E85

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Hey guys,

Has anyone ever put a full tank of E85 in a non flex fuel vehicle without doing an aftermarket injector and ECU set up?
 
I am sure many have.

Are you asking about doing one tank or are you planning on doing it all the time?
What is the expected or hoped for outcome?

One tankful (accidentally or on purpose) will probably have no long term effects. Short term would be poor idle, poor performance, poor fuel mileage. The ethanol in that concentration will have a cleansing effect on the lines and injectors.

Long term, no idea, never looked into it, but depending on the age of the vehicle, it could cause serious issues (fuel line degredation, misfires, plug fouling, and other things).
Or the vehicle may still last forever, and just have poor fuel mileage due to the nature of ethanol having less energy compared to gasoline.
 
And, in some cases, in addition to the cleansing effect, you'll get a dissolving effect on parts like pump housings, fuel lines, seals and injectors....

Some guys on BITOG claim to have run their non-flex-fuel cars on E85 with no ill effects. Given the differences in stochiometric ratios needed for combustion of ethanol vs. gasoline, I doubt they ran well...some cars might not run at all.

I really wouldn't recommend it.
 
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A few E85 locations locally . It is cheaper than E10 . If you predict 10% - 15% less MPG , against the cheaper cost , it would probably wash .

I personally have not tried it .

On the other hand , there are a few locations that have 100% unleaded , at a higher cost . Tried that . No perceived difference .

Wyr
God bless
 
Originally Posted By: WyrTwister
A few E85 locations locally . It is cheaper than E10 . If you predict 10% - 15% less MPG , against the cheaper cost , it would probably wash.
I ran whenever I could find it while towing in my 2010 FX4, but E85 would have to be more than $1.00 per gallon less for it to be a wash vs. E10. My economy (even when not towing) would drop 4-5MPG--but the engine ran much better and pulled harder on E85 vs. E10.
 
Yes, but if you look at the "EPA MPG ratings" for the manufacturer, the mileage ratings skyrocket! Shannow had a post on here that showed that a Tahoe/Suburban got an EPA calculated 97mpg because of the whole E85 calculation... the EPA doesn't consider the ethanol content in the MPG ratings for manufacturers, only the 15% gasoline.
 
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Originally Posted By: WyrTwister
97 MPG ? In a suburban ?

Is that a typo or supposedly for real ?

Puzzled ??????

Wyr
God bless

yeah, sounds like a decimal is missing (9.7).
 
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