Miata Mailing List: May 1996, Message #100
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   From: Dlralt@aol.com
Subject: Re: Water to remove carbon?
   Date: Thu, 2 May 1996 10:55:25 -0400

In a message dated 96-05-02 07:25:33 EDT, you write:

>
>Thanks for the note, which jogged my mind into a into, what for me passes
for
>thought.
>I took you up on your offer.
>
>I have an Aerodyne turbo in my 90 Classic Red and from the start, have had a
>knock problem.  A call to Corky Bell elicited a suggestion to try the old
>hot-rodder trick (his words not mine) to try to romove some carbon deposits
>which may be the cause of the pre-ignition.  It is possible to pour the
water
>into the air filter mounting on the turbo and I tried it but stopped before
>using much water...didn't seem to work too well.  The water seemed to
>accumulate in the connector tube from turbo to plenum.
>
>After reading your question, I put a "T" in the hose which feeds my
>vacuum/boost guage from the take-off just aft of the throttle body on the
>plenum and led into the cockpit where I could put it into a two quart water
>bottle belted into the seat.  I used a hemostat to restrict the flow to
where
>the engine did not hesitate at idle with the tube sucking air. Got on the
>freeway and up to ~3800 rpn in 5th and stuck the tube in the water and drove
>that way for about 5 miles or somewhat less than 1 quart H2O.  The engine
ran
>a bit rough that way but I didn't have to use much more throttle to maintain
>speed and I really didn't want to get into boost for obvious reasons.  
>
>Driving home from the freeway I had "opportunity" to put my foot in it on
>occasion and based on  those limited tests, I would have to say that, yes,
it
>works.  I have the J+S knock sensor and I can easily tell when it senses
>knock and takes a big chunk of advance out of the initial spark advance.  I
>did not feel that happening and didn't hear any pinging (knock is a much
>better description of the noise made under boost) even though it was an 85
>deg day.  The engine seemed to feel smoother under boost.
>
>So, yes, it can be done without damaging anything and IMHO, does work.  More
>testing, of course, will be necessary.  I'll keep you informed if you would
>like.
>
>BTW, the tube used was 1/4 in. plastic which came with my drip irrigation
>setup... but it needs to 

Ralph,
Have you ever considered full time water injection? I have run water
injection in my turbo car since '90. That's what I used before I had the
intercooler--now I use both. On mine the water turns on at 4 or 5 psi of
boost. I would bet that I have one clean engine. I used to always run
methanol and water, now just some washer solvent mixed in to keep it from
freezing. It's real easy to hook up. Let me know if you would like more
details.

bill
Dealer Alternative
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