What does it take to go E85? Advantages/Disadvantages?

[figgie]

Okay then, I think I grasp it now.

Generally speaking (ignoring any potential ill effects of E85 on a MK3 fuel system because there are no "hard facts", just warnings to be aware...) E85 allows you to do adjustments to the engine that will allow for more HP over normal pump gas.

No. If you do not change ANYTHING except go from Gasoline to E85 and Adjust fuel system to safely run it by increasing fuel flow until correct lambda is reached for the application at hand. You will produce more "power". No Need to change piston compression, or head design or anything else.

Generally speaking its the same effect as meth injection. You cannot easily top the 600 HP lvl without meth injection because your engine (7MGTE and the JZ sister) will be too prone to detonation.

So... E85 is better for a tuner.
Pump gas is better for a normal daily driver.
(with caveats about possible fuel system issues with the E85 being corrosive to the fuel delivery system)
Politically, the argument is mute. There is very little "political" that isn't stupid.

If your going to track your car and you have the option of running E85 (after a tune for it) or pump gas, your better off with E85 (with a tune).

Exhaust-wise, is there any potential issues or benefits with E85 in regards to the turbo or catalytic converters? I read that there are less emissions, but I keep remembering being told not to run ethanol in my Turbo LeBaron in the late 80's (wood alchohol I believe).

In general, it is not less emissions. Just less of the bad stuff. Lower combustion tempratures => Less NOx. More efficent at burning, Higher CO2 but lot lower CO. 3 way cats need all three. NOx, CO and CO2. Perhaps a swap to a 2 way or just remove the CAT.

 

[IBoughtASupra]

There are effects of E85 on the stock MK3 fuel system. Who says there isn't?

If you don't believe me, change the injectors and pump. Fill up on E85 and tune and see what happens.

The bunch of crap in this thread is amazing. It's like how many idiots it takes to screw in a light bulb.

Dustin posted a link to find Teflon lines for cheap and great quality but a ton of you are blabbering ways to run it in the cheap...super cheap. If you are trying to run a "performance" fuel system on the cheapest fuel hose you can find, sell your car.

 

[Grandavi]

(I give up.. lol. deleted my comment until I actually grow a brain).. research time.

 

[te72]

...a ton of you are blabbering ways to run it in the cheap...super cheap. If you are trying to run a "performance" fuel system on the cheapest fuel hose you can find, sell your car.

Some things are ok to cheap out on, some things (fuel systems come to mind) on the other hand...

Anyway, I think Figgie deserves this:

 

[destrux]

Ummm, Really? What does "with a low moisture content" mean to you, apparently not what it means to me? :aigo:

100% chemically pure ethanol has a "low moisture content"!

Yeah, sorry, you're right there.

I also found out the basis for my argument was invalid too. Interestingly enough, it seems that adding 2% water to ethanol or methanol fuel actually INHIBITS corrosion of aluminum fuel system parts. Go figure. Water as a corrosion inhibitor...

It's also possible that the cars that had that problem were an isolated incident and other cars with aluminum rails wouldn't corrode as badly. Alcohol fuels are more conductive compared to gasoline fuels and they have the same issues with galvanic corrosion that we are used to seeing in engine cooling systems. It's possible those lexus models had a design flaw (or simply weren't designed for alcohol?) that made them susceptible to galvanic corrosion of the rail worse than other cars.

Something else related to that.... with ethanol you're supposed to change the type of fuel level sending unit to prevent electrifying the fuel.

To quote the research paper I found:

"Halide ions increase corrosion in two ways: they chemically attack passivating oxide films on several metals causing pitting corrosion, and they increase the conductivity of the fuel. Increased electrical conductivity promotes electrical, galvanic and ordinary corrosion in the fuel system. Soluble contaminants such as aluminum hydroxide, itself a product of corrosion by halide ions, clogs the fuel system over time. To prevent corrosion the fuel system must be made of suitable materials, electrical wires must be properly insulated and the fuel level sensor must be of pulse and hold type, magneto resistive or other similar non-contact type."

-Brinkman, N., Halsall, R., Jorgensen, S.W., & Kirwan, J.E., "The Development Of Improved Fuel Specifications for Methanol (M85) and Ethanol (Ed85), SAE Technical Paper 940764

You can find this info compiled on the wikipedia page for "alcohol fuel". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_fuel

 

[1986.5supra_kid]

oye this was alot of reading that went in circles. still curious about the comment regarding 5% less than pump gas mpg lol and i like the switching to diesel comment too haha.

 

[Austin2048]

I don't know much about e85 but back when I had my 2000 Mercury Sable (I used to run premium fuel and nothing but) I accidentally put 3 gallons of e85 in my tank before realizing it. I filled it the rest of the way with mid grade fuel (16 gallon tank I believe). It must have done something right for that 3.0 Vulcan cause I got about 60 miles more to that tank than I usually did on premium.

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