e85?!?!?!

[dangerranger90]

okay, i live none too far from a e85 gas station, and it wayy cheaper too:naughty:.
i was wondering if anyone knows how to tune one of our cars to run it!?

sorry if this is a repost i checked on the search, and didnt find muc :/

thank you guys in advance!

[86ccord]

honestly.. i wouldnt put that in my car.. now if my car had mods out the ass and was tuned for E85 i would def run it.. but since your car is old and basically stock.. i wouldnt touch it..

[labeledsk8r]

your car would need more then just a tune to run e85, all of your rubber fuel lines would have to be changed, your fuel rails and lines would have to be changed aswell as e85 eats aluminum, wich also means the head of your engine block would slowly eat itself away aswell

[Harrison_Bergeron]

I did not know that about aluminum, do you know how the Ford and GM FlexFuel vehicles get away with running Al?


your car would need more then just a tune to run e85, all of your rubber fuel lines would have to be changed, your fuel rails and lines would have to be changed aswell as e85 eats aluminum, wich also means the head of your engine block would slowly eat itself away aswell

[dangerranger90]

oh, okay. i was curious, because i always see it, and its near a buck, and in some places a buck, and a half cheaper :/ thank you for the input though!

i really wanna say thank you guys for being to informative, and helpful! everyone here on the site is really nice, and laid back i noticed!

[guaynabo89]

Just so you know, it takes almost twice as much to produce the same amount of power as gas. Onl benefit it has its very resistant to pre ignition like race gas, but for 1/4 the cost.


Boosted guys run e85 and none of them changed anything but the injectors and pump to compensate for extra fuel needed.

[cygnus x-1]

Aluminum parts are ok with ethanol (the E in E85) as long as they're anodized. I don't know if the stock fuel rail is anodized, but I suspect not. Normal rubber fuel line is also no good, they need to be Teflon lined. Aluminum heads are ok because they aren't in contact with the liquid fuel for extended periods of time.

Those are all fairly simple things to fix though. The bigger problem is that the engine is not even remotely tuned to run E85. E85 has a far lower energy content by volume than gasoline, so you would lose a lot of power. The stoichiometric ratio is also way different so I don't think the engine would even run if you tried it. At best it would run like shit.


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[Ichiban]

I read an article in car craft that stated the jet area for E85 increased by 30% as compared to gasoline. That said, you are going to burn far more E85 per kilometre than gasoline. E85 also requires less air to burn properly than gasoline, being an oxygenated fuel. Since the power limiting factor of most engines is the ability to flow air, the lesser requirement for air may allow more power to be produced provided the fuel delivery is sufficient?

As far as the corrosiveness of E85, as I understand, it is related to alcohol's ability to absorb water, which is the actual corrosive agent. Any steel parts should be coated to resist water corrosion. I do not understand how the flexible/rubber components in the fuel system would be negatively affected by ethanol, but not by gasoline.

[89T]

The fuel consumption is closer to 35% more than gasoline. I am part of a local board in which there are people whom have been running E85 for at least 5 years, and the only changes that were made were injectors, pump, and tune. Alot of what is being written is pure myth.
It seems i have read something about uncoated aluminum. I'll have to find it.

[cygnus x-1]

The fuel consumption is closer to 35% more than gasoline. I am part of a local board in which there are people whom have been running E85 for at least 5 years, and the only changes that were made were injectors, pump, and tune. Alot of what is being written is pure myth.
It seems i have read something about uncoated aluminum. I'll have to find it.


There are a lot of myths yes.

As I understand, much of the problem with ethanol is because it picks up water easily. But I believe it is also directly corrosive itself, although I'm not sure about the chemistry. For rubber, I think it's only a problem for natural rubber type hoses, which haven't been used in modern vehicles for awhile now. I don't know what old Hondas use. I would expect higher quality to begin with so maybe they aren't a problem. But again, relatively easy problems to solve.

As for the tuning, I wonder if even when tuned it works out to be cheaper to run E85? Cost per volume is lower but if you use more if it it may not be any better. This would depend on the specific engine. Higher compression engines would get more benefit for sure.


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[89T]

there is a thread on hondatech on e85 started by Kelly and servion, which are the go to guys for this type of fuel. They are on the local fourm that i stated as well.
http://forums2.coloradoracing.net/index.php?showtopic=100251
the ht thread.
you may not be able to see it due to membership.
http://www.honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=1812349
Miller from NRG tech touched on the subject as well on Ht the thread was in the drag racing section..

[lostforawhile]

the e85 itself is corrosive to rubber fuel system parts, it's an extremely effective solvent ,much better then gasoline, the other problem is even if you changed everything, all the years of gunk in your gas tank, are going to be dissolved and be constantly clogging your lines and filters. it's just not feasible to convert these cars. It even says in the owners manual not to go over 10 percent oxygenated fuels, that's alcohol fuels

[cygnus x-1]

there is a thread on hondatech on e85 started by Kelly and servion, which are the go to guys for this type of fuel. They are on the local fourm that i stated as well.
http://forums2.coloradoracing.net/index.php?showtopic=100251
the ht thread.
you may not be able to see it due to membership.
http://www.honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=1812349
Miller from NRG tech touched on the subject as well on Ht the thread was in the drag racing section..


I think I've read that HT thread before. Some good info there.

One thing I would like to try someday is to build a super high compression A20 to run exclusively E85. I know it wouldn't make as much power as a turbo but it would be neat to find out just how much power an A20 can make on commonly available fuel without a turbo.


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[turabaka]

I think I've read that HT thread before. Some good info there.

One thing I would like to try someday is to build a super high compression A20 to run exclusively E85. I know it wouldn't make as much power as a turbo but it would be neat to find out just how much power an A20 can make on commonly available fuel without a turbo.


C|

I'm planning on doing exactly that. Unfortunately fundage is low, so the build is going very slowly. Baby steps.

[cygnus x-1]

I'm planning on doing exactly that. Unfortunately fundage is low, so the build is going very slowly. Baby steps.


Cool. Have you figured out what CR you want yet? Supposedly you can run up to 14:1 or more.


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[turabaka]

Cool. Have you figured out what CR you want yet? Supposedly you can run up to 14:1 or more.


C|

I'm shooting for 14:1 compression, but I know a guy that runs sprint cars with 2.5 liter 4 cylinder ford motors and he says some of them are running 15:1 on e85.