I have an early model 6.0 Powerstroke Super Duty. I'm in the process of doing a lot of upgrades / repairs (who'da thunk on a 6.0?), and one is rebuilding the turbo. It had a small oil leak on the turbine side.

I would like completely disassemble the center hub to clean it, but I can't seem to figure out how to remove the piston assembly. I removed the snap ring, but the cap over the piston still doesn't seem to want to come off. The only parts left is the piston (and whatever is under the round end cap), the rack gear, the cam (that moves the unison ring) and the gear it's attached to.

I suspect the unison ring cam and the gear it's attached to have to come apart, but I don't see how.

I'm really hoping someone who has taken one of these apart before will chime in and can shed some light on this. Thanks in advance!

By the way, I'm not going into this completely blind. I found a write-up on rebuilding it here. I have already purchased the Garrett rebuild kit, p/n 740659-0010.

 

It should only be the snap ring that retains it. There is an o-ring in there too that can sometimes stick a bit but usually if you just grab the raised center section tightly with a pair of pliers you can lift it right out. Make sure before you remove the cam gear that's behind the cover that you note which teeth mesh with which teeth on the rack. It limits vane travel and probably cause a check engine light and fault codes if you put it together in the wrong orientation.

Steve

 

My apologizes, I should have been more clear. I did get the cover off that you mentioned, that wasn't a problem. I'm having trouble removing the aluminum cover on the end of the cylinder housing – the one with a 7 mm tapped hole in it. This is the one I'm assuming I have to remove the cam / gear assembly to remove?

Note taken of indexing the gear placement before removal, thanks.

On that note, how do I remove the cam / gear assembly? I see what appears to be a small pin in it, but I have no idea if this is what I should go after, and how to do so.

Thank you very much for the insight!

 

It's been a number of years since I've done one of those turbos but if memory serves that is also just an o-ring holding the cap in. You may need a 7mm bolt (not sure where to find one of those) and grab that with a set of pliers or vice grips to pull it out.

Steve

 

I did have a 7 mm bolt threaded into the hole and was doing some tugging with Vice Grips, but it didn't seem willing to let go. Maybe I just need to tug harder. I was concerned that the cam / gear had to be removed before the cap could come off.

Thanks again!

P.S., a 7 mm bolt isn't hard to find for a person that has taken apart more Fords than he's put together

 

Well, that was quite simple. All I had to do is give the bolt a stronger tug! Some notes for those who may reference this in the future:

1. The required bolt is a 7x1 mm bolt (a very common one of Fords - they often have an 8 mm head)
2. I think using Vice Grips to hold onto the bolt is necessary
3. I gently clamped the cylinder part of the housing with a vice to hold (I'm sure some will really scoff at this, but I was gentle)
4. Try and keep the piston as straight as possible when extracting

When I first removed the snap ring the piston would move a little bit, but it wouldn't come out. At first I thought there was some kind of spring holding it (which is why I didn't tug very hard), but I'm pretty sure it was just the rubber O-ring sticking to the steel housing.

Here are some pictures, just everyone is clear of what we've been talking about:

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Just one final update, I finished rebuilding the turbo a couple months ago. No big problems with the process. I used the rebuild kit directly from Garrett, p/n 740659-0010. I did take quite a bit of careful time cleaning up the oil seal area with brass wire brushes on my Dremel. I have driven the truck for about 1,000 miles since, and it's great. No more blue smokey start-ups! Ever!

Thank you again for the assistance here. I would have dead in the water without it.