Is see alot of guys running water/meth and or nitrous. Where is the propane at? Does it suck for our motors? What are the Pros and Cons?

 

It raises static compression of your engine kinda like advancing timing because it burns faster. Its good on mildly moded trucks and helps with mpg, but on trucks with big tuners and such it starts getting more dangerous than good. I'm not sure if it lowers egt's much or not.

I the end water/meth is alot cheaper, more reliable, and has a huge drop in egt and power when it kicks in. So where before you pull 10K up a steep hill you gotta let out some because egt's are getting high, with water/meth you can keep your foot in it.

 

Static compression, by DEFINITION cannot be raised by dumping anything into the engine. It's built into the engine as a function of geometry and will not change once the engine is assembled, period.

Dynamic compression is the term used to describe the effects of other factor that influence cylinder pressure. For example, intake valve closure and boost pressure. Technically, propane doesn't affect dynamic compression, either.


It does affect cylinder pressure, though. Because it speeds up the rate at which diesel will burn, it has the same effect as very low-octane fuel does in a gasoline engine. The faster burn makes it more likely that the piston will get "slapped" by the combustion event and results in a very inefficient transfer of energy from combustion to piston motion.


Propane is a good power adder for lower overall fueling levels. It performs best with a large amount of excess air. As you get more overfueled, that excess air diminishes to zero, and propane will be very inefficient

However, if you combine propane with an oxidizer like Nitrous Oxide, then the effect will be greater than either one individually. The nitrous provides the O2 to burn the propane more efficiently.


So, ideally, you'd have your propane setup to come in early at low boost levels. As boost levels rise and the turbo can't keep up with the fueling rate (engine runs rich), then kick in some Nitrous and clean up the smoke.

Water meth is popular because it's cheap and quite safe. But nitrous/propane has a LOT more power potential-- it just brings some danger as you reach for the moon. Water meth can add as much as 80hp to a big-power twins truck.

Nitrous/propane can provide well over 150hp increase, and will quickly find the safety valve in your setup (usually headgasket or turbo).

jh

 

Ok, what all is needed for water/meth to install on a truck? I have gauges, exhaust, comp, BHAF. Guessing I should hold off on anything else until I burn this tranny up and get me a DTT.

Lemme ask this. I have a stock tranny that was just rebuilt a couple of months ago, if I was to TC it and VB it. What other improvements could I do to help it survive?

 

Just an FYI but water DOESNT make power.

 

But methanol will, a little bit. Water/meth is more common that one thinks. Summer windshield washer fluid (blue stuff) is a water methanol mix.

 

But all the extra fuel you could not use before due to EGTs does.

Randy

 

Its the winter formula that you want, and I have read that its anywhere between 20%-40% methanol, but I would say the lesser. The summer formula is pretty much just water. The washer fluid only gives a small seat of the pants kick, but a 50/50 mix will give a nice gain, 51HP on my truck.

 

As stated previously, you can get some good power increases with propane on trucks which aren't heavily fueled. With more diesel added, its effectiveness goes down accordingly. It's real hard on head gaskets and easily has the potential to blowup an engine. I feel on a Cummins, it becomes too destructive at power increases greater than 75 or 80 hp. Anything above a 120 hp increase would be pretty scary. Contrary to myth, it doesn't lower egts, but does the opposite in full throttle situations (it is adding extra fuel .. after all).

It does increase diesel fuel mileage, depending on how much of it is used. Around here, when diesel was priced so high, it became beneificial to use, for cost savings, at around a 2 mpg increase. Normally, you've got to see almost a 3-4 mpg diesel increase for the extra cost of it to pay off, depending on the price difference between it and diesel. This is at a cost difference of around 50 cents between it and diesel, and a "diesel only" fuel milage of 17 mpg or so.

It's probably not as popular on the CTD as, say a 7.2 PS, because it's cheaper to get more power from diesel (larger injectors, etc.) with the Cummins, than using propane. The opposite is true for the Ford. I believe it's a very good alternative to use on engines which are too difficult or too expensive to get increased diesel fueling.

The biggest down side using it is the extra room required for the tank, and having to make an another/extra fueling stop.

 

I know straight meth will make HP and lower egts,water MIGHT lower egts but thats about it.Plus trying to compress somthing that cannot be compressed(why do you think the HG's let go with water meth?)

Ive got 2 Buick Grand Nationals with meth inj and ive been playing with n20/meth inj on my CTD.Im running a wet system and spraying meth as the added fuel.Butt dyno says its stronger with the Comp on 1x5 spraying n20/meth than with the box on 5x5 and not spraying....

And FYI,a friend of mine that makes meth inj kits has reported a 30hp/100ft lb increase in hp SPRAYING STRAIGHT METH in a CTD.

Real hp junkies just say no to water,we know meth makes more hp and wont push out our HG:wink:

 

FYI straight meth at high RPM's and High boost ( > 65 psi ) will cause knocking, some water must be used to buffer the fuel.

Water does make some power from the chemical reaction - water to steam causes a gasseous expantion allowing for better turbo spooling and top end performance resulting in more boost or air.

In my tests I have found that more than 60 % meth/ 40% water can become unstable.

Propane doesnt advance timing, it just speeds up the delay from injection cycle to power, as the piston nears tdc and the injector fires and starts the burn process, as the diesel fuel starts to burn the propnae it the cylinder quickly lites and engulfs the diesel into a full burn. Propane tuned safely will provide 40-80 hp, It can make more but blending must be done very carefully.

 

Do you think it would be possible to make your own system? I was looking at Snow Performance and its around $500.00

 

Is all that has been stated true for 3rd gens as well? I was considering propane but I plan on making big hp in the future. So should I just skip the propane an get water/meth? It is substantialy cheaper. Right now with the quad on high I can easily hit 1450-1500 on the pyro so a drop in the egts would be nice.

 

I built my own system using parts from snow and ebay and the hardware store and I saved at least $150 and have the same setup as with the snow stage II.