2006 Flex Fuel
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2006 Flex Fuel
I've got a 2006 F150 Lariat... I ordered it in November and it was delivered in December. The Flex Fuel engines (E85) apparently didn't come out until NOW. Does anybody know anything about this or what it would take to make my 2006 engine "E85 ready"?
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From: Texas
There are differences in the PCM calibrations, material composition of the fuel lines, pumps and tanks that contribute to making an E85 conversion.
I don't believe there are any aftermarket "kits" available to make a vehicle E85 ready. This might change if E85 keeps getting more and more attention.
GM is making a huge marketing push for its Flex Fuel vehicles. The yellow gas cap is a good idea to let people know there vehicle is E85 ready. Ford should do the same!
My wifes 2004 Explorer is flex fuel, I didn't even know it when I bought it. The only way to tell its flex fuel ready is the inside of the gas filler door says E85 or Gasoline in small letters. Oh, and the VIN has a "K" in a specific location which means its a flex fuel vehicle.
I bet the yellow gas cap or something very similar becomes a standard if the E85 trend keeps building momentum.
I don't believe there are any aftermarket "kits" available to make a vehicle E85 ready. This might change if E85 keeps getting more and more attention.
GM is making a huge marketing push for its Flex Fuel vehicles. The yellow gas cap is a good idea to let people know there vehicle is E85 ready. Ford should do the same!
My wifes 2004 Explorer is flex fuel, I didn't even know it when I bought it. The only way to tell its flex fuel ready is the inside of the gas filler door says E85 or Gasoline in small letters. Oh, and the VIN has a "K" in a specific location which means its a flex fuel vehicle.
I bet the yellow gas cap or something very similar becomes a standard if the E85 trend keeps building momentum.
Last edited by DRM2004; Feb 27, 2006 at 04:20 PM.
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What I have heard if you can find E85 fuel it's only about 20 cents cheaper, and produces much less MPG and power. So there really is no savings! If you didn't order it as an option, forget about it! This type of modification will only add addtional cost, add that to the less mpg and power, it will definitly not provide you with any savings.
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My Lariat f150 4x4 2006 came with Flex Fuel. You are right that there is no real economic advantage to FF at current fuel prices. But the flexibility of buying Ethanol 85 in the future is a definite plus. And, this flexibility costs nothing....
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From: Texas
Originally Posted by synergy46
My Lariat f150 4x4 2006 came with Flex Fuel. You are right that there is no real economic advantage to FF at current fuel prices. But the flexibility of buying Ethanol 85 in the future is a definite plus. And, this flexibility costs nothing....
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Ethanol has much less energy than petroleum. If you look at the lower heating values for gasoline and ethanol, gasoline nearly has twice the energy per Kg. Only reason to switch to E85 would be to relieve oil dependence and help the environment.
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E85
Isn't the Ford E85 engine option $895? With costs like that Ford should either forget the whole deal or reduce this price dramatically. The new 900 platform GM products are flex fuel ready. It's not an option. In the future if enough people request this type of fuel consumption prices will drop, more stations will upgrade their tanks, and the Middle East will have LESS of our green stuff.
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Depends on what model you choose. If you choose the Lariat, FX4, King Ranch there is no additonal charge for the 5.4 FF ready engine. In the XLT you have a choice to upgrade from the 4.6 to the 5.4 FF or standard for $895.
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E85 can be a $ saver only at certain times... the new FFV engines get lower MPG on E85, but the gas is cheaper... if the % reduction in MPG is less than the % savings on E85, then it's cheaper for you to use E85... some parts of the country see E85 at as much as 30% discount to gasoline... if the discount is 30% and your MPG only goes down by 20%, then there is a 10% benefit to using E85 (although E85 is only cheaper due to gov't subsidies that we pay for in taxes, but that's another discussion altogether)... E85 pricing for awhile (post-Katrina) was roughly the same as gasoline, but that backed off once the supply for gasoline recovered, and the relative demand for E85 leveled out... I go to SD every year for a pheasant hunting trip (call me a poor Dick Cheney), and can get E85 there, where I can't get it here at home (OR), so I will be figuring out for myself, once I can get a full tank of E85, if the MPG drop is less than the discount on the fuel cost! I hope it is.
