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2004 - Water/methanol injection, share your experience!

12K views 32 replies 15 participants last post by  Polkhead 
#1 ·
It seemed a no brainer to me that a good w/m injection kit would provide high octane fuel and reduce cylinder temperatures for virtually free after the initial outlay also it steam cleans your combustion chambers reducing burnt deposits causing hot spot on valves and cylinder heads, I opted for the tuner kit which is controlled via my link ecu .


A few rubbish photos of the install
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#2 ·
Looks good! It's crazy how easy it is to tune after water/meth...so long as the system is working you just won't knock. I quit making power on the dyno when I was tuning before I knocked on timing adjustments at least. I was getting some stubborn/persistent LSPI as boost came on that I couldn't tune out and then after meth it never knocked.

Do you have an alarm or anything to alert if the pump stops working or nozzle clogged or tank empties?
 
#7 · (Edited)
Considered this on my last car but decided against it, meth is really nasty stuff and didn't want to have to worry about it in the event of a prang or have it in the cabin as loss of consciousness, blindness, coma, seizure, or death are the risks associated with long term exposure from leaks. Just inhalation of four ounces causes irreversible damage to your nervous system. :surprise:
 
#10 ·
Considered this on my last car but decided against it, meth is really nasty stuff and didn't want to have to worry about it in the event of a prang or have it in the cabin as loss of consciousness, blindness, coma, seizure, or death are the risks associated with long term exposure from leaks. Just inhalation of four ounces causes irreversible damage to your nervous system.
Don’t get this :confused:

Methlylated spirits is around 5% methanol and I don’t see french polishers dropping dead across the country...they use vast quantities.

Sure, methanol isn’t very nice, but the stuff coming out the back of you car kills a damned sight more people than methanol....and 10 gallons of hydrocarbons pumped all around the car every few days doesn’t seem to worry most people.

Methanol is just another kind of alcohol...bit poisonous, so don’t drink it. It can make you car go faster.

Health and safety’s gone mad these days......
 
#14 · (Edited)
Methanol has a higher octane level which allows you to run higher compression and more aggressive ignition timing for more power, especially on forced induction engines. In the same way it can be used as an octane booster for lower octane fuels that you wouldn't normally use.

It if you were to run the same compression with petrol then you might get diesel like detonation during the compression cycle.

By squirting in some meth or water, or water meth mix, you also cool the intake gases. So the cooling can also increase power. It also can lead to a cleaner engine apparently. The BMW M4 GTS has a water injection system as standard. You're also reducing exhaust gas temperature, which must help the turbo stay cooler.

My mother has a Cooper-Alta race car from the 1950s which was originally made to run on something called nitro-methane. It now runs on pure methanol because nitro-methane is hard to get hold of and I suspect a bit dangerous! You have to be careful with methane anyway because it burns with a clear flame. She buys it in fairly large quantities.

That's all I know. I want to fit it to my car!
 
#12 ·
@lockheed - So it sounds like you are using the system so you can use lower octane gas without knock.
Parts and install cost aside, does the ongoing cost of the methanol you burn outweigh the cost of the higher octane fuel?
Have you determined approx mileage you get out of the alcohol you are using?
Are there any corrosion issues ?
Have you noticed much difference in performance/mpg/etc.
Are there any issues related to getting the car to pass emissions testing?
 
#16 ·
I'm in the process of putting one together on my FSti - so far I have mounted the tank & pumps in the boot (using OEM Impreza STI intercooler spray tank) & have run the lines & cables to the front.
Intend on injecting a 20/80 methanol/distilled water mix. I'm using it in combination with the 09+ Impreza STi 'wide' TMIC. Main aim is just to keep everything safe & reliable once I have it remapped.

I'll try & put together a thread once it's all done.
 
#33 ·
I realize this is an old thread but did you ever get anything wrote up on how you did this to your foster? I have a 04 fxt and I’m looking into the water/methanol injection and saw a kit that came with a throttle plate for the injection nozzle but it was for an sti, was wondering if that’s what work on my fxt.
 
#17 ·
So this is the final fitment of the tank and the pump .

I bolted it to the rear strut brace as I didn't want anything that couldn't be undone note the tank is above the pump as it is a push pump .
The car now is at the Mappers waiting for the final tune , I don't know what the final result will be im guessing 15%more POWER
Ill still be running 99ron fuel ending any speculation of running normal pump gas .

For anyone that's interested ill be posting before and aft figures and whats been done in the engine bay regarding check valves ,pulse width modulating valves and injector nozzle sizes.

A lot of this knowledge has been acquired from NASIOC forums as there is piles of info on w/m injection .
 

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#19 ·
This was done on a Dynapack hub dyno so the variables associated with rolling roads are eliminated Abbey say there is approximately 100hp difference between their system and surrey rolling road on four wheel drive car .
Here is a sneak preview .
Main switch turns on system when the following parameters are met:
40% throttle
1.2 bar boost
4000rpm

Water/meth also triggers a higher boost map to 1.9 bar .:surprise:

If the water/meth level drops below the float switch to the point where it opens it turns off the w/m injection system and lowers boost back to normal high boost.
Totally automated
Also if the flow sensor detects low flow it will also turn off the system .


By the way @theshootist your Mum rocks for having a methanol powered car:Banane08::Banane08:
 

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#24 ·
Evening all.
I picked the car up yesterday afternoon so I had a slow boring drive home and didn't really get a chance to give it some.
But today I found a long empty straight bit of road and can confirm the car is quite brisk and torque steers alot in 5th gear at 5000rpm.

These are positions of the pulse width modulation valve , the ait sensor , and the nozzle that now works like a normal oem injector .
 

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#26 ·
So this is the very impressive small switch that I added to turn the injection on and off via the Link G4+
Clever Link !
 

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#27 · (Edited)
On Saturday I had an unfortunate experience in regards to boost tube blowing off and I can inform people it was quite alarming …. a massive squeal / whistle ! so I had a quick squiz on the web and apparently hair spray is best to put on clamped joints , who would think that up ? I think this happened because of the new 1.9bar boost
Whilst I was there I thought that I should do a bit of wrapping to keep the coolside cool and the hot side hot .
Also you can see the head light conversion to black that I did a while back .
 

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