Guys running e85

Evilwill · Nov 17, 2017

ProChargerTECH said:
It might look good this year.....

But I assure you, it depends on what the stations "cut" the fuel with.
(and that changes from season to season)

On a car making big power, its a very very good idea to take the 10 min. and pull the rails off the car at least once a season to look at the tips of the injectors.

Sometimes you will find the injector tip covered with what I can only describe as "sap" .... pump gas cleans it right off, so thats why I run pump through every now and then.... but my friends that run E85 for a full year or two without doing that, can get injectors with very very badly blocked spray patterns.

Again, nothing the end of the world. But the 10 min. it takes to check is WELL worth the piece of mind.

Would running a tank with half e85 and half 93 still do the trick or no?

higdominator · Nov 17, 2017

JennyStang said:
What safety barrier. People just make the timing up to octane level of e85. No different than 16-19 with 93 vice 20-23 with e85. So yes you can raise timing since octane is higher but same logic max out timing with 93 and max out timing with e85. If you only say 19 on e85 I see your safety net

No, that's not what they are getting at. You can lose a fuel pump mid run, and it probably won't even knock even though it is stoich AFR.

Ask me how I know. It was still adding timing when I backed out!

There is more to the benefits of E85 other than the inherent detonation resistance, IE the evaporative cooling effect it has on the air charge. It truly is a save your ass fuel.

kcc0521 · Nov 17, 2017

higdominator said:
No, that's not what they are getting at. You can lose a fuel pump mid run, and it probably won't even knock even though it is stoich AFR.

Ask me how I know. It was still adding timing when I backed out!

There is more to the benefits of E85 other than the inherent detonation resistance, IE the evaporative cooling effect it has on the air charge. It truly is a save your ass fuel.

In addition to the above you can easily test the ethanol content to make sure E85 is good. You can't easily check the octane rating. I am planning to upgrade over the winter as well.

BlownOne · Nov 17, 2017

The “black goo” usually only occurred in higher mileage builds that converted to e85. Essentially we all came to the conclusion the ethanol was cleaning out the entire fuel system and the goo was the remnants. We always usually run a tank of 91 through the car every 6 months or so to keep any goo buildup at bay.

However, with the ID1300’s and Teflon fuel line setup in new (1500 miles or less) cars, we haven’t seen any goo whatsoever in the last 2 years or so and 8+k miles of straight pump e. Could be just the newness of the car or the stainless injectors, but it’s not happening whatsoever, even without running pump gas occasionally.

Will

TexasGT · Nov 17, 2017

I blew a fuse on one of my fuel pumps during the Texas Mile. After Lund reviewed the logs, they were fairly convinced motor would have been gone with 93. E85 saved it.

MyLilPony · Nov 17, 2017

JennyStang said:
And that’s why most wont run e85. Need a new fuel system and check clean filters and injectors way more often than pump 91/93 not worth it to me.

The only reasons I have hear of anyone not running e85 is because either:

A. They don't have access
B. They don't have the cash for the fuel system

Never once have I heard a boosted guy/gal say they wont go e85 because of cleaning.

As for the access part, I know a few folks who buy in bulk and store in either a 50gal drum or in fuel containers.

The 40+whp is well worth any additional small cleaning you may have to deal with IMHO.

Plus the smell of non-catted 93 is :barf:

superman07 · Nov 17, 2017

I get this pretty bad in Ohio with just a NA gt350 and the stock injectors. I have tried all of the additives, lucas seemed to be the best as far as a conditioner, but didn't necessarily help this gunk crap. Also tried every bottle injector cleaner there is and have found that the cheap, STP fuel injector cleaner is actually the best, Lucas was the worse at least for this. Also a tank of tier 1 gas every now and again helps. Never tried marvel but I suspect its the same "old time" chemicals used in STP.

ProChargerTECH said:
It might look good this year.....

But I assure you, it depends on what the stations "cut" the fuel with.
(and that changes from season to season)

On a car making big power, its a very very good idea to take the 10 min. and pull the rails off the car at least once a season to look at the tips of the injectors.

