Issues from long term E85 use?

[Silver50Pony]

Has anyone had any problems with fuel system or engines with our cars running e85 ?

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[dubster99]

Nope. Been running it for a long time.

 

[Silver50Pony]

Nope. Been running it for a long time.

How long ? Do you daily drive it?

 

[DanielLD]

ethanol is great, make the switch when you can.

 

[daytripper]

ethanol is great, make the switch when you can.

Pls explain what you find so great.How much of a mileage hit do you experience? Cost per gal.?

 

[DanielLD]

Well in my area "flex fuel" is $2.25/gallon at Shell, it should be noted, it is not Shell Flex Fuel........

Not sure about the mileage, I sold my mustang and never got to the E85.

The ethanol runs much cooler, provides significant advances in timing due to the increased octane, is much easier on engine internals and is made in the US, not over seas. I have not seen any downsides to ethanol fuel other than some environmental concerns I think can be easily mitigated.

 

[stoli]

30,000 miles or so on e85. 12-15mpg, $1.70 - 2.00/gallon. Every two months or so I'll run at least one tank of 93 though it.

 

[Silver50Pony]

Has anyone had to replace their fuel filter? Now even with 93 octane after switching back from e85 the cars gotta crank a few times before firing up, don't think it could be anything else

 

[Lo Pony]

Well in my area "flex fuel" is $2.25/gallon at Shell, it should be noted, it is not Shell Flex Fuel........

Not sure about the mileage, I sold my mustang and never got to the E85.

The ethanol runs much cooler, provides significant advances in timing due to the increased octane, is much easier on engine internals and is made in the US, not over seas. I have not seen any downsides to ethanol fuel other than some environmental concerns I think can be easily mitigated.

First of all, I am not personally attacking you or your post. I almost thought this was a joke to see if anyone was paying attention.

Environmental concerns what? We need to question these concerns over E85 being bad for the environment compared to gasoline. I have read these "studies" and they are outrageously misleading. Almost to the point of being flat out false.

Fom a combustion standpoint, E85 produces (far) lower levels of NOx and SOx, which are what the catalytic converters are designed to remove, and which are the major components of ozone production and acid rain, than hydrocarbon fuel. In fact, ethanol does not produce any SOx or NOx; ethanol contains no nitrogen or sulfur, so it can't produce these pollutants. The only NOx and SOx in E85 fuel come from the gasoline it's blended with (20-30%?). So it just can't be more pollutive. Ethanol combustion primarily produces CO2 (unavoidable), methane (a little) and ethane (even less), as side reactions. We won't even go into the pollutants from gasoline.

No matter who produces a "study" on environmental concerns of E85 fuel, these claims must be aimed at promoting the petroleum industry, as they are not based on chemistry. Ethanol fuel is produced by fermentation of plant sugars. By yeast. The main products are?? Ethanol and CO2. True, there is a refining step where ethanol is concentrated, but the products of that process are?? Water, and ethanol. The energy input for ethanol fermentation, which is a natural process carried out by yeast, and pollutants from its production, does not in any way compare to that required for refining crude oil to gasoline, It might be over 1 million times less and that is conservative. Yes, ethanol produces pollution - in the form of CO2. So does "Clean Natural Gas". So does breathing. Ethanol is a huge step forward, both in sustainability and efficiency. So how ethanol, which is many times cleaner to produce and use than gasoline, can be a "concern" at this point does not make sense.

 

[DanielLD]

First of all, I am not personally attacking you or your post. I almost thought this was a joke to see if anyone was paying attention.

Environmental concerns what? We need to question these concerns over E85 being bad for the environment compared to gasoline. I have read these "studies" and they are outrageously misleading. Almost to the point of being flat out false.

Fom a combustion standpoint, E85 produces (far) lower levels of NOx and SOx, which are what the catalytic converters are designed to remove, and which are the major components of ozone production and acid rain, than hydrocarbon fuel. In fact, ethanol does not produce any SOx or NOx; ethanol contains no nitrogen or sulfur, so it can't produce these pollutants. The only NOx and SOx in E85 fuel come from the gasoline it's blended with (20-30%?). So it just can't be more pollutive. Ethanol combustion primarily produces CO2 (unavoidable), methane (a little) and ethane (even less), as side reactions. We won't even go into the pollutants from gasoline.

No matter who produces a "study" on environmental concerns of E85 fuel, these claims must be aimed at promoting the petroleum industry, as they are not based on chemistry. Ethanol fuel is produced by fermentation of plant sugars. By yeast. The main products are?? Ethanol and CO2. True, there is a refining step where ethanol is concentrated, but the products of that process are?? Water, and ethanol. The energy input for ethanol fermentation, which is a natural process carried out by yeast, and pollutants from its production, does not in any way compare to that required for refining crude oil to gasoline, It might be over 1 million times less and that is conservative. Yes, ethanol produces pollution - in the form of CO2. So does "Clean Natural Gas". So does breathing. Ethanol is a huge step forward, both in sustainability and efficiency. So how ethanol, which is many times cleaner to produce and use than gasoline, can be a "concern" at this point does not make sense.

I have no benefit from promoting the oil industry. What is know, is that ethanol is in the early life stages of production, where as gasoline's refinement process has been refined for over one hundred years. The efficiency at which the oil giant's have been able to refine gasoline is remarkable, the same can not be said about ethanol, yet. Since 2012, this has been a topic brought up frequently at SAE conventions and meetings. I do not like big oil myself, but even the USDA brought up the same concerns, and the USDA has not stake in the fight other than to promote E85. In short, the resources used to produce ethanol are not as efficiency as those used to refine gasoline. I don't even work in the oil industry anymore, but it is refreshing to see someone who is passionate in regards to ethanol.

 

[Mikepol2]

Here’s some info that made me feel more comfortable about possibly trying it... Lund says E85 is one of the few things that will make a noticeable difference tuning 18+ cars.

https://afdc.energy.gov/fuels/ethanol_e85.html

 

[Lo Pony]

Here’s some info that made me feel more comfortable about possibly trying it... Lund says E85 is one of the few things that will make a noticeable difference tuning 18+ cars.

https://afdc.energy.gov/fuels/ethanol_e85.html

I can personally vouch for that, although I have the Livernois Flex tune. I am running a tank of gasoline through it now (first time in several months), and the car just does not perform as well on gasoline. Although it still has plenty of zip, it's more sluggish and doesn't have the throttle response. It is a totally different experience on E85. Best improvement you can make for the money, for sure.

Even the Livernois 91/93 tunes make a huge difference over OEM. Better throttle response, snappier transmission calibration (where relevant in the A10), aggressive cam and spark timing, higher shift points, raised redline. Does not even compare to stock...it will make a believer out of you.

 

[Lo Pony]

Has anyone had to replace their fuel filter? Now even with 93 octane after switching back from e85 the cars gotta crank a few times before firing up, don't think it could be anything else

I think it is the ECU trying to figure out what's in the tank during cranking. Mine does the same thing. It's not the fuel filter. That would cause all kinds of mayhem at full throttle.

 

[TnWHTMARE]

Been running it for a year....love it. Have no desire to use anything else.

 

[boB]

In fact, ethanol does not produce any SOx or NOx; ethanol contains no nitrogen or sulfur, so it can't produce these pollutants. The only NOx and SOx in E85 fuel come from the gasoline it's blended with (20-30%?).

The air that our engines use is 78% nitrogen.

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