I ran E85 through carbs with no problems, the aluminum was absolutely clean, no hint of corrosion. I think people are getting it confused with methanol, which is highly corrosive. Plastics and natural rubber are damaged by ethanol, but I have yet to see any problems with steel tanks and aluminum carbs.
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the workhorse:86 F250 4x4 6.9 Diesel 4-spd, 4.10 axles, holley red electric pump
the other workhorse 92 F350 2wd crew cab, 4.10 rear axle, 92 6bt Cummins, 47RH auto with Gear Vendors overdrive
the project: 77 F250 Camper special 400 4 speed Iowa Chapter leader
Come on down and join us in the Iowa chapter, or your own local chapter!!
Although I have not seen any damage by E85 personally, the so-called "EXPERTS" have said that you could have a problem with aluminum and brass. Toro snowblowers in the 80's had a sintered brass fuel filter in the tank, and when "gasohol" ,what is was called back then, was left to sit in the tank over a long period of time, it would eat this filter up. We were instructed to break off this filter and install an inline filter. Methanol is like using battery acid. I personally haven't had any problems with ethanol. It's been about a year since I started using E85. Gonna have the tank scoped in a little bit to see if there is any corrosion. I will keep you posted.
White Shadow, keep up the good work. I am with you and plan on getting my 99 Ranger on it this year, it has been running fine on 35% with no mods although MPG takes a 2MPG hit. I am going back to 10% untill I can have the chip burned. I am going to play with jet sizes on my 65 F100 with the 300 six and run that on it this summer.
Just hit 46,000 miles!! I have now been running E85 for 10,000 miles now with no problems. I guess I should change my fuel filter though huh? The Diablo chip is working great, averaging 17 mpg, no problems. Will keep ya posted if anything isn't right. Go USA Corn Squeezins' !!!!!!
47,000 miles and still running great on E85-except for one thing. Today when I went to fill up, the price per gallon of E85 was $2.49. Regular gas- $2.43. When I asked the person behind the counter, they said the price jump of 30 cents was due to 2 reasons. 1. that demand is up-which is good, and 2. Ethanol is now being traded on the open markets like petroleum products. Pissed off, I bought gas and turned off my chip. One thing I did notice is how well my truck ran on gas after burning so much ethanol-you can't even feel it idle-must have cleaned out the fuel system pretty good. Next tank, I might bite the bullet and pay more for E85 just out of spite, but let's hope it goes down a bit!!!
I was looking through some NH Farm Bulletins from last fall and there was a blurb in there which stated that in 13% of the domestic corn production (for 2004, I think) had gone to the production of ethanol.
So the price of corn flakes might be going up too!
47,000 miles and still running great on E85-except for one thing. Today when I went to fill up, the price per gallon of E85 was $2.49. Regular gas- $2.43. When I asked the person behind the counter, they said the price jump of 30 cents was due to 2 reasons. 1. that demand is up-which is good, and 2. Ethanol is now being traded on the open markets like petroleum products. Pissed off, I bought gas and turned off my chip. One thing I did notice is how well my truck ran on gas after burning so much ethanol-you can't even feel it idle-must have cleaned out the fuel system pretty good. Next tank, I might bite the bullet and pay more for E85 just out of spite, but let's hope it goes down a bit!!!
I noticed that my Ranger ran a lot smoother after just running 35% ethenol for 800 miles. Here in Sioux FAlls SD E85 is $2.04 as of yesterday and E10 $2.45 and straight 87 octane gas $2.45
Dan
Hit 48,000 today!! As you can tell, I drive 500 miles a week. Put in 3.55 gears to pull our new travel trailer. The 24 footer made the 4.2 work, but with E85 and the chip activated, it pulled admirably. My used oil comes out looking less dirty with E85 than with gas, so I put my oil changes out to 5000 miles with synthetic-and that's with heavy towing. E85 jumped to $2.49 a gallon, but with gas at $2.69 to $2.75, it's still a good deal. Still getting about 18 mpg combined driving, and pulling the travel trailer(5600 lbs high profile), about 12mpg. This will change as I didn't have my truck cap and spoiler on. I expect about 14mpg with the equipment on. E85 prices are expected to jump-due to phase-out of MTBE, and increased use of E85. Indiana is expected to build 3 ethanol plants this year, so maybe the price will drop. Will keep ya posted!!!!! ETHANOL-IT'S JUST NOT FOR DRINKING ANYMORE!!!!!!
Hit 50,000 miles today, so far, 14,000 on E85 with no problems. Before it ran out of warranty, ran it on a 50/50 mix between 30,000 and 36,000. So we got about 20,000 on some kind of heavy mix. Still gettin about 17 mpg, and more stations are carrying it, but prices have spiked to $2.79 a gallon. I'll keep you posted!!!!!!!!
Great info. I have converted my Craftsman lawn mower to E85. Ran fine with no mods but spark plug showed it to be a hair lean. I drilled out the jet and she is perfect. Runs great down to about 45 degrees F. Colder and it does not run as smooth.
E 85 in Sioux FAlls SD has risen to $2.35 and E10 is $2.89
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