STS Turbo Troubles

rottenronnie

rottenronnie

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I'm not trying to reopen any old wounds here but there is a guy on another forum looking for some help. I know these systems (for whatever reason) wouldn't build consistent boost and killed a few SRT10 engines. Anyway, here is his post:

Start-

Need help with an STS turbo system. After 5 months and way too much $$$ invested, my performance numbers and drivability are less then impressive. 2006 Reg cab with 6 speed.

Dyno -426.21 rwhp and 450.8 ft/lbs stock
489.06 rwhp and 557.45 ft/lbs turbo set-up

Note....turbo dyno is at a shop temp of 108.3 degrees.

STS rear mount Garrett 76 turbo, 5.5 psi (true 4.2 psi in crank case...yeah, that's it)
STS intercooler
170 thermo
69 lb injectors
SCT flash tunner with KRC's tuning (Marty)
Fully heat wrapped exauhst


It's a dog under 3200 RPM, lost tons of bottom end with the turbo
Strong 3200 to 5200, but not impressive
Sporadic hanging idle @ 1500 RPM
P0121 codes - Throttle body sensor error - frequency varries with changing tunes.
Falls flat after 5200

Turbo piping going to intake poor design...changes diameter, small to large to small to large.....possibly killing my manifold pressure

Can anybody help? Not happy after $14k invested.

Oh, and anybody that thinks an STS will blow up my motor, no way at 4.2 PSI and a conservitive ATF ratio(11.5 down to 10.5 as boost increase). You might have a point at 7 psi and 13+ to 1 ATF

***Marty @ KRC has been very good with trying to help, just looking for any other ideas*** -END OF HIS POST

Can anyone offer any help ?

Thanks!

Ronnie
 
Last edited:
Marty..KRC....That is the answer....or maybe the problem....he spent $15K to get less than a moderate boost Roe would do...back up & start over..:dontknow:
 
TNVIPER said:
Marty..KRC....That is the answer....or maybe the problem....he spent $15K to get less than a moderate boost Roe would do...back up & start over..:dontknow:
Click to expand...

Thanks, I think he has basically given up on the STS. I was wondering if any progress was made with these things on our trucks that could be passed along to help him out.

There are a few of them around here; one in a QC Hemi truck that goes like a bat and seems to make good, reliable power. The other one on an older Camaro, same thing.
 
Last edited:
rottenronnie said:
Thanks, I think he has basically given up on the STS. I was wondering if any progress was made with these things on our trucks that could be passed along to help him out.

There are a few of them around here; one on a QC Hemi truck that goes like a bat and seems to make good, reliable power. The other one on an older Camaro, same thing.
Click to expand...

Ronnie it seems there has been little luck with the STS but I am sure you will get some more chiming in later today...the smarter guys are in bed now..;) ...........
 
TNVIPER said:
Ronnie it seems there has been little luck with the STS but I am sure you will get some more chiming in later today...the smarter guys are in bed now..;) ...........
Click to expand...

Can we wake them up? :D
 
I see several problems:

1- Remote mount

2- You don't really need an intercooler if you're running less than 8-10# (though it depends on the intake temps) you're just creating a restriction/larger volume of air to compress (increases lag).

3-He actually let Marty touch his truck??!! :shudder:

4-P0121 IIRC is a TPS/MAP code, either the TPS voltage is out of range, or the TPS/MAP signal correlation is off. The first is easy to check with a scanner, or even a DVOM. The second is most likely because AFAIK they haven't been able to get SCT to work well with 2 bar maps (see #3 above)

5- 10:1 is pig rich, no wonder its boggy. You need to fix all the above and have a competent builder tune it.

Can you get me the numbers off the ID tag on the compressor housing?

- Po-Lock

rottenronnie said:
I'm not trying to reopen any old wounds here but there is a guy on another forum looking for some help. I know these systems (for whatever reason) wouldn't build consistent boost and killed a few SRT10 engines. Anyway, here is his post:

Start-

Need help with an STS turbo system. After 5 months and way too much $$$ invested, my performance numbers and drivability are less then impressive. 2006 Reg cab with 6 speed.

