Re: Water Injection Kits

Posted by Bob J On 2024/2/25 22:26:49

I apologize if what I write here is old news, but here is my thoughts:
My understanding was it helped stop pre-detonation (ping) in cars designed for high octane gas that was not readily available in the 80's. My brother's best friend put it in his Lincoln and he found it worked great. If you have a 10+ compression ratio in your engine and do not want to have to use 92 or higher octane these systems seem to work.
If however you have a lower compression ratio and are experiencing 'ping' on 87 octane gas, and your timing is set properly, you may have carbon build-up in the cylinder head that glows and causes the gas to ignite before the spark (dieseling). (The carbon in affect also raises the compression ratio too as it takes up space in the combustion chamber.)
Removing and cleaning the head may help remove that ping.
Another possible step you can try is what my Father-in-law showed me.
Wait until the engine is at full operating temperature and attach a rubber vacuum hose to a vacuum fitting on the engine and put the other hose end intermittently into a cup of plain water. The engine will start to stall so quickly remove the hose and plug it with your thumb. Repeat again after the engine returns to normal idle. This 'steam cleans' the combustion chamber, effectively doing what the system you are asking about does, but a bit more aggressively and only as much as to clean out the offending carbon that is causing the 'pinging'. It may save the removal of the head if the engine is of a lower compression ratio that does not need the higher octane gas.
Whew! Sorry for the wordy reply! Have fun!
Bob J.