Gotta start off by apologizing first, this write up was a long time coming. It’s probably a few months overdue as I have been driving around with this setup for quite some time now. Anyway, not much has changed so feel free to hit me up or Richard from Aquamist for any questions.
Well, many thanks first off to Richard from Aquamist for the assist on all the questions I had while doing this project. What you see here is an integration of the Aquamist DDS3 flow monitoring system with the SMC progressively controlled methanol injection kit. First, let me jump to the end and say that this is what every methanol kit needs! Almost every (of course, you can never say never) part of this methanol kit is fool-proof and safe. The DDS3 has the ability to detect too much flow (a leak or broken line) or not enough flow (a clogged line or simply out of meth) both are user tunable to specific sensitivities. One interesting aspect of this kit is that the flow sensor itself has a 0-5V output that can be used in conjunction with any aftermarket management system that has an analog input. With this, you can conceivably control the fuel setup and safety cutouts thru the EMS. I am currently using the XEDE with SMART, so unfortunately, I was unable to employ this additional method of attaining safety as the XEDE currently has no analog inputs left open. It is being utilized by the wideband O2 sensor to control the SMART features of the XEDE. But I feel that with the safety features already in place, the engine is pretty well protected.
Here’s the instruction manual for the DDS3v1.
Currently I have the methanol to begin injection at 15psi with full spray at 21psi (I am currently tuned to 25psi by Shiv of Vishnu Tuning) with my map dialed in accordingly. If the DDS3 senses any problems in the system, i.e. loss of flow, out of meth, etc., then the factory boost solenoid that is wired inline will be cut to wastegate pressure (factory at 12-13psi). So even when running my race map, which doesn’t get aggressive until the meth kicks in at 15psi, it will never get there if the methanol flow is abnormal for any reason.
Bottom line…I love this setup and even though I’m sure the SMC kit (along with others without safety features) is proven, it is definitely a peace-of-mind item. I am showing some of the steps I took to install the kit into my car. Some fittings had to be customized because of Aquamist’s use of BSPT and the SMC kit utilizing NPT fittings. With some creative thinking, I am certain this setup could be used with almost any methanol kit on the market. Richard is an excellent resource and was with me the entire way. Just to let ya know, my install had some slight variations after I took the pics, so some of these pics will be inaccurate, but nothing relating to how the system performed.
The SMC kit as purchased from No Limit Motorsport.
The Aquamist DDS3 kit
This is what you will interface with as the driver, a nice monitor that fits in any 52mm gauge pod
I started out by doing a dry run of the SMC kit on my garage floor. Just to make sure everything worked fine before getting installed. I used tap water for this test run.
I used a 12V jump-pack to simulate a power source from the car. It’s hard to see but the red light for low methanol is on, there was no water in the tank.
Here you see some water in the tank and no more red light…float switch works…check!
A pic of the nozzle spraying
Another pic of the controller
Here is where I decided to install the DDS3 flow sensor. The SMC kit comes with 2 lengths of braided steel line to go from the tank in the trunk to the nozzle in the intercooler pipe…a perfect place to put a flow meter inline!
