Alternative Fuels, E-85, Propane, Water Injection, etc...

Oct 2, 2006
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Denver
Are any of you running alternative fuels in your Supras? I've spent the better half of an hour doing back searches on this site and couldn't find any hits. So if there are any other threads about flex fuel, I appologize if any of the following questions and info have been repeated. I didn't see anything so far.

Anyway...

I am considering converting my '88 GTE over to E-85. Several people that I know run E-85 in their vehicles. None of them are 7M, 1G, 1UZ or JZ powered, but I have seen increase in horsepower, increase in torque and increasingly lower EGT numbers on a number of other charged and N/A cars that have run E-85, on friends cars here in town. I couldn't believe the difference it made in my friends Eaton charged 3.8L in his GTP.

I am also a member of a Mopar forum and a lot of the 2.2T and 2.4T SRT guys swear by the stuff. It hurts your MPG/KPG numbers, but only because the engine physically goes through more fluid, but because it's significantly cheaper, your $PG ratio goes to your benefit over gasoline, aside from many other benefits that help the engine and the rest of the fuel/ exhaust system.

This is because E-85 has a lower BTU rating than just gasoline and burns much cleaner than gasoline. It acutally cleans and cools your fuel system, so you have to watch your fuel filter in a vehicle that had gasoline run in it.

The BTUs are much to the same that pure alcohol has. The reason that alcohol isn't sold at fuel stations is because it's dangerous. It burns so clean that you can't even see it burn most of the time, due to it's low BTU rating.

As I understand it, the engine will run lean using E-85 with the same A/F measurements used for gasoline.

Paxton and Pro-Charger both actually recommend the use of E-85 in boosted engines, due to the lower EGT levels and higher 102 min. octane that E-85 has. I would imagine that a turbocharged engine would benefit even more from having lower EGT and engine temperatures in general, especially one that is intercooled. And because it burns cleaner and more efficiently than gasoline, you see less cylinder wash as well, which I would think to be critical on a turbocharged engine.


I know that the GM guys just put an 8amp resistor in one of the lines for the air temp sensor, to alter the signal sent to the ECU, making it think that the engine is running cooler, so it increases the fuel in A/F ratio to compensate for the leaner running fuel. This appearantly doesn't trigger the OBDII system in any way.

The kits that I see sold are nothing more than some kind of relay that goes between the injectors and harness, simply increasing the span of each injector pulse. I have converted some of my older carbureted vehicles over to E-85 and all I had to do was go one or two steps up in jet/rod size and richen the idle mixture. I was also able to advance the initial timing a couple of degrees due to the added octane over regular, mid-grade and even most premium fuels.

I have also seen some SRT4 Neons and a few older 2.2 Omnis running E-85 with water injection, which I thought would be nice to do too. I am familiar with how water injection works, but for the time being, I'm just looking for some lower EGT numbers, a few more ponies and maybe some torque, as well as keeping my wallet a little fatter after leaving the gas station. hahaha...

I have been told that the economics of going all E-85 over gasoline isn't entirely bulletproof on a massive scale and the reasons why, but I still think for individuals looking into monkeying around in their garage with their toys, it can provide a lot of benefits, especially on a boosted engine.

So what are your thoughts? I'd love to hear from anyone running this stuff in their Toyota powerplants, along with what modifications they did in order to change the A/F ratio slightly richer to run it properly.

I think it would be rad to have a flex fuel Supra at the flip of a switch, if at all possible. If nothing else, at least be able to run the distilled corn in my tank for the benefit of the engine over conventional gasoline.

Check these clips out-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkHOpVZXOjc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1_3rfK3yiY

Just so you know, when he's speaking about the valves and seats, he's talking about a hardened exhaust valve seat for unleadded fuel. He's getting away with making this comparison, because if you listen carefully at what was not being said, he never specified who he was addressing in comparison and some of the people who he may adressing, may in fact be interested in converting their pre-unleadded fuel cars over to E-85. The seats corrode because you can't run unleadded without hardened seats that almost all cars have now. Tricky!

