Can we use E85 ethonal gas in our cars?

[Rstubenrauch]

A normal car can most likely run on up to 50% ethanol. To be safe, a safety factor limits normal pump gas to 10 or 15% I think. At the 85% level your average car would last about 1,000 miles before the normal rubber parts in the fuel delivery system would start getting small holes. Eventually, they'd break and you'd be stuck.

The average car can be "converted" to E85 with about $100 worth of parts. Where I am we have 10 E85 stations within a 20 mile radius. I don't see a lot of people filling up at them though.

[Janizary]

Pat Goss on E85 conversions for 'normal cars': It is a lot more than $100 worth of parts, depending on several factors of how your petrol engine is built:

Originally Posted by Pat Goss

Beginning right at the beginning, where you put the fuel in all of this stuff is different. The hoses are different, the wiring connections are different, there's a flame arrestor, there's an anti-siphon valve, all kinds of things that have to be changed to make this system work.


But it gets worse. The fuel pump, the capsule assembly, the fuel gauge, all of these things inside the tank are different, so you have to change that. Even the tank itself, if it happens to be steel and a product called Turn Metal, will have problems if you use E-85.

Then under the hood of the car, the fuel rail itself that distributes the fuel to the fuel injectors has to be stainless steel. The injectors have to be changed, they have to be bigger and they have to be made of a different material.


Then the computer that controls the injectors has to be different, has to be able to operate and control things relative to gasoline or E-85.


How does it know? Well, it knows by this fuel identifier that has to be installed in the system. It tells the computer which program to use based on the fuel that's moving through it.


So, if you think that's all, no, there's more coming up. See buried way deep in the engine; valves, intake and exhaust valves and valve seats. We have valves here, we have valve seats, you can see them in the cylinder head. They are different; they are made of a metal that doesn't erode when you use ethanol. So you're looking at a major operation right there: the cylinder heads have to be replaced.

All of this makes it absolutely impractical to convert a non flex-fuel vehicle into a flex-fuel vehicle. Save your money, drive more gently and you will be doing your part.

That said some folks ran their 2000 Chevy Tahoe, not a flex-fuel vehicle, exclusively on E85 for 100,000 miles. Then they stripped down the engine and took a look. Everything looked fine. Fuel lines, fuel pumps, etc. In fact, they say a few things looked better than normal. The video includes a look at the parts of the engine from that Tahoe.

/stir, stir, stir

Can any car use E85? - AutoblogGreen

[volvo9]

Originally Posted by Rstubenrauch

The average car can be "converted" to E85 with about $100 worth of parts. Where I am we have 10 E85 stations within a 20 mile radius. I don't see a lot of people filling up at them though.

Wow that's a lot of stations! I really want to fill up with it some day just for the hell of it. The midwest has a ton of stations but they quickly dwindle down to practically nothing everywhere else. What's the current price for it? Last I heard it was a good deal cheaper than gas but you got a good deal less miles per gallon so you kind of break even.

The one station that's in MA is about 45 minutes from me in an area I'd never be in unless my job sends me, which hasn't happened yet in 2 years.

[CanyonDriver]

i know one person that uses half E85 and half 91 octane in his EVO IX but he has 2 Bosch fuel pumps, high flow fuel rail, and 700something CC injectors. Thats pretty much the only time you can use it. Big turbo, big fuel system.

[volvo9]

Originally Posted by CanyonDriver

i know one person that uses half E85 and half 91 octane in his EVO IX but he has 2 Bosch fuel pumps, high flow fuel rail, and 700something CC injectors. Thats pretty much the only time you can use it. Big turbo, big fuel system.

Well you can really use it whenever you wan but you have to make the proper changes with the fuel system. There are also cars adapted to this from the factory which can run on e85 with no changes.

[fiji06si13]

go find someone that has 85 octane and see what it does to the piston heads on your motor.....they will look like the moon in a week.....in the Si it calls for 91 octane....Why? Because it has high compression and was designed to run on this...I still don't understand why anyone with an Si would use gas that isn't reccomended in the vehicle.
If you wanted to use 87 octane you should have gotten a R18 Civic....
Better yet just piss in your gas tank see if it runs....

