E85 question

[mackdog2008]

I have been running E85 in my car for a while now about 8k miles, would there be any benefit to run a couple tanks of 91 then switch back to E85?

I have seen a few guys say that it would be good to run clean out the system but I don't know and can't find any information about it.

 

[Blazer707@TBR]

You can if you want, I've ran E85 for a long period of time and never had an issue.

 

[03Sssnake]

I believe the Ford owners manual in the flex fuel F150 advises the switch back periodically. I try to do it once every few thousand miles ( I average a thousand miles a month). I have heard some guys never do it.

 

[mackdog2008]

I drive about 1k per month as well, I am supercharged if that makes a difference.

 

[hitmix300]

I don't worry about switching. I only do it when it's not available at the pump.

 

[oldbones]

I don't switch mine out, but I do change the oil more frequently.

 

[Famine]

What is the easiest way to quickly switch from one to the other? Seems like going back to 91 from e85 would be easy, but going to e85 from say 91 would be dangerous as far as contamination. What is the best way to drain everything in the tank? I know you can do the lines by closing off the system and turning the key on and off a few times.

 

[03Sssnake]

Most tuners will give you a tune that will only run the fuel pump. You disconnect the rail and use a fuel filter to plug in the line from the tank, run a few feet of 3/8ths fuel hose off that into a Jerry can...upload the tune, turn the key to acc pos and let the pump run till you just barely have fuel trickling out... I only run this when switch back to gasoline, don't bother with it when going to e85, just run the tank down to a few miles from E.

 

[burke985]

What would be the max amount of time you would let E85 sit in the tank without the car moving

 

[mackdog2008]

Does anyone else have any input on my question?

What would be the max amount of time you would let E85 sit in the tank without the car moving

I have heard 2 weeks.

 

[Big Q]

Nothing detrimental is going to happen to your car leaving E85 in the tank for two weeks, now if your going to let it sit for 6 months that might be a different story. I run E85 from around March to Oct/Nov and then switch back to 93 before storing the car for winter.

 

[dennisn]

Most tuners will give you a tune that will only run the fuel pump. You disconnect the rail and use a fuel filter to plug in the line from the tank, run a few feet of 3/8ths fuel hose off that into a Jerry can...upload the tune, turn the key to acc pos and let the pump run till you just barely have fuel trickling out... I only run this when switch back to gasoline, don't bother with it when going to e85, just run the tank down to a few miles from E.

See now I've always been told the opposite. Ok if almost out of e85 to mix and change over to 93 but when going to e85 drain the tank completely.

 

[03Sssnake]

See now I've always been told the opposite. Ok if almost out of e85 to mix and change over to 93 but when going to e85 drain the tank completely.

Nope...E85 stoich is right around 9.8 and gasoline is around 14. Having a little gas in the tank when switching to E85/tune is ok at that ratio, it will just be rich. The reverse is not true when on a gasoline tune, for starters you roughly need 30% more fueling on ethanol and gasoline stoich/ratio is far too high for ethanol.

 

[03Sssnake]

Either way I drive the car very gently on the switch tank and definitely take it easy those first 20 or so miles.

 

[mackdog2008]

So I switched over today from e85 to 91 and I actually ran it completely out of e85 before putting in the 91, when I started it up after filling it with 91 it was running like crap for a bit then it was fine should I be worried I might have damaged something?

 

[FiveOhJoe]

It is common practice in the EVO/Supra/GTR, etc. world to run a tank of regular gas every once in a while. They call it pickling the fuel system. I have a friend that works for AMS and according to him, they tell their customers to run a tank of regular gas every few thousand miles. Just stay off the loud pedal, obviously.

Even Injector Dynamics talks about it in this article......http://injectordynamics.com/articles/everything-you-never-wanted-to-know-about-alcohol/

 

[Scott8583]

What would be the max amount of time you would let E85 sit in the tank without the car moving

My tuner fills his tank & a 100 gal tank full of E85 in Nov... His car doesn't start back up till April. The 100 gal tank has to last tuning his customers till May when the pumps switch back to summer grade... I only have a E85 tune & have no plans on running 93pump gas ever.

 

[mackdog2008]

Bump for more input

 

[burke985]

My tuner fills his tank & a 100 gal tank full of E85 in Nov... His car doesn't start back up till April. The 100 gal tank has to last tuning his customers till May when the pumps switch back to summer grade... I only have a E85 tune & have no plans on running 93pump gas ever.

cool so 2 weeks at a time sitting in the car not moving should not be an issue. I'm about to switch over to E85 and am an E85 noob. Is there anything else that needs to be done to the car out of ordinary practice while runnning it.

 

[burke985]

Is there any list of things like a do's and don't list while running E85