Lets talk E85, i just ran it w/o many upgrades.....

[FrankenStang]

Well. My car has the current mod(see signature)..I was reading around on the internet and read alot of conflicting stuff about E85...I read where they ran it in a stock 1998 silverado 1500 for over 100K miles and the engine looked cleaner than if they ran it on regular gas,so they said and they COULD have eddited the pictures but i doubt it..And then i read where they say you cant run E85 unless you upgrade your whole fuel system from pump,lines,and injectors...And even then its still going to take alot of tuning they said..
WELL, i ran E85 with my current mods and i ahve a brand new fuel filter,no cat converters,a 93oct tune provided by my Superchips tuner and my fuel injectors are 1 month old..I ran the E85 for 50 miles today about 50/50 city and highway.The car ran GREAT! My hoppy engine at idle when in drive was gone,it ran just as fast if not faster but yet made the engine sound quieter and sounded like it didnt have to run as hard for the power..I also throw 11 cel codes from no cat converters and no rear o2 sensors.After running the E85 for those 50 some miles i checked the codes again and wouldnt you know it, the lean codes were gone and all it was throwing was for no cats and no rear o2's..So im shur it makes it run a little richer probly due to the high octane rating but i could be wrong..any one else running E85 in any conditions?? ive been thinking about selling off some of my parts and superchips tuner to fund an xcal and have it tuned for E85 and then run a 255lph fuel pump and 24lb injects and a larger mafs..BUT as of rite now its runing fine asis..
What problems could i run into by doing this? And do you think that E85 is down played so much because the big name oil companies dont want it cutting into their proffits???? It is made locally,cheap to produce and abundant..

 

[forcefedhatch]

That's odd cause you need about 46% more e85 to equal the amount of but able fuel from pump.. When we switched to e85 in the STI minimum injector size was 1000cc/ we opted for larger but on pump we ran 650's no prob..


Sent from my iPhone

 

[the.greg]

^yeah, generally people that run e85 have to use a bigger fuel pump and injectors. I'm not sure that you would see any real benefit from your setup by running e85. Is your superchips tune a dyno or data logged tune, or just a pre-canned tune?

 

[SVTurbo 98]

Be careful! E85 burns roughly 35% more than unleaded to make the same power which means you need a bigger fuel system to make the same power you currently have. You're going to go lean if you don't have the fuel system. It should also be tuned for it or it's not doing you any good.

 

[FrankenStang]

well befor i ran E85 i was lean on bank 1 and 2...now on e85 the lean code is gone...the fuel pump doesnt whine at all..and can i ask you why you say it requires more fuel by volume??? can you explain this in numbers to me..it does have a 105 octane rating which determines its combustability..It isnt thicker than gas so why would it be harder to flow? according to the charts ive read online a FL oz. of e85 combusts more than the equivilant of regular or premium..I can maby see that it does burn at a faster rate due to its higher octance rating and alochol content..But my tuner also has cooling settings on it and im running a lower degree thermostat..And actually another thing i knowticed that cleared up is....when id shut my car off after running for more than 15min i would hear i guess you could call it a ping ping ping here and there when i shut it off..now, nothing and even a better idle...My car shows no codes for running rich or lean now but that could change as it adapts, but i figured it woulda happened withing the 1st 15min of driving.I felt the diffrence rite after fill up, instant better idle, healthier sounding engine, and no loss of power at any speed...still gives a nice squak through 1st and a nice loud chirp into 2nd and the serpentine belt squeeks as she goes into 3rd(lol sound like a b.o.v)...Im going to look into the flex fuel cars injector sizes and fuel systems as compared to the same year car but not flexfuel compadable..Now i bet tha say a little toyota from like 92 would have trouble..But these engines stock have room to spare and mine isnt exactly stock, but it not built up or anything...

 

[FrankenStang]

and the superchips is a pre canned tuner... has a code clearer/reader a 93 oct tune,better shift points, cooling settings to match the thermostat, no rev limiters or speed limiter and can adjust the speedo for gears and will work for the ecu if i ever flipped it to manual..its actually a pretty cool little tuner.
And im pretty shur that e85 burns cooler so it combusts at a lower temp, which again conflicts with needing a larger fuel system..

 

[the.greg]

On a basically stock pi setup, you really wont see any power gains by running e85. Most people that run it have built high compression motors or forced induction. e85 has a higher octane rating yes, but it also requires more fuel, about 30ish% more thus the "need" for bigger fuel pumps/injectors. Also e85 requires a different tune than regular gas because with e85 you want a significantly lower AFR than with regular gas. Here is a bit old, but still relevant article that may help you understand it a bit more. http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/hrdp_0801_e85_ethanol_alternative_fuel/viewall.html

Honestly you would probably just be better with your setup getting a real dyno tune done to help it idle better and possibly get rid of any lean codes. I bet the superchip is what is causing the lean codes since it is a precanned tune. Also atleast on mustangs, they didn't get a digital speedo til 1999 and newer so the tuner actually cant fix rear-end gear changes, since pre 1999 have mechanical speedos (assuming your cougar is the same as a mustang?)
Best of luck with your ride

 

[SVTurbo 98]

