STS install issues or tricks

I just received my sts turbo for my 95 lt1. If you have installed one of these and ran into issues with stuff not fitting as it should or tips to make things easier I would appreciate the advice. The instruction booklet from sts is a good tool I hope but like I said, I just got it and all I have done is some painting and installed the elbow tube on the throttle body. Has anyone posted a DIY on this yet that is actual experience or is all I have to work with is the videos on the install from the sts website. Open for advice on how to make this install as easy and quick as possible.

Thanks

seriously that was one of the easiest things iv put on my car... well when i was rolling with the sts kit. got off a 24hr duty at 6am slept till 12 got up and started intalling the kit at like 1pm stopped at 9 started the next day at 8am and was cruising down the street at like noon. if you have any mechanical skill at all then you wont have an issue at all. everything fit pretty good when i put mine on the first time.

good luck.

There were a couple problems with my kit. There wasn't a threaded hole in the intake tubing for the boost pressure switch (makes the oil pump run faster), so I ended up drilling and tapping the hole myself. Also, the fitting on the oil supply line to the turbo came apart because I apparently overtightened it (even though it didn't seem that tight). They replaced the line free of charge for me. I found that the system hung too low, so my dad helped me fab a bracket to hang the compressor side more securely, and higher. You should probably have your exhaust couplings welded together so they don't leak.

Where does the BOV go (which pipe) and is it above or below the MAF

depends what kit you have. i have a LT1 motor but used the LS1 kit b/c i had headers. on my kit the BOV was right in front of the left lower A arm before the maf. your BOV will always be before the maf so that the air flow between the maf and intake doesnt get messed with. the maf measures air so when the BOV opens its gonna think there is pretty much no air so its gonna stumble and die.

just follow the directions and you cant go wrong, the ones i had were great and spot on.

As far as new fuel pumps, injectors and spark plugs. Do I really need to upgrade, will I find out during tuning that I need to, or can I just keep it stock. If I need to upgrade, can anyone make some suggestions on reasonably priced parts that work efficiently. I am only going to run 6 pounds of boost, or 7 if I can get away with it but this is not a race car, so I am not looking for something more ridiculous then the kit is going to make it normally. Thanks for the posts, they have helped.

if i were you i would do 42lb injectors and a 255 pump just to make sure. i had a issue of the car leaning out at 5400 rpm on the stock injectors. you dont wont to go tuning and then find out after you fried something that you went lean for a long period of time.

if you plan on running 6-7lbs on a stock engine i would also suggest a intercooler at the least OR just run like 4-5lbs and when you feel like running more shoot meth. but even then its a matter of time till it blows up on you. i ran 9lbs on my stock lt1 when it decided it didnt like it anymore and spun a rod bearing, that was the first time it seen over 5lbs too.

id say start off small with all the safety features like: injectors, fuel pump, boost gauge, air fuel ratio gauge and some self control to not keep upping the boost like me. then SAVE YOUR MONEY b/c sooner or later it will blow and you are going to need a rebuild.

Even if I stayed at 5?

even at 5psi its only a matter of time before it lets go... sorry to say man. the best thing is to get a GOOD tune and supporting mods as mentioned and dont be like me and try to show off. i mean its not gonna die the first time you get on it, just dont make a habbit of doing it alot in the summer. honestly im sure if you just stay careful with it that it will last much much longer than mine. if i remember correctly when i talked to the dude at sts when i got my kit they pretty much did away with the LT1 kit so you prolly have the same one i do. tomorrow il get find some pics and post them up for you and you can see some of the stuff i did to the rear to gain more ground clearance. BUT if you did get the LT1 kit its got much better clearance as far as the charge pipe goes. when do you plan on putting the kit on? if you start at like 9am and at like noon start drinking beer you will be done by like 2pm :D

GRRRRRRRRRRRRR the internet sucks butt here. iv tried to upload pics on cardomain and photobucket for the past month with no success. sorry man not gonna be able to get pics up anytime soon. bandwith is a bitch

