• NAXJA is having its 18th annual March Membership Drive!!!
    Everyone who joins or renews during March will be entered into a drawing!
    More Information - Join/Renew
  • Welcome to the new NAXJA Forum! If your password does not work, please use "Forgot your password?" link on the log-in page. Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] if we can provide any assistance.

E85 mix?

JohnnyBoy425

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Indianapolis
So, I've been reading on forums about an e85 kit since its so much cheaper than gas around here (about 30%) But the kits are too f'n expensive. I've read that the blend is essentially a 105 octane, so could I just mix 3/4 tank of 87 with a 1/4 tank of 105 octane E85 to achieve an octane rating of 91.5 which my ecu can handle? Call me crazy, but I think it would work, and save me some bucks in the long run... Lemme know your thoughts, I'm pretty new to this stuff.
 
It would work just fine, but you will run slightly leaner. The increased octane might be enough to offset the lean condition though, but it will without a doubt increase EGTs.

The big question though is: is it worth the small savings? Probubly not. Your better off getting the kit, and making a 100% change to E85. It will take a while, but the savings will pay for the kit.
 
well, I guess I could try it and see what happens? One tank of mix wont hurt anything will it? Thats my biggest concern, I dont need to be making any expensive repairs any time soon :p
 
Would an air/fuel controller do the same thing as the kit? Isn't that basically all it does, cause a e85 specific kit is 400 bucks and I can find air/fuel controllers for about 200
 
If an engine was truely designed to run on the much higher octane then it might be somewhat beneficial to swap over to a high ethanol blend but your typical engine won't really benefit from it (granted I am not entirely sure what the kit you are looking at includes or does).

If you are really that interested in making the switch, one of the biggest things with dealing with any of the bio-based fuels is the seals and fuel lines. The bio-fuels will eventually destroy rubber seals and hoses, and therefore need to be switched over to something like viton (a synthetic rubber).

The other big thing about E85, or any other blend of it, on just about any engine will not give you better fuel mileage, it might (at least in your case) cost you less per fill up. Ethanol is less energy dense than gasoline (which is less than biodiesel, which is less than diesel). If you actually look up the specs on vehicles that are FlexFuel, their mileage numbers running E85 are lower than they are running gasoline.

I know this post probably wasn't what you were really looking for, but my opinion is that it probably wouldn't be very beneficial. At least look into the seals/lines if you are going to go ahead with it especially if you have an older engine.
 
Welcome to wonderful world of E-85.....

Yes... you can safely and eaisly run a mixture of E-85 and regular gas in the 4.0l.

There are alot of people out there experimenting with this. And I can't blame you. When we filled our van today the price difference was $1.20 per gallon.

You are going to be bombarded with stories of parts needed to be replaced, all of your seals being destroyed and fuel lines falling off. Your fuel system only has a handful of o-rings in it and they are perfectly fine. Pure rubber o-rings went away in the 80's. Over time, you might need to replace the fuel line. But its not going to be happening overnight.

If you have been running E-10 regularly then you won't even need to worry about the fuel filter. Ethanol is a fuel system cleaner so it will scour the crud off of your tank. But being from Indiana, chances ae pretty good that you have been running E-10.

My wheeling Jeep runs a mixture that works out to 30% ethanol, or E-30... I can't tell you what the MPG is as its not a road driven Jeep. But on our flex-fuel van we only see a 8-10% MPG drop now that summer fuels are here.

http://e85vehicles.com/e85/
This is a site dedicated to E-85 vehicles and you can get more techinical information there then you would ever want.....
 
My wife just asked me about this the other day, she saw at the pump they started carring 10% ethenol and wanted to know if she could use it or not? I told her to try it and see how it runs, she said it seems to be running better and better milage. We'll see how it does since this is the first tank. plus it's about 15 cents cheaper so we are trying it!
 
Yea, every gas here in Indy is already E-10, so I'm running an ethanol blend whether I want to or not :). I just figured what could it hurt to save over 25% on gas even if i do get a drop in gas mileage. As long as it doesn't drop by 25% or more, I think it's a go for me. I'll go ahead and run a test tank with 10 gal of regular and 2 gal of E85 and see how the HO likes it.
 
