Re: Water injection

["Fred Munro" <munrof@isys.ca>]

    Igor's BTDT is right on the money. I did the same thing with my '67
Rover 2000TC when leaded high octane gasoline was replaced with unleaded
lower octane. I built a water injection system which added water to both SU
carbs and I used VW carb jets to control the water flow.
    It eliminated detonation, seemed to increase HP slightly, improved fuel
economy, and cleaned the carbon off the pistons and combustion chambers. I
didn't drive the car in the winter (biodegradable body and all), so freezing
was not a problem.

Fred Munro
'91 200q  281k km

----- Original Message -----
From: Igor Kessel <four_rings@worldnet.att.net>
To: AUDI S Cars Discussion List <audi-s-cars@lists.boldfish.com>
Cc: Audi Q-list <quattro@audifans.com>
Sent: Friday, September 24, 1999 7:40 PM
Subject: Water injection


> Dave Hedgehog wrote:
> >
> > Yes, that was my understanding of water injection, it reduces combustion
> > temperature (as does nitrious) so allows more fuel and air to be burnt
> > (increases air density), prevents cylinder head and valve thermal damage
and
> > prevents detonation.
>
> and Pantelis Giamarellos wrote:
> >
> > Apart from all the things you said, W/I companies also auote cleaning
carbon
> > deposits as an additional advantage.
>
> OK, I resisted this thread long enough but it's time for me to chime in
> as it seems like I am the only one on the List with the real life BTDT
> on the subject. Both Dave and Pantelis are absolutely correct. BTDT.
>
> Back in mid-80s the supply of 93 octane was intermittent in some regions
> of the Soviet Union. Since I love(d) to travel and at the time owned
> high compression Ladas I started looking for alternatives. I took advice
> of a friend engineer working for one of the Government jet fighter
> manufacturers (I think water injection was used in aviation) and
> designed and installed the water injection sys on my car.
>
> Water, injected through a 0.35 mm needle jet through one of the
> carburettor hoses did indeed allow me to use the 76 octane without any
> detonation (pinging). It also increased the power output of the car
> _dramatically_. Oh, one more thing: the fuel consumption went down as
> well. Kinda win-win-win situation, sounds too good to be true. I
> wouldn't believe it myself if did not experience this on my very own
> car. There's a catch however: I went through the lousy non-SS Lada
> exhausts like through brake pads. The perpetual condensation/evaporation
> cycles and hot water vapour turned the exhaust into a regular
> consumable.
>
> It was utterly funny when I would be driving along with some friends
> when suddenly the engine would break into detonation. I would casually
> remark:
> -"$hit, ran out of water!"
> My passengers, jokingly:
> -"What, you car runs on water?"
> -"Yep"
> I would pop the hood, refill the auxiliary 5L water reservoir (used for
> the headlight wiper misters) and continue on driving. The pinging is
> completely gone. My passengers look totally astounded.
>
> I finally ditched this system coz in Russia the winter is rather cold
> and the sys would freeze up. I toyed with the thin Cu tubing wound
> around the downpipe but it did not take care of the water freezing in
> the jet. I took the engine apart, removed the pistons and turned them
> 1.8 mm on the lathe reducing the compression enough to use the low
> octane gasoline. Lost the power as well but it was better to drive
> slower than not to drive at all because the 93 octaine was so scarce.
>
> A friend of mine drove his water injected car all year round coz he
> would dissolve a tablet of dry alcohol in the water reservoir,
> effectively lowering the water crystallisation point. These tablets were
> sold in Russia in the sporting goods stores, catering to tourists and
> alpinists who used them as a flame source for cooking meals out in the
> field.
>
> One thing that shocked me when I took the engine apart was a complete
> lack of any carbonisation. This is no exaggeration, the pistons and the
> combustion chambers were covered with just a thin film of flat grey
> oxidised Aluminium. Not a spec of Carbon! That was a first time that I
> took an engine apart and it had no deposits whatsoever!
>
> I have never attempted to install a water injection system on a
> turbocharged car so please don't regard this post as a wholesale
> endorsement.
>
> --
> Igor Kessel
> Two turbo quattros.
>
>