We have started istallation. So far we have mounted the intake pipe. t-taped the vaccum line. Cannot figure out how to route the fuel buzzer into the cockpit. Got it through the rubber gromet behind the comp but it is hitting something. Cut off the muffler and working on gettin git mounted. What should I do to clean off the cut pipe to make sure crap doesnt get into the intake side of the turbo? Mounted the oil pump and routed the return line. Can the oil lines and wires route along the fuel lines? Lets see what else. What is the hole for in the intake pipe on the front of the throttle body. There is a quarter size hole. Is this for a vacuum line? Ill ask more questions if I can think of them. I appreciate your help.

Oh and I have someone mounting the bov flange on the charge pipe. What is the material the pipes for this system are made of?

it not aluminum thats for sure... lol dont ask. just mile steel or something we welded some aluminized pipe to it just fine.

exhaust: just take some sand paper to the edges of that exhaust pipe and if possible start the car and rev it a few times to blow out any crap that might have got inside it.

buzzer: its actually to monitor oil pressure not fuel. i didnt have a problem with getting my buzzer inside the car at all i just unhooked it and routed the wire inside.

charge pipe: for the hole in the intake pipe that is for your IAT (inlet air temp) when you took off the stock intake you had to unplug a sensor, that sensor goes in the hole. the hole in my intake pipe was bigger than the sensor so i used a rubber gromet and got lucky that it didnt pop out under boost.

underbody wires: i first ran my wire with the fuel lines with zip ties and a few days later i used "P" clamps to secure the wires to the fuel lines. i used one p clamp on the fuel like for a mount and put a p clamp around the wires and used 7/16" (3/8"shank) bolts to bolt the p clamps together. worked great. after i blew the motor and decided to make everything nicer i cut a hole in the floor board and used a rubber gromet running the wire into the car and to the fire wall. i cut another hole and used a gromet to run the wires to the engine bay. that worked even better but its alot of work.

oil pump: i would recommend to use a bolt and nut to mount it do the car not just the self tappers b/c mine broke and the pump fell, if it wasnt for me being a perfectionist and putting a catch wire on iti would have had some issues. at the least get some hard core lacing wire or something and mount that to the car and the pump for a back up.


keep us informed on the install

What does the 1psi pressure switch control, and on a stock set up how is excess fueling accomplished while under boost. Also, what is the little manual toggle used for on the front wiring harness

Install is slow but good, we did some soldering down on the maf today but that is about all.

what efficiency do the stock injectors on a 95 z28 run at. For tunnning this system, what is the recommeneded device. The shop I was going to use asked me what I wanted them to use to tune it. I thought they use the dyno and there standard computer that plugs into the car. I am lost on the tuning

Okay, found out they are 24#, but what rate do they run at. With the calculation on the forum, it says I need around 28#, but I guess I would have to jump to 30s if that is the case. Just seeing if I could stay out of boost to get over to the shop and then have them throw the injectors in there during the tune.

i donno what that toggle switch is for to be honest.... i would go with some 42lb injectors. for the tuning the shop should know what they are doing. see if they have LT1edit and if so have them tune with that. the pressure switch controls the pump, it tells it to go to full power while under boost to pump the oil back to the engine faster.

In reading the instuctions, it looks like the toggle switch might have something to do with the green line they give you for installing gauges (boost or air/fuel) not sure why they would give you an on/off switch for that but what ever. And the shop does not have lt1 edit. should I get the tuning system that sts recommends and do it myself?

Well insallation is finished. I will try to get some picks up soon because I finally own a digital camera. All that is left is the tune that I purchased from madz28.com and the 42 lbs. injectors. On stock parts though it has been running like a champ. Havnt really gotten into boost to much yet though.

Now the new issue is. Cant get air to come out of the dashboard vents. But I will work on that.

Also tapped into the wrong vacuum line for the boost gauge. But when I get the computer tune then we will figure that out.

