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I converted my '99 to run on e85, been running great since 12/07

jmsull

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Chicago
I got a custom made converter in late December, installed it myself and have only run on e85 since. Works great. As I understand it, any car made after 1992 had to be ethanol compatible. So my '99 should be fine. Gas in my area already has up 10% ethanol.

I ran some serious cleaners through my fuel system and crankcase. The guys I talked to say the problem with converting to ethanol is that, it is alcahol, which act as solvent. There is a lot of crap in gasoline, parifins, waxes etc, they get built up in the fuel system. When you start running large amounts of alcahol it breaks up these build ups, and they inturn clog the fuel filter and injectors.

The first converter I got, sucked. It was analog. I got a second converter made that was digital and had flexible parameters that could adapt to different fuel types. In my area it is all e85, 85% ethanol - 15% gasoline. I gather this is the most common ratio. However if I ever can't get any ethanol I can just put 100% gasoline in and it will be fine. It will adapt to the new inital ratio of 50/50 or what ever it will be, and then if I keep filling up with 100% gas it will just stop intervening.

I can adjust the rich/lean, but havn't yet. I'm going to open it up when it gets a little warmer. I'm going to try to lean it out a little.

It gets silightly worse milage, however it has a little more giddy up, which inturn effects the milage. I'm stop and go traffic, I havn't used a tank up on the highway, but I can get 25+ mpg drafting a semi at a reasonable distance at 65mph, and thats on 32" with a 4" lift, not bad. e85 is always 30 cents cheaper than reg87. So I figure its probably a wash, but at least the money stays in the country, probably even stays in the state.
 
nice!

got a write up with photos and all required parts, etc?

im sure people would be interested in this.

and what do people know about running bio diesel in a cherokee.
 
yes more info on the digital box please.
from what i understand, E85 is over 110octane. some guys convert boosted race cars over to it for this reason
 
:exclamati ethanol=higher flour prices


:exclamati =higher food prices
 
Not necessarily, ethanol has enough byproducts that are used as a livestock food source or supplement that there is as good if not better utilization of the corn. The livestock (rumans) do not necessarily need the products that is used in the ethonal refinement process, so if fact they can utilize nearly as much of the corn byproducts and get as much nutrition out of it. A majority of the flour in the US is wheat flour, so corn flour (also known as corn meal) is not going to make that big of a difference in the grand scheme of things. As far as food prices, if the grian markets are up, then the cattle markets are down, it is cyclical...we are going to be paying for more for either one type of food or another regardless of the ethonal production.

Now back to the original topic, how much did it cost to do your conversion? Is it justifiable to do bysaving $.30 per gallon with less milage? Just curious. My wifes Tahoe gets about 3 mpg less when we run E85.
 
kndrewa said:
nice!
got a write up with photos and all required parts, etc?


X2
I'm fine with a decrease in MPG if it means using less actual gasoline.
 
How much will it cost when our government ends the subsidies for corn farmers and ethanol producers?
 
HAHAHA!!! yeah right..the Government stop corn subsidies...that is like saying the GOV will stop giving out food stamps to crack whores...not gonna happen in our life time. As soon as crop subsidies stop, the American farmer could no longer survive. Ask me how I know......
 
I think the comment about food prices going up is referring to the fact that some wheat farmers are switching to corn because they can make more money. Less supply = higher price.
 
Not entirely far fetched. Farmers in Mexico are getting paid more for their corn crop by ethanol manufactures and the Mexican people are now saying they can't afford to eat their staple, corn.
 
I was under the impression that performance suffered a little running e85. And it's only 30 cents cheaper where you live??? It's like 80 cents cheaper over here.
 
smccollamjr said:
I think the comment about food prices going up is referring to the fact that some wheat farmers are switching to corn because they can make more money. Less supply = higher price.


still not valid. Wheat is a crop that does not typically run through the same growing cycle as corn.. wheat is a winter crop that is planted in the fall and thus growing a short period and then going dormant through the winter and them coming out of dormancy in the spring to complete its life cyle and mature late spring or early summer. Wheat is not a competitive crop to corm. It is usually used as a single year rotation or in a rotation with soybeans to do a "double crop" rotation for better utilization of resources. If a producer takes wheat out of production and goes with corn, they are reducing their chances of getting 2 crops for the price of one (corn) and not only that, but they can more then double their return if they do a wheat and soybean double crop rotation. This option may vary depending on your geographical location, but is predominat across most of the US.

The wheat acres in the US have not harldy been affected by ethonal b/c most acres that are in corn are not utilized for wheat. Differnet conditions, both soil and climatic, lend themself to each crop. Once again, ask me how I know.......

I am a farmer. Not some "stupid old "ah shucks" farmer", but an educated one that holds 2 degrees and I also work for the US Dept of Ag. I live this...just as the past 5 generations of my family have.

Now back on topic.
 
100 gallons of Gasoline = 67 gallons of Ethanol(99.5% pure, fuel grade)

25 gallons of Ethanol = 450 pounds of corn

1000 gallons of Ethanol = 0.6 hectares of cropland (about 1.48 acres)

Enough cropland to feed an American for a year = 0.5 hectares (about 1.23 acres)

Presidential Ethanol Mandate(2007) = 36 billion gals./year by 2017

2006 U.S. corn crop harvest = 70.6 million acres

2006 U.S. corn ethanol potential (@ 60gal/acre) = 4.236 billion gallons

just my 2 kernels
 
PurpleCherokee said:
I was under the impression that performance suffered a little running e85. And it's only 30 cents cheaper where you live??? It's like 80 cents cheaper over here.

Nope- e85 has a lower energy density per volume. Once you give the motor more fuel volume, it makes more power. If you were to try to run e85 in a cherokee without a converter box at the same fuel volume as stock you'd get less power, poor drivability and lean codes.

Where I live e85 is 1.99 and regular gas is over 3.00. I was real pleased to find my non-overdriven, 409ci 500 hp motor gets 10 mpg on e85 on the highway- that's like 13-14 on gas.
 
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Ok, cause I've heard that ethanol has less energy/volume too. So what you're saying is that with the right conversion, you'll actually inject more ethanol than you would if it were gasoline thus increasing power?

Nope- e85 has a lower energy density per volume. Once you give the motor more fuel volume, it makes more power. If you were to try to run e85 in a cherokee without a converter box at the same fuel volume as stock you'd get less power, poor drivability and lean codes.
 
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kujito said:
100 gallons of Gasoline = 67 gallons of Ethanol(99.5% pure, fuel grade)

25 gallons of Ethanol = 450 pounds of corn

1000 gallons of Ethanol = 0.6 hectares of cropland (about 1.48 acres)

Enough cropland to feed an American for a year = 0.5 hectares (about 1.23 acres)

Presidential Ethanol Mandate(2007) = 36 billion gals./year by 2017

2006 U.S. corn crop harvest = 70.6 million acres

2006 U.S. corn ethanol potential (@ 60gal/acre) = 4.236 billion gallons

just my 2 kernels


I'm fine with giving up corn at the dinner table to put it in my tank.:farmer:
 
Whether or not you'll see a power increase is all in the tuning. E85 being mostly alcohol burns slower (not a bad thing, and common among race fuels) so that the timing can be increased quite a bit before seeing detonation. If the timing is left alone then it might be a couple hp down versus gasoline. I know Ford FFV's make slightly more power on ethanol since they do bump timing in flex fuel mode.

The fuel volume is the biggest tradeoff. Commonly mentioned is 30-40 percent more fuel required. So, ethanol would have to be 30-40 percent cheaper than gas in your area to make it worthwhile- not counting the investment required to run the stuff.
 
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