ADVNTURR said:
If an engine was truely designed to run on the much higher octane then it might be somewhat beneficial to swap over to a high ethanol blend but your typical engine won't really benefit from it (granted I am not entirely sure what the kit you are looking at includes or does).

Timing. The higher octane allows the timing to be advanced. Obviously this is best done on a dyno, as there is a limit where advancing timing won't result in any power gains, but most motors can get a 5-15% gain in power from advancing timing 2-5 degrees.

If you are really that interested in making the switch, one of the biggest things with dealing with any of the bio-based fuels is the seals and fuel lines. The bio-fuels will eventually destroy rubber seals and hoses, and therefore need to be switched over to something like viton (a synthetic rubber).

Wrong. Every vehicle sold here in the US mfg'd past 1990 is ethonal compliant, meaning that E85 won't do anything that the gas in your tank currently is doing.

The other big thing about E85, or any other blend of it, on just about any engine will not give you better fuel mileage, it might (at least in your case) cost you less per fill up. Ethanol is less energy dense than gasoline (which is less than biodiesel, which is less than diesel). If you actually look up the specs on vehicles that are FlexFuel, their mileage numbers running E85 are lower than they are running gasoline.

Yup. But: With the way gas prices are, the $ savings VS MPG loss is greater which means your still saving $ compared to running gas. factor in the timing benefits, and your even more on top.

I know this post probably wasn't what you were really looking for, but my opinion is that it probably wouldn't be very beneficial. At least look into the seals/lines if you are going to go ahead with it especially if you have an older engine.
 
JohnnyBoy425 said:
Yea, every gas here in Indy is already E-10, so I'm running an ethanol blend whether I want to or not :). I just figured what could it hurt to save over 25% on gas even if i do get a drop in gas mileage. As long as it doesn't drop by 25% or more, I think it's a go for me. I'll go ahead and run a test tank with 10 gal of regular and 2 gal of E85 and see how the HO likes it.


With that blend you would have 2.7 gallons of ethanol in 12 gallons of fuel. Or 22.5% blend...

We are buying E-85 at a 30+% price spread right now in Illinois farm country.

At only 22% ethanol you won't see a 25% mph drop.

I may have to start mixing some E-85 into my DD ZJ and see how the 5.2l likes it....
 
Well, I'm currently running the mix, and to be honest it feels like the engine has got a little more juice! It'll be interesting to see what it does to my overall gas mileage as it's only about 25% ethanol. Running like a top!!!
 
I've been running about 30-40 percent Ethanol, on and off for almost a year and a half now (had a short brake through the winter, as I had moved and there wasn't one close). Jeep runs great when it's got it in the tank, and I don't notice too much of a change in milage.

Where in Indy are you at Johnnyboy425?
 
I am running E85 in my 4.7L stroker. I have 10.2 compression. I notice a pretty good drop in power and the mileage is down about 10% but it costs $1.10 less. I have a map adjuster and will be doing a plug reading tonight. to see how lean I am running.
 
old_man said:
I am running E85 in my 4.7L stroker. I have 10.2 compression. I notice a pretty good drop in power and the mileage is down about 10% but it costs $1.10 less. I have a map adjuster and will be doing a plug reading tonight. to see how lean I am running.

me too in my 4.6 stroker, 9.5 CR, as Tom and I have discussed on a good thread going over on Colorado4x4.org . I generally get 15-16 mpg on dino. I got 14.7 on my first tank of 50/50 E85 mix, and 14.2 on my first tank of pure E85. Same since then. Granted, Tom and I are both running larger injectors which may help with fuel delivery and the potential lean condition, but my milage drop has not been all that significant. I have been as hight as 10k feet in altitude without throwing a CEL code, so I am guessing lean is not an issue. I will be intersted to see how Tom's plug reading looks...
 
I know I run 24lb ford injectors in my 4.6, and I think Tom runs 21lb injectors, corvette maybe??, in his 4.7. But I don't think it is as simple as just adding volume -- mine is OBDII, so from what I understand the computer is fairly adept at making mixture/delivery adjustments based on the sensor inputs -- I think Tom has posted that he has an adjustable MAP sensor to make similar adjustments on his earlier (renix?) system... Someone with more electrical brains than me can add more accurate information!:gag:
 
Back
Top