortgage is paid off. My thinking was that if I died she could sell the Viper and not have to worry about making a mortgage payment or tap into retirement savings (even though I had/have a life insurance policy that could do the same) to let that grow until she retires. I'm happy to report we are well on our way and what shocked me is the money we've saved to this point (36 years old) will be worth 3x the amount we theoretically would get from here until 59.5, kinda makes it tough to continue to save but will if for nothing else to save on taxes.

JB

 

[zmotorsports]

Are you going to replace most of the exhaust fasteners due to the many high heat cycles they’ve been thru? My 06 Cadillac CTS-V has a couple or more exhaust bolts broken due to all the heat related cycles and expansion. I’m still trying to decide if I want to chance attempting to remove them using the Lisle guide/drill plate or just pull the head and do it the safe way. Nissan or Toyota back in the 90’s had such a problem with broken exhaust bolts the factory replacement bolts came predrilled for easy removal!

Yes, all exhaust fasteners will be replaced with ARP fasteners, purchased all new at the same time I purchased new gaskets. I had some ill-fated results many years ago reusing exhaust fasteners and now try at all costs to avoid reusing them.

Will you replace the turbo drain? I know the isb6.7s in our fleet suffer fatigue failure, not sure about dmax.

Yes, I purchased a new drain line tube at the same time as all gaskets and ARP fasteners. I waffled on the drain line but having never pulled a turbo off of one of these Duramax engines, I was worried about all of the maneuvering around to get it out and worried I would either damage it or like you mentioned, the fatigue from time in service. Although with the small amount of research that I did and not seeing the Duramax oil drain line an issue, I still thought it was $65 well spent if for nothing else than piece of mind knowing I wouldn't have an issue with it once back together.

 

[zmotorsports]

I don't have anything different or of value to add to the financial conversation other than to agree with you Mike. I'm going to go out on a limb and say you've heard a minute or two of The Dave Ramsey Show. My wife and I started our debt-free journey together even before we were married, and it's one of the best decisions we've ever made. Self-employment and all of the amazing freedom and opportunity it offers my family would not be possible if we had debt (besides our mortgage) hanging over our heads.

Thank you for sharing your wisdom and experiences.


By the way, am I correct in assuming that the only way of removing the heat shield intact would be to lift the cab out of the way?

Thank you Austin. Actually yes, I have heard a bit of Dave Ramsey but only found him about the last few years. Prior to that I guess my getting out of debt mindset was more due to my stress level and not wanting that debt monkey on my back so paying off debt and staying out of debt just seemed like common sense. After listening to some of his podcast/shows over the past few years I was more relieved and maybe a bit validated that we had been smart about if for the past 20+ years prior.

As for the heat shield, I can only assume that either the cab had to be lifted slightly OR maybe, just maybe the EGR system removed would have provided just a bit more room. I really didn't want to do either of those but I was shocked that on the Duramax forum just how many people advise tossing the heat shield and not reusing that. I don't agree with that theory at all.

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike, I re viewed the blue intercooler elbow. That is black glue or something similar on the outer most corner not a rip in the boot. The clamp line showed me where your rip was.

Are you going to add the larger turbo down pipe while you are that far into the tear down?

Dave, I waffled on adding a larger downpipe but ultimately decided against it at this time. After reviewing dyno charts/tests I don't see any noticeable gains by adding a larger downpipe at this power level asI have not added any power to the ole' girl and it is doubtful that I will as it runs so good as is. IF I ever get to the point where I opt to do so I will be doing more than just a downpipe so I will add it to the list at that time.

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike, had to do similar to you on your LBZ, I got to the point of pulling the up pipes and couldn't get the fasteners to budge and was to the point I was worried they'd fail. I took stock of the situation and realized I was only 30 minutes away from being able to pull the cab so I went that route, really pretty simple and made the task a ton easier being able to stand up and right behind the engine. You are close enough now it doesn't make since, but worked great for me. I'll echo your accolades for Kroil, I was introduced to it at work and have been using it religiously, it works wonders.

On the financial side I also agree with most of what you are saying, we've lived below our means since we got married and now live well below them thanks to paying off all debt other than my Viper and her Jeep, even the mortgage is paid off. My thinking was that if I died she could sell the Viper and not have to worry about making a mortgage payment or tap into retirement savings (even though I had/have a life insurance policy that could do the same) to let that grow until she retires. I'm happy to report we are well on our way and what shocked me is the money we've saved to this point (36 years old) will be worth 3x the amount we theoretically would get from here until 59.5, kinda makes it tough to continue to save but will if for nothing else to save on taxes.

