If it had gone smooth, how many hours do you estimate to fix one side? Considering taking a day off just to knock it out
Should be a half day job if everything goes well. On the passenger side anyway, I can't speak for the driver side. Pull the wheel and fender liner (@#$@%^ plastic christmas tree push connectors!), undo all the electrical connections in the way and the hoses, remove the oil line bolts (have to pull the starter and use a wobble to get to them) and the 2 exhaust nuts. Then remove the @#$@#$%**# coolant lines. This is easier if you remove the wastegate actuator, but not required. The "jiffy tite" connectors are disconnected by removing the little wire clip (use a pick to get it out, it will probably bend/break, I would replace the entire connector as they are prone to leak) and then pulling the tube out. This is hard because the tubes are rigid and it would be easier if you could twist them to remove, but you can't. The top one is not too bad, but the bottom one is not fun, because it is bolted to the engine so you have to remove the 3 bolts holding the turbo onto the manifold AND the one underneath that holds it on to the engine (long extensions and probably a u-joint here, I missed it the first time and spent quite a while trying to find what was still holding the turbo on) and then work the turbo off of the coolant tube. It's the biggest pain about the whole job. Putting it back on isn't much better. Other than the coolant lines and all the plastic fasteners on the fender liner, it really isn't that bad of a job.