Mini Steve-Tek Fuel System Upgrade- Installation and Review

[JCG-GSX]

In my quest to cure my car's lean condition, I started doing some research on how to get more fuel into my car. With a gas-hungry Big 16G, I was leaning out big time, to the point that I couldn't run higher than 10 lbs of boost without substantial knock, and even when I upgraded to 550's and a S-AFC the car still wasn't happy. To make matters worse, I hate the stock fuel filters with a passion, and damn near stripped the bottom fitting out before wising up and getting a flare wrench.

Enter the Steve-Tek concept. For those of you that are not familiar with the Steve-Tek system, Here is a link to his website:

SteveTek Fuel Upgrade

There were two problems that I had with this system.

1) The cost - 15 feet of stainless -06AN fuel line @ $7 a ft = GOOD LAWD!

2) Fabrication to the fuel rail. For the most part I'm more of a bolt-on kinda guy.

It seems to me that most of the restriction on the fuel line is from the filter and the fitting into the rail. There is a site that is going to release an all in one kit soon, it is worth checking out:

AutoAlchemy
Fuel Upgrade Kit

I basically bought the same parts as their kit. Here is what I did:

Called Earl's Performance, and they have an adapter for the fitting on the fuel line to a male -06AN Fitting. You will also need a Female to Female adapter to connect to a -06AN high flow fuel filter. The part numbers are:

9894-DBH ( 14MM to -06AN male)
915106 (-06AN Female to Female Adapter)


Next, I got a nice K&N Billet inline -06AN high flow filter. You can use any quality one, but this is just the one that the local performance shop happened to have ( note: I think K&N exited the Fuel Filter Market)

After the filter, you ideally want to add a fuel pressure sending unit. (I ommited this step for now, until I get the stuff for it)

Also from the performance shop, you will need about 22" of Stainless Braided -06AN Fuel line with -06AN female hose end fittings to go from the other end of the fuel filter to the fuel rail.

Finally, I got the -06AN adapter (from the site above) that bolts directly on to the fuel rail. The quality seems pretty good.

If you can get the ***!!#@ stock fuel filter off, then the rest of the install should be a breeze. It took me about 15 minutes after I got the fuel filter off.

The main thing that you have to worry about is fuel leaks. I had two of them. The main problem is the inverted flare fitting on the stock fuel rail. It didn't mate right up to the -06AN fitting, and caused a slow leak. I had some pipe tape around, and used it on the thread, which solved the problem ( Fuel Gurus- is this going to cause a problem later??) Also, the shop I bought the fuel line from put on the hose ends for me and did a real shoddy job. When I first started up the car fuel sprayed everywhere! I re-cut and re-installed the hose end and had no additional problems. ( Still wary, now carrying a fire extinguisher in car...just in case)

Huge difference with the upgraded fuel system in. The first interesting thing I noticed was that the car started quicker. Odd, but turn the key, and Boom, its on. The throttle response was also much better, and it allowed me to safely crank up the boost another couple pounds.

Overall, I feel it is a worthy mod for anyone that finds themselves needing more fuel for those big hungry turbos! I spent a total of ~$160 ( 60 for the fittings and fuel line, 70 for the filter, and 30 for the fuel rail fitting) and saved a considerable amount of time and money vs the full Steve-Tek upgrade, and I feel I'm reaping most of the benefits. Feel free to contact me with any questions that you may have about this upgrade. I owe the DSM community a lot for all the help you guys have given me over the years.

Best regards,

-Chad

 

[doug]

This is EXACTLY what I am planning on doing to my fuel system in the very near future-- in fact, I've already ordered the fuel rail adapter from AutoAlchemy. I didn't know about their kit until now-- I was just planning on piecing it together like you did. Did you use Earl's Perform-O-Flex hose or something else? And what exactly does the fuel pressure sender do (please don't say "sends fuel pressure" )? I saw that on the SteveTek site and have been wondering about that ever since.

I am planning on using a Russell's -6AN fuel filter-- any idea what AutoAlchemy is planning on using instead of the K&N? I may just go ahead and get their kit since it's all the same parts I was gonna get anyway, and with less hassle. I wonder if they would credit me the cost of the adapter I already ordered...

 

[autronicDSM]

I just don't see it how replacing small part of fuel line with braided 6AN one allowed you to all of a sudden crank up your boost. Did you replace the whole line of just from filter to fuel rail?

 

[doug]

Well, I don't want to speak for him, but it seems clear to me he's talking about replacing from just before the stock filter to the rail.

And you can crank up the boost a little since you're now able to get more fuel into the engine. There's basically two ways to do that-- either higher pressure through a smaller hose (big-ass pump and rewire, using stock lines) or the same pressure through a larger hose (the "SteveTek" mod).