Dyno -426.21 rwhp and 450.8 ft/lbs stock
489.06 rwhp and 557.45 ft/lbs turbo set-up

Note....turbo dyno is at a shop temp of 108.3 degrees.

STS rear mount Garrett 76 turbo, 5.5 psi (true 4.2 psi in crank case...yeah, that's it)
STS intercooler
170 thermo
69 lb injectors
SCT flash tunner with KRC's tuning (Marty)
Fully heat wrapped exauhst


It's a dog under 3200 RPM, lost tons of bottom end with the turbo
Strong 3200 to 5200, but not impressive
Sporadic hanging idle @ 1500 RPM
P0121 codes - Throttle body sensor error - frequency varries with changing tunes.
Falls flat after 5200

Turbo piping going to intake poor design...changes diameter, small to large to small to large.....possibly killing my manifold pressure

Can anybody help? Not happy after $14k invested.

Oh, and anybody that thinks an STS will blow up my motor, no way at 4.2 PSI and a conservitive ATF ratio(11.5 down to 10.5 as boost increase). You might have a point at 7 psi and 13+ to 1 ATF

***Marty @ KRC has been very good with trying to help, just looking for any other ideas*** -END OF HIS POST

Can anyone offer any help ?

Thanks!

Ronnie
Click to expand...
 
rottenronnie said:
I'm not trying to reopen any old wounds here but there is a guy on another forum looking for some help. I know these systems (for whatever reason) wouldn't build consistent boost and killed a few SRT10 engines. Anyway, here is his post:

Start-

Need help with an STS turbo system. After 5 months and way too much $$$ invested, my performance numbers and drivability are less then impressive. 2006 Reg cab with 6 speed.

Dyno -426.21 rwhp and 450.8 ft/lbs stock
489.06 rwhp and 557.45 ft/lbs turbo set-up

Note....turbo dyno is at a shop temp of 108.3 degrees.

STS rear mount Garrett 76 turbo, 5.5 psi (true 4.2 psi in crank case...yeah, that's it)
STS intercooler
170 thermo
69 lb injectors
SCT flash tunner with KRC's tuning (Marty)
Fully heat wrapped exauhst


It's a dog under 3200 RPM, lost tons of bottom end with the turbo
Strong 3200 to 5200, but not impressive
Sporadic hanging idle @ 1500 RPM
P0121 codes - Throttle body sensor error - frequency varries with changing tunes.
Falls flat after 5200

Turbo piping going to intake poor design...changes diameter, small to large to small to large.....possibly killing my manifold pressure

Can anybody help? Not happy after $14k invested.

Oh, and anybody that thinks an STS will blow up my motor, no way at 4.2 PSI and a conservitive ATF ratio(11.5 down to 10.5 as boost increase). You might have a point at 7 psi and 13+ to 1 ATF

***Marty @ KRC has been very good with trying to help, just looking for any other ideas*** -END OF HIS POST

Can anyone offer any help ?

Thanks!

Ronnie
Click to expand...

He is probably in the same boat as me. I am fixing to do a leak down test and see if the cylinder pressure is any good. My truck was making 620rwhp with a perfect 12:1 a/f ratio all the way to 6100rpm. Now 6 monts later we have about 580 & a 9:1 a/f ratio down low & ends up at 10:3 high rpm, plus we have installed a much better exhaust system since the original runs. Tell him to put new plugs in, I suggest Bosch 7927 with the turbo. I am running richer, and making less power, so A: the extra fuel is costing me power(but where does extra fuel come from all the sudden?) or B: most likely, we have some ring blowby fouling out cyl# 1 in particular causing me to make less power, so now we have extra fuel causing my very rich condition. My prior experience with LT1/LS1 cars is blowing rings and getting visible blow-by that you can feel with the oil cap off when revving the engine. Again, leakdown & compression test, change plugs, see if there is any oil on any of them, and also take the oil cap off, and rev the motor and see if you get a steamengine-style smoke puffing, or any air blowing out of there. Any air at all and he has a blow ring/cracked piston. Also, he says he falls flat at 5200. I bet there is a fuel delivery problem, even if the a/f shows safe/rich. Stock engines are truly ticking time bombs if you drive them hard at all.....mine included.
 
