E85 Ethanol Fuel

[Leford]

Hi people! I live in Paraguay, South America. Here the fuel have Alcohol at 18%. I have a 92 Explorer Sport and I use this fuel. It works fine!

 

[jp450]

i think you need a retune, and its not recomended in cold environments. (thats what i've gathered from this thread)

Why is it that the cold environments ie. Minnesota have the largest amount of E85 users?

Jeff

 

[alexefron]

as far as i know the only place e85 is currently sold in large quantities in the us is the midwest, because thats where the ethanol is made.

 

[95offroadx]

yea when is this stuff comin to the northeast?

 

[mynameisaric]

probly by the time it got shipped over it would be as expensive as regular fuel, and people say you get worse mileage.... so i dont think it would be worth it. right now ethanol is only 10... maybe 20 cents below 87. not worth the retune and lost mileage to me. plus finding a station is kind of difficult since not every station offers the fuel yet... even in the midwest. i guess its pretty big in iowa though.

 

[Fordguy2000]

I am trying to get something straight in my head. Can someone explain how the in-tank fuel pump (whether in a FFV or a standard gasoline-only car) doesn't short out due to the greatly increased electrical conductivity of Ethanol? Apparently they don't, but just wondering why not.
Thanks.

 

[uh60james]

I dont have first hand experience with running it, but I did a entire report on ethanol fuels for one of my engineering classes. Basically any car can run ethanol, the only reason they limit the cars is liability. Older carbed cars cant run it becuase of rubber parts (like gaskets and fittings) which the ethanol will actually degrease and eventually break down. As long as your car is FI, you should be good to go (or even a carbed car as long as newer parts are being used). As far as the exhaust, it is not bad. The major bi-product is NOx, which breaks down mucous membranes. So if you have a runny nose, go sniff your exhaust for a little bit. As far as getting lower MPG, I never heard of that, I woulda thought the other way around, but like I said before, no first hand experience.
On another note, you can make your own ethanol Biofuel for about 60some cents a gallon or even cheaper. Just get food waste (corn, potatoes, breads, ect.) and make a distillary, there is a website on how to do it for like $30 in parts from lowes. Make sure you use food waste, that way you cant get in trouble for moonshining as it wont be suitable to drink if you use waste. The guys who run the site have a prison nearby and go every day after lunch and collect the leftovers for free and use that to make ethanol. So many possibilities....
As much research as I did, I cant be held responsible for any damages to your car if you decide to do it, but you already knew that.

What is the website?
Is this for diesel vehicles only?

 

[Fordguy2000]

I am trying to get something straight in my head. Can someone explain how the in-tank fuel pump (whether in a FFV or a standard gasoline-only car) doesn't short out due to the greatly increased electrical conductivity of Ethanol? Apparently they don't, but just wondering why not.
Thanks.

Does anybody have any input on this?
Thanks for any input!

 

[jp450]

Does anybody have any input on this?
Thanks for any input!

I wouldnt think that the electrical connections even come into cantact with the fuel in the tank. That would be very dangerous as any little spark may cause an explosion if the conditions in the tank were right. Even with regular gasoline... I would imagine that the pumps, connections etc would be intrinsically isolated from any fuel or vapors.

Jeff