Has anyone tried E85? (Ethanol)
 

Looks to be very promising. Cheaper than gas, however you need to burn 15-30% more, but it's 104-108 octane!
I'm modifying my car to accept E85, should be finished tonight hopefully. I modified my fuel pump hanger to accept two walbro hotwired fuel pumps, & made a tee to join the duel lines to connect into the stock line. I've also got ethanol safe 0-rings, and soon will have a stainless steel filter to replace my paper filter.

Anyone else?

what car are you trying to run the e85 on?

Dodge stealth R/T TT

YOUR GONNA HAVE TO GET A STANDALONE ECU OR PROGRAMMER TO RUN RIGHT AND BIGGER INJECTORS, STOCK FILTERS WORK, IVE RUN E85 ON MY CIVIC FOR OVER 2 YEARS AND NEVER CONVERTED THE SYSTEM STILL RUNS GREAT AND MY EMISSIONS PASSES WITH FLYING COLORS. SUCK IN THE WINTER TIME ITS HARDER TO START UP. IF YOU LOOK AT THE GAS STATION YOUR PUMPING SOME ETHENOL ALREADY, THERES A YEAR BREAK WHEN THEY STARTED TO RUN THAT ETHENOL. SO IT DOENST HARM YOUR LINES OR GASKETS OR SEALS. JUST MAKE SURE TO GET IT TUNE A/F ARE WAY DIFFRENT FROM REGULAR GAS. E85 STOICH FUEL RATIO IS ABOUT (7.5-8.5 A/F E85) IS EQUVALENT TO (14.7A/F GAS).

Yeah, I've got bigger turbos so I've already got most of what I need. I'm running the Mass Airflow Translator Pro in speed density, Denso 720cc injectors, adjustable fuel pressure regulator, dual walbro 255's. The reason I need to replace o-rings & filter is because the car is 18 yrs. old, people have already had cracking o-rings and the stock filter is paper, it turns to mush after a few months. I'm lucky enough to not have to deal w/ emissions in Indiana, but I've heard ethanol burns a good bit smoother. Winter isn't a huge deal, I can switch between two tunes on the fly, or an infinite amount w/ a laptop. What temp does your car have a hard time starting? I've heard around 50 deg. F. We have one station that switched to something like E55 in the winter months.

Alright, fabbed up my fuel pump hangar, increased the fuel pressure and so far have managed 19psi w/ very aggressive timing, no knock, and still fairly rough tune. The stock lines allow enough flow for the extra fuel w/out any backpressure. I wonder how far I can take it. E85 is amazing stuff, I can't believe more people aren't experinmenting w/ it. The car pulls much much harder than it did on 110 octane race gas, probably due to the high oxygen content, and it just runs smoother all around. It's around $2.25 in my city.

yup, that might work

Well, everything was going fine untill I blew a head gasket. My coolant is bubbling out all over under boost. I remember now I used the cheap graphite gaskets from a kit, apparently they don't do very well under boost. I got some multilayer steel ones now, should have it fixed by next week, huh, this sucks.

E85
 

No it should not be a problem. It is only an issue if the water gets in the fuel tank and fuel system. In an EFI application the only time the E85 and water mist will meet up is for a couple of milliseconds as they mix with a 200 mph air flow in the intake port.

As long as your not spraying water when you shut off the engine, it would be impossible for the intake manifold and valves to see any water buildup, and there is no way the fuel can get water in it. The only issue with water in the fuel, is that injectors do not like water in the fuel, and the ECU does not know the injectors are spraying water mixed with fuel so the mixture goes lean.
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Cannon Digital Rebel

Wow, I'm surprised to see such a thread about e85 being so recent.. I guess i assumed everyone knows , and is either converting, sticking to race gas or doing the "as much as i can on pump gas" thing..

personally, I switched my car over to a "felkx fuel" vehicle ( i have a haltech stand alone with 2 maps that change with the flip of a switch, then i can trim the global fuel via a dash knob to compensate for the mix) But after running ethanol for that first summer and getting it tuned to run and start all winter i won't ever look back to regular petrol again ( unless e85 is not available, like on road trips where i set my switch back up to run dual maps) Now days the switch is to arm my n20 that is mainly used as a spool assist and sometimes through the entire gear

