Installing an Aqua-tune today...

[unstable bob]

I've had an Aqua-tune H20 injection set up sitting around from a Caddy I used to have, so I decided to install it on my Cavalier today. It didn't seem to work wonders on my Caddy, but that POS fought every mod I tried to make to it. I'm hoping for better luck on the Cavvy. I'm at about a quarter tank of fuel now, so by Sunday I should need a fill up and will start monitering things.

[trebuchet03]

Cool Years ago I did some experimentation with water injection... And discovered just how much water you can put in a engine without hydro locking

My exhaust was shooting out liquid water, there was a puddle behind my car

[unstable bob]

Originally Posted by trebuchet03

Cool Years ago I did some experimentation with water injection... And discovered just how much water you can put in a engine without hydro locking

My exhaust was shooting out liquid water, there was a puddle behind my car

BAHAHHAHAHA! You could prolly say you had the cleanest engine in town! Hopefully the Aqua-tune will not be dumping that much water into my engine. Although when it was on my Caddy it did seem to like the stuff enough to suck up a few bottles in record time. Dayum wateraholic!

[Fourthbean]

I have been researching water injecting for a bit, what does your system use? I have seen using the vacuum to pull in the water. Does yours have a pump or rely on the manifold pressure?

[cfg83]

unstable bob -

I *think* my co-worker friend used a system like this in his (carborated?) truck in the 1980's. Along with great MPG, the smog tester dude said it was the cleanest emissions test he ever saw. I need to interview him for all the gory details, so I can post it as a case study.

CarloSW2

[unstable bob]

Originally Posted by Fourthbean

I have been researching water injecting for a bit, what does your system use? I have seen using the vacuum to pull in the water. Does yours have a pump or rely on the manifold pressure?

Mr Bean,
The Aqua-tune uses vacuum to pull in the water. It is a pretty simple system, with an easy installation process. The hardest thing I had to do was find room for the water reservoir. I've heard pros and cons about the set up, and it is pretty expensive. But since I had it sitting around I figured I might as well give it a shot in the new car. And if it doesn't cut the mustard as an H20 injection set up I figure I can always use it to inject other chemical concoctions to try and help with mileage. I'm looking to buy some software to allow me to reprogram my ECM with a lap top, so I'm hoping the H20 injection will allow me to run more timing and such as well.
The website for Aquatune is www.aquatune.com
BTW, nice Bel-Air. Def a cool, classic ride!

[unstable bob]

Originally Posted by cfg83

unstable bob -

I *think* my co-worker friend used a system like this in his (carborated?) truck in the 1980's. Along with great MPG, the smog tester dude said it was the cleanest emissions test he ever saw. I need to interview him for all the gory details, so I can post it as a case study.

CarloSW2

D0 TELL! DO TELL!

[Fourthbean]

Oh, that's not just water injection. They are splitting it and putting the hydrogen into the engine. Is yours that way or is yours an older model that is just water?

[Fourthbean]

I was considering putting THIS together to see if it has any affect on my car. The only problem I see is that I run my engine at a vacuum of about 5 and then glide with the engine off. So there would be much more water coming in at idle (18 vacuum) than when I actually needed it.

I may try putting it in and trying it with a different driving style and see what happens.

[unstable bob]

Originally Posted by Fourthbean

Oh, that's not just water injection. They are splitting it and putting the hydrogen into the engine. Is yours that way or is yours an older model that is just water?

I had one of the older models on my Caddy, but sent it back for one of the "modern" design ones for my Cavalier.

[unstable bob]

Originally Posted by Fourthbean

I was considering putting THIS together to see if it has any affect on my car. The only problem I see is that I run my engine at a vacuum of about 5 and then glide with the engine off. So there would be much more water coming in at idle (18 vacuum) than when I actually needed it.

I may try putting it in and trying it with a different driving style and see what happens.

That looks like a pretty good design, and for the low cost ya really can't beat it. I'd go for it if I were you.

[Pyrorocketeer]

Originally Posted by Fourthbean

The only problem I see is that I run my engine at a vacuum of about 5 and then glide with the engine off. So there would be much more water coming in at idle (18 vacuum) than when I actually needed it.

put the vacuum line before the throttle body, so that you wouldn't be drawing a massive vacuum at idle, then taper off as you accelerate. Instead it would be the other way around. almost no vacuum at idle and as you open up the butterfly, it will suck more in

[Fourthbean]

Ahh, so that's how you do it. I think I read a rambling about that when researching but had forgot. Problem is getting a line in there I guess. I suppose I could drill a hole in my air cleaner and mount a bit of tubing there.

[cfg83]

unstable bob -

Originally Posted by unstable bob

D0 TELL! DO TELL!

He had a 1980's Plymouth Trailduster with stock carburetor. He installed an Edelbrock water injection system. He can't remember the MPG gain, but the emissions dudes were flabbergasted because they had never seen a car run cleaner. He also fiddled with the carburetor's "needles"(????), so maybe he figured out the sweet spot.

CarloSW2

[Pyrorocketeer]

Originally Posted by Fourthbean

Ahh, so that's how you do it. I think I read a rambling about that when researching but had forgot. Problem is getting a line in there I guess. I suppose I could drill a hole in my air cleaner and mount a bit of tubing there.

Hopefully you didn't do this yet, as I have tonight. It just didn't suck near the amount of vacuum that I thought it would to even make mine bubble. So I plugged it, and connected it to one after the throttle body and made it bubble from idle, to WOT (from what I can see). Engine ran fine with no problems at all. It was definitely getting water vapor too, as you could see steam come out the exhaust if you revved it up.