 

[JCG-GSX]

No, it's not the typical " did this now I can crank up the boost!" post.

The upgrade ( upgrades the filter to the fuel rail portion)replaces a few points of restriction:

1) low flowing Fuel filter
2) tiny hole on banjo bolt at top of filter
3) fuel rail fitting

The steve-tek article I linked to has a bit more information to it if you are interested.

The reason I was able to up the boost was because before the mod I was getting some pretty good counts of knock, and had to balance between knock, and fuel cut. With the mod, I was able to up the boost without incurring much knock, without having the S-AFC settings high enough to hit fuel cut. I'm still fairly new at the whole fuel tuning thing, but this mod helped out my situation quite a bit.

doug (thanks for the assist)- I did use the Perform-O-Flex hose, but that was just because it was what the shop carried. Are there any benefits to using it?? The fuel sending unit ( on steve-tek site everything with a * on the parts page) is an -06AN fitting that has a hole in the middle of it to put a fuel pressure sending unit on it. I plan on doing this, but car is running now, so I can be happy for a little while!

 

[doug]

Originally posted by JCG-GSX
I did use the Perform-O-Flex hose, but that was just because it was what the shop carried. Are there any benefits to using it??

I don't really know-- I just know it's more expensive than the Earl's Auto-Flex and was wondering myself if there was any advantage to forking out the extra cash for the Perform-O-Flex.

BTW, the parts list I had put together looks like this:

- Earls 9894DBH adapter (14x1.5 Female to 6AN Male)
- Earls 915106 (6AN F to 6AN F straight swivel adapter)
- Russell 5013 (Fuel filter, 6AN M to 6AN M)
- Earls 100199 (6AN F to 6AN M with 1/8 NPT gauge port)
- Earls 809106 (6AN 90 degree hose end)
- Earls 400060 perform-o-flex 6AN hose (2 foot length)
- Earls 804606 (6AN 45 degree hose end)
- AutoAlchemy adapter (6AN M to DSM fuel rail inlet)

From what I can tell, it's probably pretty much the same as yours. Any comments/advice on the parts selection if I decide not to just get the AutoAlchemy "kit"?

 

[autronicDSM]

Well, you can only flow as much fuel as the most restricting part. If anything, adding 6AN line after filter would slow down the flow to the rail. It's like connecting bigger hose to the smaller water hose, water will flow with less pressure because it has to "fill" the bigger volume of the hose. But that's just my theory. That's good it helped with your knock problem

 

[nine5raptor]

yes, that is true (considering fluid velocity), but it you take the small nozzle off the hose (the stock filter and banjo bolt) before connecting to the larger hose, you gain higher flow of volume, which is what we are after.

 

[autronicDSM]

nozzle or no nozzle, pressure creates velocity. But I guess it won't matter too much in a closed system like that. Well, it's not really closed but you know what I mean. I think you should either upgrade everything to AN lines and fitting or don't bother at all .

But I must say it does add some cool bling bling effect

 

[autronicDSM]

I just remembered something.
http://www.fluidcontrol.net/pages/adapters.html
Get these fittings, they're awesome, takes 5 seconds to take apart your whole fuel system, but they're pretty damn expensive.

 

[nine5raptor]

Originally posted by autronicDSM
nozzle or no nozzle, pressure creates velocity. But I guess it won't matter too much in a closed system like that. Well, it's not really closed but you know what I mean. I think you should either upgrade everything to AN lines and fitting or don't bother at all .

But I must say it does add some cool bling bling effect

but we don't care about velocity, do we? volume of fuel is what matters, therefore larger fuel line with lower pressures in the line are better than higher pressure/velocity.

Rigby (mr. stevetek) came on here (in another thread about this same issue) and said that doing the filter forward would yield more than 90% of the flow increase seen with doing the whole system. Close enough for me.

 

[autronicDSM]

Pressure is what makes fuel go through injector not the volume. If you don't have enough pressure fuel won't atomize enough or might just "drip" from the injector, but that's way below minimum pressure FPR allows you to run anyways. To take advantge of bigger volume of lines you need pump that flows more, but that's geting off topic. Show me some numbers about bigger volume less pressure give you more fuel injected.

 

[95GST]

What I did is I just used a M14-> AN6 adapter on the bottom stock filter fitting and go from there, put in a 10 micron aeromotive fuel filter. I used Earls Perform-o-flex hose and swivel seal fittings to go to the fuel rail.

In the future I just disconnect the fitting and unscrew the filter top and replace element ($12).

I didn't do the line from the tank because I felt it is not really needed after disassembling the stock banjo bolt. Most of the gain is from eliminating that banjo fitting.

Your car is easier to start, better throttle response, etc, most likely because the stock filter in there is old.

