Thanks for the help everyone! Here is what I discovered during the install. Assuming the car is raised on jack stands and the negative battery terminal has been disconnected…
1. Remove the piping between the turbo and the intercooler. The piping is attached in three places: the turbo, the bypass valve and the intercooler. Each location of attachment is secured by pipe clamps. Start by loosening the clamps. Then I used a ratchet-able tie down strap to separate the pipe from the intercooler. To do this, first protect your piping and engine shroud by covering them with rags. Then loop the tie down strap around the piping on the intercooler side of the bypass valve. Hook the other end of the strap into the space between the strut perch and the strut brace. Then tighten the tie down until it is reasonably tight – just be careful not to crush the piping or break the bypass valve connector. The angle of the strap pulls up on the piping so to remove the pipe all you have to do is push down on the pipe – sort of rotating the piping to release the lip on the connecter at the bottom of the pipe. The bugger pops right out at that point. Now disconnect the bypass valve – really easy - no discussion necessary. Now use a twisting and yanking motion to pull the piping off the turbo. Also pretty easy. Cover the turbo outlet so you don’t get crud in there. Step one complete!
2. Remove the WGA. The WGA is attached with two 11mm nuts near the body of the WGA and an e-clip at the end of the WGA shaft. The 11mm nuts also secure a heat shield for the WGA. First crawl under the car and use a long screwdriver to pop the e-clip off the waste gate arm. While you’re under the car use a long 3/8 inch ratchet and long extension with a flex adaptor to remove the 11mm bolt on the backside of the WGA. I found that if you come at it from the far side of the j-pipe the angle is easier on the flex adaptor. Crawl back out and use an 11mm wrench to remove the last bolt in the WGA – only partial turns are possible so plan on having some patience for that. The WGA shaft passes through a hole in a bracket and because of the angle of removal the length adjuster on the OEM WGA shaft may get snagged on this hole. I bent the WGA shaft a little to ease the angle, then the WGA comes right out.
3. Install the new WGA. For me this was much easier than removal. So much so that I have only a couple little tips. First slide the WGA in place (don't foeget the heat shield!) and tighten both 11mm nuts. Then tie a string around the waste gate arm to hold it closed. If you don’t do this the waste gate arm moves when you try to get the WGA shaft attached to it. I tied a long loop between the waste gate arm and the plastic under the engine so that it would be easy to cut off and remove when the job is done. Now from above the car use a pair of pliers to rotate the WGA shaft so that it is angled correctly to attach to the waste gate arm. Then, still above the car, use the pliers to extend the WGA shaft and connect it to the waste gate arm. The next trick is to install the e-clip. Many people complain about how hard this is, but it was in fact very easy, even without an e-clip installer. I had read the e-clip is 5/16, but 5/16 was too big I had to pinch it closed a little bit. Anyway – when you install it don’t hold it between your fingers and thumb – instead hold it between your pointer finger and middle finger – this will make your hand much narrower. When you get it in place just push it flat against the WGA shaft and then slide it over the waste gate arm. With the slightly oversized e-clip and holding the clip as I described I had the new clip installed in two minutes or less. Getting IC piping reinstalled is pretty obvious and easy.
The ECU will take a little time to relearn things, but this should be pretty minor and sort itself out in a couple of days. In my car the only symptom was slight variations in idle speed when rolling to a stop. Apparently I’ve needed a new WGA since I bought the care because it now drives better than it ever has!
