Hello Steemy Meisters,
After months and months of delays, problems, more delays and then even more problems.....
..... I've finally got my arse in gear and installed the SH2OMI system into the Skoda Fabia 1.6TDi 105PS CAYC variant (135PS with the BlueSpark tuning module fitted). If you've been following the latest posts then you'll be aware that I've had to ditch the 'active' LED circuit on the glovebox control panel as I was having major issues all based on resistance or current drain or something like that. It was getting me MAD so I thought "Hey!" just remove that portion of the circuit and all is good :) So on the control panel now, the orange 'active' LED has been removed (and associated wiring) and a small piece of black insulating tape has been applied to cover the hole up.
The installation:
First of all, once I had removed the wiper blades and scuttle cover; I temporarily connected up the system water feed pipework to the car's windscreen wash pipe and ran the pump and solenoid valve off the cordless drill battery to make sure the water flow from the windscreen wash bottle was unrestricted. As you can probably tell from the water on the front grill and the road that this first installation test was successful :)
I managed to use a small 6mm stud for the pump/solenoid earthing point under the scuttle and used a 'grippy' nut to hold the earth cable in place. I checked continuity between the stud and the battery negative post prior to selecting this option. You can also just make out the pump/solenoid/relay/boost-switch assembly in the darkness of the below picture to. Also in the picture you can see the bonnet release cable (going into the black grommet), system 'ON' control wire from the glovebox control panel and the clear PVC tubing running up to the boost gauge which is also in the glovebox (see previous posts on this installation).
Next, I roughly placed the inlet rubber manifold pipe and the associated tubes/conduit in the position they will be once the install is complete. I fed the conduit through the spare firewall hole after removing the grommet and fed the tubing up to the pump/solenoid assembly in readiness to cut the boost feed tubing and water injection pipe down to the right size. I also connected up the 12v main feed to the assembly relay before I get to the point of hooking it up to the battery terminal. (You might note that the engine bay is relatively clean as I gave it a good degreasing, foam-up, brush, low pressure rinse, towel-dry & 303 Aerospace Protectant coating a couple of months ago).
Getting close to finalizing the installation at this point, which I estimate took me 3 hours in total on Saturday morning. I connected the 12v main feed up to a spare terminal on the battery and thankfully there were no sparks or smoke ;)
The final part was to swap out the original intake manifold pipe for the modified one fitted with the boost pressure feed tubing and the water/methanol injection bulkhead/misting nozzle. I had a lot of painful fun with this as I had to shorten the boost feed tubing by 2 inches to allow the pushfit water tubing to reach round to the back of the manifold pipe properly without putting too much undue stress on the coupling or bulkhead.
As all the flexible conduit is very similar to the VAG factory stuff, it does help make for a stealth installation..... which is exactly the effect I was after :)
There are a few tweaks and tie-wraps required to tidy everything up, as well as some water-proofing stuff for the electrics but all in all I'm very happy so far with the whole install. Since inception to this point I think it's probably been about 12 months in total; quite a lot for such a simple design.
SO WHAT HAPPENS NOW!!!
Well, I did a 20 minute test drive on Saturday and I'm not sure if it's the placebo-effect or just that I was in 'giddy-kipper' mode but there did seem to be a slight performance gain. I'm not expecting a +25hp gain that I could get from a commercial water/methanol kit for a diesel engine of this size but anything over 15hp would be nice. Trouble is, this sort of power gain on top of 132hp isn't going to make a massively noticeable difference but might shave half a second off the 0-60 times if I'm lucky.
I have a OBD device (Carista module) that connects to my android phone and so I think I can measure air intake temps. If that's the case then I should be able to see temperature drops when the system is active (cooler air intake charge equals bigger bang!). I will also try and do some 3rd & 4th gear (30-60mph & 30-70mph) full power runs very soon to see if I can drop a second or two.
So there you go folks!!! Apart from a few bits here and there and some test data gathering; the SH2OMI project has reached completion.
