Water Injection Set Up and report

[computer monkey]

I know this may not be the right thing for everyone. This is only my experience with water injection. I hope this information will help someone.

From the start; I have a 98 Suburban 1500 4X4 (eight bolt wheels, 14 bolt rear-end, 4L80E trans, rated 8050lbs 3:42 gears, L65 engine). I have a AM General 6500 Optimizer engine, Phear Gear set timed at -1.5, Kennedy 3.5 exhaust, Heath Diesel reflash program version 2, stock fan clutch, Duramax fan, Heath Diesel transmission controller (pressure), Heath Diesel water injection set at 32oz a minute, Heath Diesel towing mirrors, stock oil cooler, stock trans cooler with another add behind bumper with thermostat fan set to 180 degrees f, triple gauge mount, NAPA 190 degree thermostats. Forgot to add Heath Diesel Turbo Master and Racor 445 fuel filter added between tank and lift pump.

Water pump mounted on driver side frame rail just behind transfer case cross member. Water was taken from the trailer tanks (trailer has two 50 gallon fresh water tanks).

Went to NC last week by the way of I-40. Air temp was around 80 to 89 degrees f. Got about 8 to 10 miles per gallon. Tranny temp 140 to 180 degrees f average. Engine temp 191 to 197 degrees f average. EGT pre-turbo 800 to 900 degrees f pre-turbo average. Boost 13 to 15 plus pounds. This is with water injection set to come on at 10.5 pounds. Average high way speed was 70mph. Climbing one hill, about two miles long, slowed down to 45mph, engine temps went to 215, EGT went to 1050 and trans went to 190. I did try it once with the water injection turned off. Engine temps went to 215 then the fan kicked in, EGT went to 1100 and could not hold 70mph till I turned water back on.

When I first started towing this trailer with our Suburban I was very disappointed, 55 to 65mph in third only was all I was able to do. High engine temp (240) and EGT (1000 to 1300) all the time. After engine mods was done and the pull to NC, I can safety say that I am very happy with the set up. 70mph was the target speed that I wanted on the flats. Temperatures across the board are very good and will with in the safe limits for longevity.

I try to put more picture up when I get more time. Just to let you know this is my home web server and its not on all of the time.

I have pictures at: Pictures of Rig (http://www.n2outdrs.com/gmcwi/)

Trailer is a Jayco Talon ZX 28' toy hauler, dry weight 7000lbs, 11.5' tall.

[ 07-21-2004, 05:32 AM: Message edited by: computer monkey ]

[Billman]

Glad to hear of the good report. I am in the process of building a system myself. Similar to yours but with much less water because I already have the intercooler.

Let me make sure I am reading this correctly...32oz per minute? That's 15GPH! Man that's HUGE!!

Why not just insert a garden hose??

How much pressure?

[ 07-21-2004, 02:15 PM: Message edited by: Billman ]

[computer monkey]

Hi Billman,

The 32oz a minute is at free flow, I would guess around 25 to 27oz's a minute under boost. That would mean I would consume around 60 to 75 gallons of water to my 42 gallon fuel tank.

As for the garden hose, I couldn't find one long enough to reach, heheheheee.

Your question how much pressure? System comes on at 10.5lbs. As for the water pressure I do not know.

[markrinker]

Interesting stats. I am considering an intercooler plus water injection on demand for the hills on hot days.

My setup for #2 is basically the same as yours, with 4.10 gears. Pulled 13,500# load yesterday in 90 degree high humidity weather, A/C on full blast, EGTs (downtube) ran 800-850 average, with spikes of 950. I'd like to bring that number down.

What tire size are you running?

[computer monkey]

tires are 245/75 16's

[autocrosser]

You probably went up black mountain if you were heading west toward Ashville. It's the only one I know that is real steep and that long.

I can hold 45mph up the hill with my truck pulling 7200lbs with 3.73 gears, large exhaust, and boost pumped up to 12lbs. the temp will get up to 215 and the fan running.

Before the exhaust and boost increase it would just barely hold 25mph. It's still borderline on the temp so I guess i'll add water injetion just for the hill climbing. I can run 70 all day long on level ground as it is. It get about 12mpg with the load.

Pulling my 1500lb car hauler trailer with a 2600lb british car on it I get 15mpg. Sunday coming back from a car show at Richmond Va it went into reduced power mode and showed inlet temp and boost codws. I cleared them with my tech 1 and it straightened out ok. this is a rare occurance fot that to happen.

[computer monkey]

Autocrosser, I noticed your 96 came with dual thermostat and HO water pump. I have a friend with a 96 one ton that has dual thermostat on it also. Must be a late 96 you think? He has less then 30k miles on his truck.

There is no way we could have made the trip with out the water injection installed. It runs most of the time except going down hills. Good thing the trailer has 100 gallon water tanks.

45mph was a safe speed, I might have been able to 5mph more but it would have been pushing it pretty hard.

I was very surprise that the Suburban pulled the trailer as well as it did.

[rj]

Results are consistent with what I've seen when using water injection. A few weeks ago I pulled a 27' TT when my water injection system was not working properly. I hit several hills where the best I could do was 50 to 55 mph in 3rd. I recently drove the same route with water injection working. The temps were slightly cooler on the second trip so there was some improvement simply from ambient conditions, but... with water injection working it was like I was driving a different truck. On the first trip I encountered a hill where I slowed from 65 mph down to 55 mph with my foot on the floor. On the second trip I hit the bottom of the hill at 65 and gradually accelerated to 70+ mph in OD WITHOUT my foot on the floor! If I consistently towed long distances I'd go for an intercooler because filling the water is a pain, but for weekend short hauls the water injection makes an incredible difference.

[Spindrift]

Is anyone using a methanol/water mix?

[autocrosser]

Computer Monkey,

The 3.42 gears you have compared to my 3.73's make a lot of difference. My son's 95 Z71 6.5 with the 265 tires on it and 3.73 gears won't pull what my truck does even before the mods. I think they are on the edge whit 3.73's when it comes to pulling 7 to 8k lbs up large hills. They run great on level ground and mild hills with even more weight.

I'm thinking of getting the water injection just for Black Mountain on I40. The big trucks slow down to around 20mph on it. My next step is to move the pump optical sensor a little to see if I get more fuel flow and I'll probably need the water injection then.

I have a 2wd light duty (6lug wheels) so I can't use the Spearco intercooler but I've thought about getting one of their cores and rerouting the inlet & outlets as there isn''t room to run them up as it's done on the heavier duty frame.