I went to Albany today which is about a 3 hour drive and 1 tank of fuel. I fueled up when i left the house and was running on fumes when i got there. I put 3 gallons of E85 ethanol in and drove around town to make sure it ran at all.

Surprisingly it ran pretty well with no carb adjustments except for idle speed. I started making some changes, advancing the timing and opening the mixture screws from 3 turns to 5. After visiting a client i went back to the station and filled it to the top. It ran fine all the way back to Mass.

The really surprising thing is that i made it all the way home on a tank of ethanol. The exact same distance the tank of gas took me. NO REDUCTION IN MILEAGE.

Playing with the throttle on the highway it accelerated just as well as gas did. I couldn't tell any difference.

The only downside is that it doesn't idle nice when i came to a stop in gear ( automatic trans ) I think i could work that out with further adjustments to timing, mixture screws, and idle screw.

There is also a station within 45 minutes of my house. I plan further experimentation. Standing behind the exhaust it doesn't choke you to death like the gas does. I even put my face near the exhaust and it didn't really choke me. It's clean burning stuff.

 

If it runs that well with E85 your carb calibration was way out of whack on gasoline. This statement; seems to back that up.

You'll probably have to address the idle issue with a larger orifice for the idle feed restrictor.

Of course, over the long haul, you can expect some degradation of fuel system components never engineered for the corrosive environment of alcohol fuels -but that's an entirely different discussion.

 

Do a search on E85.
It is not recommended unless the entire fuel system is designed for it.

 

A tank of fuel in three hours????????????????

 

Yeh, assume 70 mph....makes it ~13 mpg.....

maybe gotten 15+ on gasoline??

 

I definitely would NOT run E85 in a car that all the fuel components are not designed for ethanol. It will corrode your fuel system. There is a reason that only certain cars are flex fuel vehicles. I would not put E85 in my 2008 Chrysler 300 even if I could since it is not designated as a FLEX fuel vehicle, for example.

 

I have never seen E85, most of our pumps in the Northeast say "May Contain up to 10% ethanol" but never 85%.
Most gaskets, bare alum. seals & gaskets on 60's & 70's cars will not stand up to alohol or ethanol based fuels or cleaners for long.

 

The Hess down the street doesn't have the 10% stickers on the pumps so I usually get gas there. (Probably assuming too much, maybe they haven't gotten around to putting the stickers on.)

Isn't E85 85% gas:15% ethanol?? If so, not so far from the up to 10% ethanol they sell in these parts.

 

No, E85 is 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline.........

 

I thought E85 is 85% ethanol and only 15% gasoline. Otherwise, why would there be such a large difference of engine/fuel components for flex fuel cars if there is only a 5% difference in ethanol.
Terry

 

Don't you guys watch ALMS which mentions the green challenge?? E85 as already stated means 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline.

To the OP: do not do that any more unless you go through the process of installing new seals and gaskets that are E85 freindly or you will cause damage or worst case get an engine fire when things start to leak.

E85 users will see a small drop in mileage but since the cost is significantly less for the E85 compared to gas the results are just better air quality, which is a good thing.

 

For those that have to pass an emissions test without the proper equipment, I bet one tank of a few gallons of E85 before the test would make passing a breeze and probaly not hurt anything that one time!

 

 

Agree. Also it will deteriorate rubber hoses anywhere in the fuel and emissions system on older cars and older boats. Be careful. I wouldn't use it.

I have a flex fuel Silverado that runs on both E-85 and gasoline. Unfortunately E-85 has to be 30% cheaper for it to be cost effective over gasoline so I have never had a chance to use it. In the 2 years I have owned the truck E-85 has never reached that critical economic threshold.

 

Kettering University just completed a study on the effects of E85 vs. gasoline on older designed carbs, fuel pumps, & engines. I didn't read the study, but the synopsis was that they couldn't find any significant negative effects of E85 over 100% gasoline.

 

If you look at the effects after using it on the internal carbed parts I can't imagine that study being credible. It will corrode certain aluminum parts horribly, just plain physics. I suspect that study was done with an outcome in mind, it would be interesting to see who funded it....just sayin....

 

Many marina owners and mechanics would agree. On the boating forum I belong to, many of them state that even with using gas stabilizer and gas dry to combat the alcohol's affinity for water, the 10% ethanol causes problems in the fuel systems due to corrosion.
Terry

 

first thing i thought about when i saw this post!!

 

Here is the website for some info about the Kettering tests. You read the article and make up your own mind. I didn't DO the study...I just thought it to be of interest to the folks reading/contributing to this thread. Of course, those who have already made up their own minds don't care...facts don't matter when it comes to emotion.

http://www.kettering.edu/visitors/st...?storynum=2779

 

Studies aside, I'd guess there's a reason all the E-85 cars in my fleet have stainless components and synthetic and/or braided flex lines. In addition, my non sientific and anecdotal experience with failed fuel pump diaphrams and hardened hoses running 10% ethanol here in NorCal, I would be sceptical of durability claims running E-85 in a stock older car's system.

But hey, this ought to be a good test and the rest of us will benefit from the results, right? We are nothing if not risk takers, or else no one would be living west of the Mississipi river! Actually, we're probably too hard headed to listen to good advice when it's offered ...

Hans