This is the follow up video-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-MNQFlRilE

Mind you, this is with absolutely no compensation to run the engine richer, whatsoever, like it's supposed to be (which is what he is getting at towards the end of the video).

Thanks for any input or thoughts!

Dave
 
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Oct 2, 2006
31
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Denver
Somebody has had to have used E-85 on one of these cars? It's like cheap race fuel!

Well, if nobody has any input, I will take it upon myself to document how I convert my car over to E-85. Turbocharged cars benefit immensely from this stuff, due to it's lower BTU's and high octane. Lower exhaust gas temperatures, 102 octane that burns cleaner, keeps my fuel pump alive longer and cleans my valves for $.30-$.50 cheaper per gallon seems like a no-brainer to me.

Does anyone know what the easiest way to trick the ECU into thinking that the car is running lean, to compensate and add fuel? There has to be something I can do to the AFM lines or maybe o2 sensor?

It doesn't need that much more fuel. In fact, it will run on this stuff without doing anything to the car, but it will throw a lean A/F code unless I can add a little more fuel.

Any input on how to do that with these systems would be greatly appreciated.

I really want to try this!
 

DangoAZ

Driver
Jun 13, 2007
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Flagstaff, AZ
I like where you're head is at... I think it would be a great idea. One benefit you forgot about is the latent cooling effect that running E85 would bring. If you are putting more fuel into the motor, you are also evaporating more mass. And during that evaporation, you get phase-change cooling.

So, coupled with higher effective octane and more evaporation for latent cooling, you should also be able to run a higher boost pressure into the motor without killing it with pre-detonation.

As far as how to tune your car, I would highly recommend to go with the piggy-back fuel computer route. With a piggy back ( I have the MAFT-Pro), you can add / remove fuel all you want. You'll probably want more fuel capability than the stock injectors can provide, b/c you can hit fuel cut with them on the stock turbo with a boost controller. 550's? Bigger? Don't know.

The one thing I'm not sure about, and something I hope somebody can chime in on, is how a wide-band 02 sensor would register - The same or different - because it's a different hydrocarbon being combusted. I think 02 sensors do a comparisson on out of the exhaust air with exhaust gasses oxygen content, but I'm not that well read on the theory. But if you're counting on a lambda conversion to read the exhaust gas as "stoich", then it might fool you and say it's 14.7:1 instead of the 9.765:1 that wikipedia says is stochiometric for E85. Can any experts help out here?

Never the less, I would think tuning for a different fuel would necessitate having the capability to keep an eye on AFR's.

Please keep us all posted on what you find out, and how you end up running the fuel. I think it's cool that you're trying.
 
Oct 2, 2006
31
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Denver
I'm convinced that it's worth trying to do after seeing vehicles that were run lean on the stuff and even so had consiquently fewer problems than gasoline. The clip in the video showing the pump core damage on the gasoline ran pump compared to the one that ran on E-85 blew my mind.

I did forget to mention that you will see cooler internal temps as well. I'm betting that turbochargers love this stuff.

I did get a ton of info from the other thread about Dok's E-85 2jz project. It did mention that the o2 sensor will read differently, but you only need to run it through a piggyback of your choice to alter signal to the ECU, similar to the MAFT and how it messes with the AFR.

I think I will go with larger injectors. Most injectors run at 80% full, before going static and you never want to run them at 100% static load, because it doesn't allow for the coils to cool off and simply put, just wears them out.

It seems to me that everywhere I read about converting a car to E-85, the problems persist in not doing the correct AFR mods and actually has little or nothing to do with the fuel itself.

I may look into getting a pump that is made for moonshine, though. I have heared a lot of testemony, as well as I have seen testemony of people getting 100,000+ out of pumps made for gasoline, so even if I just went with a higher pressure FP made for gas, it would likely do okay. Although if I'm in there doing the pump, I might as well just run something that is gauranteed to hold up to alcohol.

