Considering an E85 Experiment

[Frank Lee]

Just changed gas tank out in the Coupe- the first and main recipient of my E85 tests.

Outside of tank very rusty from Rust Belt road salt. Inside of tank is spotless and looks brand new. No residue of any sort swishing around in the bottom. Pump sock clean and not deteriorated at all. Fuel hoses still supple. Filler neck hose coupler kind of hard; vent line coupler hose rock hard but still usable and uninstall/installable.

This after... I don't know, 10 years of feeding it E85.

[COcyclist]

I have started my own E85 experiment with a normally aspirated '90 Dodge Caravan 2.5 that I drive occasionally. I have used various blends and alternated with RUG to compare results. So far the mileage seems to be as good or better than I have been getting on regular unleaded. This latest tank fill was almost all E85 and the power is way down. It seemed fine on the highway but pulling a hill cold and again on a long pass fully warmed up, it was a dog. This is a heavy vehicle for a 4 cylinder, 3 speed automatic at altitude but this was slower than usual. I noticed this before on a lower blend of E85 and RUG and ran a tank of RUG and the power was back. Anyone else noticing a power loss on E85 in a non-turbo engine?

[Allch Chcar]

Originally Posted by COcyclist

I have started my own E85 experiment with a normally aspirated '90 Dodge Caravan 2.5 that I drive occasionally. I have used various blends and alternated with RUG to compare results. So far the mileage seems to be as good or better than I have been getting on regular unleaded. This latest tank fill was almost all E85 and the power is way down. It seemed fine on the highway but pulling a hill cold and again on a long pass fully warmed up, it was a dog. This is a heavy vehicle for a 4 cylinder, 3 speed automatic at altitude but this was slower than usual. I noticed this before on a lower blend of E85 and RUG and ran a tank of RUG and the power was back. Anyone else noticing a power loss on E85 in a non-turbo engine?

You're probably running too lean. Add some gasoline and see if it runs better. Until then please take it easy.

[Frank Lee]

Yes, the heavy (75%+) E85 blends knock power down some especially when cold, but it's a YMMV thing; in the car I notice it more but the F150 doesn't seem to care how strong the blend is. I strongly suspect the F150 has more "bandwidth" as far as the ECU and the EFI's ability to richen/lean the mix. It hasn't been an issue even in the car as it is usually very lightly loaded and driven on flat lands.

50/50 or weaker blends in either vehicle are basically indistinguishable from regular in both power and mpgs (except for my usual caveat that, if you have -40F temps, leave the ethanol out).

[raismer]

i want to easy to it

[shovel]

Originally Posted by Lessendz

nope sorry bOss
Costs too much to do that across the board
they've made it better, Yes
impervious, No

SAE rates by low permeation THRU the material
most of todays SAE high pressure(fuel injection) line only has a THIN inner liner of fluorinated rubber..
Subersible high pressure fuel line (for inside your fuelcell/gastank)
is fully Florinated & Aramid fiber reinforced and generally costs 4x as much

do u really want to chance increased Ethanol% to breakdown & carry sludge into your fuel filter & clog it?
Turbo Evo's guys who have switched to E85 have complain about black sludge in the fuel filter.. wanna take a guess what that is??

Like Frank Lee, I've been shoving E85 into my vehicles - mindful of stoich. ratio and nothing else for as long as E85 has been available in my area.

Let me be as plain as I can here: NO PROBLEMS.

No dissolving hoses, no dissolving seals, no dying fuel pumps, no clogged fuel filters, no changes in fuel mileage greater than the expected BTU difference, no check engine lights or engine faults other than (expected) fuel trim during tuning, no indications of a longevity concern, no trouble running/starting/idling (quite the opposite..)... NO PROBLEMS.

Any time I mention online that I run E85 in a not-factory-E85 car - and a few times while filling my tank - somebody dooms and glooms me about the dangers of ethanol.

Well, still waiting for a problem to actually happen in the actual real world..

[COcyclist]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

50/50 or weaker blends in either vehicle are basically indistinguishable from regular in both power and mpgs (except for my usual caveat that, if you have -40F temps, leave the ethanol out).

Thanks guys. I'm down to half a tank. I will probably top off with RUG and continue to run that mix for the rest of the summer. I store this vehicle in the winter and ethanol separates in as little as 30 days I am told.

Originally Posted by shovel

Any time I mention online that I run E85 in a not-factory-E85 car - and a few times while filling my tank - somebody dooms and glooms me about the dangers of ethanol.

This happened the first time I tried a partial blend. A 20 something guy with a turbo Subaru WRX filling his car with E85 assured me my valves would melt down and my pistons would be ruined too. It has been over a year and other than the power loss with the higher blend, everything is fine.

[COcyclist]

Originally Posted by Allch Chcar

You're probably running too lean. Add some gasoline and see if it runs better. Until then please take it easy.

It has been running better on the E85 the past few days. I'm thinking it may take a few key off/key on start-ups for the computer to re-calibrate for the different fuel.

[Quezacotl]

I have been starting to use E85 too on my VW Golf. It should save about 20€ per tank
At first i tried blending slowly, until all i got is 100% E85 in tank. It works flawlessly. No problems so far, and been running maybe 600km with pure E85. So no trustworthy MPG results so far

Yesterday i installed the Bioadapter, to make sure my car starts in low temperatures. It does'nt actually need the flexfuel adapter, but winter maybe requires.

Funny thing, before i installed it, the lambda meter displayed normal jumpy readings, and after i installed it, it displays it's running big part of the time in lean, and does'nt jump around almost at all. When it jumps, it jumps around lean, while previously it jumped around lean and rich.

[serialk11r]

Originally Posted by Quezacotl

Funny thing, before i installed it, the lambda meter displayed normal jumpy readings, and after i installed it, it displays it's running big part of the time in lean, and does'nt jump around almost at all. When it jumps, it jumps around lean, while previously it jumped around lean and rich.

I don't think this is actually a good sign, probably means your fuel injectors are maxed out :O