Just taken apart
Here are the ends of the junction. I was kind of intrigued as to why the SMC kit has flare fittings on the ends that connect to the tank and the nozzle, but just standard 1/8 NPT fittings for this center junction. Not really bad, but I would have used flare fittings. No worries, as Richard came thru with some adapters to the 1/8 BSPT of the flow sensor
The adapters
The next few pics are of some parts I used for the flow sensor. Now…this is a step that I totally decided to do on my own and is not really “necessary”. My thought process was…this flow sensor will be underneath the vehicle exposed to the elements, so why have it in the line of fire? I got pretty creative and got parts from various places, mostly Radioshack to design an enclosure that would protect the flow sensor. Above is the actual case
Some random grommets I bought for various duties, in this case, I used some for the enclosure to get a good seal around the steel line exiting the enclosure
This is a grommet around the flow sensors 4-wire wire harness that also has to exit the project enclosure
Some foam padding I bought at the Wal-Mart arts-n-crafts section for about 78 cents a sheet. It has sticky back so you can stick it anywhere. I have used this stuff in so many different projects for my various cars and bikes…very handy stuff to protect against minor scuffing and the like…
All the above pics show the enclosure with the foam padding inside. I had to install some padding then place the sensor inside the enclosure to see if it was a nice fit. Notice on the lid of the enclosure I used 2 layers. This made it so that the sensor was completely still and didn’t vibrate while inside
The first hole and grommet for the 4-wire wire harness
The flow sensor actually in the enclosure with the wire part done
Installed the adapters and beginning test fitting of the steel lines and where to drill the next set of holes for those lines coming into and out of the box
Above are the pics of the enclosure completed. Keep in mind, when you finally installed this thing in the system, there is no distinction which way the methanol flows, so it doesn’t matter how you installed it. It will measure flow correctly in either direction
Closed up and sealed up. At this point the enclosure is exactly midway between the 2 lengths of steel line
Now, onto something else I wanted to do. My goal here was to minimize any vibration from the pump while it was running or even while it was sitting in the vehicle due to normal driving conditions. Another thing I noticed about the SMC kit was that the pump kinda seems to flop around against the sides of the tank due to it not being secured to anything other than a short section of rubber hose. I know I’m being extra picky here but I like to look very far down the road and take into account any possibilities. I needed to acquire some foam padding that was about 1/2″ in thickness. The above mentioned wal-mart stuff wouldn’t cut it here, too thin. I know there are other places that you can source this from, but the only thing I could find locally in the correct thickness and “sponginess” was some foam pipe insulation I got from Home Depot. Seeing as I only needed a very small piece, I could make this work
Some double sided tape to stick it to the tank
Here is where I placed it…
Installed…now it looks crappy in this pic, but I didn’t take a pic after I cleaned it up. The edges shape nicely with some sand paper, so I managed to get the edges of the foam to look pretty good with a few strokes of 100grit
Okay…here is a part of the project that actually came AFTER I installed the entire system and later wished I had done it in the beginning. So I will include it in around the right place for you lovely folks. It is so there can be TWO float switches in the tank. Some background on why I did this first…
The SMC kit has a float switch already. The way that SMC has it set up is, once the float gets to about 1/3 tank leftover the red light on the controller lights up to warn you “hey…you need methanol”…It is left entirely up to you to fill the system as once it runs dry, there is no safety feature to protect against an aggressively tuned map running out of methanol. I had originally intended on just using this float and tapping into the signal wire for the DDS3 instead of running a whole other float switch and more wires. Now…the Aquamist system also utilizes a float switch with a different design but ultimately serves the same purpose, HOWEVER, when the DDS3 notices that the float is energized, instead of just warning you like the SMC, it cuts the boost solenoid. This is great, right? Well, not so much…as I originally used the SMC float, the DDS3 would cut me down to wastegate pressure every time I got down to 1/3 tank…effectively making that 1/3 extra methanol useless and required me to fill up that much more often. Not fun after about 3 fill-ups. My only remedy was to installed the second float switch ( which comes with the Aquamist kit, btw) extremely low in the tank. Now, I actually have a warning light AND a boost cutout when it gets to the bottom if I decide to ignore filling my tank when I see the warning light up.
Here is a pic is of the new hole needed for the Aquamist float switch
And here you see the switch installed and ready to go. It is very low in the tank so that I can get maximum usage of my methanol. You can also get a peek of the cleaned up edges of the foam padding I was talkin about earlier
Now onto something else, here is where I decided to put my nozzle. I have the Nisei hard intercooler pipes, btw, so your application may be different. There is much debate on where you should put this thing and I make no claims to know better than anybody else. My common sense just told me to put it after the dump of the BOV and before the temp sensor I have installed in my intercooler lines (which is not currently hooked up, I just have the sensor in there). Plus…the problem with long runs of hard intercooler lines is…you can only get your wrench in so far to turn the lock nut on the inside of the line. Also, notice I just totally uninstalled the SMC pressure gauge as I found it pretty much useless. You can’t see it while it’s in the car because of where it’s at and I really gain no useful info from it, considering I am using the flow sensor which shows my flow rate ( much better to me than psi in this application)
The pipe installed in the car with the nozzle, no steel line hooked up yet. Disregard the clear tubing…not related to this
Now, onto the trunk mounting of the tank. here the trunk is cleaned out of all the upholstery and ready for the tank
Notice I took out that little black vent thingy to make a little more room for the tank
Here is the tank installed in the trunk
If you notice here, the actual location I have then caused this part of the pump output to touch the body of the car. Loose metal to metal is never really good and I did want to keep the chaffing and rubbing to a minimum…sooooooo, another great use of that 78 cent foam paper….