JB

I pondered about pulling the cab JB and it would not have been much more work but wanted to see just how bad it was. My downpipe was a bit problematic coming out but the up-pipes were not difficult at all. I am not gonna lie, I was very worried about broken exhaust fasteners on either the back of the turbo or the back of the exhaust manifolds which is why I purchased all new ARP fasteners along with the gaskets. I had read and heard of so many with broken exhaust fasteners and that was my biggest worry but ultimately didn't lose a single one. Not sure if it was skill, Kroil or just plain old luck. If I had planned on replacing coolant hoses or any additional work I think I would have pulled the cab as it doesn't appear to be all that much more work. That being said, I think you are right that being at the point I am at now it just simply doesn't make sense to now.

As for the financial side, you seem to be ahead of my wife and I when we were at that age, although we did have our first home paid off at age 37, then then turned around and obtained another mortgage at around age 48. We had a pension early in our careers and didn't plan for building wealth as early as we should have. When I was 30 and the wife 29 we had that rug pulled out from under us by our employer and learned that pensions were a thing of the past and that we were then on our own for funding our retirement. We really didn't start planning for retirement until that point in our lives and I'm sure most others can relate that early on it didn't seem like it was doing much. Actually it wasn't because we didn't have enough in there for compound interest to actually start working. Over time however, was when we started noticing the compound interest kick in and it really took off.

Now we are still in our early 50's (54/53) but have been contributing for 24~ish years now and have been putting more than the recommended 15% into investments so we are looking very good at this point in life. I have read that normally with investments they double roughly every 6-7~ish or so years, now granted that is a general rule and not a certainty but when speaking with my investment guy several years ago, he pointed out one kind of important aspect that I wasn't calculating in to our retirement plan. Yes, we were looking at what was in our investment portfolio and where it would be over time with growth but what I wasn't calculating in was the other $40k or so annually that we would be contributing on top of the investment earnings. Kind of a big factor and I had completely forgotten about that. I was so focused on growth numbers from the portfolio I had completely forgotten to calculate in what we would be contributing each year and that added up to nearly another $300k just in principal, let alone any compound interest on that amount. So when looking at the full picture using the full amount we were pleasantly surprised at what we could be potentially looking at. Also we started calculating our net worth a little differently and not using vehicles nor any other assets other than our home. We only have our home in the equation as a point of reference for net worth but actually don't calculate it into funding our retirement as we will not be selling as it at any point and just want to focus on liquidity numbers. I know there are quite a few people that plan on selling their homes to downsize as part of their retirement plans but that is not in our retirement plans.

The only downside to looking at investments being worth 2-3 times as much over time is that you need to take inflation into account. Granted we hope it isn't as high as we've seen over the past year or so but still it needs to be figured into the formula.

Sorry this has gotten so deep into the financial side but I am pleased that there are so many people looking ahead for their retirement and it appears there are many forum members that are in a better place than we are. I applaud all of you but I am not an investment or financial person, I'm merely a mechanic who wants to retire someday so take that for what you will.

 

[zmotorsports]

So moving on to mechanical stuff. I was able to get a bit more work done on our 2006 Duramax on Saturday.

I was hell bent on returning the heat shield back into service once this goes back together so I was careful when I cut it upon removal so as not to bend or damage it. Once the turbo was out and on the bench I mocked it back into position and made a few marks where there was no interferences.


The heat shield consists of a couple of thin pieces of sheet metal with a fibrous heat absorbing material sandwiched between them. Like asbestos used to be back in the day but not asbestos. I wanted to secure a couple of mounting tabs in a way that wouldn't just fatigue and crack shortly after returning to service. I bent some 18-gauge sheet metal over to capture the edge of the heat shield with holes on each side for Rosette (plug) welding.


A couple of .140" thick tabs would then be welded to the above welded tabs. These were drilled and tapped to accept 6x1.0 fasteners, the same as those used to hold the heat shield to the turbo housing.


Tabs welded and holes drilled/tapped.


Two small recesses were cut into the smaller half of the heat shield and a test fit was made. Perfect fit and should ensure no rattles nor loose sides that would introduce fatigue cracking.


Next I wanted to move on to my passenger's side up-pipe that also fed the EGR cooler. I had installed an EGR block plate about 14 years ago but I've seen these expansion bellows fail over time so thought I'd address that and remove it from the equation. IF I ever have any issues with the up-pipe expansion bellows I'll address them at that time with new components but the failures seem to be more prone on the EGR piece than the lower main up-pipe. I cut enough out to allow clearance once installed back on the engine.


