I decided a week or so ago to switch from gas to E-85 on my 03 Ranger FFV. Yes it is a FFV (it has the leaf on the back and the thing on the gas flap)...I had 69000 miles on it and have run gas in it the whole time. Switched to E-85 (have about 250 miles on E-85 now) and this morning while driving to work the "Check engine" light came on.

I have a feeling this has to do with switching to E-85 as everything else (gauges) look fine. I read something about the oxygen sensor gets goofed up because its not use to seeing E-85 in the tank and thats why it came on.

What should I do? Should I switch back to regular gas as soon as i can or do I need to take it to the repair shop and have it looked at?

03 Ranger
3.0 L engine
FFV
69000 miles

 

my mom has a brand new prius and its ffv and her light came on too, the car also ran like poop

Matt

 

Is she running E-85 in it?

I take it you arent running it in your 00 Ranger?

 

Pull the codes.

 

Exactly. Until you do this, you have no idea what the problem may be. How does the truck perform on ht E-85??

This could be something as simple stupid/simple. Who knows?? I would not jump to conclusions. It could very well be coincidental that the light came on after swithcing fuels.

 

she was and i am not, i have a ffv but i dont have any stations around here. id be willing to try a tank

Matt

p.s. THE HONDA PPL TOLD HER TO LET THE CAR RUN AND AFTER A COUPLE OF TANKS THE CODE WOULD GO OFF

 

I'm not vehicle savvy...what does this mean?

 

I did notice a minor change. It seems to run smoother

but its weird that someone said it takes 100 miles after switching from regular to E-85 that the vehicle notices...its been about 150 since I switched to straight E-85

 

The reason the light is on is because the truck's computer has detected an error condition. Could be due to the Ethanol, could be due to 100 other reasons. The computer lights the light to let you know that something is wrong. The way to tell why the computer lit the light is to download the codes that tell you what error condition has occured. Most retail auto parts stores (ie, AutoZone) can and will do this for free newer vehicles using a small handheld scanner jacked into the socket that is at the bottom of the dash panel below the steering wheel (in the hopes that you'll then buy parts). Many of us also have our own code readers at home to do this. If you write down the codes that are pulled, and post them, you'll get a much more definite answer.

These are sometimes called DTC's ("Diagnostic Trouble Codes") or OBD-II (On-Board Diagnostics) codes which is the type that Ford and other manufacturers now use. You'll see a lot of threads on the board about specific codes that people have seen (ie P0171/P0174 are lean codes).

More info:
http://www.obdii.com/background.html

-Jim

 

Thanks!

There is a checker auto parts about 2 miles from my house and they have one of those code checkers that they let you use.

(I always wondered what that socket was for by the steering column)

 

I like Jim's idea to get the computer scanned for codes & post ALL that are found.

If you don't find any codes, try pulling the computers power fuse, in the under hood power distribution box, for 30 minutes, so it'll have to relearn some fuel trim things with the current E-85/gas mix.

As this tank is a mix of E-85 and regular gas, & you didn't say how far down you ran it, before filling with E-85, don't be surprised if it gets confused when you fill up again, as the ethanol to gas ratio will change again.

It might help if you run this tank almost dry, say below the 1/4 mark, before refilling. My owners manual says it's not out of the question for the CEL to stay on for 3 tanks, if the E-85 fuel quaity isn't good.

You'll also want to keep a eye on your crank case lubes condition, as I've read, some formulations don't like high concentrations of ethanol in the fuel.

You might go as far as contacting your oil manufacturers technical department & see if there will likely be any long term issues with you using E-85.

Just some thoughts for pondering.

Let us know how it goes.

 

Don't you mean Toyota??? Honda doesn't make the Prius.

 

Pawpaw

Thanks for the insight…Here is what happened

4/12 got the idea to run E-85…Put 12 gallons of E-85 in. So this tank was 4.5 gal gas and 12 gal E-85

I drive 32 miles one way to work

4/15 filled up with E-85. Had over 130 miles on the truck (truck can get about 320 on a tank of gas) so I figured the unleaded was out. Put in 6+ gallons

4//17 knew they would jack gas up on Tuesday, so I put in 5 gallons of E-85.

4/18 CEL came on. I had driven about 15 miles since filling up 4/17

So I think the computer finally realized after filling up on 4/17 that “hey wait a minute…where is the 90/10 gas” (MN has 10% ethanol in their gas year round) and the CEL came on

As for the oil, I know this sounds stupid but I take it to the Ford dealer. The way the oil filter is on the 3.0 (in the most screwed up spot) my hands are too big to get to it. So I just take it to the sister dealer of where I got it (the dealer I bought it from is 30 miles away and they purchased the dealer in my town about 2 years ago) so they use 5W-20 in it with the motorcraft filter.

I’m going to swing by my local Checker Auto parts and get the computer to read the codes and post them..

So you think once the computer figures out I’m running E-85, the CEL will go off?

 

Like I said earlier, it could be anthing throwing a code. May or may not be related to the fuel. You will have to see what the code reader says.

 

you guys were right

Went to my local Checker Auto Parts and got the code reader...hooked it up and

P0171
and
P0174

were the two codes...I cleared the CEL.

So it looks like it is the "system too lean"