E85 fuel
Guest
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RE: E85 fuel
Its big in colorado... and its not in michigan. E85 is not considerably cheaper than regular ol' gas...
If it is considerably cheaper, that doesnt help my milage with it. If you get bad mileage with it... it doesnt matter if its cheaper, you still have to fill up more. over what period of time do you save? maybe a year you end up ahead... but what about 3 or 5 years? how long of a run do you need for it to be worth it?
If it is considerably cheaper, that doesnt help my milage with it. If you get bad mileage with it... it doesnt matter if its cheaper, you still have to fill up more. over what period of time do you save? maybe a year you end up ahead... but what about 3 or 5 years? how long of a run do you need for it to be worth it?
Professional
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 153
Likes: 0
From: Toledo, OH
RE: E85 fuel
I've been using it exclusively in my '07 Dak (SLT 4.7L flex QC 4x4 auto w/ fact tow.)
I had a nearly identical '05 with the 3.7L engine (ST and no tow pkg though) and with my driving (nearly all city) got about 13-14 MPG. With the same driving I get about 9-10MPG using e85. When you figure that gas is about $3ish and the e85 is set at $0.40 less per gallon here, I'm not saving money by using it.
So...why am I doing it? Why pay more? I pay more because:
1) Its not a LOT more (I work about about 4 miles from home.)
2) We Americans need to do something to reduce our addiction to foreign oil.
3) Very little of the money goes to the bozos who want to kill us.
4) It is better for the environment (at least in theory) for CO2 emission reduction.
Now don't get me wrong, the current e85 system has more than its share of issues:
1) It costs more (at least for me.)
2) The way we produce it now needs a lot of improvement (on several levels)
3) By itself, it won't replace gas from oil.
4) There is a chance the police will pull you over and make you take a DUI test if they smell your exhaust when you first start your engine (you should have seen the look on some of my co-workers face when I drove past them after work a few weeks back!) "But officer, I swear it's not me it's my truck."
The current flex-fuel engines are a compromise and I think they can be greatly improved upon. Probably the easiest thing would be to add add a turbo and take advantage of the higher octane (or just increase the compression ratio inside the cylinders) and recommend that you use e85 primarily or super if that is not available.
Also, I think using e85 is just part of the solution needed to get us out of our oil dependance (probably in combination with bio diesel or oil from shale/oil sands and eventually hydrogen or synthetic gas made with power from the electric grid.)
So far I have just under 6000 miles and have probably put less than 10 gallons of regular gas (U87) in the thing. The only real complaint I have is that I wish my truck had a bigger gas tank (when I go on a long trip, I have less range than with U87 and since you are supposed to have at least 1/4 tank of one type of fuel in it before switching over, its a challenge to stick to e85 - because not many stations carry it.)
It seems to drive fine (I have plenty of power - I don't think I have ever had to floor the thing, even on the freeway), but I'm curious if it would be beneficial to actually go with a higher heat range spark plug due to the higher octane rating. I've heard most of you guys recommending a lower heat range one for your trucks.
Growlor
I had a nearly identical '05 with the 3.7L engine (ST and no tow pkg though) and with my driving (nearly all city) got about 13-14 MPG. With the same driving I get about 9-10MPG using e85. When you figure that gas is about $3ish and the e85 is set at $0.40 less per gallon here, I'm not saving money by using it.
So...why am I doing it? Why pay more? I pay more because:
1) Its not a LOT more (I work about about 4 miles from home.)
2) We Americans need to do something to reduce our addiction to foreign oil.
3) Very little of the money goes to the bozos who want to kill us.
4) It is better for the environment (at least in theory) for CO2 emission reduction.
Now don't get me wrong, the current e85 system has more than its share of issues:
1) It costs more (at least for me.)
2) The way we produce it now needs a lot of improvement (on several levels)
3) By itself, it won't replace gas from oil.
4) There is a chance the police will pull you over and make you take a DUI test if they smell your exhaust when you first start your engine (you should have seen the look on some of my co-workers face when I drove past them after work a few weeks back!) "But officer, I swear it's not me it's my truck."
The current flex-fuel engines are a compromise and I think they can be greatly improved upon. Probably the easiest thing would be to add add a turbo and take advantage of the higher octane (or just increase the compression ratio inside the cylinders) and recommend that you use e85 primarily or super if that is not available.
Also, I think using e85 is just part of the solution needed to get us out of our oil dependance (probably in combination with bio diesel or oil from shale/oil sands and eventually hydrogen or synthetic gas made with power from the electric grid.)
