Who is running e85 from Lund?

[65sohc]

Yeah no doubt it's not completely pure. I'd need to run a sample to know the exact percentage from Sunoco.

I only drive about 40 miles or less a day during the week and the gas station is down the road from my work and 15 miles from home so no biggie. If I rarely if ever travel then I run her low and have either the 93 tune to change back to or back to stock.

It's not actually a question of purity but rather the very issue you first raised as far as starting. Depending on where you live, if it gets fairly cold in the winter the engine likely wouldn't start at all on 85% ethanol. My brothers used to run a blown hydro boat on methanol. They would have to squirt gasoline into the blower intake to get it to fire. Also, the cooling properties of alcohol are so great you could practically freeze your hand resting it on the intake manifold. At any rate that seems like a lot of hassle compared to a flextune where you run whatever fuel is handy and don't have to worry about testing it.

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[Warl]

It's not actually a question of purity but rather the very issue you first raised as far as starting. Depending on where you live, if it gets fairly cold in the winter the engine likely wouldn't start at all on 85% ethanol. My brothers used to run a blown hydro boat on methanol. They would have to squirt gasoline into the blower intake to get it to fire. Also, the cooling properties of alcohol are so great you could practically freeze your hand resting it on the intake manifold. At any rate that seems like a lot of hassle compared to a flextune where you run whatever fuel is handy and don't have to worry about testing it.

Ah I figured you were talking percentage because of how agressive the tune might be set to. Certainly a flex tune would be more practical but the situation I am in the current tuner does not have that available .

I live in south Texas so the only thing concering weather that I have to worry about is hurricanes lol.

 

[blueovalkid]

I had the Lund Flex tune and I loved it.
When I went with the Whipple Lund does not offer the flex tune for forced induction
Now I run the straight E85 tune
I buy 10 gallons at a time and test it before putting it in the car
Too much for a daily but its not my DD and I dont mind plus it gives me peace of mind knowing that I have basically ruled out detonation

 

[Ixse]

I’ve been Lund tuned for E85 since March of this year. Thousands of miles later and multiple track days without issue. Rock solid tunes. No issues at all. I run the flex tune for transition out of 93 octane and into E85 when I have a blend. Once I’m clear of the 93 I switch over to the E85R tune which is more aggressive but needs to be at 80% E85 or better. I installed a ethanol sensor inline to monitor Ethanol percentage and that gets fed back to the ngauge.

Where did you purchase ethanol sensors that work w ngauge?

 

[guzie]

I run an innovate motorsports ethanol sensor and their gauge. I use their gauge as strictly a controller that is mounted under the dash. I send it’s output analog 0-5v signal to the input signal point on the ngauge. Ngauge has a preset for a zetronix ethanol sensor. I use that setting for the innovate signal and it displays on my gauge. Works great. You can also buy an zetronix sensor and their controller as an option but they cost more. Innovate was the best price setup I found.

 

[guzie]

Alcohols are less volatile than gasoline, hence more difficult to ignite in a cold combustion chamber. I have found that up to about e50 the engine starts immediately. On a NA engine it isn't necessary to run 80+ ethanol to gain all the benefits, assuming you're running a flex tune and not a dedicated e85 tune. Whose tune are you running?

What are the benefits with even running say an E50? I get low E70s here in Michigan in say February. Later on in the season I’m getting E79-81 range pretty consistently. I use the flex tune just for transition from 93 or to 93. If I’m getting a good E78 or better I’m running the straight E85R tune which he is more aggressive with. More timing and such.

 

[65sohc]

E50 has an octane of 101-102 so it allows maximum timing from the flex tune. It also minimizes any cold driveability issues. I almost always run whatever comes out of the E85 nozzle because it is more convenient than mixing two fuels and it is also much cheaper. I pay $2.60/gal vs. $3.85 for 91.

 

[65sohc]

Have you every compared alcohol% on the same tank of fuel using the NGauge vs. Zeitronix?

 

[guzie]

Have you every compared alcohol% on the same tank of fuel using the NGauge vs. Zeitronix?

I have only ran the innovate branded sensor, not the zeltronix one. The output from the innovate does match up to actual fuel tested with a test tube as well.

 

[65sohc]

I have only ran the innovate branded sensor, not the zeltronix one. The output from the innovate does match up to actual fuel tested with a test tube as well.

Oh sorry. I misread. What I wonder is how the dedicated sensor reading compares with the calculated reading from the NGauge.

 

[guzie]

Oh sorry. I misread. What I wonder is how the dedicated sensor reading compares with the calculated reading from the NGauge.

The calculated value is 91 for mine while the actual value is 80-81. It’s off by 10-11

 

[65sohc]

That's interesting. I monitor STFT, LTFT, Spark, Knock Retard and Alc.% on my NGauge. I always fill up at the same station and watch the values vary as the PCM calculates alcohol content. For at least the last ten tanks my alcohol % has been between 77.8 and 78.7.I've never had a reading above 82.

 

[guzie]

That's interesting. I monitor STFT, LTFT, Spark, Knock Retard and Alc.% on my NGauge. I always fill up at the same station and watch the values vary as the PCM calculates alcohol content. For at least the last ten tanks my alcohol % has been between 77.8 and 78.7.I've never had a reading above 82.

Your best to take a sample and text it to compare. Others have reported similar variation. Calculated percentage is not accurate.

 

[Ixse]

Your best to take a sample and text it to compare. Others have reported similar variation. Calculated percentage is not accurate.

Would you say running flex tunr w/o the ethanol sensor can become dangerous due to such variation??

 

[Jetnoise]

I have the ability in the autel scan tool to change the milage on the pcm to match it with the cluster.

It is a risk I have to take I guess. But so many computers and other things involved that if ford want to find out they will. Plus our motors are somewhere close to 20k so for sure they will investigate.

I think is time to buy donuts for the service department every sat.

Karma doesn't eat donoughts

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