Some basic information regarding which components are recommended from owners running a water injection setup would be appreciated, such as:
1. Is a check valve or solenoid more effective as safety measure to prevent flow of water/methanol when the system is not activated?
2. Which size injector did you choose, and why? Are you using a progressive controller or a boost switch?
3. If you chose to mount the water/methanol tank in the trunk, how did you run the lines for water/methanol, boost, and electrical wiring?
4. If you are using a windshield wiper reservoir or other underhood water/methanol tank, is a small priming pump required, or is gravity-feed sufficient? Where did you end up mounting the pump?
5. How useful is a flow-detector to indicate clogs?
6. Did you originally use a boost-on switch, but found that it was necessary to upgrade to a progressive controller?
7. Is stainless steel teflon hose worth the premium over standard plastic hose?
8. What tools do I need to tap the IC exit horn for an injector? I have zero metal-working experience.

I'm currently considering Coolingmist and Snow Performance kits (leaning towards Coolingmist for the ability to purchase a kit with a simple boost switch and upgrading to a progressive controller if necessary). Any feedback and comments is appreciated so I won't have to re-invent the wheel here. Thanks for your input!

 

go to snow's performance . then pm misfitoy . he's got all the dope on that stuff . also do a search and you'll see pics of his system .

 

I think I just pooped myself.

 

A little water and methanol washes that off very nicely...

1-solenoid require electricity/switch...check valve is much more simple/reliable...although, I did have a valve fail once...
2-5gph and still experimenting...
3-tank in back because you need at least one gallon for serious use...run pump wires/hose under Mini next to brake lines...
4-don't use that tank...see number 3...
5-useful but not necessary if you're not "tuned" to take advantage of WI...
6-Yes! Much better performance across the board...
7-not really...but it sure does look cool and therefore, a must have...SS is worth another 10hp as we all know...
8-1/8" NTP tap...wait...that's the nitrous jet...I think there was no tap...just a hole big enough for the WI jet...

 

Simple and easy.

Longboard

 

Easy for you maybe...

That's a sweet bottle ya got there...wish they were available when I was looking for one...

BTW...I see that you ran quite a long boost tube from the SC to the controller...any delay response with that?

 

You can get one from coolingmist. It really is a sweet little set up. I really haven't had time to play with it much. Some crazy guy keeps taking my car

Coolingmist claims zero delay. I haven't tested that nor do I know how to . Plus I keep melting hoses. I used the wrong kind. Not to smart.

Once I get the car back and things are pumping I plan on testing more with the W/I.

Longboard

PS - Your wide body kit is really nice. Super clean

 

I'll send you PM about the important small stuff...

 

Thanks man. Love the new sig.

Longboard

 

Sid, thank you very much for your response. I want to make public in the forums as much information as possible, since there's not a whole lot on WI on NAM. I regret that I passed up your offer half an year ago to ask questions about your WI setup.

With respect to the size of the tank, my research indicates that depending on the WI system settings and driving circumstances/styles, some people can make a 2-qt container last for up to two tanks of gas, while others will go through 1.5 gallons in a matter of minutes. I was thinking of tapping the headlight washer reservoir (2.64 qt), and if that was not enough, then tapping the windshield washer reservoir (2.11 qt) in parallel for a total tank capacity of 1.2 gallons. However, I also want to add an IC sprayer, and it's probably not a good idea to use a water/meth mixture to spray directly onto the IC fins. Keeping everything under the hood seems in line with the KISS principle.

BTW, how are you tuning to optimize for your WI now that the Unichip has been removed? Is the RMW ECU flash able to maximize the benefits of WI? I'm fairly certain I'll be upgrading the head and going with a flash ECU tune, so I won't have a new Unichip dynotune done for the next year - WI would mostly be to stop pinging at high boost. Do you have any thoughts on whether the benefits of the progressive controller would be negated without a tune?

 

This is precisely the kind of information I'm trying to dig up!

What is causing the hose to melt, and what kind of hosing is it?

 

It melted because I'm an idiot. I ran it to close to the header. The second time around I thought I was fine but got to close to the block. Just go to your auto parts shop and tell them what you need.

No big deal as it's a simple fix. Hell, it gives me a reason to work in the garage and watch the new LCD TV I just put on the wall.

Longboard

 

Beautiful wiring harness!!

 

Well...ok, I'll try and address both Latte's and Longboard's questions online...

If you would like to use the reservoirs, either single or combined, I think that is feasable as long as you know what your needs are...it shouldn't take long to determine how your driving style will emplty the tank(s) and move on to the big tank solution. If you move on to an advanced controller such as the Varicool in which the WI application will come on more frequently due to the boost-on spectrum, you will nearly double your liquid consumption...Using a single stage set at 10psi, I could run for several weeks on my 7 quart tank...now the progressive is set to come on at 3psi (abeit substantially less) and ramp up delivery till it is wide open at 10psi, I use nearly 2 quarts every day...something to think about...