Well then I find out the problem is not the fuel supply, it's the octane :O but that's another topic.

 

[L2RTSiAWD]

Well I'm definetley going to pick one of these kits up.

 

[nine5raptor]

Originally posted by autronicDSM
Pressure is what makes fuel go through injector not the volume. If you don't have enough pressure fuel won't atomize enough or might just "drip" from the injector, but that's way below minimum pressure FPR allows you to run anyways. To take advantge of bigger volume of lines you need pump that flows more, but that's geting off topic. Show me some numbers about bigger volume less pressure give you more fuel injected.

a bit more on this...

I was talking about the pressure needed to get the fuel to the fuel rail as the rail is larger than the banjo bolt/filter. Using a larger pump will significantly raise the fuel pressure before the filter to get more past it and to the rail. On the other hand you can enlarge the filter/lines to get more fuel to the rail.
Either way, you end up with the same pressure/flow at the rail/injectors with the pressure being controlled by the fpr.
Just different means to the same end

 

[JCG-GSX]

Your car is easier to start, better throttle response, etc, most likely because the stock filter in there is old.

Actually, it was a brand new filter on there. The unimpressive results of a new filter were what led me to take the plunge and install this new system

Well then I find out the problem is not the fuel supply, it's the octane :O but that's another topic.

Yeah, I know oh too well about the garbage 91 octane we have out here. You know, with the cost of gas, it's probably about the same cost to go to the local paint store and get some xylene from a paint store to mix with our junk gas and run generic race fuel all the time!

 

[95GST]

Originally posted by JCG-GSX

The main thing that you have to worry about is fuel leaks. I had two of them. The main problem is the inverted flare fitting on the stock fuel rail. It didn't mate right up to the -06AN fitting, and caused a slow leak. I had some pipe tape around, and used it on the thread, which solved the problem ( Fuel Gurus- is this going to cause a problem later??) Also, the shop I bought the fuel line from put on the hose ends for me and did a real shoddy job. When I first started up the car fuel sprayed everywhere! I re-cut and re-installed the hose end and had no additional problems. ( Still wary, now carrying a fire extinguisher in car...just in case)

The flare fitting should not be leaking when tightened enough, unless the flare surface is scratched or there is a piece of dirt there. You may not have applied enough torque there. Brand new it should not leak.
You should never use teflon tape or any sealer on the flare (AN) connections. If it still leak go to frey racing and ask for AN6 conical seal, it's a little aluminum flared washer that will solve your problem with very little torque applied. I had a problem with leak but that is only when I disassemblied the connection and then re-assembled.

I would definitely keep an eye on the fuel line ends also, they should be dry and never greasy. It may give off a little fumes and that is ok.

 

[autronicDSM]

Originally posted by nine5raptor


a bit more on this...

I was talking about the pressure needed to get the fuel to the fuel rail as the rail is larger than the banjo bolt/filter. Using a larger pump will significantly raise the fuel pressure before the filter to get more past it and to the rail. On the other hand you can enlarge the filter/lines to get more fuel to the rail.
Either way, you end up with the same pressure/flow at the rail/injectors with the pressure being controlled by the fpr.
Just different means to the same end

i agree on that BUT by making the volume bigger you just lowered pressure, fortunately that's fixed by FPR. Soooo...you said it yourself, different means to the same end. And in this end you end up injecting same amount of fuel into a cylinder. I would just take that $100 or whatever it costs for that kit and buy something else

 

[DSMTurbos]

can you then with this fuel like make an fpr bolt right up... more particular with the autoalchemy kit

 

[autronicDSM]

Uhhh, in english please?

 

[doug]

Not if you mean directly to the fuel rail-- but I don't think that's what you mean. You'd need a fuel rail outlet adapter, some more braided SS fuel line, and a place to mount an AFPR.

 

[DSMTurbos]

i was wondering i guess mostly where the ends bolt up, does it go to the stock fpr, and in the case could you easily convert to an aftermakert fpr. hope that made sense, i think i was doing crack on my last post

 

[nine5raptor]

Originally posted by autronicDSM
i agree on that BUT by making the volume bigger you just lowered pressure, fortunately that's fixed by FPR.

The lower pressure I was talking about was in the line, not at the rail.
but this way, the pump doesn't have to work as hard. the fuel rail only wants volume, not pressure. the fpr takes care of the pressure, not the pump.

 

[autronicDSM]

But why in the world you want more volume if you're still injecting same amount of fuel and you're not even close to starving fuel injectors. So what's the benefit of this mod? Nothing, other than bling blingy lines easier access to fuel filter which you change like once every few years...

 

[nine5raptor]

but I WAS starving the injectors. You ask why do it? It acclompishes the same goal as a larger pump. Do you have a larger pump? I should hope so with a b16g...