AEM Water Injection Failsafe Device: Part 2 – Catching Our Mistakes and Upgrading Our Water Injection System

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Our system with the new pump.  The new pump has a much higher flow capacity and is 12 amp and 144 watts up from the previous 6 amps and 72 watts.  The new pump also has integral water fittings for less potential leak points and less flow restriction than the old 90 degree fittings.  Although the new pump is larger, it still fits right on our Afterhours Automotive bracket so in most cases it can be a straight switch.

The new pump is much larger and has a higher flow capacity than the previous pump.  The new pump is 12 amp and 144 watts up from the previous 6 amps and 72 watts.  Although our existing pump is fine with our 2 liter engine running a single medium nozzle, the new larger pump has the capacity for bigger motors and multiple nozzles.  We might use another nozzle for an intercooler spray later but our intercooler is really big so it’s not likely we’ll need it at all.  The bigger pump needs a different controller for the higher current draw so we changed that as well.

The new pump dwarfs the old one.  It is 0.3 lbs heavier if weight is important to you.

The pump is constantly running with a recirculating internal bypass.  This is longer lasting and more reliable than an instant on pump.  It is also faster responding and has better atomization, especially at lower flow rates.

The new pump requires a new controller to handle the higher current but the new part screws down on the same footprint so it’s easy to switch over.

The new system also uses a new nozzle.  The previous system had a nozzle with a separate check valve.  The check valve is important because it maintains some water pressure in the system for faster response and it also prevents water from being siphoned into the engine when it’s not needed.

The old nozzle and check valve on the left and the new nozzle with built in check valve on the right.  The new nozzle is much smaller and more nicely packaged than the old part.

The new AEM nozzle has the check valve built into the nozzle body and the nozzle is slimmer and more compact itself. Like the old design, the new nozzle has 3 different jets for different flow rates and once again we selected the medium size jet.  The nozzle also has an integral filter screen.  From our previous water injection experiences, nozzle clogging is a major failure mode for water systems and the built in screen is a good insurance policy to prevent it.  The nozzle can also be disassembled for cleaning. The new nozzle is much cleaner with no check valve to have to figure out where to mount.

The new nozzle has three differently sized jets for rough tuning and has an internal filter to help protect the nozzle from clogging.  We still recommend you use a pre pump main filter though.