Hey guys! If it were not for the fact that I'm confident that I'm a solid "card carrying"... or better yet, a "wrench carrying," mechanic/gearhead/experimenter/electrician/tinkerer/do-it-myself/fast drivin'/cool car lovin'/cheap-*** knucklhead, I'd feel like you were makin' fun of me!
But I doubt it - 'cause I sense I'm with friends and "like-kind" here. But if that's not the case.... Well... Go ahead, have your fun - I can take it! I'm not proud, but I'll certainly walk with y'all with my head held up.

Fist of all Steve I don't think I have - as you say "gofaster" problems - I'm not trying to put my GT machine into the same class as the "Mustang youth" that prowl my town's streets with their 20 series Flowmasters vibrating my windows as they pass. No, with my XKR, I'd say I have a "go-consistent" problem! I'm striving to have a car that I can push as spiritedly as I often drive and be confident that it will LIVE to do it again and again. By virtue of staying up to the 'pressure' each time I push down HARD on the throttle while I'm on the same drive in hot weather, as well as staying fit for the long term.

And BTW, Though I meant for my original post to be in all seriousness and informative, I LIKE our improper manner! Please leave the thread up so I can add information as I complete my "madmaxiness." Then, at a later date, you can cull the fun crap and leave the real information intact. How about that?

Oh, I've got that tricky nitration process down, Dude! My buddy, Heisenburg, from Albuquerque, NM taught me well.

Also, thanks Charlie for the new nickname. It's been used before, but I like it!

AVOS, thank you for stopping by to add your input. I have read quite a bit about the prospects of the rotor 'coating' being sort of 'etched' off by the H2O/meth mix. But I have to say, that I've spent plenty of time peering down into the S/C on top of my engine in the last year, and my 90,000 mile rotors are already missing quite a bit of that dark grey coating on their leading edges. And, they seem to work fine still. My thoughts are - that if there is any truth to the idea that spraying before the S/C adding anything at all to the efficiency to the operation, why not try it? Like Charlie suggested, I'm going to be very conservative with the water, particularly with the pre-injection jetting.

SeanB I haven't done the final maths on precisely what jet size I will start with. I've done a lot of preliminary calculating - using calculators, formulas and graphs provided by several of the H2O injection companies.

That's why I'm powering up the boost gauge/controller BEFORE I finish the installation of the pump, tank and water lines. I want to get a real idea of what boost I'm pushing at WOT with the small pulley - so I can run a more accurate calculation. I really should measure the output of the water pump at max cycle while running it through the check valve too... That may prove to be difficult, since it would probably need to be hooked up and running on the car to have an absolute reading. But I suppose I can hook it up to straight B+ voltage and measure it after the check valve (check valves have a 'cracking' pressure drop that is always consistent.) erring on the maximum H20 flow is probably best huh?

Yes, I can see actual real-time readings of the intake air at the I/C sensor. But like AVOS says, it's kinda hard to interpret - Andre' do you have the computation to translate the number to temperature? Thanks Andre' for the ignition advance trick - that's a good idea. I've seen my advance hunting all over the place (but that was when I was having the HUGE electrical gremlin last fall)

The color I painted the charge-aire coolers and S/C output is a Rust-Oleum 7215 Hammered Black and then I top-coated it with 248944 Clear, 500 degree Engine Enamel.

Keep the good links and info coming guys - Thank You.

And I really must say, I'm disappointed that no one has noticed the machining I did on the S/C 'top-hat' to clean up the look... I fail

 

Well darned if you didn't clean out the webbing and tidy up the look. We were all too busy with the fun making to notice I guess.

It does look very nice, much better than anyhing those mustang youth will bring. A truly classy GT cat with retractable claws.

 

You know the gofaster bit was just part of the fun !

 

Sorry, have no translation table

 

Steve: I know you guys are just ribbing me! I'm having fun. With my car... and fun on this here forum!

Andre': You have given me an Idea, I can pickup a salvaged temp sensor and if the sensor will function in water, I can get a pot of water, a hot plate and a thermometer - put the sensor in the water, start the car and as the water goes from ambient temp to boiling or about (210.5 degrees at my altitude) I can record the readings of the scan tool and the water temp.

Sounds like a fun experiment!

Charlie: (In my best Eeyore impression) - Thanks for noticing...

