MBofMB

May I have some feedback from those that have used the AEM WATER/METHANOL INJECTION KIT FOR HIGH COMPRESSION NATURALLY ASPIRATED ENGINES. Are there better ones to consider? I presently have a 2007 A8L 4.2L FSI. The 2 main features of an injection that I feel would really benefit the 4.2 are the cleaning aspect of the steam for the valves, pistons & chambers and the increase of the fuel rating. There is not a lot of room in the cramped engine bay so it looks like a long haul from the trunk area may be needed. Is a filter necessary? Should the line diameter be increased? Control placement? Vagcom changes to fuel - timing maps? I'm in Manitoba, Canada ... yah freeze your butt area ... should lines etc. be insulated - the washer fluid goes to -30+ around here: example Blue Thunder Washer Fluid -25ºF, -35ºC, -40ºC (Methanol CAS No.: 67-56-1 30-60%).
Thank you for your time and efforts.

richard-tx

I can sum it up in one word. Don't! If it was a good idea, everyone would do it. All this water injection hype is BS. I remember all the water injection claims of the 1960s. It was all snake oil. Some guys even bent con rods when the injection system leaked water into the cylinders. Water does not compress easily.

Panelhead

Jack88

Those systems are a crock, they don't work. Remember these? Yeah, they didn't work any better either.

MBofMB

Seems the "Votes" are quite one sided. Thank you for all your opinions and information.

The chains, tensioners and guides have been replaced on the engine (4.2L FSI) but we all know that the culprits left are the carboned up valves from not being washed by the injectors. The injection seemed to be one of the possible solutions. Would using products like Sea Foam on a periodic basis be another means of cleaning up the valves? The car is mainly my wife's and she if not a feisty driver and my shoulder gets sore when I'm driving to "clean up the chambers" - she can hit hard.

Any other add-ons or means of avoiding a costly walnut blast of the valves?

Greg5OH

Water/meth injection works. Not very beneficial on NA vehicles.
Boosted guys and big boost diesel guys use it all the time.
Evaporative cooling allows more spark advance, more boost and helps keep knock and pre ignition(due to the cleaning steam action, helps clear away oil deposits which are the prime suspect for pre ignition) at bay.
NA cars dont have high enough cylinder pressures to see a great benefit from it.

No it is not snake oil...jeez


To keep from walnut blasting or manually scrubbing the valves, you can squirt out of a mist bottle some gasoline directly into the throttle bodies. Do this fairly often (10k kms or every oil change). the engine will rev up but will quickly come back down again. If you have heavy carboning you will need to manually remove it first.