Ethanol with the supporting fuel system and fuel timing control is so insanely different from regular fuels it's almost unbelievable... the torque goes through teh roof, horsepower is great and knock resistance is better than i get on c16 ( i run a J&S stand alone knock system which is adjustable to how sensitive i want it)

There's a few little things that can confuse one on e85 though... if you don't increase timing advance then you'll most likely make a minimal gain and some have made losses in power (don't know how but why would you lie and post a dyno sheet showing it LOL )

Anyway.. Besides management here's my setup (hope i'm not getting too into the post and jumbling it up) I am running dual in tank 255hp pumps (custom made my own hangar with dual outlets tht are larger than the OEM outlet, the oulets turn into -6 fittings using push-lock blue -6 line to a "Y" where i continue on with -6 to the filter and rail (stayed with 6 for ease of fitment, cost and that it supports my HP goal of 500 and then some on ethanol flow) I'm running a fuel lab filter with the 10micron SS element *one thing to note is that ethanol cleans your fuel system so well that you'll clog about 3 filters in the first couple months of running it..one after 3 tanks or so, then one a month for 2 more months - converted a lot of other cars and this is almost a rule IMO )

From the fuel line i run a stock 2g 4g63 fuel rail with an aeromotive AFPR that feeds back to the stock mitsu fuel feed line now being used as teh return line) 1000cc injectors and that's it

Now, back to the funny things i mentioned about e85... You can tune it to the same AFR's as pump gas but you will hate it. this fuel will rich knock bad at high boost and rich AFR's.. My car LOVES 12.5 - 12.8:1 under 30psi and 20 - 24* timing through the entire curve at all levels above7psi (higher timing earlier)

If i richen it up, knock-knock-knock she goes, I've even seen AFr's of 13 - 13.2:1 under ~30psi and NO KNOCK, so this is where you must be carefull and aim for MBT or just try and get PCP (peak cylinbder pressure) where you want it which is roughly 15* ATDC

For the first week of running e85 i swore there must have been a beer spilled in my car because i could catch whiffs of old alcohol smells like a case of empties on the kitchen table were left overnight and it started to get warm inside (yuck) (memories from bachelor pad days)

Typically you'll need to add from 18 - 26% more fuel, more timing - a good place to start is add 5* to the entire curve ( i get teh perfect idle with the ac on even and no stalling with a rough 19* at idle (there's variance for load changes with alternator and AC comrpessor)

Hope that's enough info to help ya out.. I've been on the juice (corn juice that is ) for a tad over 3 years now and will run it over any other fuel i can get and the best part is it's cheaper than any fuel i can get..

Now i use my water injectiojn kit pre-turbo to effectively change the compressor map and increase spoolup speed, and my nitrouse helps with sool too

I've known about it for a couple years, but nobody ever talks about it. I think it's more common in the DSM community than others. Everyone in my area is still on pump gas or switch to race gas for the track.

Where do you live that you can use 85 in the winter? How do you get around cold starts? I hear around 50° F or colder it starts to be a bitch starting. It's nice and convenient having the ability to switch maps on the fly. I've got a mass airflow translator pro all setup in speed density. It has an auxiliry trigger wire so you can switch between two different tunes, or an infinite number w/ a laptop hooked up. I was not very happy w/ the car on pump gas, 110 octane I was able to boost much more w/out knock, however the fuel just burned shitty. It made my car feel like it was going to fly apart & was noticeably different sounding. I never got around to trying C16 or Q16, as it's about $28 a gallon. Ethanol just burns so clean and strong. E85 is 2.15 in my area, premium (which is required in my car) is 3.06, so even w/ the 25% added E85, it's still cheaper, and 105 octane.

I've got dual in-tank walbro 255's as well, however I'm still utilizing the stock deliver, it's at it's limit though. I've also maxed my 720cc denso injectors, I actually had to bump up the fuel pressure just to supply enough fuel. One thing I still need to do is get a SS fulter, I'm sure mine won't last long. It's going on a few months now w/ the stock filter w/out a problem yet, but I'm sure the paper element is turning to mush. Luckily my tank & lines were squeeky clean.

