Man talk about a sh*t storm
If the OP added a blend of e-85 and it helped more power to him.
Let us know how your experiment with higher alcohol levels work out.
I doubt you will experience any component failure unless you run very high concentrations for very long times. You might want to consider a a lubricating fuel additive like Lucas to the mix. Alcohol has virtually no lubricating properties.
Eventually your MIL light will come on when your fuel trim maxes out.

There is so much misinformation out there (and in this thread) it's hard to make sense of it. (sulphur as a diesel lubricant? Come on!)
Just to fan the fires a bit more...

My take on E-85? It's a waste of time, money andOIL the way it's being processed in North America.
First were using the wrong crops! Corn and wheat don't produce enough ethanol to make it feasible. from What I've read you needput in 10 units of energy to process into ethanol and get out 2 from the ethanol. Brazil is the only country doing it right by using sugar cane.
The only reason it's cheaper is because it's heavily subsidised. Expect that to change.

Ethanol does not burn hotter than gasoline or make as much power, gallon for gallon. It does burn cleaner though. An alcohol burning engine can produce more power than a gas powered engine but only if it is designed only for alcohol. You need more compression more fuel volume and greater spark advance. Even a flex fuel vehicle can't do all that.
I'll take regular unleaded over E-10 every time if I could still get it.

 

Did those little converter chips ever make it to the US?

 

For those interested in ethanol as fuel
the newest issue of Technology Review magazine put out by MIT
has an article on it that covers just about everything
..corn costs and how many ethanol plants are now losing money in 2008 after raking it in in 2006,
how much diesel and natural gas it takes to make a gallon of ethanol,
companies in California modifying 'gut bugs' to make straight gasoline from sugar instead of ethanol,
switchgrass and cellulosic ethanol,
the SunMicro billionaire Khosa who is pouring money into experiments,

 

This site claims the damage to non-flex fuel cars centers around plastics and the PCM throwing codes as it thinks the engine is running lean. It also suggests that alcohol will have a cleaning affect of sludge within the fuel holding and delivery system. It is recomended to change the fuel filter after 500 miles once E85 has been run... remember, ours is embedded in the gas tank.

It appears the 2005 RAM with the 4.7/auto is flex fuel.

http://e85vehicles.com/dodge-ram.htm

 

I am not dead, nor did E85 eat up my Ram. I actually forgot about this topic tilltoday.

As for why I said 31 gallon tank - I was dumb and based it on the amt of gas I usually put in (which never goes above 31 gallons because of the idiot light). It's a 35 gallon tank.

Bring you all up to speed...Lets see. I have run ~30% E85 (33% ethanol by volume considering regular unleaded in my area is E10 already)on and off in the Ram for a year and 1/2 now with no adverse effects. And lately, since the prices of E85 near my house are $0.90/gallon cheaper, I have been using it more often than not. I forgot to keep track of the highest percentage of E85 that I ran, but IIRC, I used 12 gallons of E85 mixed with 23 gallons of unleaded about a year ago before I moved, which calculates out to be roughly E36.

Next time I get gas,I'll mix it to be ~E40. 14 gal E85 & 21 gal Unleaded.

Now if my fuel gauge would stop acting all crazy, I'd be happy.

 

I had a porblem with the fuel guage occasionally reading empty when I knew it had more in it. 2 bottles of Chevron Concentrate plus (it must be plus!!) in a 1/4 tank of gas fixed it and I haven't has a problem since.

 

any one know if there's a flex fuel kit for our trucks?? I've been looking and all I found was one that seemed shody ,, I think it was a PCM reprogrammer or something ,, but just wondering if there's. A real kit out there, pump, hoses injectors etc?

 

If you keep increasing the amount of ethanol in your tank, IT WILL eat it up eventually. Because you are mixing it like that, and keeping it near the 20% mark, you won't notice the effects within one or two tank fill-ups. Probably not even within a year or two. Maybe not at all if you keep the mixture at that mark.

But if you increase it more, you will eventually have problems with your fuel system. Ethanol, even by your almighty Wikipedia's admittance, has been proven to eat away at all sorts of materials that regular gasoline does not. And if you run a mixture of mostly ethanol, like pure E85, you will have poorer gas mileage and less power, unless you use forced induction or something like that to increase the compression of your engine. Read the other threads about E85 or running it, others and myself have explained it this before.

 

I have tried replying to your post 2x now, but my fingers get all crazy and delete what I've posted on accident. lol

I would venture to guess that out of everyone that posts on this forum, I have probably run the most E85 through my Ram (besides those that have the FFV Ram). And while everyone that posted in this thread said that I would, ruin my gas tank, fuel lines, injectors, engine, burn down small villages and give cancer to the blind; none of that has happened in the last year and 1/2.

If what you say is true, about E85 eating through everything, why have more reports not shown this to be true? There are hundreds ofthousands of people (probably aconservative guess)in the US alone that are burning E85 in non FFVs. Anytime you mention E85, everyone is quick to jump in about how "bad" ethanol is...But they can never back up their claims with anything except that they know some guy who knows some guy who knows...etc. OR, they use arguments and examples from the 1970's - which do not apply anymore at all.

100% E85 does lower the MPG that one can get, this is true. But when the cost spread between E85 and regular unleaded is $0.90/gallon, that drawback goes right out the window. I'd have to get 25% less MPG to lose $$ running 100% E85...And most users report losing anywhere from 10 - 20% MPG on 100% E85. Sure...There are those that lose more, but there are also those that lose less. Also, many people have reported that blends, such as E20, E30, E40actually improved theirMPG. A study from the Univ of MN confirmedthis to be true as well. http://domesticfuel.com/2007/12/05/n...thanol-blends/

As for losing power on E85...Again, a study from OK State Univ showed that wasn't true either. aaae.okstate.edu/proceedings/2005/Articles/556.pdf

I figure that since Iaverage 17mpg, if I lose 1mpg on E30 -who cares. With prices the way they are today, I still break even.

 

Another update on how my Ram is doing.

The truck still runs just fine after nearly 3 years of E85 use. Colorado passed tougher emissions laws at the beginning of 2009 and, unfortunately, the Ram will no longer pass even with high concentrations of E85 in the tank. I'm 99% sure the problem is a leaky intake manifold gasket, but I no longer need the Ram as my daily driver, so I have no reason to repair it. I still have it sitting in the driveway, but I don't drive it anymore.

To summarize, in the almost 3 years of constant E85 usage - between when I posted this thread and April 2009 when I retired the truck - I put ~40,000+ miles on the truck and got it up to ~90% E85 in the tank. I never had a CEL. Never had to replace any fuel equipment. Never had any corrosion or hardening of the fuel lines. Besides being a bit tougher to start in cold weather (temps below 40 degrees) on blends above 50% and the 1 or 2mpg decrease, you would have never known that I wasn't running straight gasoline.

I gave passing the CO emissions 1 last hurah in April. I was down to only a couple gallons of gasoline, so I filled her up with 20 gallons of E85 and set out to see if I could pass. I was somewhat close on a few of the parameters, but even with a ton of E85, the emissions regulations were just too tough to meet without spending $$ to fix the truck. Under the old regulations, I would have passed easily (something the truck wouldn't do on Unleaded).

~180,000 miles...Original clutch, tranny, engine, rear end, fuel and cooling system. Dodge made some damn good vehicles! Only things that went out in the whole time owning the truck was the water pump, intake manifold gasket, catalytic converter & blower motor for the heater.