Water treatment for FD.
 

I was reading about running water through the engine to break up carbon and clean the engine. Well, I set up a bottle of water and a valve in the line and let it fly....

After about 1/4 gallon, I noticed an awesome difference in engine responce. I wonder if anyone has tried this and if you saw any gain in performance? I also would like to know how often should you do this?

how much water did you let in when u where putting water into your engine? a drop at a time? a small stream?
i would like to try this.

could u give us more info on exactly how u did this thanks.

eh........

I wouldn't mess around with dumping random amounts of extra variables (water) into my motor, I think water injection is a good idea and I want to try it eventually, but I will definitely be going with a computer/pump controlled setup

I actually used a metering valve in the line hooked to the UIM. It used about 1/4 gallon in about 2 minutes. I was unsure about how much to use, but it seemed to be right. You also need the engine banked to about 3500 rpm while doing it. I also noticed the low end misfire, or so I thought, was gone. I just took the car out again after it cooled down, it ran like a champ. I also noticed the exhaust getting a little toasty so do this at your own risk.

This was actually just a trial run on removing carbon buildup from the engine.

so the exhaust isn't getting any hotter?

where did u get this info to do this?

my motor has a bunch of miles on it(120k) so i really dont care about it. so i might try it.

It just got hot while adding the water.

I just heard it through the grape vine and decided to give it a try. I also remember seeing a thread on it but I don't recall an exact procedure. Thats why I didn't just want to dump lots of water in the engine at one time. I might need to do it again, but for now, I'm happy with the results.

That's w/ the original engine?

There are several threads in the first gen section that discuss carbon removal using various methods.

I did the Sea Foam Deep Creep method on my FC> I would have tried it on my FD, but the engine is already toast,so no point.

It seemed to increase the responsiveness of my FC. When I did it I just unhooked the brake bosster vac line and stuck the sea foam straw in. just had to hold the revs up to keep it from stalling.

6k miles later i've had no ill effects from this.

On the Miata list a few years ago, I remember people speaking of a Mazda de-carbonizing agent that was applied the same way. It was supposedly available at dealerships.

I never tried it myself. It may have just been a $10 bottle of distilled water and a vaccuum hose. ;)

when I did this my exhaust got very hot. be careful or your exhaust just might catch your bumper on fire....

Interesting approach to removing carbon! :) I just use a bottle of Techron fuel system cleaner every 3 months or so...hear that cleans off carbon ok. However, i am working on my own WI kit, so i guess another benefit will be steam cleaning :D

Interesting??? I will have to remember this. Does anyone have the link to the procedure?

Or you could just pour AT fluid into the LIM for each rotor. Let it sit overnight, then pull the plugs and turn the engine over a few times. Put plugs back in, carbon all gone.

it is an old school trick. would help if deposits were forming on the top of the valves and affecting their sealing. it does clean realy well. as long as you dont hydo-lock it...

sounds like a great way to cause more damage to your engine than any carbon deposits will

run a good syntheitc oil and change it frequently....hands down the best way to keep your engine internals "clean"

Thanks for the link

thought u can't hydrolock a rotary

yeah thats right i got 120k on the motor with 105psi in both rotors

i tryed this water thing it worked well. i had a tiny bit of breakup at 7-8k but now thats gone
(cleaned the sparkplugs im gusseing)

engine was smoother also.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not using this in exchange for not keeping up on the engine. I'm lloking at this as a maintenance item such as plugs, oil, filters and so on. This is not intended as a shortcut.

Here's what I mentioned before, concerning the Miata. Apparently it's more than water. ;) Maybe ATF?

http://www.miata.net/garage/tsb/s004_93.html

Yea, ATF is good but to restore and clean well, you use MMO. The problem with ATF and MMO is the plumes of black smoke from the exhaust. Well, that may be no different than some of the 7's out there. :eek:

maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan, hahahahaha, old school v8 guys have been doing that for YEARS!!! i walked outside one day to find my brother pouring a cup of water into his carburetor. . . freaked me out. . . then he explained. its fine to do it. . . just dont get crazy with it and start dumping it in. thatll cause some hydrolock issues. . . . haha, this is funny.

paul

Bump!

yep friend here locally did it to my FC a long time ago.. makes a lot of popping noises with the carbon blowing out the tailpipe.. works good .. no ill effects.

RAT-a-TAT-TAT

FWIW, I've done it to my Mopar 360ci V8 per my mechanic about 10-years ago, but I'm reluctant to do it on a rotary . . .

Also, I would think running a pre-mix about 5-miles prior would be best.

:-) neil

taken from:
http://www.rotaryresurrection.com/3r...injection.html

When talking about rotary engines, carbon buildup is a common problem brought up. I have a writeup elsewhere in the tech section of internal engine damage pics, showing the effects of carbon buildup. A good way to combat this harmful effect is to inject water into a running engine as a matter of maintenance (note that I am not referring to water injection as a method to assist tuning and combat detonation, but rather as a maintenance procedure). By allowing an idling engine to injest a small amount of water, it hits the rotor faces and turns to steam, cleaning off carbon as it does. The more regularly you perform the maintenance, the cleaner your engine will remain. The procedure (I believe) was originally brought to light by Rob @ Pineapple racing, so please note that I’m not trying to take credit for this, only spreading the information for use by individuals.

Note that this should in no way harm an engine in good health. Water doesn’t combust, but it doesn’t harm any internals or sensors such as plugs or 02 sensors either. The engine will misfire and stumble during the time water is injected, this is normal. You will have to apply throttle to keep the engine above 3000rpm during the injection.

To perform this, I use a gallon jug of water and a long vacuum hose, say 3 feet. Though this is different for nearly every year and model, the underlying goal is to find 1 or 2 vacuum nipples on the intake manifolds after throttle body, preferably on the lower intake manifold so that the water can run straight down into the block. You want to feed both front and rear rotors evenly…generally you have 4 intake runners, 2 for the front, 2 for the back. Some engines have one nipple that can feed both (s4 turbos, for example, have one above the BAC valve that is evenly split between F and R primary runners). Some engines (fd’s and s5 na’s for example) have 2 separate nipples that can be teed together externally (vacuum hose and tee) to evenly feed both rotors.

With the engine running, remove the vacuum cap or lines that used to cover the nipple you’re using. You might have to apply throttle, so the engine doesn’t die due to a vacuum leak. Insert your hose(s) onto the nipples, and bend the hose somewhere in the middle by hand so that it seals off the air intake. Now, dip the end of the hose into the water at the bottom of the jug. Either grab the throttle linkage and rev the engine up, or have an assistant hold the throttle for you, above 3500 or so. Release your crimp on the hose, letting the engine vacuum suck water in. The engine will begin to shake and misfire, apply throttle as necessary to hold 3-4krpm and keep the engine from dying.

Expect a lot of steam from the exhaust. This is normal. I let the engine drink the whole gallon at once. When it’s done, it’ll begin to clear up slowly, and you can gradually let off the throttle and replace the original vacuum hoses/caps.