BTW, I got an '06 Lariat, so no extra $ for FFV.
BTW, I got an '06 Lariat, so no extra $ for FFV.
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Originally Posted by ArtsBest
Isn't the Ford E85 engine option $895? With costs like that Ford should either forget the whole deal or reduce this price dramatically. The new 900 platform GM products are flex fuel ready. It's not an option. In the future if enough people request this type of fuel consumption prices will drop, more stations will upgrade their tanks, and the Middle East will have LESS of our green stuff.
Thus, the 5.4 FFV costs the same as the normal 5.4, since the 5.4 liter is actually an option on XLT trucks. Same cost, no additional cost for FFV.
Please check the facts beforehand next time.
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From: Iowa
My dad just bought a 2006 F150 XLT Super Crew with the 5.4L Flex Fuel engine. Talking to the guy down at the dealer, he said all the new trucks he's ordering will have the flex fuel motor, since it doesn't cost any more than the regular 5.4L.
My dad says he's going to buy E85 "Every (expletive left out) chance he gets," to stick it to "them greedy (expletives again...)."
My dad says he's going to buy E85 "Every (expletive left out) chance he gets," to stick it to "them greedy (expletives again...)."
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From: Northeast Nebraska
In my area E85 is about $.70 cheaper than regular gas. And regular gas isnt gettin any cheaper. If I run a 50/50 mix in my non-FFV I acually get a little more power and I get about 10-20 miles less range per tank. Plus I feel good that Im sticking it to the oil-man.
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From: St. Joseph, MO
Originally Posted by FordTrucksKickGM
In my area E85 is about $.70 cheaper than regular gas. And regular gas isnt gettin any cheaper. If I run a 50/50 mix in my non-FFV I acually get a little more power and I get about 10-20 miles less range per tank. Plus I feel good that Im sticking it to the oil-man.
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From: SE Michigan
Damage???? I would definatley say yes. Does anyone one recall all of the issues that arose when the manufactures starting put ethonal into regular fuel? Carb seals and internals being eaten away and causing other major hard to diagnois issues. I believe they were putting the ethonal in and not disclosing it, I believe this prompted any manufacturing using ethonal to post it at the pump.
This may be old news and no longer accurate. It was my understanding that ethonal is MORE costly to produce than gasoline, which also makes it not desirable. The only thing that makes it seem like an option is huge government grants. So if it does start to be produced more and the gonverment steps out where will the price go? I refuse to run the 10% fuel unless I have no other option and know it will be ran through the tank in a very short period of time.
This may be old news and no longer accurate. It was my understanding that ethonal is MORE costly to produce than gasoline, which also makes it not desirable. The only thing that makes it seem like an option is huge government grants. So if it does start to be produced more and the gonverment steps out where will the price go? I refuse to run the 10% fuel unless I have no other option and know it will be ran through the tank in a very short period of time.
Tuned
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From: Bismarck USA
Ethanol is more costly to produce, "now". Mostly because ag producers aren't ramped up and processing plants aren't ramped up for full effeciency. But take a look at Brazil. The run mostly ethanol down there. And it costs HALF of what gas or diesel does.
So the potential is there for the US to start making it's own fuels and not rely on foreign interests. The problem I see now is that when ever gas prices go up, so does ethanol. Why? It's only 10% gas. So there is some market gouging going on. And if that goes wide scale, we're no better off than before. Other than it's our own Americans gouging us instead of a foreigner. Not to say Exxon isn't raking it in...
So the potential is there for the US to start making it's own fuels and not rely on foreign interests. The problem I see now is that when ever gas prices go up, so does ethanol. Why? It's only 10% gas. So there is some market gouging going on. And if that goes wide scale, we're no better off than before. Other than it's our own Americans gouging us instead of a foreigner. Not to say Exxon isn't raking it in...