Often times "lean codes" don't mean you are running lean but the opposite. Example, when an o2 sensor goes out you'll get a trouble code saying you are running lean in bank 1 or 2 when you are actually running rich because the computer is compensating for the fault code by adding fuel...as designed. It's a well know fact that e85 has less energy content than gasoline because of it's lower stoich afr and lower heating values which is why it burns cooler than gasoline. A stoich afr mixture for gasoline is 14.7 where as the stoich mixture for e85 is 9.7. It just take more e85 per unit of air to get to the stoich afr than it does gasoline. If you don't believe me and you want to keep running e85 just pay attention to your fuel consumption. You can do whatever you want but I promise you were running rich before and that's why it seems to be running better now. I'd be concerned about how lean it could be right now and running your injectors at 100% duty cycle and what not. I will say E85 is awesome for high compression and blown/turbo cars but you still have compensate for it being less energy efficient. Hell all I run is e85 now because it's the shit but I also have a big fuel system and a good tune to go along with it.

 

[SVTurbo 98]

BTW here's a good chart to give you an good comparison between e85 and gasoline

FUELS DATA

 

[SVTurbo 98]

Honestly you would probably just be better with your setup getting a real dyno tune done to help it idle better and possibly get rid of any lean codes. I bet the superchip is what is causing the lean codes since it is a precanned tune. Also atleast on mustangs, they didn't get a digital speedo til 1999 and newer so the tuner actually cant fix rear-end gear changes, since pre 1999 have mechanical speedos (assuming your cougar is the same as a mustang?)
Best of luck with your ride

Good advice

 

[CobraClone94]

I thought the main reason for the fuel system (lines and tank) is because e85 is corrisive??? running it in a normal setup will slowly destory your lines and tank...?????

 

[CC'S95GT]

I thought the main reason for the fuel system (lines and tank) is because e85 is corrisive??? running it in a normal setup will slowly destory your lines and tank...?????

I had heard that also.

 

[SVTurbo 98]

I thought the main reason for the fuel system (lines and tank) is because e85 is corrisive??? running it in a normal setup will slowly destory your lines and tank...?????

No that's a common misunderstanding/myth about e85. In reality isn't not much more corrosive than gasoline. Here is a link if you want to read up on some more common about e85.

Ethanol Myths Busted - E85 Conversion Kits Change2E85.com

 

[MadStang]

running e85 on my n/a modular no problem. :shrug:

 

[FrankenStang]

i wasnt looking into it so much as for extra HP...just a change of pace.Its cheaper and im not support those middleeastern assholes..Im supporting good ole wisconsin farmers.And ille look more into the tuning ina bit because i dont know how much longer im going to have this cougar.I have all id need besides the tune to run the e85...24lb injectors,a 255lph fuelpump, and an 80mm maf...all just sitting collecting dust as of rite now...

 

[MadStang]

i wasnt looking into it so much as for extra HP...just a change of pace.Its cheaper and im not support those middleeastern assholes..Im supporting good ole wisconsin farmers.And ille look more into the tuning ina bit because i dont know how much longer im going to have this cougar.I have all id need besides the tune to run the e85...24lb injectors,a 255lph fuelpump, and an 80mm maf...all just sitting collecting dust as of rite now...

you're still supporting them by 15% lol

 

[RichV]

I would put in on a dyno and watch A/F like a hawk. The E85 is much less efficient than gasoline, therefore you need more to create the same bang. In a nutshell, to make the same HP you need larger injectors, significantly larger. That's why flex fuel vehicles get worse gas mileage with E85, you need more of it to run the same miles.

And, it is corrosive. Gaskets and seals need to be compatible or you'll get leaks, maybe not now but eventually.

 

[FrankenStang]

ive read that e85 being more corrisve is a myth...it can be on vehicles from the 80's befor the good rubber compunds were incorperated into the cars systems as well as other features...gas has uptp 15% ethonol init as is so why wouldnt that corrode the system? I understand its more concentraded but no where with new information have they metioned anything about the selas issues..liek i said, they ran it in a stock chevy 1500 for 100,000 miles with no upgrades..and yes, e85 does get worse mileage due to needing to burn more of it..but its not that much worse from what im seeing..

 

[MadStang]

ive read that e85 being more corrisve is a myth...it can be on vehicles from the 80's befor the good rubber compunds were incorperated into the cars systems as well as other features...gas has uptp 15% ethonol init as is so why wouldnt that corrode the system? I understand its more concentraded but no where with new information have they metioned anything about the selas issues..liek i said, they ran it in a stock chevy 1500 for 100,000 miles with no upgrades..and yes, e85 does get worse mileage due to needing to burn more of it..but its not that much worse from what im seeing..

compression plays a huge factor as well. the more compression the less fuel you'll need to burn. I'm at 13.7:1 CR, the perfect CR for equal fuel consumption is 16:1. With as aggressive of a setup as I have, I really did not expect anywhere above 15mpg in the city. Currently I get about 17 and 20 highway. not bad for an aggressive setup, even better I still get to enjoy the benefits of an a/c'd car.

 

[FrankenStang]

hahah ya, ille never rid my ac and power windows...its nice ebating people with cold air in the cabbi, system blasting, leather seats and all...thats the one thing i like about my car...room to spare and comfort...