I am curious if anyone has used water injection on their IDI engines? Or done some research into it. Is the payback in power boost similar to other diesel engine? I assume that it is.

Snow seems to be the most popular brand. It adjusts the amount based off of the amount of boost. I have a ATS Turbo so I looked and there is the ATS Water Boy which is similar to the Snow system. I have read where others have made their own setup by tapping into their windshield washer fluid adding a pump and tube and spray nozzle into the intake after the turbo (definately dont want to spray water into the turbo). Then flip on the switch when they want a boost in power (water/methanol windshield washer fluid or straight water). It is a old idea that has been around for decades. Cool the intake air to get more oxygen in for more complete burning. Plus it keeps the carbon cleaned off.

Any opinions or recomendations either way?

 

Water/Methanol is mainly used as an intercooler in a bottle. On your IDI the main benifit you will see from Water/Meth is cooler EGT. You might see a slight gain in performance but not too much if any. As a general rule, Water/Meth kits are installed on engines that already have been upgraded with power adders such as larger turbo's, programmers, injecters, etc. IDI's will run at decent EGT's even after adding a turbo. If problems do arise you can install a larger downpipe or exhaust housing and you should be fine. Since you cannot add programmers and such to these trucks you are limited to power gain. Adding Water/Methanol to your truck will not provide the power that it does on newer "Supertuned" trucks. I don't believe you will see the results you think you would. If you do decide to use Water/Meth on you truck make sure you use distilled water and additive that will keep any problems with rust in the engine away.

Propane Injection is another choice. I had propane on my 88 when it had the 7.3 I did get noticed fuel enconomy gains although the mpg increase did not really justify the cost of the propane. Its is personal preference on this one. With the fairly stock 7.3 and using the propane install similar to the one that Ziggster had published, I did see noticeable power while pulling. I did enjoy having the setup but the loss of tool box space and always having to refill tanks got rather old. LP is also on the rise so cost of this is always increasing.

 

Running stock boost levels on an IDI the return would not be that great.

Internal mods to get the boost numbers up around 30 and you could start to see a much bigger return.

The results returned really have nothing to do with running chips or tuners, it has to do with how much boost you are running.

I was going to build one for mine to play with, I just have not had time.

 

the idea is that I could adjust my boost level up and keep the EGT the same, without an intercooler. (an over simplification)

Any consideration to the cleaning effect? Any benefit there?

Propane I definately didn't want to get into messing with, but buying distilled water and methanol periodically I wouldn't mind.

 

This might sound a little crazy, but I have heard of hydrogen injection. There is a long thread on the powerstroke forum that you might want to check out.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/6...002-7-3-a.html

Basically he claims that allowing hydrogen/oxygen mixture (from decomposed water) into the intake of the engine has an effect of intercooling and extra power (the effects are well known, if somewhat controversial, because it can fly in the face of conventional science).

You get the "brown's gas" from an on board generator that runs off the 12v system. Long thread, but is an interesting read, I might try this with my 6.9 after I put it back together.

 

With a stock 6.9 engine, 15 PSI of boost is pushing the limits of the head bolts.

You may find if you adjust the boost to a level just below 15 PSI that the EGT actually drops slightly.

Trick is to get a cold air intake working, cooler air from in front of the radiator into the turbo.

Water injection for increased power will return a small increase at 15 PSI, but engines like the Power Stroke running numbers in the 20's and 30's get a much better return on the system cost versus power increase.

 

Have a friend who did the home grown water/meth injection trick...... lost his engine due to cracking in the piston faces..........if you do it it must be done right.

 

I ran propane + water mix on two different na 7.3 trucks I had. I rigged the system up in an afternoon with parts I had lying around my shop. The key was the nozzel out 30,000 btu kero bullet heater. When the system was turned on at speed the propane would suck up the water and spray a fist mist of pane and h20 into the intake. It worked really great if I was going down the road at 50 mph and turned on the pane the truck would speed up to 65-70 mph. I would have to back off the pedal to slow down to maintain 50 mph. What was happening was I was running maybe 70 % diesel and 30% pane. I could get an extra 50 - 60 miles out of a tank. So yes I was getting alot more mpg but then you have to add the cost of the propane. One of my trucks developed a very loud knock and I yet have pulled it apart to find the cause. Now I have 2 94 idi factory turbos and have all the power I need. Some day I may try some propane but no water