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Water Injection Additives


Guest Martin F
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Guest Martin F

Hi

 

My MKIV has the ERL water injection system fitted, and takes it's water from the washer bottle.

 

I know some people also have this system, and i was wondering what additives you put into the water.

 

All the screen washes i have come across seem to include Ethanol, which according to the ERL website is a no,no.

 

Is there any screen washes that are safe to use??

 

Or is a Methanol mixture the only option?

 

TIA

 

Martin

 

 

 

 

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Guest Martin F

Hmmmmmm no responses.

 

Am i the only person registered on here at the moment with Water Injection ??

 

Martin

95 UKTT + murky windscreen

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No Chemist either.

 

How about some Lavender water for a nice smell as you rip past everyone.

 

Most windscreen methanol additives will probably be in such low concentration that they wont do any harm.

 

You never know if you use it neat you may get a few bhp extra.

 

I am meeting with a very experience chemical engineer later to day I will ask his opinion.

 

 

(Edited by Phil Wall at 9:46 am on July 10, 2001)

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Martin

 

I remember some discussion about this on the Big List.

I now have 16,000 emails from the Big List on my hard drive, so will find the one's relating to additives for water injection tonight at home.

 

cheers

 

ps. but safe to say  - don't use nitromethane

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I put the question of washer bottles as sources for water injection to my chemist expert this evening.

 

He agrees with the benefits of water injection but offers the following advice.

 

Any water being injected into an aluminium engine should be pure ie distilled.

 

Tap water contains many salts some of which are alkaline, which in the environment inside the combustion chamber could lead to attack on the aluminium.

 

As far as additives go Ethanol will break down into acetic and prophreonic( not sure about spelling) acids which will attack aluminium

 

Methanol based additives would lead to the production of formaldehyde that would brake down into formic acid, which in the engine environment could attack the aluminium.

 

He could not suggest any additive that would be safe in the combustion chamber and be satisfactory as a washer additive.  

 

He  will give it some thought and let me know.

 

His  recommendation would be to use a separate reservoir and use only distilled water for any water injection system.

 

He suggested  adding ether to the water, as it  would give extra power.  It is the main ingredient in Start Right a spray used for damp starting. It has a low flash point and would help create a more explosive mixture in the cylinder, with no attack on the aluminium of the engine.  The only problem is keeping it from settling out in the water tank as is does not dissolve in water, it just creates an emulsion.

You can also use it ans an anaesthetic  to knock out your passengers.

 

 

I would just stick to water this one sounds a bit risky!

 

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Guest Martin F

Thanks for that Phil.

 

The other installation i have seen had a seperate tank as well, so i think maybe that is the way to go.

 

Martin

 

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  • 2 months later...

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