Interested to see what your hp/tq numbers and curve are. Was your car basically stock prior to the turbo? Meaning, no internal engine mods, such as heads/cam/etc?

Yes. Only upgrade was a functional ss intake which was removed during installation.

Conrats on getting it all done and in man!

hey man sorry i havent posted... i just got internet back a few days ago and its extremly busy here as we get ready to go back home. for the boost gauge if you put it where the sts instructions tell you to put it look around for a small round thing thats some kind of check valve or some **** i cant really remember it but i broke it kinda so my gauge only read boost and not vacuum. to be honest i would put it somewhere else, just T off anything that is hooked directly to the intake. good luck

Please help.... Installed the new injectors and the computer and on the first run, didnt get into it to much and it ran fine. First run was about 2 miles total. The next rum was about a quarter of a mile and the engine stalled. When the clutch engaged, we lost it too. It did not appear to running on all cylinders and was running rich. Pulled it into a gas station and and let it sit. The first start up it was running real rough and had to be on the gas to keep idle. Then let it sit again and after about 10 min it would idle but it idled bad, but good enough to take it the other 1/4 of a mile home. Still appears to be rich. I had to keep on the gas even in with the clutch in and could not get out of first. Any ideas here boys? Do not understand why it would run fine one run and then sit for a while and then run like crap.

try to read the codes.... if it runs like crap just idling but when you get on give it full throttle it rungs good its prolly a oxygen sensor.....let us know

Dont have the tools here to read the codes, we are going to pull a spark plug on each side tonight and see if the are fouled up. If they are good then we will take another direction. And it was doing so well too. Ran fine stock.

and its on a new tune right now?? im going with oxygen sensor or sensors. still have the stock cat on? if so then i would really lean towards a oxygen sensor. only took 2 weeks for one of mine to go bad but that wasnt much driving.

Well the spark plugs were fowled. I spoke with the tuner and he said he had never done one with exactly my setup so he was not sure but is willing to take the computer back and refund. He advised to get some cables and tunercat and take it to a dyno tuner. So it looks like it is back in with the stock injectors and and the stock comp until i can get it to a dyno. :( But we will see what happens.

hummmmm if you get it dyno tuned and there is a problem with the car other than a tune they will find out real quick. good luck

Well the pipe to the mas sensor was seperating from the pipe on the intake. The plugs were not fowled beyond working condition and due to the pita of the passenger side plugs, I left the in there. It ran fine with the tune for several runs and I got into about 3lbs of boost (trying to build up alittle confidence). Then on a run last week, went around a turn and the pipe seperated again. This was not to bad because I knew what to look for and got the blue fitting on there long enough to get home, but I am getting sick of the pipe seperating. Has anyone had issues with the fitting on the top of the maf sensor seperating. If so would a longer blue fitting and adding a clamp work? Any ideas.

Car seems fine other than this easily fixable problem. Friend things that the engine movement might be popping it loose. I seems to have clearance though which leads me to beleive it is a length issue.

PS in boost this thing is freakin ridiculous.

I recommend the STS turbo

I had a difficult time getting the pipe that contains the BOV and the pipe that bolts to the subframes lined up. I ended up having to cut ¾” off tube with the BOV near the subframe to get it to bolt under the car. I haven’t had any problems with the pipe disconnecting at that location, but getting the air pump relocated and the methanol pump installed was bit of a pain. I could see if I hadn’t cut the BOV pipe it would have been another ¾” forward of the front sway bar making the turn angle into the throttle body even greater.

How are your engine mounts? Maybe the angle and the slight torqueing of the engine is enough to disconnect your pipe.

I’ll list some of the problems I’ve had so far:

1. I hear a banging underneath the car during hard turns, going over sharp bumps or during hard shifting. I think it’s the parking brake bracket on the rear ending hitting the pipe but there doesn’t appear to be any wear.

