Ok,,, water injection has been around for a long long time, well before Doc was a young fella in fact, it is a Detination deterant & yes it does act like a steam cleaner

& yes it does help clean out all the carbon build up within the cyls

However,,, one small problem , when it comes to very old worn engines is that (funny as it may sound) the carbon "fall out" that occurs in Very old engines actually helps seal the rings up,,, many a time a cyl head has been overhauled & bolted back on & the engine now smokes, when before the head job it didn`t (as much)

so,,,, if your donk is VERY old & tired,,, well i really wouldn`t bother as you will probably just make it smoke

If you`re engine is nice & lovely & fresh-ish, then it shouldn`t hurt """Providing"""" that it`s just a mist or spray,,, definately don`t pour heaps water in there... But & yet again ---> funny enough the carbon build up will occur straight away & before long it will be as carboned up as it was before you did the mist thing

Some Turbo cars use the water (&/or methanol) mist as a cooling agent (as a performance enhancment) & "as a bonus" it keeps the cyls clean of hot spots from the carbon build up ,,, if it`s used quite regularly then it obviously will keep the cyls clean,,, but do it once for 1/2hour-ish & within the next week the carbon will automatically return.

I don`t see why anyone would bother to be honest,,, unless you have a turbo or supercharger & use water/methanol injection to help keep inlet charge temps down.

So,,, that`s my 11cents worth for you

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No offence intended here but--> anyone writing a book about minis 30 years ago may not have experienced such worn or stuffed-with components as we are finding these days.

You should put your heart & soul into everything you do.

I used to run water injection on my old Gemini which had a modded 2litre engine with 10.5:1 compression. The carbon deposits would build up and cause it to ping on pump fuel, this is in the days before 98 Octane was widely available. I had a weber downdraught idle jet pointed down the primary carby throat, glued into a rubber tube. At the other end of the tube I had a second washer bottle controlled by a button on the dash. Every now and again (maybe once a week) i'd hit the button for a second or two. It worked well.

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Brett Nicholson
Greendale (near Ballan) VIC.
1971 Morris Mini Moke
1966 Austin Mini
1965 Morris Mini Traveller
1973 LR Series 3 88
2007 LR Freelander 2

I didnt know this , How cool Can it be done on Diesels

i wouldnt....

a compression engine with water... just cant seeing it doing well...

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Here am I sitting in my tin can far above the Moon
Planet Earth is blue and there's nothing I can do...



“A turbo: exhaust gasses go into the turbocharger and spin it, witchcraft happens and you go faster.” - Jeremy Clarkson

I wouldn't recommend it,
Ive seen bent conrods out of diesels that have swallowed a bit of water!

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"Ride hard or die trying"

But you will drive a car on a humid/wet day?
And you will tip petrol into an engine.

Have you ever noticed an increase in power on a cold night when the air is more dense? What is it dense with?

You are adding a mist of water to the air.
You are not tipping a cup of water into the motor.

What is water? Hydrogen and oxygen.
What will hydrogen and oxygen do inside an engine?

cool...Ill have to have a go on the 1152 on the weekend...not so sure on the 998 I collected last weekend..The Alfa...No chance

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Stop Licking the Dog...I Don't Care Who Started It

many many years ago , when I was young, I took a mini to a mechanic who squirted brake fluid down the carby to clean the valve seats and bores , By the way , I am only as young as the mini is this saturday

Brake fluid makes pretty white smoke Reminds me when i was a yungun our boss used to let us clean n polish his Hk 350 wich he loved to death, a friend ov mine had heard that if you pour oil down the four barrel that cool acrid smoke is produced from the exhausts, he tryed this when the boss went out, ripped off the air cleaner got it up to around 2500rpm and giggled like a schoolgirl when it sucked in the cup of oil and farted it out its blurters, he decided that something thicker than oil was to be the go so he held a full grease canister over the four barrel and revved up slowly but nothing happened, he got impatient and a little evil and gave the throttle a big turn...........the carb sucked in the whole canister minus the cardboard tube I have never seen a motor revving so hard stop so quick, busted the left engine mount and tried to jump out onto the floor, after the boss had multiple spanner throwing fits, recovered and released my buddy to another employ. he did the autopsy Man that motor was DONE, he could salvage nil,..

Lesson kiddies- water good- oil fun but multilube in the fun party pack tube- very very BAD

Back in the late 60s we used to do the old `Texas Tuneup'- remove air filter, squirt Redex or Firezone down the carby until it nearly choked to death, then thrash it around the block. Did it make them go faster?? We thought so then...

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Ha Ha Ha i havnt heard "texas tuneup" in 10 years

The water going down the carb causes a rapid decrease in temperature in the combustion chamber which cracks the carbon deposits and they go out the exhaust. You should get heaps of black smoke out the exhaust. When the carbon deposits have been cleaned out the black smoke will stop. I've done it many times with great success (I wouldn't do it on an alloy engine though).

Pete

I've heard that same tune up method described as the apprentice tune up.

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Would it be a bad idea to do this to my old 998, its been sittin round for 18 years, had it running a few times and it blows quite a bit of black smoke. Best to do in a few bursts maybe a few blasts of water a day or somethin?

Are you thinking It'll combust?

It doesnt, but I like where your heads at

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A meerkat is a legitimate unit of measure.