Turbo air inlet boot.

[H2OSB]

I won't rehash my issue too much. My VF40 died, which I've discovered is all to common with these cars. I pulled the turbo and discovered my air inlet boot had a tear. One nightmare later and I've got the new one installed. With patience well beyond my normal capacity, I am almost back together....however...I dearly hope one of you guys (or gals) can give me a hint on installing the air inlet boot over the snout of the turbo.

 

With much effort and over the car and under the car events, I got the oil drain tube lined up and on. I slid the air inlet boot clamp over snout of the turbo so I could force/squash the boot enough to line up the oil drain tube, then used a screw driver to gently work the air inlet tube over the snout. That all worked out fine. The problem is I cannot get the inlet boot to seat all the way on to the turbo snout. It appears to be seated on the drivers side, but I have a 3/8th inch gap on the passenger side. No amount of prying/wrangling can get it on further. I assume if I were to lift the turbo up and rotate it, I could get it to go, however, obviously, I don't want to pull the drain tube up and off. PLEASE, can some give me a suggestion?

 

H2OSB

[cseagle08]

It's not ideal but i think you can lift the entire intake up enough to get a hand in there and seat it. It's only 6 screws that hold the intake down. or maybe pull it back off, put a small film of light grease or something inside the rubber boot so it can slide on easier. I dunno mine just slid on without too much issue but I did get mine on before the oil line. Man that oil line is a bitch.

[H2OSB]

Thanks for the advice. I think the reason it won't go on easily is the newness of the rubber. The flexible bellows section is very stiff...opposite of what it's supposed to be. The old one was very floppy due to oil soaking into the rubber (I know there shouldn't be oil there, but there was.).

 

I had the intake manifold loose to replace the air inlet hose, and I was never able to get it off, only loose enough to raise it about an inch. It was enough, by let me tell you, only just.

 

I will loosen the intake as a last resort. Lotta work for an inch of additional space. I think I would have to take all 12 bolts out (6 per side) to be able to raise it the same inch I had before.

 

BTW, it took a minimum of 20 tries to get the oil drain hose aligned and on. Each time I had to crawl under the car to see if the tube landed in place. I'm not a wee little fellow. It sucked.

 

H2OSB