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E85?

90xj06

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Peabody, MA
just a question E85 in a renix jeep? will it work? i'm kind of curious to find out what it will do. i am going to be replacing the fuel pump and gas tank come spring. so i'm not to worried about the fuel pump.
 
Don't quote me on this but I think you need to change all the lines that feed the gas to the engine. Probably other stuff too. Also I'm very interested in this (but for a 2000)

Also, peabody? I'm right down the street in reveah!
 
E85 might be less expensive, but your mileage takes a hit as well. That is aside from running proper equipment. Not worth it IMO.
 
Don't quote me on this but I think you need to change all the lines that feed the gas to the engine. Probably other stuff too. Also I'm very interested in this (but for a 2000)

Also, peabody? I'm right down the street in reveah!

I used to work in reveah!
 
Fuel lines are not compatible. Also it will run like total crap and be super lean,because the computer has no idea what's going on. New flex fuel cars have programming strategies to detect the amount of ethanol in the fuel and adjust accordingly.
 
You will definately want bigger fuel pumps and injectors, may not hurt to make sure all the rubber is fresh and made to work with ethanol (wouldn't be surprised if the oe hoses would work, but might as well swap it out if it's 26 y/o), and clean thenhell out of the fuel tank while it is out, as ethanol, being a solvent, can loosen any gum and/or varnish and plug things up. Now I'm not sure what needs to be done computer wise, if you can do much to make the computer flow enough fuel to make the engine happy. If I were going to try and run E85 in a 4.0l of any generation, I'd probably want to build it with more compression (the 3.6l Pentastar in my 200 is 10:1, but could probably go to at least 12:1 with the right programming) or run boost of some sort with the stock compression then get an engine management system like Haltech that, when combined with an ethanol sensor in the fuel system, that can monitor and adjust things as needed based on booze levels in the fuel and what the engine sensors are reading.

I can now get E15 somewhat locally locally (and soon VERY locally!) from Thorntons and have run it in my '98 without starting, driving, or loosened gunk issues too! I doubt the $.03/gallon savings is worth it mpg wise ( I have found E85 to be cheaper in my 200, and have dailyed it on the stuff for a while now), however, I don't really care since it isn't driven as much any more and now only work 3.5mi from home.
 
Short answer is yes. Your run the very real possibility of harming your engine and fuel system. You wouldn't run diesel or kerosene just to see what happens. Much more e85 is required to run at the correct afr. So bigger injectors and a custom tune would be an absolute requirement along with an enthanol compatable fuel system from tank to engine.
 
We have had E10 as standard fuel here for probably 20 years. You really have to look for fuel with no Ethanol. I have never seen any problems. I have run E85 in my high compression stroker, but I have the ability to dial the AFR.
 
so if i used e85 once would it harm anything? its more of a curiosity thing and experiment so see what the ecu will do.

Yes,on a stock tune,it will kill a Renix 4.0l, know somebody who did it not knowing any better. My 200 is set up with pump, injectors, and tune from the factory to handle E85,similar work will need to be done to make a 4.0l to work. Sounds like OldMan knows what will work here thought. Please Speak Up, I'm all ears on the matter!
 
I didn't have any problems with the hoses, etc. I have a WEGO AFR and can monitor the air/fuel ratio. I have a MAP adjuster so I can dial the AFR where I want it. Remember that the ideal reading for AFR on the WEGO is not the same as on gas. There is a correction factor due to how the different fuels are measured by the WEGO.

My static compression ratio is 10.4, which is quite a bit higher than stock. I also have a torque cam and headers. You will need to dial up the amount of fuel. You will most likely have around a 10% reduction I power and somewhere around that in economy. I can't see any reason to go to E85 other than just wanting to tinker around. If you were adding some boost, that might be a different situation. I explored this when gas was $4 a gallon, now it is $2.
 
i just wanted to tinker around with it. just use one fill up. i have a renix monitor and im curious to see what the long term trims will do. and if it would clean the intake runners and valve tops.

the gas station is not exactly close so it would be probably a one time deal.
 
Just try a gallon or two with a fill up of regular, although I once did 5 gallons in my '98 by accident, took it pretty well and I'll bet it did one hell of a cleanup on the intake valves and piston tops!
 
so i went and got about 3.3 gallons of e85 on a pretty low tank. drove it about 26 miles and the jeep didn't seem to care at all. the LTFT stayed about normal ran fine. today i went and filled it back up with 7 gallons of regular. the only thing i noticed now is the LTFT went up to about 134 normally is 119-126. still running fine however.

on a side note regular gas is 2.49 premium was 2.79 and E85 was 2.99 a gallon. :bs:
 
The problem with E85 in a vehicle not built to run on it is the fuel lines and o-rings. The ethanol will eventually eat out the lines and o-rings. You can replace them with ethanol compatible lines and run it. Expect slightly lower fuel mileage. As noted by others you may run lean which can cause problems. My daily driver is a Flexfuel vehicle and gets about 8-10% less mileage on E85 vs regular fuel. Side note is some racers are experimenting with E85 for the cooler fuel charge on boosted engines. It allows higher boost and advanced timing but flow rate over gas must be increased. http://www.speedhunters.com/2015/04/everything-you-need-to-know-about-ethanol/
 
$2.99?! Holy Crap is that pricey! I topped off for $1.99 Friday afternoon at a local Thorntons and a nearby Speedway is $2.25, and those spreads suck.

To Expand on what lawagoneer posted, my 200 does run cooler even though it is naturally aspirated and in hot, humid weather, the 3.6l doesn't heat soak like it does with regular, even though I left that engine cover on it.
 
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