10% ethanol blend at the pumps

[turbobuickman]

I've noticed in my area that some pumps contain 10% ethanol in the gasoline and it got me wondering... First, should I avoid running this blend if I have alcohol injection since its probably a lower grade gas whose octane has been raised by the ethanol and also to avoid running too strong an alcohol mixture? And on a side note, could using this blend help lower emissions?

 

[woody14342]

I havent seen this 10% yet. I see this commerical on tv all the time about this stuff called E85, sapposed to be 85% ethanol and 15% gas and they say the octane rateing is between 100-105. I have no idea if this stuff could be used in our cars maybe someone else can chime in on that one!

 

[WSLN 6]

I have run the 10% blend for 6 years, no problems. That is 94 octane here.

 

[onefastcar]

I would think ethanol would be better due to the alcohol content and i'm sure it has additives for lubrication also but i'll do a search on it and report back.

 

[Marc87GN]

I see that 10% sticker on ever Mobil Gas station I go to here.

 

[Blown&Injected]

Have not noticed it in MD.

I would think that the 85% ethanol would require a different (richer) AF program for any normal gasoline engine

 

[woody14342]

From what ive read on some past forums on here your right. They say it takes more fuel to burn at the same rate with the ethanol mix. Im sure it would take a special chip.

 

[wagon]

I havent seen this 10% yet. I see this commerical on tv all the time about this stuff called E85, sapposed to be 85% ethanol and 15% gas and they say the octane rateing is between 100-105. I have no idea if this stuff could be used in our cars maybe someone else can chime in on that one!

No, this can't be use on our cars. Well, not exactly. They have cars out there that are called flex fuel or flexible fuel vehicles that can run this without changes. There are several cars out there that can do this with no changes from it's factory original state. Supposedly any car can be changed to run it, how much needs to be changed depends on how old the car is. I tried to find out just what needs to be changed to run it, but couldn't find it in a decent amount of time, and just stopped looking.
You can search on E85, and Flex fuel vehicles, and find the list of cars that are capable right out of the box, or if you want, you can look further into what is involved in converting a car. Although if there aren't a ton of fuel stations around, then I don't see it being a good alternative fuel, unless you can go back and forth. That might not be a hard thing to do though. You could have a different chip burned, or a thumbwheel chip with different settings, or a different program for your FAST GenVII, etc. (Speculation/Assumption)

 

[Killa-Cotton]

I've not run the mix in my GN yet but I have in the TurboCoupe and it pings like crazy. Jusy my 2 cents.

 

[woody14342]

Im sure it takes some converting. I really dont know if it would be worth it since it take more fuel to burn at the same rate.

 

[rubes]

Virtually every staion here in Chicagoland has the label "...MAY contain UP TO 10%..." and has for years. So my first question would be how can you tell? And then, I assume the stoich would be different for this compared to 14.7 for pure gasoline, so tweakage of fuel and A/F tables would be needed.

E85 is completely different, and from what I read is NOT useable in a regular car.

 

[bison]

Virtually every staion here in Chicagoland has the label "...MAY contain UP TO 10%..." and has for years. So my first question would be how can you tell? And then, I assume the stoich would be different for this compared to 14.7 for pure gasoline, so tweakage of fuel and A/F tables would be needed.

E85 is completely different, and from what I read is NOT useable in a regular car.

E85 could be used in our cars if the fuel system and engine management could support it. Much larger fuel injectors and much bigger or multiple fuel pumps and new fuel maps. If i remember correctly years ago ATR had a few E85 TR's that ran strong for their time.

 

[rubes]

OK...that is the more correct answer. I guess I was just saying it is not interchangeable with "regular" fuel...the car can be setup to use one or the other, but not both at the same time. We'll I guess thats not true either. If the Flex fuel vehicles from GM can do it we can too (maybe the program switch function in a FAST XFI?). There certainly is no cost benifit to it, since E85 cost just as much if not more than normal fuel.

 

[bison]

OK...that is the more correct answer. I guess I was just saying it is not interchangeable with "regular" fuel...the car can be setup to use one or the other, but not both at the same time. We'll I guess thats not true either. If the Flex fuel vehicles from GM can do it we can too (maybe the program switch function in a FAST XFI?). There certainly is no cost benifit to it, since E85 cost just as much if not more than normal fuel.

If the car had low enough hp it could be done on one set of injectors i would think. The engine management would have to be swithched over for either type of fuel though, and no doubt a wide band o2 would be needed also. On a high hp car the amount of injector and pump needed would make it tough to use just one set of big injectors.Maybe two sets of injectors could be employed and only one set run with regular gasoline and the others come on for the E85? It would be very easy to go 100% alky at that point. Though it doesnt start well in cold weather. What is th R+M/2 rating of E85? I would bet its a lot more than 93. That would be our benefit. Its still not cost effective now but may be in the future.

 

[rubes]

According to http://www.e85fuel.com the octane rating is 105. that site also says that converting a car is possible, but not realistic.

There was a guy on Maliburacing.com (he's most likely here too) that was building a turbo6 with dual fuel systems.

 

[bison]

According to http://www.e85fuel.com the octane rating is 105. that site also says that converting a car is possible, but not realistic.

There was a guy on Maliburacing.com (he's most likely here too) that was building a turbo6 with dual fuel systems.

Its realistic to me and a lot of people on this site. Anyone with a basic knowledge of fuel systems and stand alone engine management systems could do it.

 

[Louster38]

from what i read at the e85 website, converting your car to run on e85 if it was originally meant to run on unleaded fuel is actually illegal to do, which seems strange. also, "The differences in fuel injector size, air-fuel ratio, PCM calibrations, material composition of the fuel lines, pumps and tanks are just a few of the components that contribute to making an E85 conversion extremely complex."

 

[rubes]

Its realistic to me and a lot of people on this site. Anyone with a basic knowledge of fuel systems and stand alone engine management systems could do it.

I aggree