I need your guys' help involving the MHI Bolt On Turbo kit

lastbluesun

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Hi everyone,

So I bought an RV6 catted downpipe to have put in. It was supposed to be nice and smooth, but during installation a bolt snapped on the turbo (as is apparently common as I've found) and my mechanic had tried getting it out using an industrial torch and vice grips but no dice. He has recommended I just get a new turbo and it'll all be okay. Except, I ordered the MHI and I 'm not sure I can afford a tune after dropping 450 on the Downpipe, and 1800 on a turbo. Is there any KTuner map I can buy that will work in the place of a dyno tune? My car is currently undrivable sitting in a parking lot a the mechanic and I'm honestly just terrified I've messed up my car permanently and I just want to drive again T.T I promise I'll never do any more wacky modifications, this is it. I just want this all to have a happy ending, so If any of y'all have a good idea please throw it at me cause I've been non-stop anxious since this went down.
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Depending on what mhi turbo you got. If you got basically the oem spec one then basemaps should be fine.
 

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If you chose a bigger turbo, download a new base tune and bring the boost down to something like 5-6 psi and make an appointment with a dyno tuner. It should be safe enough where you won't blow your engine if you take it easy but do take it for a proper tune asap.

As xjoshuax89 said, if your turbo is close to the original size there whouldn't be any issues.
 
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I went through the exact same thing you did recently except I swapped in a turbo from a CRV (I also did the RV6 catted downpipe.) I was going to say, you don't have to swap the turbo. You can swap just the exhaust manifold. There's a band clamp that holds the turbo to the exhaust manifold. But since you already bought a new turbo, go ahead and replace it. Might as well replace the turbo joint inlet and outlet gaskets. You can reuse the a side or b side turbo gaskets as those are steel unless they are burnt. I also recommend you replace the oil feed and return gaskets off of the turbo since you are going to be taking those off. After the new turbo is on, regardless of anyone telling you a base tune will work and those things don't require a tune, take it from someone that's going through the process. Do yourself a favor and send Derek Robinson at IMW an email. He is very responsive in his emails and set yourself up to get etuned (around 400). My fuel trims were off upwards of -15% after the swap, and people on here were telling me I have a vacuum leak after the MAF. Did a smoke test through the TIP and found nothing. I've only received my first tweaked tune from Derek and the fuel trims are generally within 3-5%. The man does wonders. Best of luck to you my friend.
 

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Couple things, the mechanic broke the stud, fixing this is his problem. A possible solution that most people in the feild would do, is weld a bolt or nut onto the broken stud, then remove the stud. If you got the MHI upgrade turbo, congrats, Hondata has base maps available in race version and CARB. Be sure to upgrade your engine oil to 10w40 or the turbo will fail. Honda OEM oil is too thin.
 


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I don't belive the turbo needs 10w40, in fact this could make lubrication worse and lead to other problems for daily driving IMO.
 
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lastbluesun

lastbluesun

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Couple things, the mechanic broke the stud, fixing this is his problem. A possible solution that most people in the feild would do, is weld a bolt or nut onto the broken stud, then remove the stud. If you got the MHI upgrade turbo, congrats, Hondata has base maps available in race version and CARB. Be sure to upgrade your engine oil to 10w40 or the turbo will fail. Honda OEM oil is too thin.
So technically the mechanic is my nephew doing this stuff out of the kindness of his heart cause he loves cars and has the tools at his shop. He just didn't want to take out the turbo and drill out the studs and pressured me into buying a flat out new turbo. I shouldn't have relented but I'm generally a pushover. I ended up going with the W1 cause when I called the people I ordered the MHI turbo from, they said it wouldn't ship till September whereas the W1 shipped out sooner than they projected to me initially. I feel bad because I reached out to DRob on Facebook, basically telling him he has a chance at his first Dyno numbers on the -03 and now he isn't getting those. Hopefully he'll still want to tune the W1 :/
 
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So technically the mechanic is my nephew doing this stuff out of the kindness of his heart cause he loves cars and has the tools at his shop. He just didn't want to take out the turbo and drill out the studs and pressured me into buying a flat out new turbo. I shouldn't have relented but I'm generally a pushover. I ended up going with the W1 cause when I called the people I ordered the MHI turbo from, they said it wouldn't ship till September whereas the W1 shipped out sooner than they projected to me initially. I feel bad because I reached out to DRob on Facebook, basically telling him he has a chance at his first Dyno numbers on the -03 and now he isn't getting those. Hopefully he'll still want to tune the W1 :/
Just get a new exhaust manifold. You don’t have to do an entire turbo swap. The new exhaust manifold will come with new studs and are held together by a band clamp to the turbo itself. Disassembly and reassembly of the turbo from the exhaust manifold is literally one 10mm nut. Make sure you mark the location of the nut with respect to the threads on the band clamp so you know how tight you need to make the nut. You will need to loosen the armature nut to give it slack to remove it from the exhaust manifold. Make sure you mark the location of this nut as well to reassemble the armature. Once that nut is loose, remove the locking pin holding the armature to the exhaust manifold, rotate the exhaust manifold so the armature can be removed. There’s a small guide pin for directionality of how the turbo and exhaust manifold mate so you don’t have to worry about it going back in a certain position. Let me know if you need more information.