Sanded down part for grounding of the pump
Pump grounded…
Routing of the SMC tank wire harness. I brought in so that it can be brought out of the center console, which is where I put the controller
Here is where the SMC wire harness comes out at
Another angle
Okay…just another shot of some parts I bought to make a clean and safe install…you can never go wrong with wire sheathing…I like this stuff because you can cut it and the ends don’t fray or come undone. It’s a bit more pricey though. I got it from a custom car shop locally
The SMC wire with the sheathing around it. I used it here because there are some sharp metal edges that MAY cause the wire to get chaffed in the future…
Here is the brain of the Aquamist DDS3 system
The brain opened…
Some 2 inch Velcro bought at Wal-Mart to place it where it needs to go
…where it needs to go…
Another angle…
Okay, here is the center console box that will house the SMC controller…
Drilling of a hole to run the controller wires thru…
Using more of the Velcro, the final resting place of the SMC controller…
Well, I am a fanatic of clean installs and I love to use disconnects whenever possible to make future maintenance easy. I got everything I needed, to included the crimping tool from here:
http://www.electricalconnection.com/electrical-components/hitachi.htm
Now, I had the crimping tool already because I frequently use these connectors for many other projects, but I still don’t think it was too much to come out of pocket
A 4-wire connector
This is the 4-wire end of the SMC wire coming from the controller that will go to the tank/pump
A 2-wire connector
Crimped power and ground wires coming from the controller
Finished install of the power/ground wire coming off the controller
Here is what comes off the end of the controller…the clear tubing is the boost hose that the controller reads from. Just disregard the white barbed coupler…
Here is the other end of the 4-wire harness going to the tank/pump. Notice the yellow wire. That was the tap into the SMC float that I originally used for the Aquamist. It was later delegated to a task that would put an LED onto the gauge pod showing me the warning LED off the SMC controller since the controller always sits in the center console
Finished end…
Bringing a power and ground to the center console, then terminating it with a connector. Keep in mind, I put an inline 30A fuse on the power wire which you don’t see in this pic
Now, I took this off in order to installed the Aquamist-provided pressure switch which is required for the system to work properly
I drilled a hole here to secure the pressure switch. I was trying to keep everything in the center console but still keep it accessible for maintenance or adjustments ( I was glad I installed it this way later on)
The pressure switch installed…both terminals exposed as well as the set screw…
Installed pressure switch. You can see, I ran a tap off my boost gauge to bring a source of boost pressure to the center console. I then tapped it here too. One going to the other side of the pressure switch and the other going to the controller. Disregard the green wire for now, I will explain later…
Here is everything hooked up. The clear hose goes to the controller
Some single wire connectors I bought at Fry’s Electronics. They will be used for making quick connects from the boost solenoid to the DDS3 brain box
The connectors
The connectors installed. I used on side as a female end and one side as a male end which you will see why shortly…
For those of you who have an XEDE, here is that boost wire that had to be pulled out of the ECU harness and reconnected to the XEDE harness
Here it is cut and I put the 2-wire green wire in line. The reason I used opposing male/female ends is…if I ever want to disconnect the system for whatever reason…all I have to do is take the green wire out and connect the brown wire back up to the original green wire
The green wire is from the boost solenoid. Since it took me some time to install this kit and I had to use the car daily, I just brought the wires into the center console, but tapped them together for the time being. This kept the solenoid from being cut off. Basically, the way the DDS3 works is, the boost solenoid wires are run in series thru the brain box, which contains a normally-open relay. If there is any trouble from the meth kit, it basically opens this relay, disconnecting power to the boost solenoid and bringing you to wastegate pressure.
