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SNOW vs ALKY Control vs AEM - water injection systems
I am at the limits of my local pump FUEL supply.
Best available PUMP gasoline is rated 90 Octane, and even that number is occasionally suspect.
(90 Octane) has been Okay for 8 years on one of my rigs: the short stroke 4.8 Liter is happy at 11 PSI all day and night.
My new project has the 5.3 Liter and I am getting audible knock around 4000 to 4400 rpm at 13 PSI manifold 7 degrees spark advance.
Really pouring on the Boost Enrich: 28% above 175 kPa .
Two realistic choices remain: 1) Drop to a 10 pound wastegate spring...
or
2) Water injection.
Obviously I will need a progressive, boost referenced system. I see the SNOW has a separate, outboard MAP sensor, whereas the AEM requires inside CABIN mounted controller and a boost reference HOSE through the firewall to the internal MAP sensor: anyone have trouble with that arrangement ?
Looking for QUALITY and Durability comparisons between the various branded systems. Leaning toward the SNOW system, because the instructions show OUTSIDE mounting of components, and do NOT require hiding the meth pump INSIDE the vehicle.
Probably try and fabricate or improvise a 4 or 5 gallon-ish methanol reservoir, run 50/50 washer fluid ( Alaska, they market -35 Fahrenheit rated washer fluid ) .
Looking for recommendations, WARNINGS, or horror stories of failed Methanol systems and melted pistons.
I am not reaching for the moon here, not a race vehicle, just a daily driver, family wagon, like to run around 13 PSI boost for occasional uphill passing motorhomes, etc,
Last edited by Full Power; 08-28-2024 at 03:32 PM.
Reason: spelld cheks
Heard lots of people using the AEM kit with good results, haven't heard so much on Snow but they've been around forever.
Alky Controls and Pro Meth seem to be more like fuel supplemental kits designed to provide additional fueling at very high boost pressures on something like pump type fuel as opposed to an auxiliary kit that is just designed to eliminate knock at lower boost levels and not add any additional fueling.
If I were you, I'd get an AEM kit for what you're doing.
I made my own setup that is just a simple on/off with a Stewart Warner pressure switch. No issues with going all in at 4 psi on a 377 with over 20 psi peak boost.
happy with my aem kit so far, dont have it dialed yet but running 2 nozzles and ramping it , havent hurt anything yet on 200.00 5.3 with 17lbs occasionly. mostly using it for saftey not trying to depend on it yet 70/30 meth water
Basic snow kit here , all in at 4-5lbs . No issues , been 5 yrs / 32, 000 miles . Only readily available fuel here is 91 , with 93 and 94 at some locations but very pricey. Have done 15.5 lbs on many track days, choice of 7 lbs or 14ish lbs for street driving on street rubber
You’d be surprised how little you need to accomplish your goals and get a little more antiknock. You don’t need a progressive system and you don’t need much fluid. You can easily piece together a little kit for about $200 on amazon that will work very well. The watermeth kits are stupid expensive for no reason. A simple on/off pressure switch is all you need for activation any decent irrigation mister will work if it has a rated flow at X pressure.
Decent Surflo 8000 series pump is tried and true with viton seals that hold up to even 100% meth bypass the regulator and they put out about 160psi. They are $100 shipped and the most expensive part.
Simple nylon push lock fittings and hose and a 1-5gallon small engine poly fuel cell or windshield reservoir is cheap as well. At your boost levels with washer fluid you shouldn’t need more than about 5gph worth of nozzle flow. True 50/50 or slightly more maybe 7gph tops.
Don’t over complicate it. I've built several kits over the years and never had any issues. I just built a kit for my wave runner a week ago. It was about $200 total mostly using amazon. Could have done it cheaper but I didn't shop around any.
Forcefed86: "You can easily piece together a little kit for about $200 on amazon that will work very well. The watermeth kits are stupid expensive for no reason. A simple on/off pressure switch is all you need for activation any decent irrigation mister will work if it has a rated flow at X pressure".
.
. Obviously, I'll use a good quality Bosch style relay to POWER the WM fluid pump, but, concerning the pressure switch: Any way to sense the 5 volt MAP, or is there a standalone murphy switch that you consider reliable enough ?
A little shy of the 19 dollar ebay " Pressure Switches"
My thought is that a single stage system that will PROTECT my engine from 10 or 12 degrees of spark advance at 195 kPa will DROWN my spark if it cuts in much less than 8 or 9 PSI, so I will run a fairly narrow window of WM application... OR, alternately run TWO stages, so the system primes and flows small nozzle at 8PSI and then flows BIG NOZZLE at 11 psi
You are correct if you are spraying a large amount of volume. Though most kits don’t do this. You will likely need about 7gph to 10gph to do what you are wanting with 50/50. So a single “on point” is generally fine. Since you know the motor is happy at 11psi. Just set the on point to 9-10psi and let it eat. I couldn’t even feel 7gph of 30% washer fluid activating. 50% plus would be even less noticeable.
The Honeywell made “Hobbs” adjustable pressure switches are among some of the most reliable out there. Though they aren’t cheap these days! I’ve never had one fail and I’ve used them many times.
I also have used the china versions of these with no failures. But its never a bad idea to have a failsafe if you are relying on the kit to keep you out of detonation. I use AFR safeties on all my stuff. Many use the MAT sensor as a sort of indicator to tell them if the meth is on/off as well. Also some use pressure sensors. Kinda hard to implement without a stand-alone ECU… but not impossible. AEM sells a WB02 with an AFR safety switch that can illuminate a light, set off a buzzer, or ground out a coil…etc.
I'm all in at 4 psi with a 7 gph nozzle and 60% meth 40% water. No progressive controller and no issues. I think the only people having issues going all in at once at a low boost level aren't actually using 50/50 or better meth/water mix. Too much water at low boost is more of an issue.
Ya that’s a ton of meth. What percentage did you start the progressive at and at what psi of boost? Curious if we could do the math and find out how much meth you were hitting initially as soon as it came on before the ramp up.
Had it come on at 10ish and full on at 25. I had to pull roughly 30% out of the VE map. That was pump 91 on a 3.8 Turbo 6 cyl. They had really good cyl fuel distribution with the dog house style intakes and the RJC power plates that directed the air/fuel to the cylinders equally. Which meant we could get away with a lot of volume through a single TB injection point. I'd be leary of replacing 30% of the total fueling with typical LS OEM style intakes.
I had a turbo Buick Regal back in the early 90’s but honestly I didn’t build it or know anything about it. I bought it from my brother then he built a street strip Vega and rolled it street racing in the early 90’s. I blew up the turbo motor then put a 350r from an Oldsmobile in it before selling the car. It was faster with the turbo motor but I got the 350 for $300 and I was a teenager so it worked.
They were super impressive and stout little motors for their time. But the heads were junk compared to anything modern. I had a 100% stock long block with a cam/springs and was running 25lbs through it on 91 and meth. Parts are too hard to find to make building one worthwhile these days IMO. MUCH bigger bang for the buck with the LS stuff. Even the 6cyls. Was a solid 10 second street car in an rx7 though. Low 10’s on e85 with decent heads and 28lbs. Super fun setup, they sure sounded goofy though!
08-28-2024, 12:05 PM
SNOW vs ALKY Control vs AEM - water injection systems 