Best of luck.
 

Ap1 George

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Just get a new exhaust manifold. You don’t have to do an entire turbo swap. The new exhaust manifold will come with new studs and are held together by a band clamp to the turbo itself. Disassembly and reassembly of the turbo from the exhaust manifold is literally one 10mm nut. Make sure you mark the location of the nut with respect to the threads on the band clamp so you know how tight you need to make the nut. You will need to loosen the armature nut to give it slack to remove it from the exhaust manifold. Make sure you mark the location of this nut as well to reassemble the armature. Once that nut is loose, remove the locking pin holding the armature to the exhaust manifold, rotate the exhaust manifold so the armature can be removed. There’s a small guide pin for directionality of how the turbo and exhaust manifold mate so you don’t have to worry about it going back in a certain position. Let me know if you need more information.

Best of luck.
Are you even talking about the L15 turbo for the civic? Cause this car does not have an external exhaust or turbo manifold, the turbo is bolted directly on the head.
 
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lastbluesun

lastbluesun

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Are you even talking about the L15 turbo for the civic? Cause this car does not have an external exhaust or turbo manifold, the turbo is bolted directly on the head.
I was also under the same impression, I just didn't have the heart to say anything.
 


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Are you even talking about the L15 turbo for the civic? Cause this car does not have an external exhaust or turbo manifold, the turbo is bolted directly on the head.
Yes I’m talking about the l15bx engine. I recently did the swap myself. The turbo assembly is two piece. It’s held together by a worm cl
Are you even talking about the L15 turbo for the civic? Cause this car does not have an external exhaust or turbo manifold, the turbo is bolted directly on the head.
I am talking about the l15 turbo. The turbo itself is two pieces held together by a v band clamp. The piece with the broken stud, for lack of terminology since it isn’t exactly an exhaust manifold is what I’m referring to if you separate the two. I recently did the swap myself and you can take my word for it or upgrade the turbo itself. Just trying to save you a few dollars since it seems like you’re on a budget.
 
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Honda Civic 10th gen I need your guys' help involving the MHI Bolt On Turbo kit 1A10FD51-67EF-4A7B-8CB9-32BC818B7290

The turbo splits in the middle where I circled. You will find the band clamp with the 10mm nut there. The other circled spot is the retaining clip and armature I’m referring to. The other 10mm nut you need to loosen to turn the “exhaust manifold” to take the armature off of the “exhaust manifold” Is right above where the turbo splits.
 
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lastbluesun

lastbluesun

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1A10FD51-67EF-4A7B-8CB9-32BC818B7290.jpeg

The turbo splits in the middle where I circled. You will find the band clamp with the 10mm nut there. The other circled spot is the retaining clip and armature I’m referring to. The other 10mm nut you need to loosen to turn the “exhaust manifold” to take the armature off of the “exhaust manifold” Is right above where the turbo splits.
I had literally no idea that part separates. That's absolutely news to me. I wish I knew this before I ordered the turbo, you're a scholar!
 

Ap1 George

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1A10FD51-67EF-4A7B-8CB9-32BC818B7290.jpeg

The turbo splits in the middle where I circled. You will find the band clamp with the 10mm nut there. The other circled spot is the retaining clip and armature I’m referring to. The other 10mm nut you need to loosen to turn the “exhaust manifold” to take the armature off of the “exhaust manifold” Is right above where the turbo splits.
The right side is the "turbine housing" the left side is the "compressor housing" the center piece that goes inside that has both the turbine and exhaust wheels are called the center housing rotating assembly (CHRA). Again..not the exhaust manifold.
 

Ap1 George

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I had literally no idea that part separates. That's absolutely news to me. I wish I knew this before I ordered the turbo, you're a scholar!
Yeah they separate, that's exactly how turbo repair and rebuilds are done. If you have a shop near you that does turbo work they can take out that broken stud for a small price. The shop in Oceanside CA would charge around $20 for a broken stud removal.
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