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The mkiv Supra Owners Club

Intercooler water spray


Ibrar Jabbar

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I have only heard that it's basically useless. I guess it's never been tested, well not by me. If you've got an EGT gauge you'll be able to tell everybody else. The way it was described to me was it's like pouring a little cup of water on an inferno. I doubt the washer jets could produce anywhere near enough water to do anything anyway.:(

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Originally posted by Ibrar Jabbar

Has anybody with a UK spec, redirected the headlight washer pipes to the stock intercooler?

I have the bumper off the car ATM and was thinking of removing the nozzels and redirecting pipes so they spray directly onto the intercooler, any thoughts?

 

Proper internal water injection is far more efficient, but IC spray works, for sure. However, there is a period of lag betweening spraying the core and CAT's dropping. In other words, you decide to overtake a car, drop a gear and have a boost switch to trigger the spray. by the time the thermal damper that the mass of the I/c's core represents has absorbed the heat of the charge and the water has coold it, the period of excitement is over. Permanently spraying is too water usage intensive, you'd need a water tank the size of the fuel tank. You need trickery to spray before the cooling is needed, various ideas which to me seem a bit bizarre have been tried.

 

So, yes, it works well, but there are many caveats. Something, IMO, to be used as WELL AS normal internal WI. Iwrote the following on that ages ago:

 

Water injection serves 2 closely related functions on a turbo engined

car. Firstly it cools the charge air temperature by utilising the effect

known as the latent heat of evaporation. This property can be self

demonstrated very easily. If you pour something that evaporates quickly

like petrol on your hand it feels very cold. This is the rapidly

vaporising spirit removing heat from your skin and bloodstream by the

aforementioned process. By spraying a very finely atomised mist of water

into the inlet of a turbo engine when under boost conditions the

evaporation of the water causes a temperature reduction in the air and

fuel intake charge. A cold charge is less likely to be subject to

detonation than a hot charge. A cool charge is also denser, able to

carry more air and fuel mix per cubic foot. These 2 properties of

water injection allow either less chance of detonation at a given boost,

maybe allowing lower octane fuel to be used, or to allow a rise in boost

pressure usage without detonation. These are very desirable goals for

any modifier of a turbo engine, or one using an engine mapped to run

on a higher octane fuel than generally available in the UK. Japanese

import turbo cars for example.

 

People ask whether squirting water into an engine causes corrosion. In

fact this is not a problem, the combustion temperatures under boost

ensure the water is turned instantly to steam and is ejected out of the

exhaust. The water mist is injected only when high boost is sensed via

a supplied pressure sensor switch. The basic combustion process of

hydrocarbon fuels causes water to be generated anyway, which is why cars

not driven on regular long journeys will rust out a mild steel exhaust

system form the INSIDE out. If water is added in the correct volume, via

the supplied and calibrated jets, this is not a problem.

 

Even when used alongside a larger or more efficient intercooler, or

indeed when an intercooler is used in an application where one was not

present as standard, water injection can and does increase charge cooling

still further. Water can be stored either in the existent windscreen

washer bottle or in a separate dedicated container. In cold conditions

it is essential to ad an anti freeze additive to the water to stop pump

damage through freezing. Windscreen washer additive serves this purpose

fine and the engine won't mind ingesting this solution at all. Or you

can add neat Methanol, which is usually the anti freeze additive in

washer fluid anyway. Using a 50 / 50 percent by volume water methanol

mix will actually help increase the octane of the intake charge as an

added benefit. As a yet further advantage the latent heat of evaporation

of methanol is extremely high. A win/win situation. It is not however

obligatory to use methanol as an additive. All components of the water

injection kit that are in contact with the fluid are stainless steel or

able to tolerate water and methanol or screen washer additive without

degradation. A properly set up system does not use a vast amount of

water, in fact a modern car sized screen washer bottle used also for the

water injection reservoir will suffice admirably. A water filter is

included to keep and sludge out of the pump or jet. This should be

checked regularly for contamination and blown out if residue is

apparent within.

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As I correctly stated...

 

If used in the correct situation, it will be beneficial...

Hence my words, on drag days etc. never said anything about everyday use, that would be useless unless you fill your entire boot with ice cold water!

 

If I am getting on the grid(start line) spraying ice cold water(liquid) on my IC in prep for a run, and the bloke with same spec next to me without this.......I WILL have an advantage!

End of story!¬

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Guest Martin F
Originally posted by Soontohavesoop

Just don't stand too close to it with a naked flame when you are mixing it together!:stupid: :flame Dev :stupid:

 

And make sure you have gloves on!

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Guest Martin F
Originally posted by Terry S

I thought methanol will eat into the aluminium head??

 

I don't think so, not as long as it's pure methanol, but i'm open to correction. I run a 50\50 mix with de-ionised water.

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Lets not get too paranoid here guys - I work with buckets of methanol every day and as long as you wear gloves and eye protection you're fine. Especially as you're only going to be using small quantities of it, and not particularly often. Don't sweat it.

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Originally posted by Supra Pilot

As I correctly stated...

 

If used in the correct situation, it will be beneficial...

Hence my words, on drag days etc. never said anything about everyday use, that would be useless unless you fill your entire boot with ice cold water!

 

If I am getting on the grid(start line) spraying ice cold water(liquid) on my IC in prep for a run, and the bloke with same spec next to me without this.......I WILL have an advantage!

End of story!¬

 

Well whilst you dribble water over your IC I'll let off a CO2 Fire extinguisher at mine :D :p

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