I can take some pics tomorrow if anyone wants to see how I did mine. I took it off until I fill up my tank tomorrow then we can do some MPG calculations on a new tank.

[trebuchet03]

Originally Posted by Fourthbean

Ahh, so that's how you do it. I think I read a rambling about that when researching but had forgot. Problem is getting a line in there I guess. I suppose I could drill a hole in my air cleaner and mount a bit of tubing there.

I had tried this... I even made a venturi type nozzle.... There's just not enough vacuum to suck (unless the water level is above the injection point -- highly inadvisable) and the air velocity (even at high rpm) wasn't high enough for the venturi to work :/ I put my hole in the tube between the filter box and throttle body (where air velocity would be higher meaning slightly lower pressure).

I did something that cost less than $10.... Brass gate valve, aquarium tubing and a plastic container. Connect one end to a vac port (cut a add a tee if necessary) and put the other end in the plastic container -- then open the valve a tine TINY bit to regulate flow....

I got really fancy and added two nipples on my container -- one with a downspout to pick up water - the other to equalize pressure.

Mind you, passive water injection downstream of the throttle plate is an inherent vac leak.

-----
My results

Presumable clean interior
Statistically Insignificant FE change -- unverifiable without SG
Heat + vacuum imploded my water container as the water level dropped...

[Pyrorocketeer]

Originally Posted by trebuchet03

Mind you, passive water injection downstream of the throttle plate is an inherent vac leak

I was surprised when my idle didn't change when I connected my setup tonight. I thought that it would create a vac leak too and cause it to idle high, but nope, no change.

what kind of plastic did you use, that it crushed it.....? a soda bottle?

[Fourthbean]

trebuchet03

I had thought about it not being enough to pick the water up out of the container. But with the design I linked to they actually had a line going from outside the bottle to an "air stone" under the water, this would be the only way for air to get into the container. Then they had the tube going from inside the bottle (above the water line) over to the vacuum port. The question still remains though, will it be able to pull anything up and will it just be air or will the air stone cause some variation of mist in the container for it to inject to the engine.

[Pyrorocketeer]

oh it pulls a lot of air up through the water, which draws moisture into the air. You can definitely tell there is some vapor getting into the engine.

[Fourthbean]

Pyrorocketeer

What design did you use for your dealimiboper. I think I missed the post about you saying you had put one in your car. I see it now

[Pyrorocketeer]

I did exactly what that article said to do. for the water canister, I used 2" pvc pipe, end cap, and a screw off 'cleanout' so I can add water, or in my case, windshield washer fluid.

So far sucess hasn't been great. It throws a code (haven't checked what code) but then it runs rich as heck, and I lost about 4mpg over 300miles.

building the 02 sensor controller today, so then we will see how it does after that.

[ProtonXX]

I had bad luck with my aquatune & had to return it. I put it in my 03 Vibe..which also doesn't like mileage mods. My mileage dropped from 30mpg to about 22

[unstable bob]

Originally Posted by ProtonXX

I had bad luck with my aquatune & had to return it. I put it in my 03 Vibe..which also doesn't like mileage mods. My mileage dropped from 30mpg to about 22

I'm not too impressed w/ my results so far. Mileage is down about 3 MPG so far, but I'm still testing. I'm just glad I haven't lost around 8 mpg like you!

[ProtonXX]

I will tell you a secret. I took my aquatune back & they got pissed & went to charge me 20% restocking fees. I filed a dispute with my credit card company over their 'money back guarantee' and won my 20% back.


Also pay CLOSE attention to your spark plugs or O2 sensor..which ever is easier...

[bzipitidoo]

Aquatune's style of advertising and claims doesn't inspire confidence. The basic idea is sound. You get "free" mechanical energy when the waste heat of the engine turns injected water to steam. Cools the engine a bit too. But it's not so easily done, and I'm thinking Aquatune doesn't succeed at getting the idea to work. In their marketing hype, Aquatune adds ridiculous statements about splitting hydrogen from water. That they resort to snake oil salesmanship suggests that they know very well they didn't get the basic idea to work right. A pity-- I'd really like to see the idea work. Oh well, throw this one on the list of busted mods.

[JanGeo]

It will work best on dry hot days under heavy throttle use and highway speeds and it only takes a small amount of water to have some gain. Too much water and you cool the combustion too much and don't burn completely. If you add some methal alcohol to the water it helps to foam and adds some energy to the combustion process.

[ELF]

Call me crazy but I would never inject water into my engine. It makes no sense.
How in the world is water going to make you get better milage?
I use water to put out fire

[trebuchet03]

Originally Posted by ELF

Call me crazy but I would never inject water into my engine. It makes no sense.

It was done on WW2 planes to prevent pre-ignition... You'll be surprised just how much water can pass through before hydrolock...

what kind of plastic did you use, that it crushed it.....? a soda bottle?

Sorry for the late reply... It was a cheap plastic canister with a screw top... Not sure what type of plastic.

I use water to put out fire

According to the placard in the elevator.... I use stairs when there's a fire. Really, experience tells me that stairs won't be very good at extinguishing fire

[JanGeo]

Originally Posted by ELF

Call me crazy but I would never inject water into my engine. It makes no sense.
How in the world is water going to make you get better milage?
I use water to put out fire

water expands 1600 times when it changed to steam which adds to the pressure in the cylinder giving you more power.

[omgwtfbyobbq]

Keep an eye on the oil...