Reading articles about e85 conversions.
Article said the LS 1 is one of the easiest to convert and that they run just like on HiOct. Also there is a switch to swap back and forth.
Anyone running the conversion?
Milage diff?
Here in OH e85 is 2.15 a gallon vs. 3.05 for Hi Oct.

 

Elaborate on E85 Conversion please!

Thanks,Matt

 

Google is your friend

 

Hey Matt,
The conversion to burn Ethonol and or gasoline.

Jim

 

It'll affect your power output...no way I want less power in my vette.

 

Not quite true there. Possibly true b/c our engines are set up for gasoline only and may not benefit from the E-85 as would engines that were engineered with E-85 as the fuel in mind. Check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E85

Josh

 

What's the mile per gallon penalty when using E85? I thought it was 20 to 25%. That would cut into the potential savings of using cheaper gas.

 

E85; What is it?

Ethanol is a high octane, liquid, domestic and renewable fuel, produced by the fermentation of plant sugars. In the United States, ethanol is typically produced from corn and other grain products, although in the future it may be economically produced from other biomass resources such as agricultural and forestry wastes or specially grown energy crops.

E85 has an octane of approximately 105.
E85 sells for approximately the same price as unleaded gasoline.
Ethanol reduces the incidence of greenhouse gas emissions.
Ethanol is domestically produced and promotes energy independence.
Ethanol production increases the value of feed grains grown by farmers.
Ethanol is biodegradable and does not contaminate water.
Ethanol can be produced from a number of different feedstocks including paper and agricultural waste.

At this point there is not an advantage from a cost perspective to burn E85 since your mileage is about 80% of your mileage on gasoline. Here is some additional info on E85:

Ethanol has less energy content than gasoline. However, E85 also has a much higher octane (ranging from 96 to 105) than gasoline. FFVs are not optimized to E85, so they experience a 10-15% drop in fuel economy. This will vary based on the way one drives, the air pressure in the tires, and additional driving conditions.

E85 is actually E70 in the winter months as to assist in cold starting problems. A listing of when the fuel blend should change is located in the Handbook for Handling, Storing and Dispensing E85.

For comparison purposes, aggressive driving habits can result in a 20% loss and low tire pressure can reduce mileage by 6%. Research indicates Ford FFVs experience a 5% horsepower gain on E85. The range of any particular vehicle is dependent on the size of the fuel tank and driving habits. Current Ford Taurus FFVs have an 18-gallon fuel tank and will normally travel 350 miles between refuelings.

By the way FFV is Flex Fuel Vehicle. Hope this helps.

 

good info

 

Finally get to use this one

 

Another issue with Ethanol is it wicks up water like a sponge (when exposed to the air). We run Methanol in our dragsters and use app 3 times the amount per run VS race gas, but the advantage is the consistency in ET when the DA changes. Also, both Ethanol & Methanol are corrosive & hard on metal parts....as well as bringing in excess moisture into the crankcase. We solve this in the race engines by running vacum evac systems, something passenger cars do not utilize.

 

Some of our patrol vehicles run on E85, they are V6 Ford Explorers. They get a whopping 9 mpg... NINE. That's enough for me to avoid E85 until the technology gets better. I'd rather eat the corn.

 

snake-oil.

 

ethonol or anything like it is a dumocrat idea and they want you to buy into all the political BS about it being good for the nation, my 2 cents, flame suit on. The nation needs liberals like it needs more illegals. By the way, I vote for who I think will do best job for the NATION, not a political idea and don't align myself with only one parties ideas

 

 

In addition to adjusting the engine to run on E85, you have to make sure all the fuel system components are compatible.
You need a fuel system designed for E85 (I think anything above about 10% ethanol)

 

Check this out.... http://www.rune85.com/

 

 

I didn't realize the President changed parties. He is the one pushing E85 in a big way. That was one of the purposes of his trip to Brazil.

By the way the 5.3 liter LS engine in my 2003 Tahoe is a multifuel engine and can run on E85. They change some parts and the programming in the PCM. Don't need a hand operated switch to make it work.

Bill

 

There's an E-85 station in my neighborhood, so I tried it in my Tahoe. It runs fine, but it sucks down the fuel very fast. Highway mpg went from 18 mpg to 15 mpg. I have an 80-mile roundtrip to work every day and got tired of filling up with e85 every 3rd day, so I switched back to regular unleaded.