Okay, next item…here is a wire that provides the 0-5V signal I was talkin about earlier. I was originally going to install it with the XEDE until I realized that all the analogs where taken up. But here is a nice shot of the wire with the XEDE style pin installed. If you have a different EMS, this will not pertain to you
A close up…
Okay, this is where I tapped into the park light for the dimming of the DDS3 monitor when you turn the lights on. It is on the drivers left foot floor board, right underneath the fuse box area…
Now…onto the wire harness of the flow sensor itself. Like everything else, I’m a fanatic of quick disconnects. Here I am splicing a 4-wire disconnect to separate the sensor from the brain box underneath the car
The female connector…
The male connector…
The 4 wires of the flow sensor with the terminals that insert into the connector
Step 1…
Step 2…cleaned up with heat shrink tubing
Just a shot of the other end…repeat of the previous process
This is the hole underneath the car that I went thru. It is a rubber grommet that just pops out. It’s roughly underneath the drivers seat
Using a large zip tie as a snake, this is where it pops out at inside the car
This is the end fed from the brain box…at this point in the install, I haven’t installed the braided line with the flow sensor yet, so we will connect this to the other end shortly…
This is part of the install of the steel line. This is the section that goes up behind the engine and toward the nozzle in the intercooler line, this pic is facing toward the front of the car
This pic is facing toward the front of the car as well, but slightly further back
I brought all the slack in the line toward the rear of the car so that ended up putting the sensor box near the gas tank but right before the rear wheel well on the drivers side of the car
Here I had to route the line up above the suspension components to get them out of the way
This is where it enters the trunk area. This angle is weird I know. But I am laying flat on my back with my head under the car and my feet out of the car on the drivers side. This hole/grommet is directly under the position of the meth tank we installed earlier
Here you see the braided line hooked up to the pump and you can see how I looped the excess underneath the tank
Upholstery back in
Hey…where did it go? No one will ever know…hahaha (Dr. Evil laugh)
Okay, back to the 4-wire connector of the flow sensor. I made sure to route the wire in a way to get it to the other end, but keep it out of the way. I used more of that sheathing on this part of the wire because it is exposed to the elements. To get it to fit in the middle of the grommet, I just made a slice
Installed under the car and complete
Here are some pics of the brain box actually wired up
A close up
Finished product…
I put a zip tie around it because the lid felt a little like it wouldn’t stay shut very securely. With all the wires connected inside it was a little stuffed and felt like the lid would pop of while underneath the console. This just ensured it didn’t open up inadvertently
Finished install…
Another close up. Oh, by the way, I have an outlet installed in my center console and what you see is just a outlet plug cover. It comes in very handy for connecting the laptop since I don’t have a cig lighter. It has all kinds of uses…but that’s another project, lol
Here is the gauge pod housing that I needed. Just a word on the top gauge. It is no longer there. It was a water pressure gauge but it was more trouble than it was worth and didn’t really tell me anything I cared about. What is not seen in this pic is a small LED on the left side of the Aquamist gauge which is the extension of the SMC LED warning me when the level gets low
AHHHH, finally putting some methanol in it…
Okay, now to the actual usage and setup…it was actually very easy. I had some problems at first but what I noticed was that although the instructions say the pressure gauge is set from the factory at 10psi..it was more like 20, so I couldn’t get the meth to flow right. But that was after racking my brain why it wasn’t workin for some time. To start the setup I set the WL all the way counter-clockwise and the WH to all the way clockwise. This basically gave the full window of flow. Once this is set, I had to set the pressure switch to come on roughly the same psi that the progressive controller was set to initiate spray (14psi). The only way I was able to do this was while driving under boost. This is why I said it was good to have it installed in the console. I just lifted the console up, and had my flat tip screw driver to adjust the set screw down handy. What was happening at first was, since the pressure switch was set somewhere at 20psi and I was actually beginning injection at 14psi, the DDS3 thought it was a overflow condition and kept cutting me to wastegate pressure, so after figuring out what was goin on, I was excited to know that it was actually just doing what it was intended to do. So while driving, under boost, I just kept turning it down until I could get the DDS3 to not shut the system down. It worked like a charm. The next step in setup was to get the range of the flow right. To do this I just adjusted the SC pot until I could get full spray (at 21psi) to show up on the bars but still leave about 2 bars open…basically, when the system injects the meth, the flow is graphically displayed as bars of LEDs. You want to set it so that it will light up all but about 2 under normal conditions. Finally, after that was setup, I began my adjustment of the WL (low flow) and WH (high flow) settings. I began with WL, I would just keep turning it bit by bit while boosting until the system would shut down, then back it off a pinch. The same tactic worked for the WH setting.
After I had the system installed I had Shiv tune the car with the methanol. I’ve been using this setup for about 3 months now. I can say that the need for the system to be shut down has never come up, but I will say that I definitely have a peace-of-mind I didn’t have before. And it looks great too!
Anyway, I hope this didn’t confuse you guys too much. This was a lot of trial and error and I went a little above what might really have been necessary with the install, but I just like to do it right. There is some tailoring needed for most installs I believe but it’s well worth it in the end. Please feel free to contact me should you have any questions.