 

Another option would be to assume that the sensor is linear (probably not that far from true) and make a single point measurement with an external thermocouple while the car is good and cold. Whatever the multiplier is to convert the voltage to the ambient temp you can then take as the scaler.

Unless you like playing with fire and boiling water.

 

It was a long time ago thatI did this, and from what I can remember the annoying part of the ECU reading is that it shows a voltagethat goes down (with the temps increasing) and also jumps somewhere from 0 to apositive value, and again goes down again. Not sure if it is the same with an 4.2ECU, but as you always had to translate I found it easier to just watch theignition timing, as that gave me enough info then.

 

AVOS: Thanks for saving me the time and effort of trying to map that sensor!

What you have said about watching the advance makes perfect sense... That is precisely what I'm trying to avoid (a hot charge situation causing the ECU to pull the timing back.)

So I'll get a friend (or my wife... Ha!) to read the live data for me and base line the car under several hard pulls in succession on a warm day, note the readings, then start adding H20/methanol to the mixture and watch what the ECU is doing to the timing.

It would be nice to actually have a real temp readout - but I can assume that if the timing is not being turned back and my "butt-dyno" is saying Hell yeah! There lies a solution.

I'm aware that the Methanol can create an overly rich condition, so I will need to be conservative with the Alcohol.

I've thought seriously about having a bung welded on the exhaust for an AFR meter/gauge.

 

Just an update on the H2O/Methanol injection system for my green machine - and other crazy things life hands us.

SIX MONTHS LATER!

I had a bit of a scare that the dreaded "Big C" (Bladder) had come out of its 9.5 year remission - Symptoms said tumors are back, but a huge battery of tests and invasive camera work (cystoscopy) showed good news - it had not returned! We don't know what caused the symptoms, but they've gone away and I'm a lot less nervous than I was four months ago... So, I'm back at work on Mah Kar!!

Steveinfrance calls what I do "fiddling." So be it! Guilty as charged.

Last month, after a 350 mile trip to the Missouri Ozark Mountains and back, I had a problem with the "Powerhouse" small pulley backing off for the second time. A couple days after returning from the trip, the supercharger belt suddenly shredded and whipped off, destroying another "gator-back." I put the pulley back into place, and installed a used spare factory Jag belt but the pulley started slipping on the shaft as the boost came up. I didn't want to "gall" the shaft any more than what had certainly been done, so I took the belt off and drove the car without the supercharger for a week. Man, what a shocker THAT was... Talk about anemic!!

Luck being with me this summer, I happened to have replacement pulley that was sent to me by the guys in the UK the last fall when the pulley backed off the first time. This one had a smaller I.D. I put the NEW pulley on and this time I used Permatex brand high temp sleeve retainer on the S/C shaft and fashioned another retainer bolt and washer - this time slathering it with locktite. So far, the new pulley is holding tight.

Last weekend, I finished the install of the water/methanol injection system.

It seems to work great - as the car now pulls just as hard at 85 degrees ambient air temp as it did before at 55 degrees ambient. So I theorize that the knock sensor is not telling the 'puter to pull the spark lead back.

At this time, I'm only injecting post-supercharger with twin jets, directly into the charge-air coolers for the best Intake Air Temp cooling in the hot summer weather. It's a progressive system which at this point is injecting based on boost. I have plans for more experimentation. First change will be to obtain smaller injection nozzles and add two more injectors pre-supercharger. I have a feeling (by my calculations) that I'm already injecting the maximum water that is recommended for gasoline engines with factory sized injectors at 15psi boost with these two injectors. (Aquamist #6 size) Then, I may try injecting based on MAF. The controller will do either boost or MAF.

More info coming soon...

 

Very glad you dodged that bullet. Congrats!

Also good to see your "fiddling" has resumed. Always a treat to see this level of mods. Keep the pictures and narrative coming.

 

Glad to hear your scare turned out to be just that, a scare.

Nice setup you have there, and there's nothing wrong with fiddling about. I do it all the time myself.

I will say, that is a pretty iridescent blue in the tank, are you sure you didn't fill it with blue curacao?

 

Congrats on keeping the 'Big C' at bay! That's got to be nerve racking.

You have the same tank that I do. I love my water/meth system, and you're right... it does pull nicely in hot weather with the system. Without it, you can REALLY tell that you're driving in hot weather. Congrats of getting the system going and having FUN!

