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Andrewhans 240 LS Swap, Going for 8's

also, on the amazon map sensors.. they can flake without splitting apart, I have one on the blue 242 that just... got slow... almost like you plugged the line going to it.. it'd pull some vacuum, and show some boost. I'm not sure what to really do about it, doesn't seem to be an extremely common problem but I guess one that shouldn't be all together surprising.
 
So I'm pushing coolant under boost now. Enough to where I blew a line off the steam port and emptied the engine of coolant, saw 225 by the time I got home but was probly far over that bc of having very little coolant in the motor.

I'll see if it starts in the morning and get it warmed up then do a compression test. If it starts without issue and tests good I'm going to buy new headgaskets and maybe a used set of ARP studs (not sure on that part yet). The gaskets were reused 4 or 5 times so far and the head bolts probly had 5 full torque cycles on them as well.
 
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They push coolant if you reuse stock headbolts and gaskets. I even have issues with new hgs and reused bolts. It works if you want, but I think studs and new gaskets are the way to go
 
pull the gate, air check with shop air. this is why I only use tial gates on my junk.

Pulled the gate, gate works fine with air, doesn't stick either. Tested all 3 springs for when they open. Put the lightest spring in there. Still over boosts. I think the exhaust has too little restriction to allow the wastegate to work correctly or the gate placement isnt right on the housing. I cant change the gate location but I can add restriction to the exhaust to see if that makes the wastegate more effective at bleeding exhaust.

EDIT: Just thought I could also add a second gate onto my crossover to bleed more exhaust gas. That will most likely be my final solution.

I will also pull the bolts one by one and clean the threads. Maybe some gunk was causeing the bolts to hit torque before they hit full clamping force. If it still pushes coolant I'll fix it.
 
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Good news!! I filled it up with water this morning and drove it about 15miles round trip with no issues. Even did a few pulls around 5-7psi without pushing coolant.

Im gonna order a second VSR 44mm gate and weld it on the crossover to control my boost better. Hopefully preventing HG issues in the future.

Once I get the tune straightened out Ill fix the HG issue and install new bolts, new gaskets and try again.
 
Little update.

Went and drove it again last week. Hit 16-18psi again. Didnt push coolant this time though. Before I drove it I added some more e85 to the tank and brought my content up to e70 ish. Maybe I was having a bit of detonation and was pushing coolant because of it. Not sure yet on that. Going to mark balancer and check timing.

Boost is still uncontrollable. So I bought and have received my second 44mm gate. Im just going to cut a hole in the crossover and weld it in there. Ill put the lightest spring in both gates so they open together and dont fight each other.

I did remove and retest the old wastegate to make sure it wasnt sticking. Also verified the opening pressures on all three springs you get with the VSR 44mm gate.


On the drive I noticed the boost gauge and ecu reading were a little off again. So today I tested the sensor for leaks and sure as ****, its leaking. Just not from my repair area, its leaking through the connector. I'm sure I could take it apart and grease it up and reseal it but I'm done with this MAP sensor.
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Here's another fun issue I'm having. I suspect that I'm overspinning the alternator and causeing a sharp voltage drop(right at 5600rpm which equates to about 18k alt RPM), which is causeing my fuel pressure to tank as well at the same time. My hopeful solution to both the voltage drop and my following FP drop is to install a larger alt pulley to bring alt RPM down to 17.8k when Im on the 6800rpm limiter. Ill go from 14.1 down to 12.5 within 200 engine rpm. Alt has new brushes, new slipring and new voltage regulator from when I rebuilt it. All this is visible in my datalogs, I have a fuel pressure sensor wired in and working. Even if it doesnt cure the fuel pressure drop the alt will still be better off not being overspun like it currently is.

What MAP sensors have you guys used that havent blown apart. Is the LS1 style GM 3bar more robust, or do I just need to switch over to a pressure transducer style sensor?

Has anybody else had high rpm voltage drop issues and what was your solution? Currently factory truck accesories.
 