I'm going to convert all of my cars over to a flex fuel based system. My carbureted engines should prove a lot easier to do.

You simply run the fuel system at 130% and do whatever it takes to get it there.

When I get this all in order, I'll post what I find. For the time being, my modifications are going to start from a stock GTE with a stock trim CT26. Then if I ever decide to go bigger, I'll adjust the fuel mapping accordingly.

I like the idea of going with a computer controlled regulator for the fuel. That would make it nice to keep the car flex fuel. I'll have to play around with some injector CC numbers to run both types of fuel, leaning towards E-85. More and more E-85 pumps are popping up in places. Right now, I'm thinking that a 600CC injector would be about right for a stock conversion.
 

MDCmotorsports

Offical SM Expert: Turbochargers
SM Expert
Mar 31, 2005
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Ok slick - I stopped reading your post because of your "fear mongering" right off the bat.

ALCOHOL FUELS ARE NOT DANGEROUS.

They burn cooler than gasoline/petrol based fuels and can be put out with simple water.

The only thing that makes alcohol dangerous is the fact that is does burn clear (no visible flame) in broad daylight.

They have tried for years to insert a compound to make it burn different colors without hurting the properties of the alcohol, but without success.

That said, in the event of a fire, you can feel the heat before you see it. You can also see the other materials around the alcohol flame catch fire (read seat cushions, paint, etc all make really nice colors.)

Also, take a look at this thread:

http://www.supramania.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67703

Im working on this as we speak...

As for your E85, the reason its 15% gasoline is because of the ATF. If its 100% corn/grain (ethanol), then it gets taxed the same as Jack Daniels does.

If the alcohol fuel contains at least 15% petrol based fuel, then walah! No more ATF tax.

This in a way, may help our fuel systems though.

Alcohols, especially methanol, is highly corrosive to aluminum parts when evaporating (read wet fuel is aok).

The 15% gasoline will help with the corrosiveness of the alcohol in the fuel pump, injectors etc, and may help with lubrication of the fuel systems working parts.

To add:

-Alcohol provides more torque than gasoline
-Alcohol burns cooler than gasoline
-An alcohol fueled engine will go further on an oil change than a gasoline engine due to the fact there are lower carbon deposits making their way into the oil through the combustion cycles.
-Ethanol engines when NOT burning oil, have ALMOST ZERO emissions. Water, CO2.
-Methanol engines when NOT burning oil, have SOME emissions. Water, CO2, Formaldehyde.
-Alcohol based engines can run spark plugs up to 4 times longer than a gasoline engine
-Alcohol based engines can last longer than gasoline engines due to the cooler combustion temps.

Now, something for you to ponder (which has already been done, and I have no clue why its not here in the US)

"Engine #1: 3 liters of pure turbo charged power. Gasoline. 300 hp. 14mpg. Must run on 92+ octane to remain at peak performance. Weighs 500lbs+

Engine #2: 1.2 liters (read Hyabussa engine) of pure turbo charged power. Alcohol. 300hp. 14-18mpg. Must run E85 or E100. Weights less than 300lbs

So now you have an engine, almost half the displacement, almost half the weight, the same MPG, and making the same horsepower.

Sure the torque might not be there, but think....

-Engine #2 will require less spark plugs
-Engine #2 will require less oil changes
-Engine #2 requires less oil per oil change
-Engine #2 burns almost 100% clean"


Just something to think about when those crazy liberals tell you, 'But it takes more fuel to go the same distance so lets just stick with gas!'

BS I say, BS!
 

figgie

Supramania Contributor
Mar 30, 2005
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MDC


someone gets it outside of me! :)

If a motor is built from the get go for e85 useage ONLY!! Like Deisel, you actually get an increase in MPG as now you are running higher compression.

OP

I have been running E85 in my car for 4 years going on 5 ;)
 
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