Although it was pointless to close up the small section that attached to the EGR cooler, I don't like open tubes and thought I'd use it as a test run seeing as how it's been a while since I TIG welded. Success and success on both halves.


How it will sit once installed back on the engine.


I was running out of time on Saturday but I at least wanted to get the turbo disassembled and see if I could find my issue.


Parts soaking in the solvent tank over the last couple of days.



More pictures to follow.....

 

[zmotorsports]

Continuing on with the turbo.

I had in fact found the unison ring seized completely to the center bearing support so that was indeed my issue. It was so coked up that I needed to use two heel bars to walk the unison ring up off the center bearing support. I have read that one of the issues were that the ID of the unison ring did not provide enough clearance and as the casting expanded it would lock onto the unison ring so many people were using either a flap disc or rotary bit to slightly enlarge the ID of the unison ring to prevent future seizures. I think that would be a good idea and process to include in a rebuild, however, I purchased a new stainless steel unison ring and it already measures slightly oversize compared to the OEM unison ring.

I found that my vanes were not seized although there were 3 of the 9 vanes that did not have full range of motion. I wire wheeled the vane mounting points and then wire wheeled the vanes to remove the carbon. The vanes were not nearly in as bad of condition as I thought they'd be, the main issue was in fact, the unison ring being seized.

Here the vanes are sitting on the pins but I still have a small amount of cleanup to do before reassembly.


The new stainless steel unison ring orientated onto the vanes depicting the open position.


With a slight movement of the unison ring the vanes are in the closed position.


Sunday I went out to the shop to check tire pressures and fluids on the wife's car before the work week and snapped a picture of a nearly full shop.


Thanks for looking.

 

[Mr.zippy]

Nice catch Mike! I bet that rig will pull harder when the turbo is functioning properly! One question, I see many turbos with a heat type blanket cover on them, is that something that would work as opposed to a heat shield?

 

[zmotorsports]

Thank you, I was just pleased to find something wrong with my turbo so I wouldn't be upset about doing all that work for nothing.

As for a heat blanket, yes, I think that would work every bit as well.

Funny, the guys on the duramax forum kept going on and on about how their engine bay temps didn't seem to be adversely affected by not having the heat shield on the turbo. I don't think they realize that keeping the heat IN the turbo is important for proper operation and efficiency of the turbo.

My only concern with using a heat blanket or wrap vs. an open heat shield would be corrosion. I had a custom fit blanket style wrap on the turbo on my old 3208 CAT many years ago and when I removed it to perform some work I was dumbfounded at how much rust and corrosion was underneath.

 

[mercracing]

Sorry to slide the talk away from turbos(I do love forced air induction), but I have a Jeep question for you Mike. My wife's '14 Wrangler is having touchscreen radio issues. It is the factory radio, and she doesn't want anything fancy. Do you know of a place to get either a replacement OEM radio, or something that is close to factory? Thanks for all your write-ups! I love following!

 

[zmotorsports]

@mercracing, if you are looking for just an OEM replacement I had a friend who lost his and he ended up calling a few local stereo shops and one of them had a factory take-out for a reasonable price. That may be an option, otherwise maybe someone on eBay is selling their factory one that they replaced and it is still in good working condition. I feel the factory 730N radio with navigation is a well build unit and even after close to 150k miles and 11+ years mine is still working great, even with the bouncing around off-road.

 

[zmotorsports]

I didn't get much shop time last night but what little time I had I focused on carbon removal from the turbo. It wasn't as bad as I have seen but still needed some heavy cleaning. I had let the center bearing support as well as the turbine wheel/shaft assembly and the compressor wheel soak in the solvent tank since Saturday afternoon in hopes of removing most chemically and not needing a lot of scrubbing.

For the most part that seemed to work. The turbine wheel came out spotless with only some dark stains, nothing adhered to the wheel. Same with the compressor wheel and even the unison ring came out very clean and only needed a quick shot of brake cleaner followed by compressed air. I tossed the unison ring into the solvent tank out of curiosity to see how well it cleaned up because I have a new stainless steel unison ready to be installed in its place.


