STS Turbo NIGHTMARE! Please help
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Teching In
Joined: Jan 2005
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From: Phoenix Area
STS Turbo NIGHTMARE! Please help Just got the STS basic 5 psi kit on my Z28. Me, my 2 friends (one of which is a mechanic) and his dad (who is also a mechanic), installed the kit yesterday at the shop. Well, after a grueling 12 hours, it got installed. The main delay was getting the "bolt on" pipes to fit. After bending our own tubes that actually fit and replacing the cheap-looking rubber oil return line with a steel line, the job was done.
I took the car out for its first spin, going really easy on it to make sure the car runs. Well, it ran fine. The gauge indicated 5 psi of boost and everything was fine. When I was carefully driving home, black smoke started coming out of the exhaust. My car was burning oil and leaking it out of the exhaust tip. We noticed that the oil pump stopped working. I had to tow my car home. Thinking it was a faulty oil pump, we took another look at the car in my garage. We discovered that the problem wasn't the pump, but the 2 ohm resistor going TO the pump. This resistor works fine when the car is first turned on. But shortly after, it becomes very hot and the pump stops working. We made sure it was the resistor that was faulty by running wires past it.
So here I am in a dillema. Just spend thousands of dollars and my car is useless. Is there anywhere I can get that resistor ASAP? Or is there anyway I can bypass it? Someone please help! I'm going crazy and am about to cry.
I took the car out for its first spin, going really easy on it to make sure the car runs. Well, it ran fine. The gauge indicated 5 psi of boost and everything was fine. When I was carefully driving home, black smoke started coming out of the exhaust. My car was burning oil and leaking it out of the exhaust tip. We noticed that the oil pump stopped working. I had to tow my car home. Thinking it was a faulty oil pump, we took another look at the car in my garage. We discovered that the problem wasn't the pump, but the 2 ohm resistor going TO the pump. This resistor works fine when the car is first turned on. But shortly after, it becomes very hot and the pump stops working. We made sure it was the resistor that was faulty by running wires past it.
So here I am in a dillema. Just spend thousands of dollars and my car is useless. Is there anywhere I can get that resistor ASAP? Or is there anyway I can bypass it? Someone please help! I'm going crazy and am about to cry.
Welcome to the world of FI!!!! **** like this happens. Not everyone is lucky and bolts up a turbo kit and everything is perfect. But once you get all the kinks worked out it worth every penny. Good luck with the problem.
That resistor is supposed to get hot. It is there to make the pump run slower when not in boost. If you jump the resistor, you will just run the pump on high speed only.
I have installed quite a few of these kits and have never had the issues you are talking about, especially when you say you are having to bend your own pipes. You could be a little more specific about which ones and get the help you need, because I'm sure the solution is a simple one. That "cheap looking rubber line" you speak of will work just fine as it is a high pressure line. There are enough people on this board that have the kit as well as dealers that you could have saved yourself and you buddies alot of time and headache by asking!!
I have installed quite a few of these kits and have never had the issues you are talking about, especially when you say you are having to bend your own pipes. You could be a little more specific about which ones and get the help you need, because I'm sure the solution is a simple one. That "cheap looking rubber line" you speak of will work just fine as it is a high pressure line. There are enough people on this board that have the kit as well as dealers that you could have saved yourself and you buddies alot of time and headache by asking!!
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Originally Posted by studentdriver
If you need a new resistor, Radio Shack should have them for about 50 cents.
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COntact STS - I am sure they can help OR at least the Dealer you got the Kit from. Heck Man it took me DAYS to install My kit BUT I did a little more than the basic kit. Thats How it goes when you tinker with stuff. Its all part of it.
There is a chance you have the pump wired backwards or a very popular mistake is having the signal wire tapped off the wrong wire from the computer.Alot of people mistake the wrong green striped wire with the AC compressor switch wire(same exact color).If this is done everytime you floor it the oil pump will shut off causing the oil problem.
Thread Starter
Teching In
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From: Phoenix Area
Originally Posted by trtturbo
That resistor is supposed to get hot. It is there to make the pump run slower when not in boost. If you jump the resistor, you will just run the pump on high speed only.
I have installed quite a few of these kits and have never had the issues you are talking about, especially when you say you are having to bend your own pipes. You could be a little more specific about which ones and get the help you need, because I'm sure the solution is a simple one. That "cheap looking rubber line" you speak of will work just fine as it is a high pressure line. There are enough people on this board that have the kit as well as dealers that you could have saved yourself and you buddies alot of time and headache by asking!!
I have installed quite a few of these kits and have never had the issues you are talking about, especially when you say you are having to bend your own pipes. You could be a little more specific about which ones and get the help you need, because I'm sure the solution is a simple one. That "cheap looking rubber line" you speak of will work just fine as it is a high pressure line. There are enough people on this board that have the kit as well as dealers that you could have saved yourself and you buddies alot of time and headache by asking!!
The reason why we had to bend our own pipes was because my car had the SLP loudmouth exhaust, and I didn't have my stock exhaust on hand.
Sorry about overreacting guys, it's just that I was having a really bad day. The tow truck that towed my car back also broke down, so I had to wait another few hours for that. And I had been awake for over 24 hours when I wrote that message. Sorry about that and thank you guys for your help.