[bkarno]

Originally Posted by fiji06si13

go find someone that has 85 octane and see what it does to the piston heads on your motor.....they will look like the moon in a week.....in the Si it calls for 91 octane....Why? Because it has high compression and was designed to run on this...I still don't understand why anyone with an Si would use gas that isn't reccomended in the vehicle.
If you wanted to use 87 octane you should have gotten a R18 Civic....
Better yet just piss in your gas tank see if it runs....

E85 does not mean 85 octane!

Learn about it here, and never put in in your Si!!! End of Story!!!!!

E85 and gas mileage: Where lies the truth?

E85 Fleet Toolkit: E85 Specifications

[Kurz]

Originally Posted by fiji06si13

go find someone that has 85 octane and see what it does to the piston heads on your motor.....they will look like the moon in a week.....in the Si it calls for 91 octane....Why? Because it has high compression and was designed to run on this...I still don't understand why anyone with an Si would use gas that isn't reccomended in the vehicle.
If you wanted to use 87 octane you should have gotten a R18 Civic....
Better yet just piss in your gas tank see if it runs....

Maybe because auto companies are scared to be sued and they rather prevent that 1 in a million chance if someone does use 87 in an SI.

You can definitely use 87 in an SI if you don't Vtec.

[SilentBob420BMFJ]

fyi, ALL gas has up to 10% ethanol (or at least unleaded does; it says it right on the button) no matter where you live, and i think e85 ethanol is something completely different.. what makes the most sense is to wiki e85

and i agree with the person who said he doesnt understand why people are wanting to put non-recommended gas in the si

[volvo9]

Originally Posted by fiji06si13

go find someone that has 85 octane and see what it does to the piston heads on your motor

You've mistaken E85 with regular gasoline. E85 is 85% Ethanol Alcohol and 15% gas. It's octane rating is about 100-105, much higher than premium gas.

[fiji06si13]

Originally Posted by bkarno

E85 does not mean 85 octane!

Learn about it here, and never put in in your Si!!! End of Story!!!!!

E85 and gas mileage: Where lies the truth?

E85 Fleet Toolkit: E85 Specifications

Thank you for the clarification....
But still why would you want to put something that costs more and needs more to run your car?
My solution is to wait and see how the FCX does...I would totally buy this as a commuter car to get to and from work. I think honda is way ahead of the Detroit 3 in inovation...

[fiji06si13]

There is always someone out there that loves to go against the grain......
People always need to make things difficult....
I think I will go ahead and put 20w-50 in my car just because the oil containers have checkered flags on it....

[DarkSi08]

Why would people want to do it? Stop with the propaganda, and start with the facts:

It costs about $2.85 here in Indianapolis for E85, which is 104 octane. Premium (93 Octane) gas was $4.01 when I filled up yesterday. $1.16/gallon is a pretty big difference - that's about $14 difference for a full tank of gas.

Yes, you'll see a drop in fuel economy, but typically not more than a few mpg, at most. That is because the caloric content of E85 is lower than traditional fuels. You still make out (even if just a little) by running E85. Besides, you're likely talking about getting, say, 285 miles out of a tank, instead of 315.

Do I think E85 is a good idea? Not at all. It WILL increase the cost of food, etc, if distribution becomes large enough, especially with our recent history of droughts and wildfires across the US. I do, however, understand why someone would want to run it. If it wouldn't affect food production so much, E85 would be an incredible solution to our fuel 'issues'.

[Janizary]

E85 is only $0.20 cents cheaper than regular petrol here in Vegas. Interesting that you have such a large difference in price there.

[jpicc]

Originally Posted by Kurz

Maybe because auto companies are scared to be sued and they rather prevent that 1 in a million chance if someone does use 87 in an SI.

You can definitely use 87 in an SI if you don't Vtec.

I pretty much only use 87 in mine, but then again I'm sure I'm a lot easier on the car then most people are.

[DarkSi08]

Janizary - Now that we're up to $4.10/gallon for premium here, E85 has actually gone up to just about $3.00/gallon.

jpicc - You realize that, if there was a $.30 difference (larger diff. than most places) between a gallon of 87, and a gallon of 93, you'd only be saving yourself about $3.60 for a full tank of gas, right? And that's worth it to you? That seems like a pretty stupid trade-off to me. If you're worried about less than $4 every time you fill your tank to use the 'REQUIRED' (note: not 'recommended') fuel grade, then you should have stuck with something a little cheaper and more economical than an Si. Just my 2 cents.