Steam Cleaning the inside of an engine

[Ron61]

If I remember correctly, and I probably don't, but didn't Mercury come out one year back in the 60s with a water mist injection on some of their cars? It seems to me that a man who I knew had one on his Comet and he said it came from the factory. But since I never saw many, I am not sure if this is fact. I do know that J.C. Whitney used to offer them, but then they offered about anything that anyone could dream up back then.

Ron

[RICK LAKE]

Terry Stapley Yes it is fact. When used correctly you can pick up 20-40 hp on SOME cars. You can run more timing. The 50/50 mixture of distilled water and windshield washer fluids work the best. Turbo and blower people have been using this for years. It's cheaper than a $1,000.00 air to air intercooler. A cheap spray bottle on mist works the best when hot. There is a down side that if the motor has alot of carbon of oil buildup in the intake manifold, It can come loose and damage the motor. A large piece can jam open a valve and you have piston/valve damage. Too much poured into the motor, hydro lock, and bent rods. TEC or top engine clean, GM has used for years and works great on breaking the carbon down and having it go out to the exhaust. Here's the caught, It gets caught in the Cat Convertor and plugs some of the small channels through it. Over time the cat fails for flow. O2 sensor are also funny with water injection if they are the heater ones. Have had a couple of them fail emmission test after a (steam cleaning). The heater breaks from the cold water or the debre clogs on the wire and it burns out over time. Jack Miller is running 2 paxton supercharger and water injection system for racing. The man runs in the 8'0s. An e-mail to him might give you some good info on running a water system. There is akit for about $400.00 that is a high pressure mister setup for desiel motors, Try Snow Performance or Waterboy for the kit. Shop hard the prices are all over the map. In real numbers for power 10-18hp on a regular gas is possible. I think there is a pressure switch for turn the system on and off. In a gas motor it would be the vacuum to turn on and off. If you enquire, tell them for a gas motor. Rick L. The new system are alot better than the old, old system was like you windshield washer sprayers, the high pump is a straight mister and controllable

[JeepSnake]

Yup, Buick & Olds used water injection back in the early '60s on their turbocharged engines in the Buick Special & Olds F-85/Cutlass.

Water/alcohol injection helps build power in several ways. As already mentioned, the cooling and cleaning effects let you run more timing or more compression/boost. Additionally, simply by adding the MASS of the water to the fluid passing through the engine, you create more power. More mass flow rate = more power.

I believe military jets have even used water injection to boost power (B-52 is one in particular I think used it in some models???).

MacGyver - take a look at some Jeep tech boards that cover the 258 and later 4.0; they still fight carbon problems! Standard procedure is to introduce Seafoam cleaner into the intake via the brake booster hose till the engine stalls. Let it sit and soak for 10 minutes, then crank it back up and enjoy the smokescreen for a few minutes! (Yes, I have done it...)