So far I have just under 6000 miles and have probably put less than 10 gallons of regular gas (U87) in the thing. The only real complaint I have is that I wish my truck had a bigger gas tank (when I go on a long trip, I have less range than with U87 and since you are supposed to have at least 1/4 tank of one type of fuel in it before switching over, its a challenge to stick to e85 - because not many stations carry it.)
It seems to drive fine (I have plenty of power - I don't think I have ever had to floor the thing, even on the freeway), but I'm curious if it would be beneficial to actually go with a higher heat range spark plug due to the higher octane rating. I've heard most of you guys recommending a lower heat range one for your trucks.
Growlor
Professional
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 153
Likes: 0
From: Toledo, OH
RE: E85 fuel
Mine is specifically setup from the factory to be a flex. I believe most of the non-California and non-HO 2007 models were this way (if so, they have a modified V8 badge on the tailgate that specifically says Flex-fuel and the fuel cap is yellow instead of black.)
I have read alot about the companies that claim to make products to legally let you use e85 in engines not made for it from the factory, but am leary of using them (I want to try it in my wife's 2007 PT cruiser convertible - non turbo model, but am to chicken to try it.) One of the companies (I think the product is named something like flex-fuel gold) runs about $300 and up and it looks like a computer that modifies the signal going to your fuel injectors to add extra fuel when running e85 (e85 has less power as the same amount of gas, so they apparently just add more fuel per explosion to make the same power- thus the reduction in fuel economy.) The part I don't understand is that factory built flex-fuel vehicles have some kind of sensor that tells them what kind of fuel you are using (my truck can use anything from pure gas to e85 and any mix of the 2 in between) so it can properly adjust the fuel-air ratio. These products claim to give a correct fuel-air mix, but I didn't see how they figure out what fuel type you are using to be able to properly adjust. You also should make sure that all your fuel system components can handle it and won't corrode under prolonged use (all recent engines can handle the up to 10% alcohol/90% pure gas mixes, but higher ratios are usually not recomended or maybe even warranty killers - not sure.) Finally, they say to beware of the e85 possibly disloding any accumulated crap in your tank/fuel lines and plugging your fuel filter the first time you use it (if you have had your truck for long enough for that to accumulate.)
Growlor
I have read alot about the companies that claim to make products to legally let you use e85 in engines not made for it from the factory, but am leary of using them (I want to try it in my wife's 2007 PT cruiser convertible - non turbo model, but am to chicken to try it.) One of the companies (I think the product is named something like flex-fuel gold) runs about $300 and up and it looks like a computer that modifies the signal going to your fuel injectors to add extra fuel when running e85 (e85 has less power as the same amount of gas, so they apparently just add more fuel per explosion to make the same power- thus the reduction in fuel economy.) The part I don't understand is that factory built flex-fuel vehicles have some kind of sensor that tells them what kind of fuel you are using (my truck can use anything from pure gas to e85 and any mix of the 2 in between) so it can properly adjust the fuel-air ratio. These products claim to give a correct fuel-air mix, but I didn't see how they figure out what fuel type you are using to be able to properly adjust. You also should make sure that all your fuel system components can handle it and won't corrode under prolonged use (all recent engines can handle the up to 10% alcohol/90% pure gas mixes, but higher ratios are usually not recomended or maybe even warranty killers - not sure.) Finally, they say to beware of the e85 possibly disloding any accumulated crap in your tank/fuel lines and plugging your fuel filter the first time you use it (if you have had your truck for long enough for that to accumulate.)
Growlor
Veteran
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 322
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From:
RE: E85 fuel
I see that Growlor finally made a reasonable argument for E85.It certainly isn't the whole answer to the current fuel problem but it's a good piece ofthe solution. From my perspective, I don't like sending billions of petro-dollars to people who are actively engaged in killing Americans.
One important thing to remember is that E85 will harm the flex lines in your non-E85 fuel system and as stated above, your ECM needs to know what fuel you're truck is using so it can supply the appropriate fuel and spark management.
It's unfortunate but understandable for us in Texas that there are no E85 fuel pumps here.
One important thing to remember is that E85 will harm the flex lines in your non-E85 fuel system and as stated above, your ECM needs to know what fuel you're truck is using so it can supply the appropriate fuel and spark management.
It's unfortunate but understandable for us in Texas that there are no E85 fuel pumps here.
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 30
Likes: 0
From:
RE: E85 fuel
I had herd E85 would drop my mileage about 25% but so far the 3 or 4 times I have a chance to test that theory out, every time I have lost more in the 10-15% range and the 25% that I have herd mentioned quite offten. So if its 40 cents cheaper like I have seen it here in Kansas its probably not a big deal to use it, but if its a 1.00 a gallon cheaper like it was in Colorado a moth or two ago when I bought some out there, then I would make it a point to use e-85 as much as I could.