E85 and engine oil - Lexus IS200

[spacekiller67]

Hey guys !

European guy here !

So I bought a few months ago a Lexus IS200 (2.0L 1G-FE) from 2004.
I am using E85 fuel since 1L of E85 is very cheap compared to regular gas here in France (0.7€/L for E85 compared to 1.5€ for regular).

I just changed the oil for Shell Helix Ultra 5w30 2000 miles ago and was wondering what exactly am I facing with E85 regarding fuel dilution since I have an E85 module making it run a bit richer.
Should I shrink down the OCIs ? The factory OCI is about 10K Miles.
Anything I should look for ?

Thanks in advance and cheers from France guys, keep it up !

Arthur.

 

[GaryPoe]

I did the math once upon a time over the course of a year or so. E85 is alot cheaper than regular 87 (with 10% ethinol) but you will get more mpg and acually save money just using regular gasoline/petrol. I wont wver use it again. The issue is it takes a lot more fuel to get the same sort of burn in the combustion chamber. The excess fuel that was not burned is then washed past the cylinder rings and into your oil ultimately diluting the oil. Im sure someone else can follow up on that, but thats what i know any how. I would have a sample taken and analyzed to see how its holding up at 5k miles and go from there imo.

 

[Rat407]

The fact that E85 burns cleaner I don't think you will have any issues and going 10k oil change is just fine.

The difference in price for you between E85 and regular petrol is nice. At least here when E85 is a dollar difference the cost per mile is less running E85 so it is worth it, even if I have to fill up more often.

 

[tiger862]

E85 causes my oil change light to come on sooner so just that should make far shorter oil changes.

 

[jqgz]

The boiling point of ethanol is almost 80° lower than that of gasoline, so in theory you don't have to get the engine as hot to rid it of fuel dilution.

I would be surprised if using E85 actually made an oil light come on sooner.

Also people, he is saying E85 is HALF the pricof gasoline. E85 has about 70% the energy of gasoline, runs cooler, less fuel dilution theoretically. It's a win for him.

 

[Mad_Hatter]

Do you even have a FD problem?..does the used oil smell like fuel?..anyhow, instead of speculating spend the money and get a UOA w/FD if you suspect there's a problem.

 

[tiger862]

Originally Posted by jqgz
The boiling point of ethanol is almost 80° lower than that of gasoline, so in theory you don't have to get the engine as hot to rid it of fuel dilution.

I would be surprised if using E85 actually made an oil light come on sooner.

Also people, he is saying E85 is HALF the pricof gasoline. E85 has about 70% the energy of gasoline, runs cooler, less fuel dilution theoretically. It's a win for him.


SCHEDULED SERVICING
Your vehicle is equipped with an automatic oil change
indicator system. The oil change indicator system will
remind you that it is time to take your vehicle in for
scheduled maintenance.
Based on engine operation conditions, the oil change
indicator message will illuminate. This means that service
is required for your vehicle. Operating conditions such as
frequent short-trips, trailer tow, extremely hot or cold
ambient temperatures, and E85 fuel usage will influence
when the "Oil Change Required" message is displayed.
Severe Operating Conditions can cause the change oil
message to illuminate as early as 3,500 miles (5,600 km)
since last reset. Have your vehicle serviced as soon as
possible, within the next 500 miles (805 km).
Your authorized dealer will reset the oil change indicator
message after completing the scheduled oil change. If a
scheduled oil change is performed by someone other than
your authorized dealer, the message can be reset by
referring to the steps described under "Instrument Cluster
Display" in "Getting To Know Your Instrument Panel"

Straight from manual.

 

[spacekiller67]

Thanks a lot for the answers !

Alright so just to clarify the situation. I am not having any issues at all caused by E85, the oil smells perfectly normal. I was mostly wondering if there was any additive packages to look out for when using this kind of fuel.
Also, the car isn't monitoring the oil so no oil light will show up (except if pressure drops but then you know you are in some kind of trouble). There is a "service" part on the GPS but it is just a fixed interval thing counting the miles.

 

[pezzy669]

If your car is E85 compatible I wouldn't worry too much about it. I ran my 2009 MB C300 (M272 3.0 V6) almost exclusively on E85 and never had any perceptible fuel dilution issues, in fact that car required ~1 quart top up oil every 6-7k miles. Owners manual said to consult service department regarding E85 use which I did and they said to follow typical service requirements (1 year or 10k miles).

Cold starts did highlight end of life spark plugs though, went from non-dramatic starts to check engine light triggering misfires on 5 of 6 cylinders pretty much overnight when it dropped from 60's to the 30's. Ethanol does not burn well once it drops to freezing or below (0C or 32F).

I would recommended to figure out the fuel price spread where E85 makes sense, I was always on the cusp of price vs MPG loss so there were a few tanks of Premium 93 thrown in when the price spread favored using non-E85.

 

[LeoStrop]

Back here we use E100 since the late 70's and i never saw any recommendations for short OCI's when running ethanol compared to gas. Also the manual from my Fit doesn't state anything about it.

But the only way to know for sure is running an oil analysis. Just don't judge the oil by its color, running E85 will keep it looking like new for longer, but that doesn't mean it is still good.