I went to a seminar about water injection and water/methanol injection. It has been around for 70 years when the Army Corp of Engineers developed it for the turbo charged Pratt and Whitney R-2800 engine.

The reason that I went was to consider it for my Vette. But I saw a possible use for my 010 Ultra.

Water injection alone was used over the years by Saab and GM in some turbo motors in the early 80's on their turbo cars. It fell out of use with the advent of inter coolers.

Labonte Motorsports offers a system for naturally aspirated down to 50 hp for about $400.

It sprays a very tiny amount of fine spray into the throttle body. The amount is controlled by a micro processor that reads the info from the fuel injector.

There is a power boost with the injection but it was the side benefits that got me thinking about using it on the Ultra.

First it lowers the head temperatures dramatically. It cleans out the carbon on the valves, head and piston. It allows the use of low octane fuel and prevents detonation.

The most power boost comes from using a 50/50 mixture of water and methanol.

The reason that you can use low octane gas is the water mist during the engine combustion cycle acts like an octane enhancer and will take 91 octane to 116 octane.

The 250 psi pump is about the size of a soda can. The processor is about the size of a pack of cigarettes as is the regulator. The reservoir is about a qt. and a half. I looked at a set up in a new Camaro at the display and the components mounted on a small board. I realized that the entire set up could be mounted in the back of the tour pack and the tiny line run to the throttle body with ease. It didn't even look like an hours work.

The methanol is easy to get. Just get -20 blue windshield washer fluid. It is almost a 50/50 mix. Get 2 little jugs of Heet and add to the fluid and you have your 50/50 mix.

The systems are $395 for an 50 to 100 hp naturally aspirated fuel injected motor. The car systems read off the mass air filter system. For a motorcycle engine it reads off an injector.

Most of the injection occurs when adding throttle. So I don't know how effective it would be at cooling the motor while cruising. But add throttle and it most definitely will.

So the benefits are engine clean of carbon. Use lower octane gas. More power. Cooler head temps.

Has anyone heard of this or tried it or knows someone that did?

I'm considering being a Ginny pig. But I'm not sure.

The hook of cooler and more power is pulling at me.

 

I say go ahead and try it. Keep good notes and update us. I do wonder if the blue coloring in the washer fluid will leave soot in the pipes.

 

yep. back in the late 60's, I had a VW BUG that was water injected, right below the carb. it didn't change the power output, but increased my gas mileage from around 35 to 50 mpg. I ran it about 10,000 miles with no discernable effects.

 

Water injection was used in boost applications to solve the problem of detonation until intercoolers came along. The problem with water injection was that when the water ran out, it went boom.

What problem are you trying to solve? If you are having to much detonation or to dirty of an engine, you have some other problem. Don't create a problem, it's not popular for a reason.

 

i have some nice swamp land in florida while you are throwing your money away.

 

With the introduction of micro processors the system has advanced considerably. Intercoolers ended the water injection and now with the processor controls it is starting to replace intercoolers because it can have the same amount of temperature reduction with less weight and cost.

I did a Google search and found about 4 suppliers and many research articles. Dodge hemi users have had a lot of success with them in increasing hp. Also many articles on the chemistry and reasons behind the results of using the injection system.

The difference in the old systems is now a 250 psi pump and fine nozzles sprays a mist of about 20 micron size. Before a simple squirt of water was used and the carb was to atomize it the best that it could. The water vapor in the combustion chamber achieves hp gains by several methods. The incoming charge is cooler that equals more power. The 50/50 mixture promotes more uniform and complete combustion which means more power. The vapor expansion of the mix during combustion provides higher pressure which is more power.

The 50/50 injection in the WWII fighter planes added 1,200 hp to the already 2,800 hp motor.

The highest and best use of the mixture in with turbo/supercharged applications. But as many have experienced the current systems will result in a few more ponies and mpg.

I just like the idea that the heads will be about 50 degrees cooler and using 87 octane.

I'm not sold on the idea. The V-8 crowd is having success. But they run off the mass air filter system which is the best data source for the processor.

On the Harley it would get info off the rear cylinder fuel injector.

If the tank runs dry the control unit shuts its self out. No harm.

Another thing is that a tune is not necessary. The ecm module will give the spark advance that 91 octane is used. However, if there is a tune for say 116 octane fuel that could be uploaded and more power would be had. I'm sure that no such program exists. Oh for the good old days of a carb and distributor.

 

Dan - Just Google water/methanol injections for motors and educate yourself so you don't come off as ignorant.

 

I saw were the same fellow that sells this sales a bridge in NY or maybe it's CA. Do not fall for it. Its no different then the magnet on the fuel line or the spinner in the air filter or the 200MPG carb for a 6000 lb. Caddy

 

My old shovel always loved rain! Darned thing was hanging on the throttle when what I wanted it to do was to take things real easy.

I don't know who introduced water injection, but I worked at Rolls-Royce in a younger life and have watched a super-charged Griffon V12 being run in a test cell, fully instrumented. When its water/methanol was turned on, which was used for take-off, the torque gauge tore around the gauge and that thing completely changed. Most impressive!

So in the right circumstances this can provide seriously increased performance.

 

Here is an informative site for those who want to know more.

http://www.aemelectronics.com/water-...ne-engines-51/

Very interesting!
Nick