Water Methanol?

[ISPKI]

As I thought about it yesterday, the air filter hat is lower than the wiper nozzles. It is quite likely that once the water injection is activated, the remainder of the fluid would siphon into the intake even if the washer pump was not running. Some type of siphon break would have to be installed.

On a different note, similar song, has anyone installed a 12v turbo fan on an IDI? I’m not looking to win any races, just increase power enough to make it up a hill and pass with dignity!

A low pressure check valve immediately above the sprayer in the intake hat would ensure that the fluid in the line wont leak down after shutting the truck off. Also - might want to get a sprayer with a filter in it to ensure you dont spray gunk and debris in from the washer tank, similar to the fuel filter since you are adding a fluid into the combustion chamber.

Another item to think about is where the sprayer is mounted and aimed. If you mount it off center (which I believe that NPT hole is) then it is likely to favor some cylinders and not others. This might not be a significant issue but if it favors the drivers side for example, then the driver side cylinders would get more wash down effect and have a different combustion event than the cylinders on the left. Higher charge density, lower temperatures, slower combustion, which in turn could alter the overall balance of the rotating assembly and place additional strain on components. Think about how crossover pipes are universally used in vehicles with dual exhaust to even out the harmonics and pressures of the two cylinders. That is done because it is important that both heads in a V pattern engine flow and operate as close to perfectly identical as possible for the longevity of the motor. Motors that are better balanced, tuned, and controlled perform better and last longer.

To be honest, I dont know if offsetting the sprayer would make a meaningful impact and I dont think we would ever know the effects unless someone built a motor and ran it on a test stand for exhaustive hours to observe the effects but it is something to think about.

If there is an easy way to mount the sprayer centerline and key the intake hate reliably so it always goes back on in the same orientation, then I believe it would be beneficial, if nothing else than to not find out if it makes a difference.

Also - dont the rear cylinders in the 7.3 run hotter due to poor coolant flow? Might be more beneficial to mount the sprayer center on one axis and favoring the rear on the other.

 

[ISPKI]

That was a long post and I apologize, my engineering mind is going down a rabbit hole getting back into thinking of a methanol injection system. This is exactly what I was planning on doing some 2-3 years ago before I sold my old truck and got this new one.

I attached an image of what I was thinking. Is this the port you were going to plumb the sprayer into? Ideally, if you can clock this to the back and weld a tab onto the lid that aligns to something on the filter housing to act as a sort of key, then you could reliably control your sprayer characteristics.

 

[1189-66]

12v electric turbo fan on the intake of an IDI is my thought. Im wondering if anyone has tried it. The video recommended is on a gas sports car. I’d love to do a real turbo, but parts for a van are rare and expensive.

 

[1189-66]

@ISPKI: love the posts! Thanks for the in depth analysis. Yes, I agree that is should be centered. There is so much vacuum suction at the intake, I’m not sure that favoring the rear cylinders would be effective, also, I don’t know if it’s worth isolating the individual piston temps to figure it out. I’ll probably just try pointing the sprayer right in the center.

 

[Booyah45828]

12v intake fans are a gimmick. You won't notice any improvement. Best bet on a van is to find a van kit and expect to pay or travel more for it.

To balance the water/m3th injection port-port I'd recommend you monitor each cylinder's egt individually. You might realize they're already balanced closely as is and a center sprayer would be most suitable for the application.

Off topic but I was involved in efi tuning on a chevy 400/buick headed race engine once that had detonation issues. Monitoring individual cylinder egt's revealed cylinder imbalance that we attributed to the intake manifold design (long vs short runners). We removed the intake and ported it to "alleviate" the issue, only to discover the poor performing cylinders moved on us. After some thought we realized that the injectors were removed for porting, cleaned, and reinstalled in different positions. We then realized that the injectors were not flow matched, and that the flow difference was creating our issues. A carb on the intake allowed the engine to run well without detonation, and a set of flow matched and balanced injectors were ordered.

My point is, that if an engine is already a "balanced" performer, individualizing injectors to a cylinder can throw that off as much as it can fix it. You won't have that problem with a single injector.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

12v intake fans are a gimmick. You won't notice any improvement. Best bet on a van is to find a van kit and expect to pay or travel more for it.

I 100% agree. Some of those are even called 12V turbos.