2. I had oil blowing by the return line going into the valve cover. It turned out that the fitting going through the cap needed to be screwed together tighter. I though it was blowing out the breather and I ended up adding a catch can and oil separator. (which is good practice anyway)

3. There is really bad rear end hop between 3rd and 4th gear when shifting hard. (I have yet to power shift the car since I scared I may break something) If feels like the rear of the car is moving around. I looking at replacing the shocks and going to polyurethane bushings.

All and all I’m very happy so far with the choice I made. There were a lot of negative things written about the STS turbo system, but each aftermarket kit has it’s own set of unique issues. There’s a lot of great information on this board that allows you to benefits from everyone’s else’s experience and make the choice that right for you.

I did a complete engine rebuild so 90% of the time I have low compression V8 that’s getting pretty good gas mileage but is a completely different car above 3500 rpm. I also have the option of going from 7.25 to 15 psi should I need to. It’s takes some time to get use the turbo lag. Brake boosting the car helps.

Well, I had the same issue with the bov pipe fitting too, so I took a hach saw to it and shortened it underneather the car alittle. The other issue might just need some tweaking, but I have used all the proper bolts so I am not sure. Does the bov need a pressue line going to a vacuum line in the manifold, or does it operate correctly without that valve. I just welded the flange and bolted the bov off, and when the car is in running condition it appears that it works fine.

I am also having an issue with some leaking at the oil fill cap (return line). Mine appears to be the actual cap not seating tight, not the little brass fitting but I will recheck when I get it running again. Thanks for the info, and if you could expand on the oil seperater and catch thing you were talking about I would appreciate it.

Well, I had the same issue with the bov pipe fitting too, so I took a hach saw to it and shortened it underneather the car alittle. The other issue might just need some tweaking, but I have used all the proper bolts so I am not sure. Does the bov need a pressue line going to a vacuum line in the manifold, or does it operate correctly without that valve. I just welded the flange and bolted the bov off, and when the car is in running condition it appears that it works fine.

I am also having an issue with some leaking at the oil fill cap (return line). Mine appears to be the actual cap not seating tight, not the little brass fitting but I will recheck when I get it running again. Thanks for the info, and if you could expand on the oil seperater and catch thing you were talking about I would appreciate it.

I have the BOV line spliced into the brake line. I also had a problem with the oil cap not catching enough threads. I’ll take some pictures of everything when I get home tonight and post them.

Cool, Thanks

The BOV line is spliced into the connection from the brake booster and the manifold. Fig_4 (http://memweb.newsguy.com/~branland/images/Fig_4.jpg)

The oil cap can be turned on the fitting to make it tighter Fig_5 (http://memweb.newsguy.com/~branland/images/Fig_5.jpg)

There is an enormous amount of info on catchcans and air / oil separators in this forum. After reading through several threads here is what I choose to do:

I bought a, catchcan (http://www.allstarperformance.com/product.htm?prod=25) capped off the line from the throttle body, and ran a line from the passenger side valve cover to the catch. ( Fig_1 (http://memweb.newsguy.com/~branland/images/Fig_1.jpg), Fig_2 (http://memweb.newsguy.com/~branland/images/Fig_2.jpg), Fig_3 (http://memweb.newsguy.com/~branland/images/Fig_3.jpg), Fig_6 (http://memweb.newsguy.com/~branland/images/Fig_6.jpg)) The catch can is mounted behind the headlight since this is a high pressure zone. Under boost, the speed of the car will increase, causing more air to pass by the filter creating a low pressure zone in the tank. Although it’s not as good as a vacuum pump, it should be able to draw the blow by into the tank.

The air / oil separator ( Fig_3 (http://memweb.newsguy.com/~branland/images/Fig_3.jpg)) is between the PCV valve and the intake manifold to keep oil from being drawn back into the manifold. If I had it to do over again I would have gotten the can with dual connections and spliced the connection from the intake manifold and added a few check valves. The way it’s set up now, under boost, blow by gets into the air oil separator.