Page 1 of 2

Which Water-Methanol Injection Kit?

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2016 9:07 pm
by slowsixtyduece
Hey all! Ive been planning on doing water/methanol injection on my 2276 turbo motor for a while now. I finally have the cash to do it, but am wondering what personal experiences everyone has had with their kits?

Im looking to do a progressive (based off of boost psi), and in the ballpark of $400-$600. Ive been eyeing AEM's V2 and Snow Performance's Stage 2 (210) kit w/ gauge. Aquamist would be my first choice, but its a bit out of my price range.

Experiences with any of these brands, or more, would be great! Pro's, Cons, mounting suggestions and so on would be helpful too. At this point the best place for me to mount it all is behind the rear seat (parcel tray) of my bug. I think my biggest fear in mounting it there is that the nozzle will slowly leak and I will go to start it after a week of sitting and hydrolock the engine...

Re: Which Water-Methanol Injection Kit?

Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2016 1:05 am
by petew
Paging Clonebug. I think you'll find he'll have a cheaper way of doing it than $400 dollars. ;)

Re: Which Water-Methanol Injection Kit?

Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2016 4:39 am
by rubenski
If you scared of leaks, mount a solenoid that cuts water suply off.

Or a manual valve that you have to open and close yourself.

Re: Which Water-Methanol Injection Kit?

Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2016 6:53 am
by turbobaja
I've been running the progressive Snow Performance setup for a few years and really like it. Plenty adjustable and just add a solenoid to the feed line that only opens when the pump is cycled on to keep from draining the tank or drawing it into the manifold under vacuum, depending on where you have your nozzle (s). I usually run a 50/50 mix of methanol and distilled water. Really works well to cool the CHTs on boost. I only wish I had a bigger tank, I can run my 3 quart tank empty climbing local mountain passes. Bring extra mix if you take a road trip ;-)

Re: Which Water-Methanol Injection Kit?

Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2016 8:29 am
by Chip Birks
I built my own, it wasn't super cheap, and I haven't used it much either, but when I have used it it worked pretty good. I have a Devil's Own pump, level switch, tank outlet and nozzles, a high speed valve (HSV), and 2 gallon tank from Howerton Engineering. I just use 1/4" nylon tubing from Home Depot.

My ECU controls everything, it fires the HSV like a fuel injector, it has its own fuel map. It changes boost when the level switch says the tank is low.

I have only sprayed pure methanol so far. Maybe one day I'll add a little water into the mix.

Re: Which Water-Methanol Injection Kit?

Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2016 7:04 am
by Clonebug
I built my own too and it cost me around $200.00 the first time.
Originally I used a $75.00 pump that can only put out 120 lbs pressure. I hope to upgrade to a better pump sometime.

Here is what I would do for parts this time.

Devil's Own Pump at 300 psi..................... around $120.00
Devils Own nozzles...................................about $25.00 each.
Stainless Solenoid valve good for vacuum on Ebay..... .$25.00 each
Adjustable 2-14 lb. Hobbs switch or two for nozzles.....$25.00 each online.
Low water Float level indicator..............................$8.00 online
Assorted 1/4 inch push-loc fittings and 1/4 inch nylon hose to plumb the system along with switches and wiring to make it all work.
I go to my local hydraulic hose and fitting store and get what I need.
If you buy a high pressure pump make sure you get fittings that will take that much pressure. Some of them are only good for lower pressure and with a 300 psi pump you need to build it well.
Tank of your choice..... Mine was a lawn mower plastic tank that holds 3 quarts.
Once I fixed the vacuum sucking water out of the tank I went over 4500 miles on the tank and it still isn't empty.
3500 miles was at -7 lbs boost so it doesn't kick on very often but for street use you don't need a lot. 3 quarts still will last me two or three gas fillups even if I drive it hard.
I buy a gallon of Denatured Alcohol at the Hardware store for $13.00 a Gallon and mix it with a gallon of Distilled water into a 2.5 gallon plastic gas can I use only for the mix.
Be careful mixing over 50/50 because it is flammable then and if you have a leak you can have fire......
My WI build is still in my STF pages with pics if you want to see it.

Here is an article about WI.... there is good info here. These guys are pretty serious about racing on salt so they need the best but their theory is good and they have some good calculators to figure it out.
They also love Boost and turbos.

http://www.rbracing-rsr.com/waterinjection.html

Re: Which Water-Methanol Injection Kit?

Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2016 11:15 am
by vakot110

Re: Which Water-Methanol Injection Kit?

Posted: Tue May 30, 2017 9:34 pm
by sidemarkers
Using AEM's with great results so far. Prior was using an old edelbrock unit with so-so results because their pump is just a windshield washer style and had to be mounted before the turbo.

Re: Which Water-Methanol Injection Kit?

Posted: Wed May 31, 2017 3:32 am
by mads b (dk)
i use aem pump and nozzle.... controlled by vems ecu

Sendt fra min SM-G935F med Tapatalk


Re: Which Water-Methanol Injection Kit?

Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2017 4:36 pm
by sidemarkers
Been using AEM's system for several months and just noticed that my steel plenum is getting eaten up by the meth/water mix. Apparently the meth is pretty corrosive stuff. I used a scotchbrite and scuffed up the inside and painted the plenum inside and out. This should do the trick.

Re: Which Water-Methanol Injection Kit?

Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2017 5:38 pm
by Chip Birks
You sure it's not the water doing the corrosion?

Re: Which Water-Methanol Injection Kit?

Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2017 6:09 pm
by sidemarkers
Pretty sure, I guess. The past 10 years I've been using straight water with little to no plenum corrosion.

Re: Which Water-Methanol Injection Kit?

Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2017 1:13 pm
by Chip Birks
sidemarkers wrote: Tue Jul 04, 2017 6:09 pm Pretty sure, I guess. The past 10 years I've been using straight water with little to no plenum corrosion.
How bizarre, never heard of meth damaging steel. Definitely aluminum, but not steel. Good to know.

Re: Which Water-Methanol Injection Kit?

Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2017 2:34 pm
by Clonebug
I have heard that methanol is more corrosive but only used it for one batch since I got some for free.
I use denatured alcohol which is said to be less corrosive. I use it because it is easily available at my 'Ace is the Place' store.
One gallon of alcohol lasts me a long time so it makes no sense to get anything else and have it sit in the garage forever.

Re: Which Water-Methanol Injection Kit?

Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2018 6:06 pm
by slowsixtyduece
Bringing this one back up...after a year and a half or so I finally pulled the trigger on a water meth kit. Went with Snow Performance's Stage II w/ VC-50 gauge/controller. Just unboxed it and was actually surprised at how quality everything felt. Has some nice machined and anodized aluminum bits and the controller/gauge is actually much nicer than I thought it would be. Hooked it up to a battery to see what the digital read out looks like and I was impressed!

Of course this is all just aesthetics...we will see how it performs once I install it. Thought Id give ya'all and update. Thanks for all the feedback!