Spraying onto the IC core is a good idea but I wouldn't share the liquids...WI works optimally at around 50/50 distilled water and pure Methanol...although not extremely flameble, I wouldn't be spraying it onto a hot motor Best to use pure distilled water for IC cooling so there's no residue...

I've never actively pursued "tuning" the ECU to take advantage of WI...reason, I don't want the system to be dependent on it...ie, if I ran into an injection fault or run out of liquid, things could go badly for me...My whole intent for installing WI is to add taller head room for safety by reducing running temperatures and just let the ECU decide when the conditions are right to take advantage and advance timing...if things stop working, it'll return to operations as any other Mini without WI...

Melting lines...been there many many times Also went through all types of crappy lines before I've settle on a consistant winner...go to Enginerunup.com for their lines...although not melt proof (use heat shield from Designengineering.com), their lines resist fracturing/splitting better than others. Also, never cut these lines with a wire cutter!!! Use a sharp Xacto and push through without crimping...This is important because it will cause leaks under pressure when you connect them to the QD connectors...

About your looooong boost tap line to the rear Longboard, I'm suspicious of that...Hydraulically, the water pressure response time is nil...however, pneumatically, compressing air nearly 16' long might cause delay response...I thought about doing the same and mounting everything out back but wasn't able to gather enough information regarding how to tap into the MAP lines to use as an alternate electric signal loop...could never find out which one they wanted to stick to...MAP or MAF :impatient I finally settle for mounting the controller under the bonnet with a short one feet boost tap line connected to one of the bungs on the DFIC and a power line plus pump line going to the rear along the brake lines...Let me know how it all works out for you Brian...

 

Agree on NOT tuning with the WI.

I had a WI system on my turbo Electromotive-tuned Miata in '91.

Tuning with it in mind is more than likely to be a problem in the long term, if not sooner.

Because, no matter how hard you try to address all issues, there'll be a time when you need it and it will quit on you.

Not if, but when...

However, using it for increased headroom before detonation is cool, pun intended.

 

I have the same setup as Longboard - except I run the standard kit not the vario cool. It works great. When it started getting hot down here in Fl last month, the car had hardly any SOTP reaction to the heat.

I use standard vacuum line and purchased an extra 20 feet of the nylon water line to get to the back.

I run 50/50 water methanol. I have tried different levels including 100% water and 100% alcohol. My car seems to like about 60/40 alki/water.

 

Hello, i am a noob to the water/methanol world and i was wondering if you could just spray this stuff into the intercooler with the DFIC spray bar?, or would it be dangerous......

 

See my quote from above...Spraying onto IC core is not WI...WI is sprayed into the intake after the IC and consumed during combustion...

 

Tampa, what is your boost threshold for triggering the WI?

Thanks, everyone, for the terrific feedback and advice!

 

Have any pf you monitored the timing to see how much the ecu increases it by, if at all??

 

Paul, I am using a CarChip OBDII to monitor timing. I just need better resolution than data every 5 seconds!

 

Wow and I moan about ours which records every 1 sec on the dyno:impatient it would be nice if ther was one which would record every 1/100th but I would be happy with a 1/10th

 

Sid, the Varicool controller is able to be triggered by MAP (since our MINIs don't happen to have a MAF sensor), but the Snow Performance VC25 controller seem to be triggered only with MAF and boost. You're using the Snow Performance controller, correct? I'd be interested in using MAP for the controller (perhaps in conjection with boost), but I have no idea what 0V and 5V correspond to!

On the point regarding delay in boost/vacuum from running a 16' line, I haven't done any measurements either... However, my math is showing that for a 16' 1/8" line, there is a total volume of 2.356 cubic inches of air in the tubing. The small volume, and since like water in the WI line, this air is also displaced by pressure (assuming no leaks at the fittings), I suspect that response will be close to instantaneous. Someone PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong here.

May I ask how y'all are mounting the tanks in the trunks? Did anyone simply drill into the flimsy board that covers the battery in the MCS to put in hooks for the holding straps?

 

What about spraying CO2 onto the intercooler fins instead of distilled water for cooling? Like the CryO2 Systems from Design Engineering.

 

That's a terrific suggestion! I have absolutely no idea how the Cry02 system is set up, but if there's a way to find the space to mount the CO2 cylinder in the engine bay, it has a side benefit of reducing IAT after spraying (as the CO2 cylinder absorbs heat to expand its contents to a gaseous state). The lack of room in the engine bay and the extra weight on the front end (I seem to recall that a 5# cylinder will weigh between 15 to 20 pounds full) are the only two downsides. Otherwise, CO2 is cheap and not flammable.