So the otherday I found what appears to be the only gas station in my town that supplys E-85.

I've considered filling up with a tank of it in my new 2011 F-150 5.0L. It sells for about 40 cents less than Regular unleaded in my town...Right now our avarage for Regular is 3.45$ and E-85 is about 3.06$.

I know you take a substantial hit in fuel econmy when using E-85, but what kind of hit?

Also I was wondering, is E-85 bad for your engine? I have heard rumors that it can clog injectors and cause other kinds of damage.

Even the Ford dealer I purchased my truck from didn't reccomend using E-85 on a regular basis.

What are your thoughts and ideas on it?

 

Generally speaking, you can expect about a 30% drop in economy. Sometimes a little more, or a little less. It looks like your price at the pump is just a tick more than 10% less for e85, so you could be leaving up to 20% on the table. But like i said, sometimes the mileage really isn't that far off from e10.

I'd say use it and see how your mileage checks in. Report back if you do, always interested in seeing what others are doing for mileage on e85.

As for it being bad for you engine, i'd give it a qualified "no". Your truck is built for it, so there is no mechanical reason not to use it. Now, if you had 100K miles on, and had never run e85, you might be asking for trouble. e85 is an awesome solvent, and will do a very good job of cleaning your fuel system. With low miles, i'd have no worries of clogged fuel injectors or filters, but with tons of miles on, it would be very likely.

as for not recommending it to be used all the time, that is likely someone's opinion about ethanol in general leaking out. Ford's only recommendations with regard to e85 is that one tank of regular be used per oil change. I'm guessing that is simply to verify that the sensors in the fuel system are functioning correctly.

Other than that, just be aware that using e85 50% of the time or greater will put you into "special operating conditions" which require slightly more frequent oil changes. Check your manual on that to be sure, but if you are already doing oil changes at 5k miles or less (like many people), this wouldn't effect you anyway.

my experiences jive with everything above. my 2010 at work has used everything from e10 to e85 from day one. In 9000 miles, i can only remember using 2 tanks of e10, the remainder has been e30 or e85.

some will warn you that ethanol attracts water, which strictly speaking is accurate; however, keep in mind that the fuel system is "sealed" and the only moisture for the ethanol to attract comes by way of condensation which from heating/cooling cycles in the fuel tank. There is a potential for problems with long term storage because of this, but for the most part, the concerns are largly over exagerated, so take them with a grain of salt.

if it were my truck, i'd use it once and a while to avoid any problems caused by not using it. that is to say, if 100k miles from now, if the price of e85 becomes attractive compared to gasoline and you have never used it, you would likely want to be cautious about using it.

my $0.02.

 

The 5.0L is a flex fuel engine as advertised by Ford. I think you would need to run a couple tanks back to back to get a true MPG comparison as your first tank will be ore diluted with E-10 than your second tank.

E-85 IS NOT recommended for those of us with direct injected engines.

 

If your truck does not have the Flex Fuel badge on it I would not recommend using it. The fuel system is not designed for E85 fuel which partially is made up of the rubber fuel lines in the fuel system. Alcohol in E85 has to have special fuel lines. This is at least what I understand the difference is.

I think it would be wise to talk to your service department before trying E85.

 

A non e85 truck does not have the proper sensors to dertermine which fuel is in the tank and can not adjust the injectors/timing to compensate.
The lower mpg does not outweigh the lower price. It's a lose lose situation.

 

I tried it and my mileage dropped so much e85 cost me more in mileage than I gained at the pump from lower price.

Steve

 

not sure why everyone is warning him about using e85 in a non-flex fuel engine.

it's a 2011 with a 5.0 ... it is a flex fuel engine and can run on any blend from e0 to e85, no need for concern.

 

From what I read you do not lose milage on the newer engines with E85. I was reading it in Wikapedia.

 

the mileage difference has gotten better as static compression ratios have gone up. but there is still a spread.

i drove my work truck yesterday and the average for this tank is 13.3-13.5 for a mix of city and highway driving. This is burning E30.

from what i remember last summer, the same mix of driving on E85 is usually in the high 11's for a tank average.

until someone makes a flex fuel engine with a compression ratio of 12:1 or higher, regular gasoline will always have a fuel mileage advantage.

 

Mine has the e85 approved label and I would suggest, based on multiple posts on FTE, Wikapedia is posting based on theory rather than real world results.

Steve

 

Gas prices here are at 3.99. If I could get e85 for 3.29 or less it would be worth it. But I lose at least 3-4 mpg. But the torque increase is nice.

 

That is very possible.

 

Working the truck pulling a trailer I went from 18 to 12 on E 85.

 

Thanks for all the replys everyone.

I suppose I might run a tank of E-85 just for the novelty of trying it out, though I don't think I'll be using it on any kind of regular basis.

When I do eventually get around to trying out a Tank of E-85 I'll be sure and post up a thread of my thoughts on Gasoline vs E-85. It probably won't be for a few weeks though, I'm only just getting back to work after sustaining that broken leg a few months ago...So moneys still kind of tight.

 

I run a tank of e-85 through every month or so as it works well to clean injectors, valves, etc. I have heard stories of engines torn down after running e-85 for years looking like they have been chemically cleaned. On the down side, yeah, you take a pretty good hit in the MPGs- 2-3 gallons in my experience, but I have a 2010 w/ 5.4. I am sure the 5.0 is different. Also, you do get a hefty torque and modest HP increase. I like to use it if I am towing through the mountains.
I figure, if everyone used e-85 more often, it might become more mainstream, and eventually prices would come down further. Then we could become energy dependent and all the world's problems would be solved, right? (sarcasm implied).