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I converted to the ls9 map. It works really well. My 3bar ls1 style map took a **** on me

How did your ls1 style **** out on you? Was it a genuine one? They look better suited to boost because there is less space for the pressure to split the sensor apart.

Does the LS9 have the ability to put a hose with a clamp on it so it can hang in the breeze? I dont have a way to mount the sensor on my intake.
 
im sure you could smash a hose over the end of it, the oem ones are like 35 bucks, the ls1 style 3 bar from efi source is what I had and it just started reading nothing but atmosphere pressure one day with no change. it has a very small orifice and I think maybe it got contaminated. the ls9 sensor has a o ring on it so and has a boss for a bolt to hold it down. you could just blast a hole in the intake and bolt it down. lol
 
I really like the price of the sensor for sure. It seems capable, cheap and an OEM part so the quality should be there for it to last through some abuse.
 
Yea it's a nice piece. And works really well

So I'm finding between the sensor($30-35) and the pigtail I'll need to wire it in($20-25) I'm gonna be at the same cost as the AEM 3.5bar brass sensor.

I'm far less worried about the AEM style sensor failing with a 100psi burst pressure rating over the unknown LS9 sensor. I think its also the heat coming off my exhaust that is causeing the sensor to fail. I just don't want the glue to separate on the LS9 like it did on my GM 3 bar.

The AEM will be the sensor Im going with because of cost, style and proximity to a heat source.
 
It was too gorgeous this Sunday to not go to the track. I had an absolute blast. Big turnout and everybody really enjoyed the car. I was being asked questions about it all day and I managed to make a bunch of passes. 9 in total. Even had 2 people offer to buy it lol

Never pushed coolant all day which was nice. Not sure I went over 10psi though so it may still be an issue I need to deal with.

The two timeslips are my best ET and my fastest MPH. Its really slow on the first half of the the track. It covers that back 330' pretty quickly though and is a lot of fun to drive.




And this is my favorite video. Once the truck passes you can hear my car and how little traction it has. I was leaving new rubber down near the finish line almost every pass.
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Long story short 500whp, an open diff and a 185 street tire dont equal a fast car. Fun... absolutely.
 
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Some updates.

Haven't really been doing anything except beating the **** out of the car and having a lot of fun doing 1000ft burnouts with the one tire fire haha I did manage to find a small strip of mexico on my way to work. Hooked up pretty decent after I aired down the tires to around 20psi.
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Original tires finally died.


Have a new set on there. Went with a MASSIVE 195 tire instead of the 185 I had on there...:oogle:. I put a feeler out there on a local car FB page and asked what people had lying around for burners and got REALLY lucky. a local guy who mounts/balances/aligns cars had a set in his shop. So for $150 I got 4 tires with a TON of tread mounted/balanced and a front end alignment which I needed very badly.


While it was on the lift I took so decent photos to give anybody a few angles I may not have taken already.







Car drives beautifully on the highway now. Still high in the RPM but once the 8.8" goes in and I regear it to around a 3.2x gear the rpm will come down and be much nicer do drive on the highway.
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Got my boost control issue fixed by adding the second wastegate you see on the crossover tube. I have a 3 port MAC valve on the way so I can integrate the boost control into the MS3 Gold Box. I will also add a rotary dial and then have that control the duty cycle so I have a boost select switch for fun on the run lol

Spent a bunch of time rewiring the tail lights so they actually work. It's nice not having to worry about getting pulled over for something dumb. Been driving the car to work a lot. Over the last month I've put 1k miles on the setup and it's been doing great. Gas mileage is pretty **** on e85, I'm averaging around 10mph right now... I'm always doing nice pulls on it though so I don't expect much lol

I'm going to be buying a set of steel wheels off Jegs to mount a set of slicks on. We will see how long the Volvo diff lasts at the track with slick. I can't wait :) The track is only 5 min from my house and I have a few buddies that said they would throw the car on the trailer and bring me home if I break it.
 
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