Many thanks to all who have supported this project since I started posting about it on Steemit.
Catch you all soon and don't forget to upvote, comment & resteem please :)
Cheers,
EggMeister.
All previous posts on this project can be found here:
https://steemit.com/cars/@eggmeister/nbx0ndi8
https://steemit.com/cars/@eggmeister/q3wyu12m
https://steemit.com/cars/@eggmeister/yedjwzu8
https://steemit.com/cars/@eggmeister/79lsrrbd
https://steemit.com/cars/@eggmeister/8swbskan
https://steemit.com/cars/@eggmeister/btxnk2px
https://steemit.com/cars/@eggmeister/a-question-guys-electrical-expertise-required-diy-sh2omi
https://steemit.com/cars/@eggmeister/increasing-power-diy-water-methanol-kit-sketches-and-musings
https://steemit.com/cars/@eggmeister/more-power-water-methanol-injection-product-placement
https://steemit.com/cars/@eggmeister/sh2omi-should-i-diy-stealth-water-methanol-injection-system
Hi eggmeister,
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Hello @curie, I greatly appreciate your support :)
Many thanks indeed,
EggMeister
Hi nice to see you finally got it competed.
Hi @chris.scustoms,
Unfortunately the system went 'pop' the other day (water all over scuttle cavity) plus I spotted the boost feed connector on the manifold had failed so I was loosing boost pressure.
This project has been a fight all the way and I've lost enthusiasm for it now and so the system has been completely removed.
Thanks for support but sorry there won't be any more SH2OMI stuff in the future (apart from perhaps a 'demise' post LOL)
Cheers,
Rob.
Nice one, eggmeister!
Cheers :)
posts/video of testing to follow.
Glad you got it going the way you want it to run! Enjoy it!
:)Thank you :)
Though road-testing today proved inconclusive :(
Measurement on a mechanical system, especially a complex one, is always difficult! You might look at EGT, and monitor the oxy sensor for changes; with, and without. The manifold vacuum should change with more power, and the RPM should increase slightly when you add the water.
Can you find any documantation on the war birds? That should show (for pilot training purposes) what to look for in a boost situation.
The Oxy sensor is a must look variable, because the computer uses it as a feedback controller. I know with HHO (Brown gas) it has to be fooled, or the car's computer will add fuel to try to fix the change in exhaust gas composition.
Hi @smithlabs, again many thanks for your valuable contributions.
I'll see if the Carista OBD dongle in unison with my android phone running the 'Torque' app will allow me to view the data in real-time. When I was playing around with the unit a few weeks ago I quickly set up a boost gauge and air intake temp gauge.
If I can view the oxy sensor data what options do you think may be possible to be able to do in terms of a hack/fix? I've seen Snow Performance and other commercial water/methanol systems including VAG group cars and I don't recall any mention of the oxy sensor.
I'm running pure water at the moment but might start introducing methanol. I don't want to add too much as I'm not sure if it will 'eat' through the section of silicone tubing from the screenwash feed through to the pump. Also, I have the option of swapping the 0.6mm nozzle for a 0.8mm one (280ml/min to 380ml/min).
Much appreciate your time bud :)
Rob.
I have seen the dongles, but haven't needed to play with one yet. How does it measure torque?
The oxy sensor may not enter in. But I would bring a lead in, and put a meter on it to be sure. Additionally, if you cheat with an opamp (off the posting I just did), you can make the computer think it needs more gasoline, by amplifying the existing signal. It will hurt your gas milage, but should give more power. So cut it in when you want more.
I wouldn't worry about the methanol in the washer reservoir, most of the washer fluid uses alcohol for antifreeze.
LOL, sorry, the app is called torque.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.prowl.torque&hl=en
The methanol addition would act as more 'fuel' would it? All I can think of is that water/meth injection displaces the existing mix in the combustion chamber....... a correct assumption?
It's all fun @smithlabs :)
Thanks again.
No, as I understand it, the extra input is burned in addition to the normal injected fuel load.
MORE POWER!
:) :) :)