I have yet to find knock, but I've still got some tuning to do, I only made it to 19psi when my head gasket began leaking. I've got my timing very advanced, I'm seeing around 40* total timing by redline. My car seems to like 11.7 or so, otherwise I get some spark blowout, but that is mainly due to the stock NGK Iridiums. I need some designed to run on alcohol, w/ the recessed tip. NGK has a good selection, but finding them is a bit difficult as they are a fairly special item. I think I'm going to go a little colder as well.

No way dude, I think it smells awesome! You must have had a bad batch, I think it smells very sweet.

Oh ok, just wondering

I live in omaha, NE. there's E85 at a few stations here but our winter temps get horribly cold. I just used lots of pulsewidth on the priming tables and a lot of extra fuel on the warmup enrichment tables. I love the ethanol and will never switch back unless i have no choice. It takes a long time, some guesswork and a bit of experience to dial in the winter time starts (we get days that are -15* F regularly in the dead of winter)

I started maxing out my 720's at around 24-25psi on my 57trim to4e compressor ( or so i thought) i jumped to 1k's and ran out at the same spot and after adding the 2nd pump and changin fuel lines learned that my injectors were fine it was the feed (pump and lines) that couldn't keep up... Now e85 will clean your fuel system, but clod filters like mad in the process... you'll want to change them regualrly at first (basically anytime things start to lean out on their own from no where is when it's easy to notice)


40* under boost at redline? I think you're probably burning the fuel way to early.. with todays more efficient engines you don't need near the amount of timing of the old chevy and ford v8's (especially with a hemisphere head) You can go tooo far with timing and no gain any power but just cause your head to lift (push coolant) which is what i think you're probably doing with that kind of timing

anymore i don't notice the smell, but at first i just kept thinking i smelled old beer LOL

You sure they don't drop to E55 in the winter months and just not change the labels? I guess that would be pretty noticeable in your tune. I'm in northern Indiana, we get down to about 30 degrees on average, but seem to hit 0 or colder every once in a while. My speed density comps air temp & density upon startup & adjusts, but I've heard that no matter what the tune, you will have a hard time starting w/out more of a gasoline percentage mix.

I just notice that was supposed to be 30*, oops. I've had logs showing up to 34*. This is total timing BTW, 15* base.

I'm building my next turbos in the fall, they are a bit larger than the ones I'm on now, so I will have to upgrade my fuel, everything is maxed out right now. I will go w/ 1,000cc injectors & -8an fuel lines. I can't wait.

I have known a few guys that have converted and they said it wasnt worth it for a street driven car.

I've been on E85 for quite a while now, and I still say it's good ----, especially on a boosted engine. I went from some small knock at 14psi on pump gas to 20+psi w/ super advanced timing on E85. You burn about 20-30% more, but it is cheaper than gasoline. That's perfect for a street car. 105 octane all summer for about $70 in parts in my case. I would say if you are going to the drag strip, you should probably go all out on some C-16 or Q-16, but that's about $12-16/gallon.

It started fairly easily at 30* the last couple mornings, only struggled for a second or two. Hopefully in the dead of winter when it's 10-15* it will start. So far so good though!

Hiya,

E85 shows a lot of potential. E10 has been available here in Iowa in the mid 1980's and we are now getting a few E-85 pumps around larger cities. Do be aware that it is a fantastic solvent and will clean out any fuel system crud and deposit it in the fuel filter or plug intricate passages in your fuel delivery system, be it injection or a simple carburetor. I've been through the plugged fuel filter experience back when E10 was new but once that was done all has been well. I'll be watching to see the results of high horsepower applications of this fuel!

Enjoy...

dave

Yeah, if anything feels "off" I will be replacing the fuel filter & cleaning injectors. I'm going Tuesday to AMS to use their dyno. I wouldn't say it's gonna be high horsepower, but hopefully I can squeeze out 420-475 AWHP on this stuff.