Is it possible to replace turbo inlet without taking the cab off?

[johncasey37]

Newbie.....but already love the truck.
Just pulled home 8 tons of hay, 3rd time out driving.

Ok, just got a 2008 6.4 .....crew, king ranch, ebay.....

Diesel guys showed me the turbo inlet pipe, leaking, soot and such....
way back a little on the passenger side.
They say they have to pull the cab off to replace the pipe. $200 pipe, $1000 labor.

Is it possible to replace turbo inlet without taking the cab off?
Maybe take off the large exhaust next to it first to get some room???

I have searched and can not find this info.

Thanks guys and possibly gals......

JC

[C-Power]

not sure if you did this yet or not but yes its doable i just did one. only part that sucks is the up pipe bottom bolts.

[johncasey37]

thanks for the reply. What is the pipe called, that connects to the back of the turbo?
it is a turbo inlet pipe....but is that also the up pipe or down pipe? is there something different than the stock pipes....they are cracked on 4year old truck....
thanks
any other tips that might make it easier? how long did it take you?
thanks
John Casey

[C-Power]

With doing other small projects it took roughly 4hrs to take them off.

They are usually called up pipes and yes they are known to go bad.

All i did was
1. un hook oil feeds
2. I took the fuel cooler and its little coolant resovor off as one. U have 2 fuel lines on there move them out of the way
3. Yank out the boost tube that goes from low pressure to high pressure
4. Un bolt egr pipe from above turbo
5. Un bolt the driver side egr pipe where it connects and push it back out of the way
6. Start fighting to get the up pipe bolts out of the turbo
7. Unbolt the turbo hold downs
8. Take down pipe clamp off of lo pressure charger
9. I used my 36" mac pry bar and pry'd under the hi pressure charger
10. Take off oil filter cap and pull filter as well
11. Wiggle and fight it out of there lol
12. If u are taking the 2 turbos apart measure the distance between the 2 so when u put them back together u dont have to fight it to get the oil drains back in the correct spot

[C-Power]

Yikes i just re-read your original post u wanna just do the up-pipes not the turbos sorry lol. I keep bouncing from forum to forum and forget what im doing lol


Up-pipes are also doable with cab on but not worth the hassle

[johncasey37]

labor is $1000.
If I pay to take the cab off and for the pipe replacement.
What else should be done while they are in there?
Can a better pipe be used? EGR removal while in there ?
thanks

[04hdfatboy]

While the cab is off you could go with the 6.0 exhaust manifold and custom up pipes. They are a more reliable setup because they have the 90* elbow in the cast manifold. They also seem to flow better.

[C-Power]

A gm dealership wont/shouldnt do an egr delete plus remember the tuners that allow for egr delete keep goin up in price!

[johncasey37]

we replaced the cracked up pipe, the one with 3 ends on the passenger side.
1.took all 4 cab to frame bolts out.
2. used 2 jacks on pass-side, jacked cab up 4.5" and put wood blocks in space for safety.
a. used floor jacks with 6x6 about 18" long, spacers for saftey, since jacks and 6x6 not too stable.
3. remove the BIG down pipe, had to have 4.5" space where the cab meets the frame, where the long cab bolts are. Also took off inner wheel well on pass-side.
4. took off old "Y" up pipe, replaced.
5. Truck back running in 3.5 hours.
6. notes: look like this has been done before on my just purchased truck with 165000 miles.
i found a bolt and gasket on top of the transmission. Also, there is a bracket on the top of the egr pipe that attaches to my new up pipe that is not attached to anything. It is not obvious what it might bolt to.

[Big Angry Hillbilly]

Same thing can be achieved quite easily by pulling the trans. Can have a trans out of one of these trucks pretty quick.

Once it's out the DP comes off real easy and you can see the turbocharger inlets pipes plain as day.