RedAnotherDimension

I'm planning to run WI with a 50/50 mix with denatured alcohol. I'll let you guys know how it turns out when it is complete.

Tom93R1

iTrader: (2)

I have been running water injection for about a year now, 50/50 water and denatured alcohol. I set it up as a preventative measure and did not tune for it. I dont have any exact numbers but by seat of the pants I feel no difference and at the track my times and traps were close enough that I am pretty sure there was no difference. As for intake temps, all I have is the PFC displaying what the stock temp sensor is sending and I see no difference whatsoever. Where I do see a huge difference is in the knock readings on the PFC commander. I used to hit 70-80 just about every time I would really get on it, the knock would show up just as I let off. Now the knock rarely goes over 35. To me that is worth the effort of building my setup, reducing my knock like that is a big + in my book.

You people who think WI will rust your internals please explain how that is going to happen? First off, due to the high temps inside the engine any moisture is quickly evaporated. Next, there only thing in the engine that could potentially rust is the rotor. That thing is so hefty that it would take 50 years of sitting on the bottom of the ocean before any damage was done to it. Then with the carbon, gas, and oil all over everything in there I see no possibility of anything rusting.

And now for losing power due to non-combustible H2O in the combustion chamber, how much water do you think gets pumped into the engine? Rotary engines especially can pump a heck of alot of air through them, you would need one heck of a high flowing spray nozzle to get enough H2O in there to actually cause a noticible difference in output.

ZeroBanger

I think he is refering to the exhaust rusting from the inside out, which is also pretty funny if you think about it.

Tom93R1

iTrader: (2)

Haha, I would be more worried about my exhaust rusting from crap I flip up on it from the road. Exhaust rusting is probably as bad of an anti-WI argument as a rotor rusting.

ZeroBanger

agreed. In a few months i'll be changing my spark plugs, i'll be sure to post pics, hehe.

FD_Newb_1974

Zerobanger -

What mixture were you using in your WI @ the track?

ZeroBanger

I used 100 pct water last time. I'm not against using 1/3 ISO alchohol or some denatured alcohol as I have used them both on the street in the past. Its just water is much cheaper and much better for anti-detonation. If you add 50 pct alcohol the cooling effect is better than just plain water, if you over 50 pct alcohol you will be adding heat to the engine and be more likely to detonate.

nothing beats 100 pct water for anti detonation properties.

FD_Newb_1974

Thanks!

I had heard of running 50/50 methanol/water. Same problem though, where to get it, where to store it. I wasn't so concerned with the cost, as it is only $4 or so a gallon...and I rarely have to fill my resevoir.

Good to know you tested with 100% water. I use mine the same way, pure reliability and preventative....not tuning for it.

FD_Newb_1974

Zero -

Any more input as to your experiences with water injecting kicking in around 4-5 lbs of boost?

How does it effect intake temps? How much quicker do you go through water?

I am currently running 100% water as well, kicking in around 10 lbs of boost. Sometimes I boost as high as 14-15 lbs or 1.00 on the PFC. I can also add that in stop and go traffic I don't soak more than 1-2 degrees celcius after some hard boosting. Aafter 10-15 minutes of hard driving in cool ambient temps (40 degrees F), I don't even notice my engine operating temps rise.

I'm beginning to question if I should turn up the pressure on my aquamist 2d (6bar currently), lower the boost at which my WI kicks in, or use a larger nozzle. Why? Because I don't often sustain > 10 lbs of boost in Atlanta stop and go traffic, my water resevoir lasts a long time currently ( don't have to worry about going dry), and my intake temps are NOT lowering when I am injecting water.

I can tell you once I took off my ground, so the water pump was running 100% of the time the engine was running. I ran through a tank of water in about 6 miles. Additionally, EVERY time I accelerated gently from a stop light, my intake temps dropped a minimum of 10 degrees. There certainly has to be a balance here.

ZeroBanger

Hi...I dont know how your aquamist system works, but for me sometimes I put the WI to come on at 4 psi, others I set it to 8 and sometimes even 10 lbs. Why? I found that when I inject too much water and heavy acceleration the car would bog and the ignition would break up. The solution was to raise the PSI or add alcohol or go to a smaller injector. I find during the winter I have to go to smaller injector size, during summer use larger.

I dont have a real answer for you, but you should not go through a tank of water in 6 miles. I would keep it around 12-15 pct your injector duty. The DIY kits have some advantage as being very simple.

FD_Newb_1974

Thanks for the update. I think mine is working the way it is supposed to currently. The time I ran through a whole tank, I lost the female connector to the ground. the WI ran the whole time (home depot and back). I spoke with the engine builder and they said not to worry about it.

I guess I just want to ensure I am "optimizing" the use of the system. I'll play with when it kicks on as well as the nozzle size. I can also finally play with methanol, as I found a place selling it by the gallon.

I think methanol will give me more cooling capacity, but less anti-detonation.

Looks like the best way is to experiment. I'll keep you updated on my findings.

ZeroBanger

if you want to use methanol and I dont recommend it, but if you do...Just use winshield washer fluid. Is 50/50 methanal and water. u have to becareful, make sure it protects to sub Zero as some dont have methanol. Also, shake it to make sure it doesn't bubble (as it could have detergents) I buy the brand at albertsons.

zkeller

iTrader: (47)

I can attest to that. Today the ambient temps where about ninety degrees. With water injection I stayed at 90 or a tad below under boost.

twokrx7

iTrader: (1)

I will concur that WI keeps my intake temps constant under full throttle. Logging run after run on the highway the intake temps stay constant, do that w/o WI and intake temps will rise several degC even with the best of front mounts ICs.

WI also keps internal hot spots under control, cools internals better than excess fuel. The only bad is the decreased thermal efficiency which is where our motors are poor to begin with. So they really do want leaner mixes with WI to prevent overcooling the combustion chambers. I had to lean out my motor to over 11 AFR to prevent misfire with the WI. Now around 11.6 and going leaner, really helps turn up the boost and not max out the fuel system!