Stuck Banjo Bolt for Turbo

[16Karrisa]

Hi all! I have an ‘05 baja turbo and I cannot seem to get the banjo bolt unscrewed to take the oil filter out (the one we all should take out since it gets clogged and starves the turbo of oil). I’ve tried WD40, and SeaFoam Deep Creep, but the oils don’t penetrate that well since the bolt is horizontal. The heat shield was missing from the turbo as well, and I suspect that the heat may have something to do with my issue... Any ideas?

[mike-tracy]

I think the issue is you don't have enough leverage. Have you tried the double wrench trick? You really want to get the closed end on there, at least to get the bolt started.

doublewrenchtrick1370651515.jpg (30.87 KiB) Viewed 4819 times

(the pic is showing the second wrench in "tighten" position, you'd need to flip it over to loosen)

[16Karrisa]

That’s a great idea Mike! Thanks for the reply. The thing is, I can feel the whole engine block move slightly when I pull, which tells me I’m giving it plenty of force and leverage isn’t the issue...

[mike-tracy]

Could also mean you have shot motor mounts . The open side of the wrench clearly isn't working, as evidenced by the damage to the bolt.

[kamesama980]

Remember that the banjo bolt filters are NOT a root cause! The problem is NOT that they clog up. The problem is there's junk in the oil TO clog them and that the main oil filter is already clogged enough for the bypass to open. Without the banjo bolt filter, you still have crap in the oil and the filter's still bypassing.


The motor mounts have a lot of give and will move plenty, don't worry about that. They're fine for a LOT more force than you are physically capable of exerting even on two wrenches. Ever forget a bolt? You can lift the front end of a car by the engine.

Use a 6pt wrench, not a 12pt!