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Originally Posted by K3FUS
Richard
I have been running without WI since December, I have found out why my "in pipe" jet "union" failed, it was inserted back to front with the wide flange on the outside!
Now I have my new intercooler fitted I can locate the jet after the cooler, but before the map/temp sensor. I shall do this over the next couple of weeks and then see what happens on Courtenay's Dyno (if Jon's happy to do so) and also rig up a cooler spray to see if any gains can be made there too.
It's looking to me that the WI is only going to be effective when the ambient temp climbs and the charge temp gets close to the 70 deg C, after which the mapping chucks in extra fuel as a fail safe (I assumed you knew this trigger point, but never reached it?).
Not given up yet, but I don't want to trim the map to remove fuel for obvious reasons, I have rebuilt a C-LET once because of detonation and I don't fancy a Z-LET based reincarnation!
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Interestingly, due to the low evaporating rate of water in cold inlets air, most of the cooling power of water is transferred to the combustion chambers. If the amount of water is not reduced to compensate, the engine will loose power. It is especially pronounced when the engine is not tuned for WI injection.
There are instances where WI will sustain good gains in winter if the engine is highly tuned for it. I am trying to designed a interface unit that will allow WI to be effective all year around - Mike's car was my attempt down this route. Processing re-processing sensor signal is a low-cost affair, if it can be incorporate into the WI setup at minimal cost. you will get the WI benifit all year around and it is not a risky add-on either.
Most engine management is equipped with active knock control and as well as boost control. It just DOESN'T know that water injection has the effect as putting in a tank of higher octane fuel instantly (as during the dyno run), if Mike car is allow to run with WI for a few weeks, the engine management should adjust itself to accomondate the "knock" suppresssion properties of water and create new maps to suit.
I think the Astra will benifit with mid-range torque increase with WI and top-end power requires more mechanical mods. Trimming the fuel can not be used unless you have a consistant MAF sensor - too risky. I was withnessing the immediate afr leaning after Mike change over the MAF element during the dyno session. If you want to further your tuning potential, I recommend you getting the Innovate wide band lambda unit. Armed with this unit, you can be very safe during any home or road tune.
There are just so many ways to tune and there is not enough time....