I've previously mentioned a conversation I had with Sean Roe about the STS, but to give you the bottom line:

He was asked to be involved in the initial design of the STS but STS insisted on a design that Sean could not support...for a while he tried to get them to rearrange the design (issues related to the inability to get the engine to survive without being very rich and low on power).

He was told that the STS design for the Viper engine would not be changed and he exited the situation.

Every STS on a Viper engine has blown. STS no longer makes or sells the application. I know of only one other surviving STS install, (FlyingLow).

The design is flawed...getting Marty to work on it in my opinion is like jumping out of the frying pan into the fire.

STS has some wonderful applications. Their design for the Viper engine has failed, been scrapped and if I had one, I would toss it immediately, and go another direction.
 
I believe that tuning and the lack there of blows up engines. Turbo's and blowers just compress air.

The stock pistons are garbage under boost and even with the sct/vec we don't have the tuning that the other brands have.

Talk to flying low, he makes good numbers on his build but he had to build it, blew up on the dyno. Because of the pistons under boost not the turbo.
 
STS does not make an intercooler for the Viper. So which ever one he is running has been modified to fit and might be part of the constriction problem. The injectors are way to big. I had 65#'s and we had to go lower to control the fuel.

Where is this guy located? Sounds like Marty is just trying to help him via phone/email. What forum is this guy on?
 
Ok, so I'm the guy ronnie is trying to find help for.

I've decided to give up on the STS...eat the loss and try to save the motor for now. Basically what i have is a $20k budget to start in March of 2010. So i'm trying to get as much input as possible to make sure i get HP for the $$ spent this time arround.

In the mean time, i would like to try and get a little more power out of what i'm working with without risking a blown motor. March is a long time from now and i would really like to be able to play with my truck before then.

The intercooler came with the kit. It looks like it belongs on a Civic. I may pull it out.

When did STS quit selling these kits for the SRT-10 Rams?? They still advertise them and I ordered mine in March of this year.....and no, they are no help. They directed me to 3 tuners that all ran away when i told them my needs. (Even Hennesy wouldn't touch it) KRC / Marty was the only one willing to try and help. My tune shop(Extreame) used an SCT and e-mail tunes from Marty. I gave up on them when they started putting in tunes and skipping the dyno, telling me to road test and let them know. Real F-ing smart.

I went to thier competitor. They got a hold of Marty and retuned to make it drivable with mediocre HP and good, but not great, torque.

I was really expecting a lot closer to the published numbers for a $6000 kit, $2000 of extra parts for fuel and tuning and $2500 for the install and tuning. Add in an additional $1000 for the second shop and that's $11,500 or the $14000 spent. (ballance was on lowering kit, clutch kit, gauges ect..)

489 hp vs 557 published
557 tq vs 599 published

If i could get a solid 525 hp & 575 tq safely, i would be happy until spring.

Please, anyone making big numbers.....throw build suggestions at me so i can get ideas.

Goal - everyday driver @ 800 hp that all but bullet proof.

Can it be done for less then $20k and how?????

last note....i know why STS doesn't supply fuel & tunes for the SRT-10......SEE ABOVE!......(or, it can't be done safely while being cost effective!)
 
268Johnson-

Welcome to this Forum!

You should get a lot of ideas coming your way shortly...but I gotta go and will be back online late tonight.

Ronnie
 
Last edited:
268johnson said:
Ok, so I'm the guy ronnie is trying to find help for.

Goal - everyday driver @ 800 hp that all but bullet proof.

Can it be done for less then $20k and how?????

(or, it can't be done safely while being cost effective!)
Click to expand...

That's not a problem, though on stock internals it probably won't last long.

Yes, much less. Forged pistons, normal mounting location for the turbo, and a good tune.

If you can get the assembly numbers off the turbo I can look up the map, you might be able to use most of what you've got (turbo, piping, fuel system, etc.), just relocate the turbo and get rid of all the "bandaids".
 
The only number i can find is A/R 70??? where should i be looking?

So, either what should my bullet proof 800hp daily aprox cost? or what can i do for $20k.
 
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