There was one component remaining to remove from the center bearing support assembly and that was the gearset and pivot shaft. From what I've read most people do not remove these nor do they recommend replacing them but my thinking was I am this far into it I may as well remove and clean everything and hopefully not have to do this job ever again. There is a small spring pin that needs to be removed from the gear. I had done some research on sizing of this spring pin as well as quad rings because they cannot be purchased separately from GM. Personally I don't like to reuse roll pins/spring pins on critical components so I replaced it. I also prefer rolled spring pins for items such as this compared to a standard split roll pin.


Here are the part numbers for the quad ring and 3x26 mm spiral pins from McMaster Carr if anyone needs them.


The center bearing support came relatively clean with just the solvent tank soak over the past 36 hours but I took a Roloc disc and cleaned around all mating surfaces where the turbine housing mates as well as the two planes where the unison ring resides. I removed a bit of casting to allow a much smoother and free moving unison ring that shouldn't seize up as things expand going forward.


Unison ring test fit onto the center bearing support once the pivot shaft and gearset were reinstalled. Everything got one last cleaning and should be ready for final reassembly.


The turbine housing also received a heavy treatment of carbon removal around the mating area as well as the vane pins and mounting surface. I test fit the vanes onto each of the pins after running a small stainless steel wire brush through each of the vanes pivot holes.


Lastly on the turbine housing I cleaned the mating surfaces of the downpipe as well as where the up-pipes fasten. I also ran a thread chaser through each of the fastener holes to clean up the threads to aid in reassembly.



Thanks for looking.

 

[jbmatth]

Keeping the heat shield was a great idea, wiring, hoses, etc will thank you in years to come along with as you said keeping that heat in the exhaust helps to build pressure on the hot side quicker than if it was allowed to cool.

Exhaust/header wrap and insulation blankets are killers for carbon steel on vehicles, pull in the outside air and humidity, heat and cool cycles and boom excellent place for some severe corrosion. If it is a service that stays hot all of the time and above ~350°F it is much less of a concern, we fight corrosion under insulation (CUI) a ton in my industry, so much so it has its own three letter acronym (TLA). Stainless and other exotic alloys don't have this issue to this extreme so wrapping SS headers/exhaust is a good idea, but the contact with CS is not a good idea.

JB

 

[zmotorsports]

Thanks for the input JB. To me it was just common sense to keep the heat shield and was quite surprised to read on the forums that the common practice seems to be tossing them in the garbage.

 

[zmotorsports]

Finished the turbo assembly last night.

Applied some high temp (nickel) anti-seize to the vane pivots, vane mounting surface and unison ring before orientating into the turbine housing. Next I centered the gearset with the plunger piston so that the pivot shaft is centered for reassembly.


Mocking the center bearing support into position to ensure the pivot pin properly engages with the hole in the unison ring. It should fall together and NOT need any persuasion if everything is aligned.


After the test fit, the turbine shaft was installed along with new bearings and oil control ring, I applied some moly lube as well as liberally oiling all bearings and contact surfaces. Be mindful of the thrust bearing and the oiling ports as they MUST face the center bearing support which is where the oil pressure is fed from. The inner compressor housing was then installed and the four fasteners were torqued to 12 ft/lbs. followed by the compressor wheel. Keep in mind the compressor wheel threads on using left hand threads using a 7/8" socket and extension to hold the turbine wheel and the compressor wheel required a 17mm socket. Again, the compressor wheel is left hand thread and torqued to 10 ft/lbs. Lastly the outer compressor housing is installed after the O-ring and the fasteners are torqued to 12 ft/lbs.


Turbo rebuild completed. Coolant lines reinstalled using new gaskets/seals as well as new oil drain line. The coolant hose will be replaced with new prior to installing back into the engine bay.





Thanks for looking.

 

[signcrafter]

Always learning something new in your thread Mike. Will file this away in case the Ford ever needs a turbo rebuild. Have been learning a lot about the DEF/SCR exhausts on these newer diesels lately, not really by choice either if you know what I mean. LOL.

You don't put your turbo in the press to hold it while you torque the case bolts like you do your carriers? LOL

 

[zmotorsports]

Always learning something new in your thread Mike. Will file this away in case the Ford ever needs a turbo rebuild. Have been learning a lot about the DEF/SCR exhausts on these newer diesels lately, not really by choice either if you know what I mean. LOL.

You don't put your turbo in the press to hold it while you torque the case bolts like you do your carriers? LOL

Thanks Scott, nope, didn't squeeze it in the press. Just strong-armed it while torquing.

Also worth noting is the Garrett VGT turbo found on the LLY and LBZ Duramax's is pretty much the same as the Ford 6.0 and even uses the exact same rebuild kit.