BTW, I now mix my own water and methanol at a 50/50 ratio. It really does work better than washer fluid, but the washer stuff works well in a pinch and certainly works well enough to not even go with the highest ratio of 50/50. It seems like the higher ratio gets you about 20% more oomph than what you get with the washer fluid pre-mix.

 

Great to hear all is well!

Am now also experimenting with a Water/Meth kit and have gone with the progressive coolingmist one. Mainly for the cleaning capabilities and some extra antiknock safety, as when keeping all the same there is no power gain to be expected imo on my current setup. The pump is installed in the right fender, and am using the standard washer bottle, with a 50/50 mix (mix this myself as well).

It is tricky to get the right balance of flow and keeping power, as you change the speed of the combustion (slow it down), and with methanol you also enrich the mixture, which again lowers power. So best would be to check it on a dyno to find the best balance. Am now trying 2 x CM3 nozzles in the V8 piece, and 1 x CM2 nozzle before the TB (was easiest to place one there, but can't recommend it as KenneBell doesn't recommend to spray before the SC, which is why I use a very small nozzle only to reduce the risks). I use the boost control and start spraying from 10 psi (though may go to 8 psi), and now need to find the sweet spot by checking the a/f mixture via adjusting the duty cycle of the pump.

Just make sure you don't spray when the ECU is still in closed loop, so you don't alter the fueling strategy.

Am still not liking the refilling part (could be daily, as I do use the power and drive a lot), but as I don’t need it with the setup I have, it doesn’t matter if it’s not running either.

Already had one bad experience in that the solenoid wasn’t closing right, and sucked in fluids during coasting, not a good thing. After a new solenoid all is well, but it just goes to show that you add some extra complexity with these water/meth kits which introduces new risks.

Anyway, I just really like the cleaning part of these kits and although not needed with the boost level I run now, it does give some extra protection as well (when the bottle isn’t empty…). And last but not least, it allows for more extreme boost pressures which I may try later this year just for fun and short trips.

 

Thanks very much Guys, for the well wishes. Yeah, I ended up with a form of cancer that is fairly rare for a middle aged person that has never smoked a day in his life... Bladder cancer at 42 years old... Most of that that type is not seen until a person is in their mid 60s and often with people that have been life-long smokers. So far, it has not returned, and it will be 10 years in remission in September!
That said, I really do want to pass on some advice, if you EVER see blood (or reddish sediment) in your urine without any pain - like a kidney stone would cause, go directly to a urologist! Don't wait to see if it will just go away on it's own. Apparently there are very few reasons to see any amount of blood in your urine, other than tumors in the bladder. Nuff said, Right?

Andre' I have just begun to experiment with the variables on the CM controller. It has been raining and cool for the last three days, so I haven't even turned the system on for a while. I have an older version of the CM system that uses a one way valve/filter - rather than the stop solenoid. I already don't like that the valve has a "cracking" pressure of approx 23psi so the flow seems to hit very suddenly when it comes on. I've been having it trigger at 5.7 psi and go full on at 17 psi. Maybe, I'm turning it on to early....

 

I actually don't think its bad to have this cracking presure, it avoids buildup time, but it also reduces probably the max pressure by that amount as well.

Have just done some testing, and on my setup with 20 psi, the 3 x CM3 nozzles is still a bit to much (ie to rich), even if I set the max duty cycle at 30 psi. I think that a 3 x CM2 one would be better, but as I also want to check with much higher pressures, the 3 x CM3 might be just ok.

 

Hello,

I realize this is an old thread. I have a question for AVOS who mentioned that it is important not to inject during closed loop operation. Does the engine management system go open loop under boost? If so , at what pressure does it switch from closed loop to open loop? I have the same problem of severely reduced performance once the car warms up with ambient temperatures regularly in the high 80's here in Florida. Does the twin screw run cooler in high ambient temps?

Thanks

 

Am not sure when the ECU goes out of close loop, at least already before you get any boost, so as long as you use a boost operated switch you should be fine.

With an odbii meter you should be able to check when it goes into open loop, so then you will know.

The Twin-Screw runs indeed cooler, which is one of the reasons you can generate more power to the wheels compared to the roots one.

But if your car doesn't run ok once then engine reached operating temp (so ecu switches to closed loop), there is another issue not related to the supercharger (unless your ic pump isn't pumping).