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Methanol injection kit - pump and tank placement

chrisb33

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Joined
May 3, 2007
Messages
363
Location
Manila, Philippines
For those guru's on methanol injection, if i place the pump and the tank inside the engine bay, lets say...near the firewall and near near the passenger side strut area...will the heat inside the engine bay cause inefficiencies or worse, cause the pump to malfunction?

the pump is a shurflo 150 psi pump. thanks in advance.

chris b
 

mikus

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Jan 11, 2007
Messages
2,763
Location
Aurora IL
Mine is where you're thinking about - was mounted by PO, works great to date. Just make sure lines aren't in direct contact w/ hot surfaces like the head or whatnot, and I'd think you'll be fine.
 

chrisb33

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May 3, 2007
Messages
363
Location
Manila, Philippines
great! thanks man. Ok il try to zip tie those lines so that it wont come in contact to hot surfaces.

i got worried because a couple of dudes told me that i should put the pump and the tank at the trunk because they had (maybe an isolated case) a pump failure due to heat inside the engine bay.

another dude said that methanol might boil inside the engine bay. but as far as i know (correct me if im wrong) meth has a higher boiling point than water. so i guess there's really no clear and present danger right?

chris b
 

mikus

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Oh sorry, we're talking about straight methanol? It has a lower boiling point, significantly, and yes I'd strongly consider the trunk in that case.

Pump failure is probably more related to pump quality (or better said, seal quality in pump) than heat. Also want to consider vapors in engine bay.
 

Pump failure might occur if the meth tank (or water for that matter) goes empty. Since straight meth has a low boiling point, mounting it in the engine bay might lead to the meth evaporating and the pump burning out.
Mike R.
 

chrisb33

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May 3, 2007
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Location
Manila, Philippines
thanks. decided to stick with the original location. tried a run and checked if the pump and tank was burning hot. but when i tried touching it they were just "warm".

noted on the pump failure due to empty tank. I'm going to carry a spare gallon of meth just to refill whenever needed. thanks.

chris b
 

EMX5636

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Jun 28, 2008
Messages
1,631
Location
Bucks County, PA
I think I'm going to mount mine in the fender well where the ABS used to be. Seems to be away from most heat, still protected by the splash shields.
 

4orced4door

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Jul 19, 2002
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9,846
Location
Raleigh, NC
How important is it to have the tank above the pump for priming purposes?
 

cheekychimp

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Apr 19, 2004
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7,333
Location
East Sussex, U.K.
Paul with a Shurflo I'd say negligible. There were priming issues with the aquamist pumps but I really don't think you can put a Shurflo somewhere it won't work!
 

chrisb33

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May 3, 2007
Messages
363
Location
Manila, Philippines
if i fabricate a meth tank made of stainless steel, will there be an issue? again running on straight meth, tank inside the engine bay.

thanks.

chris b
 

No expert on these systems but thinking about it, I can foresee one problem. Methanol boils at 148 F. Can underhood temperatures be that warm? Probably. So to make it work you need to keep the tank from getting that hot. You might consider wrapping the tank with insulation, make it double wall, put it inside an enclosure, or provide hood venting that allows hot air to escape. I dunno, just some ideas.
Mike R.
 

Quoting chrisb33:
if i fabricate a meth tank made of stainless steel, will there be an issue? again running on straight meth, tank inside the engine bay.

thanks.

chris b



Why not make it out of aluminum?
 

Do NOT put it in an aluminum container. Aluminum has 10 times the thermal conductivity of SS and will just cause the methanol to warm up faster, and methanol is corrosive to aluminum.
Mike R.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

turbowop

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Apr 29, 2001
Messages
11,971
Location
Yakima, WA
I put my tank and pump in the trunk. Any reason you can't put yours back there? It's just extra wire and hose. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dunno.gif
 

get a snow performance kit, put it in the trunk and be done..

press_release-large_image-74.jpg
 

chrisb33

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May 3, 2007
Messages
363
Location
Manila, Philippines
Quoting mj_rosenfeld:
Do NOT put it in an aluminum container. Aluminum has 10 times the thermal conductivity of SS and will just cause the methanol to warm up faster, and methanol is corrosive to aluminum.
Mike R.



^^^+1
 

chrisb33

Well-known member
Joined
May 3, 2007
Messages
363
Location
Manila, Philippines
Quoting turbowop:
I put my tank and pump in the trunk. Any reason you can't put yours back there? It's just extra wire and hose. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dunno.gif



sadly yeah. like i said in my first post, in my excitement i cut my dang hoses and wires. plus i cant really put them in the trunk coz i have a sound system installed there. dont want to mess up the clean install /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif





anyway, i started already fabricating my meth tank together with my 2 catch can set up Link

the meth tank will hold a gallon of meth using a 6 inch diameter stainless steel tube.

the catch cans will be made of aluminum 8" hight x 3" diameter.

they will be installed on the passenger side near the fender.

ive got vr4 hood vents hopefully they will help take out the heat in the engine bay. After the install, i shall test it during city and highway driving and check out the temp on the meth tank. if it's scary hot then i will be forced to put some insulation around the tank. I highly doubt it will be that hot. I'll post pics when it's done.

on another forum dedicated to meth/water injection, people there say that it's actually better for the meth to be a bit warm before entering the intake pipe to make the phase change easier. FYI.

chris b
 

chrisb33

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Joined
May 3, 2007
Messages
363
Location
Manila, Philippines
ok my custom meth tank is complete!!! it's the big can with the radiator cap. it holds a gallon of meth. Initially when i started the engine earlier, some meth were spilling through the breather. the metal hose where the breather sits is higher than the top of the tank so i was wondering why it was spilling there?! and the pump wasnt even running yet.

so i took out the breather, cleaned it up, and plugged it a bit higher for more breathing air. seems like it solved the problem. it will be under observation though.

here are some pics. sorry im not good with the camera so im sure the pics sucks, but it's more impressive in person hahaha!

Together with the custom dual catch can set up


shurflo pump underneath (hope it's far away from heat!)


meth injector connected to the up pipe


more shots of the tank


 

chrisb33

Well-known member
Joined
May 3, 2007
Messages
363
Location
Manila, Philippines
ok ive had the meth tank under observation and meth is still seeping out of the breather. Im really wondering why this is happening because it does so even when the car has just been started up and the hood is popped up so i doubt if it's the heat.

here is the simple design of the tank.



should i get rid of the breather? and just seal the tank?
 
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