By the way, does the resistor need to be mounted? It comes with mounting brackets on the sides, but no screws. We just let it hang there in the air. Could that be why it fried?
my resistor EXPLODED... no I don't mean just fizzled out. I mean it looked and sounded like a bottle rocket went off under my hood... I've got another resister that STS sent me for free when I was running the kit. I never installed it and I don't have the kit anymore.... I don't exactly know where I'm going with this. But thats what happend to me! get in touch with your dealer and have them get you a new one. I straight wired them together without the resistor and the pump ran full speed 100%... talk about god awful having that weedeater going right behind your seat.
Originally Posted by strykerZ28
Yeah the resistor makes the pump run at two speeds. What would happen if I do what you said and jump the wire for a day? Will that overheat the pump? As for what slowhawk said, I am 100% sure that we got the right wire off the computer.
The reason why we had to bend our own pipes was because my car had the SLP loudmouth exhaust, and I didn't have my stock exhaust on hand.
Sorry about overreacting guys, it's just that I was having a really bad day. The tow truck that towed my car back also broke down, so I had to wait another few hours for that. And I had been awake for over 24 hours when I wrote that message. Sorry about that and thank you guys for your help.
By the way, does the resistor need to be mounted? It comes with mounting brackets on the sides, but no screws. We just let it hang there in the air. Could that be why it fried?
The reason why we had to bend our own pipes was because my car had the SLP loudmouth exhaust, and I didn't have my stock exhaust on hand.
Sorry about overreacting guys, it's just that I was having a really bad day. The tow truck that towed my car back also broke down, so I had to wait another few hours for that. And I had been awake for over 24 hours when I wrote that message. Sorry about that and thank you guys for your help.
By the way, does the resistor need to be mounted? It comes with mounting brackets on the sides, but no screws. We just let it hang there in the air. Could that be why it fried?
Last edited by trtturbo; Feb 13, 2005 at 11:28 PM.
I don't know anything about the tech side of the STS Kit. But I do know resistor's. The only thing that would make a resistor get hot a blow up is running to much power (wattage) through it. Resistor's are simple they just resist current that's it. On the electronics side of it sounds like you need a 2ohm resistor that will handle more wattage. Radio Shack will probably have one. Just get the biggest one they have and that will take care of the resistor blowing up. It will probably look like a small clay brick.
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Originally Posted by Slowhawk
There is a chance you have the pump wired backwards or a very popular mistake is having the signal wire tapped off the wrong wire from the computer.Alot of people mistake the wrong green striped wire with the AC compressor switch wire(same exact color).If this is done everytime you floor it the oil pump will shut off causing the oil problem.
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From: Albuquerque, NM
We had a wiring issue with our Dodge kits for the oil pump. If the pump is not working it WILL blow oil out the exhaust, and quite a mess does it make!
The resistor in question has a large, specialty heat sink around it. When they say it gets hot, boy they mean it gets HOOOOOT. Had the truck running literally for 30 seconds and it burned thru a pair of mechanic mitts and crisped my fingertips. Course, it's like the hot pizza syndrome, you know it's gonna be hot but you push the envelope til you take a layer of skin off the top of your mouth.
You might find one at the Shack but it's doubtful. Definitely call your dealer or STS direct. STS has always sent needed items and given phone support ASAP.
BTW we run ours suspended in the air.
The resistor in question has a large, specialty heat sink around it. When they say it gets hot, boy they mean it gets HOOOOOT. Had the truck running literally for 30 seconds and it burned thru a pair of mechanic mitts and crisped my fingertips. Course, it's like the hot pizza syndrome, you know it's gonna be hot but you push the envelope til you take a layer of skin off the top of your mouth.
You might find one at the Shack but it's doubtful. Definitely call your dealer or STS direct. STS has always sent needed items and given phone support ASAP.
BTW we run ours suspended in the air.
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Jan 2005
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From: Phoenix Area
Update Well, we went to radio shack and bought a ceramic coated 2 ohm resistor. It didn't work. So we just straight wired the connection and let it run at 100% for a while. Well, after driving the car for 10 minutes, the pump stopped working again. It turned out it was a burnt fuse. We changed the 15 amp fuse to a 20 amp fuse and started the pump again. Well, after about 5 seconds the pump died again. There's gotta be something else wrong here. Could it be a short circuit perhaps? Maybe some wiring melted over an exhaust pipe?
check your harness that you didnt get it on the exhaust manifold. Make sure your pump has a good ground. Make sure the ground wire on the harness is grounded well.
Go back through the directions and check your Hobbs switch by the pcm and make sure the switch valve is grounded to the water pump. The switch valve shouldnt affect anything, but I have seen people not do it.
When the pump is running, is it returning the oil to the engine?
Go back through the directions and check your Hobbs switch by the pcm and make sure the switch valve is grounded to the water pump. The switch valve shouldnt affect anything, but I have seen people not do it.
When the pump is running, is it returning the oil to the engine?
Thread Starter
Teching In
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From: Phoenix Area
Yes, the oil flow is fine. Other than being extremely noisy (lack of resistor), the pump has been good so far. It's powering the pump that's giving me so much trouble. Also, one of my friends said that it doesn't matter if the pump is wired backwards. (btw when the pump failed, oil leaked out of the exhaust)