My TN kit came in yesterday, and I would like to instal the oil filter spacer in order to feed the supply line. Anyone that has done this before - did the oil lines that came with the kit need to be modified in order to reach that far? If so, how did you make the needed adjustments. Also, where is the best place to put the return line?

I am also installing an oil pressure gauge, and would just like to T into the original line for the factory sensor, is this a good idea, or should I T into the new oil line to the turbo.

 

The line that comes with the kit has roughly 6-8 inches of slack from the stock oil sender unit. You don't need a sandwich plate for the filter to route the oil feed. It is a 3 foot -3an oil feed line with -3an fittings.

The return line is good in the stock place, and should also work with a spacer and braided return (AAM spacer). Just make sure that it is at a downward angle and gravity fed all the way to the lower tap. I'd definitely upgrade to a braided return line whichever way you go. It stays hotter and keeps the oil nice and hot/viscous.

Also, check www.atpturbo.com for a premade T for an oil pressure gauge. It's not necessarily cheap but looks like a nice peice. You can even run one before and after a restrictor if you'd like to see how it's effecting oil pressure.

Good luck.

 

Thanks for the tip on the braided line, I'll definitely be doing that (do you still need to heat rap braided lines?)

From whats posted above, am I to believe that the best way to do the install is to tap the return and retap the feed holes? I'm sure I can do it, I just never have tapped a hole in a block before. Is there any way around this that is reliable and does a good job?

 

You don't want to drill a hole in your block. That's why Taurran was saying the AAM oil pan spacer and return line kit. You can get it from Alteredatmosphere.com or from many vendors on this site. You are looking at around $240 for everything but it will not only look sweet but also add a huge safety margin to your return line (it would not be good if that TN supplied rubber line rubbed on a hot part). Another cheaper option is to buy the Stillen oil pan spacer and just tap it with what is supplied with your TN kit and put heat shield of some sort over the rubber return line. This would only cost about $140 and prolly be just as effective as the AAM option minus the bling.

 

Thanks, I'll start looking into the return line oil pan spacers. Is there any way of getting around Re-tapping the supply line hole?

 

I don't believe you have to tap the supply line hole. I hear what you are saying about the simplicity of tapping off a sandwich plate but many say just adding the "T fitting" supplied with your TN kit off the factory oil pressure sensor is very easy. Plus you can know that if you have oil pressure your turbo is always getting oil. The hardest part of installing that kit is the fuel basket modification. It might even be worth sending that out to have done by a shop. There is also different opinions about how to best do the fuel regulator modification as some say to remove that yellow piece and drill it out or to just drill out and leave that little plastic piece in. Miaplaya would be a great person to contact on this stuff and there are a lot of write ups on the fuel basket modification on here. Just do a search but make sure to select "look in titles only" and to use the boolian setting as that seems to make the search more accurate

 

Thanks, yeah i've seen a few threads on the fuel basket issue, I should be able to handle that. I've been using the search quite a bit, I don't want to get flamed so no one will help me when I'm in the middle of a turbo job haha. Just trying to get as much info as possible before I start. I must have read the TN instructions wrong last night, it mentions the t fitting for the oil supply, but i thought I had to re-tap the hole, it was late maybe it didnt, i'll double check. Also, if i'm installing an oil pressure gauge, will there be too many "t's" in that area? I guess i could just put the sensor that came with the gauge in place of the factory, but would this cause issues with any of the factory electronics and warnings?

 

If you are going to install an addl. oil pressure gauge I would get a sandwich plate and just tap that. You could also get an oil cooler and attach that to a sandwich plate, some have like 3 outputs.

 

That tells oil pressure at the sender, not at the turbo. Two different things entirely.

 

so would it be best just to get a filter spacer and use that to hook my o/p sensor to?

 

If you're interested in engine oil pressure, yes. If you're interested in turbo oil pressure then T up by the feed into the turbo.

 

Really? crap... The shop that's installing my TN kit suggested that I DIDN'T use the AAM oil pan spacer kit with a SS oil return line.... They mentioned that since the oil return came in BELOW the oil level that it wouldn't feed as efficiently. So they tapped the block..... They were wanting to run a return line above the oil level... It made sense to me at the time. Why is it bad to drill the block? They mentioned that gravity is what fed the oil into the pan, so having the oil return BELOW the oil level would be FORCING the oil into the pan...

 

Well if it is already done then no big deal. Drilling the upper pan is the way Turbonetics recommends how to do it anyway. I prefer the spacer just because it is easier to go back to stock but there are a few easy ways to plug that hole if you ever want to go to stock too. You still might want to consider a oil pan spacer or a high capacity oil pan just to add more oil and help offset the addl. heat generated by your turbo though. Good luck with the kit, I can't wait to see what you think of it. Please post videos if you can.

 

Well if it is already done then no big deal. Drilling the upper pan is the way Turbonetics recommends how to do it anyway. I prefer the spacer just because it is easier to go back to stock but there are a few easy ways to plug that hole if you ever want to go to stock too. You still might want to consider a oil pan spacer or a high capacity oil pan just to add more oil and help offset the addl. heat generated by your turbo though. Good luck with the kit, I can't wait to see what you think of it. Please post videos if you can.

 

You're fine, but like I said in PM, the extra capacity of a spacer is a plus and a braided return line is nice insurance.

 

Its recommended not to use the oil-filter spacer to feed your turbo because its unfilted, post engine oil. Using the oil-presure sender ensures fresh oil is supplied to the turbo at all times.

 

I just installed the AAM spacer, went in pretty easy. Wegster, thanks for the clarification on the oil-filter spacer, since it was very close to the recommended location I was going to just use the extra port on that (it has 4, one will be used for the new oil pressure sensor for the new gauge). But now I will just leave the 3 extra holes plugged and tap into the factory sensor fitting like the instructions recommend. I don't want any dirty oil in my turbo.