hey guys, kinda my first official posts on LS1TECH. Been a lurker since the winter months, bought my 1999 T/A from a member in Kansas that i drove all the way from Illinois to get. I work at a chevy dealership in the warranty claims.

My birthday is coming up next week, and my wife surprised the HELL out of me last night with a set of American Racing LT Headers w/ ORY as an early B-day present!!!!

i love my wife to death, but she did end up getting the 98-99 version (correct year) but without the EGR provisions. Not her fault really, because she even called the company she ordered from (lmperformance) and asked them to verify if they had the provisions for the EGR/AIR systems. She told me their reponse was "yeah it comes with all the stuff for the sensors" (meaning the o2 sensor extenders) so she thought that meant the EGR/AIR/SAI stuff. Checking lmperformance, i see that they do not even SELL the EGR/AIR ARH pipes...

No big deal in my eyes... i figured i'll just take the egr/sai/air stuff out. Got the egr block off plug for the ls1 manifold, and since the headers don't have the extensions on them for emissions stuff, thats the only physical block off i have to worry about.

My only concern, like everyone else on the site it seems- is the tune aspect of things. While i do have access to a gm tech-2, i know that the features are very limited and most likely would be unable to program out the egr and air pump codes/functions-- or would i? Would this be better suited for an actual dyno/tuning shop to program out?

i know the question has been asked probably a million times- my focus is mainly on anyone with experience with a tech-2.... and if theres anything i can do there with a gm-tech 2, or is it basically going to be used only for clearing codes until i get it tuned out?

i figured 1 of 3 scenarios will play out: 1)no ses light and the car runs fine. 2)ses is on but no performance problems, just for the egr/air codes. 3)egr/air codes and a mild performance problem. I have no qualms with the ses on for the EGR if theres not any performance problem.... and would be cool with driving around with it on, but i'd be paranoid that i wouldn't be able to tell any new codes coming on if there happened to be a coincidental problem elsewhere in the system.

may be me being too ****... and i know everyone says removing the egr stuff is no sweat-- but we lack a lot of dyno/tuner places around here locally and i would like to know what my scenarios are before i start taking it all apart and something happens afterwards.
thanks in advance

 

From what I have gathered as long as you have front O2's you should be ok. I rode around for a few days with the lts on, some people just drive around with open headers. Now, the car might not run perfect, but I don't think it will harm anything.

 

To get the full advantage of the headers it would be best to take it to a tuner.

 

As you describe, you will have an AIR/EGR SES on, but no performance problems. Air/EGR is no big deal. Just make sure you block off the EGR port with an adjustable freeze plug.

 

i'll be getting this plug for the intake manifold:

https://ls1tech.com/forums/showthrea...light=12558346



(The one on the left.) Should work pretty good i think

 

^^^^niceeeee

 

if you want O2 sensors that are long enough, so you don't have to wire in extensions get the bosch 13111's. they are plenty long enough. someone told me that using extensions can alter the resistance through the wire and possibly read incorrectly. not sure how true it is but I got them for cheap. ppl on here said you might be able to find a set on ebay for REAL cheap... good luck with your future modding!

 

also make sure you remove your EGR pump if your not using it. it's just added weight and easy to remove. I'm pretty sure it's very easy to tune out. delete the rear O2's and EGR stuff...

 

im a tech a a chevy dealership. the tech 2 will not tune out egr or air injection. what you could do is reprogram the pcm with that of a camaro that doesnt have egr or air (im not sure if that even exists) so i would suggest getting a custom tune. handheld tuners will eliminate the codes also