You can file this story along with the 100 mile per gallon FISH carburetor (GOOGLE that). Some people can see a conspiracy behind every rock, but this one, the 6 CYCLE ENGINE, kinda gets to me.
A few years ago, I co-hosted a one-hour Saturday morning talk show called CAR TIME with Gene & Randy, the owners of a local repair shop. The radio station provided our call screener/producer/D. J. and coffee pot operator named Scotty. Besides being a great guy, Scott knew virtually NOTHING about cars, and somehow that turned out to be an advantage. He could turn a complex question like “My car won’t start and I think it’s the carburetor” into something like “Caller on the line wants to know if he should rebuild his old Pinto, or just follow his girl’s advice and buy a newer car.” Lots more entertaining, and probably more useful than a long technical discussion about carburetion. Scotty’s quick wit could turn a complicated situation into something the audience could understand …. and we could sound intelligent answering.
The CAR TIME show was immediately followed by CAR TALK, the National Public Radio (N. P. R. ) broadcast featuring CLICK & CLACK, The TAPPET BROTHERS. We kinda rode on their coat tails, and were in the same “market demographic.” Station management told us that people who tuned into their show early helped our ratings. By some miracle, ours was the second most listened to locally produced radio show in Utah, right behind the MORMON TABERNACLE CHOIR !
Sometimes we had guest interviews, and a friend suggested to me that we interview Bruce Crower, of Crower Racing Cams, about a new type of engine he was developing. I tracked down Bruce’s number and arranged to have him on the show. Scotty called him a few minutes before 7 A.M. (6 A.M. his time!) and after the opening commercials I introduced Bruce to our audience. I asked him about his revolutionary new 6 CYCLE MOTOR, and he took the next 30 minutes to explain how the 6 CYCLE worked. We were all amazed, and in the second half of the show, minus Bruce, most of our callers were also amazed.
Bruce has since gone to that race shop in the sky, but not without patenting the basic concepts. It works like this: The standard 4 cycle, (1) intake stroke, followed by (2) compression stroke, (3) ignition and power stroke, and then (4) exhaust stroke (except the exhaust valve stays partially closed). Bruce called it the re-compression stroke. Now, a shot of WATER is introduced into the dense 2,000+ degree combustion chamber, gases causing a steam explosion that creates a second power stroke (5). This is followed by another exhaust stroke (6) and the cycle starts over.
Not only is there a 40% increase in fuel economy, but the super-heated water molecules combine with thems nasty carbon dioxides, carbon monoxides, nitrous oxides, and other oxide baddies to create essentially carbonated water vapor coming out of the exhaust pipe.
Voila! Oil crisis, pollution crisis, climate crisis, and maybe a few other crises solved! Not only does it take advantage of the 1,500-to-one expansion ratio of steam (vs about 10 to one for gas or diesel) but the water injection cools the motor also, eliminating the need for a radiator, fan, water pump, and hoses, with their attendant cost, weight and parasitic drag. And the aerodynamics of the front of the vehicle can be cleaned up, with no need for an opening to cool the radiator. In a big diesel, all that water handling equipment can weigh over 1,000 pounds, which can now go toward payload.
Yeah, you need another tank about the size of the fuel tank to hold distilled water (or do as Bruce did…..just collect rain water) plus a high pressure water injection system similar to a diesel fuel injector, but these two things quickly pay for themselves.
Why the 6 CYCLE concept never took off, I have no idea. N.P.R. did a whole hour interview with Bruce (THEM SCUM BAGS obviously stole the idea from us !) and the patent has zillions of views. Some big companies like Ford have looked into it ….. but I think it’s a conspiracy by big oil to suppress this new technology, just like the FISH carburetor!
Thanks to Louis Floquet of Crower Cams & Equip. Co. for reviewing this article.