For the last month or two I have had this high pitched whistle sound when ever I accelerate real rapidly. I figured I must have the start to leaky factory up-pipes. I find it strange that I could tow with full boost at 35 PSI and no sound, only when I get on it does it do it.

Needless to say I decided to tackle this project. I have read many instruction sheets and forums and got some good tips and felt good enough to take the project on.

I ordered new MBRP up-pipes along with MBRP down pipe kit. I got all new seals and hardware from Ford, man that is sure expensive.

To start with at the beginning of the week I pulled the inner fenders off both sides. I then went to town spraying PB blaster on all exhaust bolts. I did this every day for a week.

I started with the down pipe, pulled the heat shield off the turbo and then used a pry bar to pop the clamp and down pipe off. I then cut the down pipe into two pieces so I could wiggle it out.

Next was the cross over pipe for the EGR. I no longer have EGR bur have left everything in tact for when I go to sell it I can put it all back on again. I sure wish I could cut this piece of garbage pipe off but I dont want to pull the cab off to replace it.

With the pipe out of the way I could tackle the bolts for the up-pipe to turbo. They all were real easy except the bottom two. The came right out but there is almost zero room to get any tool or hand back there. With those out I could then take the nuts off the manifold and pull the up pipes out. The right side slides right out and then with a little wiggle room the left side comes out and then drop it down the right hand side of engine.

All bolts came out, none were broke and besides the down pipe nothing was cut. In all I have 2.5 hours into it. It really does suck doing with the cab on, but I have no other way to do it and the job can be done. Now I will use my tap set to clean out the holes in the turbo to make installation that much easier.

Now to wait for the UPS man to deliver my goodies!

Jeff

 

Well all my parts arrived around the same time so today was the day to put this back together.

I used my wire wheel attachment in a die grinder so that I could clean up the back side of the turbo where the up-pipes attach.



I ran a M8x1.25 tap into all the turbo flange bolts holes where the up-pipes bolt to the turbo along with the EGR cross over pipe. I wanted nice clean threads to make installation easier since there is not much room to work with back in there.



I then decided to make a modification during the installation process. Since the bottom two bolts are such a pain to get to I thought it would be easier to put studs in the back of the turbo where the up-pipes meet. I had factory bolts too in case it did not work. I ordered M8x1.25 by 35MM bolts. If I had to do it again I would get 45MM long bolts instead of the 35MM but 35 MM is how long the factory bolts are. I put lots of anti seize on when I installed them. MY thought was it would be easier to get a nut on the bottom two since you cannot see plus if I needed to take this apart again in the future such as fuel pump replacement ect.... I would be easier to get apart.





Here is the old and new left side up-pipe for comparison. I like the extra metal they welded to the elbow to help keep it from wearing out in the future.





Right side up-pipe for comparison.





The left side up-pipe goes in first. It can be put in from the top, there is enough room to slide it past the turbo and then down the side of the engine. You have to use a pry bar to help get the pipe onto the exhaust manifold.



The right side up-pipe has to be put in from the bottom on the right hand side. Once you slide it up then you can climb back on top of the engine and put it on the turbo. Putting studs on the back of the turbo was the way to go. You could slide the pipes in and then get the nuts on with out trying to line up pipe, gasket and bolt all at the same time. The bottom bolt for the turbo was a pain in the rear to get, I had to put a small piece of tap into my socket to hold the nut on so it would not drop. You have to put it on completely blind as you can't see or get your hand on the stud. The factory bolt would suck even worse.



With both up-pipes installed I could work on the EGR cross over. Things get real tight with the up-pipes back in.



With the pipes all in the final step was the down pipe. I bought both up-pipes and down pipes from MBRP. This has to be installed from the bottom side as well. I also had to take the exhaust pipe from the down pipe back off the hanger so that I could push it put of the way enough to get it all installed. I slid the top half in first and installed the clamp around the turbo tight but loose enough the pipe could move around. With the bottom half installed I could tighten up all the bolts, plug the EGT sensor and exhaust back pressure sensor back in and start everything up! No leaks, no broken parts, all in all it was a good job. I have just shy of 6 hours in total time to remove, clean up and install the parts.



Hopefully this will help others who decide to tackle this project in the garage or drive way with out taking the cab off!

Jeff

 

Nice write up. Good pictures and great explination.

 

X 2 on the posts. I did up pipes on a F450 but I undid the cab bolts and jacked it up about 4 inches above the front mounts while it hinged on the rear cab bolts. Gives some extra room. But persistence paid off for you.

 

PITA job
MBRP products are Quality
Thanks