Sometimes you will find the injector tip covered with what I can only describe as "sap" .... pump gas cleans it right off, so thats why I run pump through every now and then.... but my friends that run E85 for a full year or two without doing that, can get injectors with very very badly blocked spray patterns.

Again, nothing the end of the world. But the 10 min. it takes to check is WELL worth the piece of mind.

superman07 · Nov 17, 2017

I had the goo on a car with less than 6k total miles, 3k of flex fuel. I read somewhere and am convinced its due to something in the cheap ass gas they use as the base for the e85 and the heat in the engine when its shut off after running.

The e85 stations by me all carry non tier 1 blends. I run a cheap ass bottle of stp injector cleaner in every tank now, it is the only thing that has kept the damn things clean here. Seriously hoping the move to FI and ID1050X or 1300s help this.

BlownOne said:
The “black goo” usually only occurred in higher mileage builds that converted to e85. Essentially we all came to the conclusion the ethanol was cleaning out the entire fuel system and the goo was the remnants. We always usually run a tank of 91 through the car every 6 months or so to keep any goo buildup at bay.

However, with the ID1300’s and Teflon fuel line setup in new (1500 miles or less) cars, we haven’t seen any goo whatsoever in the last 2 years or so and 8+k miles of straight pump e. Could be just the newness of the car or the stainless injectors, but it’s not happening whatsoever, even without running pump gas occasionally.

Will

superman07 · Nov 17, 2017

That crap was so bad my car stumbled, head temp went up, and one banks fuel trims started adding a shit ton of fuel to make up for the clogged injector. If I had been FI, Or not paying attention I might have had a real shitty day. Now I can tell if they are starting to get gunked because the tune infers the wrong alc percentage because the IDC gets screwed up when it re learns on a fill up.

mustang_guy · Nov 17, 2017

I've been using e85 for the past 10 year. I use just Lucas fuel stabilizer, it's an upper cylinder lubricant and fuel cleaner all in one and their e85 stabilizer mixed together. 2.5 oz of each. Zero issues. I buy the cylinder lube in the gallon size and the e85 in their largest size offeres which is 16 oz bottles.

Jeff_oddo · Nov 17, 2017

Barrel said:
E85 near me is where all of the local high hp cars come and get it. They check every station refill to make sure it's at least E85 year round and they just recently upgraded the station pumps. I'll check my injectors when I do my new radiator and oil cooler install.

Which station is this?

Barrel · Nov 18, 2017

Ft Meade Auto Center. Brand new pumps now with E85 at all of them. Used to be a pump first, pay inside single pump so you had to go when the center was open. Now you can go 24/7 I think since it's all pay at the pump.

https://goo.gl/maps/WMwRzhxi8D92

Jeff_oddo · Nov 18, 2017

Barrel said:
Ft Meade Auto Center. Brand new pumps now with E85 at all of them. Used to be a pump first, pay inside single pump so you had to go when the center was open. Now you can go 24/7 I think since it's all pay at the pump.

https://goo.gl/maps/WMwRzhxi8D92

Good deal... I’ll start getting my E85 from there.

Tommy V · Nov 18, 2017

Jeff_oddo said:
Good deal... I’ll start getting my E85 from there.

Yea that's the place I was talking about also.

kcc0521 · Nov 18, 2017

Tommy V said:
Yea that's the place I was talking about also.

You need to get E85 on that thing so you can hang with joe and I LOL.

Guys running e85

Evilwill

Well-Known Member

higdominator

Well-Known Member

kcc0521

Well-Known Member

BlownOne

Horsepower Fiend

TexasGT

Well-Known Member

MyLilPony

Naw It's Stock

superman07

Well-Known Member

superman07

Well-Known Member

superman07

Well-Known Member

mustang_guy

Well-Known Member

Jeff_oddo

Well-Known Member

Barrel

Hoonigan

Jeff_oddo

Well-Known Member

Tommy V

Well-Known Member

kcc0521

Well-Known Member