ALL CAPS is yelling on the internet if you didn't know. Try italics or something for emphasis. Sorry we can't answer your question tho. It is good that you have not had any problems but others may not. It is usually best to stay on the safe side but not quite as safe as the point monster brought up. Some of those corporate types don't want us messing with the vehicles at all. The secret to mods is to know why every part functions the way it does. That takes homework and even then sometimes we make a SWAG and go for it!

 

On the corrosion angle, I have seen plenty of damage to gas tanks before the edvent of E85, so I really don't go for the corrosion side, at least not to the steel parts. Methanol is typically confused with ethanol. That story smacks more of don't do it with older vehicles, buy a new flex fuel vehicle instead... To each their own, I accept responsibility for any damage I cause, but the difference is that I can also repair it as well. I have yet to have a catastrophic failure for anything more than simple fatigue... the only piston I have seen with a hole in it on a modern vehicle was one my sister ran until it was so hot it should have seized... can't blame the fuel on that, and it was only E10 at best, no E85 was available when she did that. Not every vehicle will run on it properly, I have had some that do run good, some that don't. It is a user beware though, you better know what you are doing, and be prepared to deal with problems that may arise.

 

i havent seen an e85 pump yet....we have liike 3 in alabama

 

Right now Ethanol is in short supply and probably always will be due to the MTBE fiasco. Ethanol is also extremely expensive at the moment so I would not hold my breath for a station near you to open any time soon.

Unfortunately the problems that can arise even if E85 "runs" in a vehicle can be much more costly than the money saved at the pump. Check out this link (also listed above) for more information on compatibility, fuel system problems, corrosion, and conversion requirements:
http://www.answers.com/topic/e85
I have searched the web and this is some of the best info available, it is good reading. Other users have come up with some good info sources also.

 

In Brazil they run vehicles completely on Ethanol, and they do just fine, i think the article´s information isn´t trustable.

 

Which article??? What part would not be "trustable" whatever that means in this case. The article I linked mentions the Brazilian situation and a kit made in Brazil for conversions. The vehicles in Brazil have been modified to run Ethanol or specifically made to run on Ethanol since about 1980. That is far different than the situation here in the states. There are articles that cover Brazil's Ethanol conversion and situation out there also, just Google "brazil ethanol".

 

That is one of the most dishonest articles I have ever seen. It is nothing more than the automakers scaring people into thinking that they must have a flex fuel vehicle to run E85.

Flex fuel vehicles are a compremise, they are limited by need to be able to run on regular gas. E85 is 105 octane meaning that you could run about 14:1 compression ratios if that is all you ran. A well thought out conversion is probably better than what you would ever get from the factory.

But running E85 in a vehicle not designed for it is suicide. The rubber compents are not design to withstand the Ethanol and the steel componets will rust do to higher water content.

 

Not trying to pick on you Torque, but your info on E-85 not available anytime soon may be off target. Just in Iowa, these are the stations now selling it--- http://www.iowarfa.org/E85Refueling.php and this week the Iowa Governor is signing a $15 million dollar E-85 ethanol fueling equipment subsidy package to assist fuel stations with costs involved in installing the E-85 pumps and associated equipment. Iowa, the nation’s leading ethanol producer, has 21 plants that can make 1.1 billion gallons of ethanol a year. Another 500 million gallons of capacity is under construction.

As production is rapidly ramping up, more product will be available everywhere soon.


Jessica Zopf, 23, fills her 2006 Chevy Impala with E85 at the Hy-Vee gas station located at 665 South 51st in West Des Moines

 

If you are running E85 in your regular vehicle you are doing so at your own risk. That being said, my father has been running a 50/50 mix in his 01 Ram for 2 years now with no problems. Last year he raced is Cuda with E85 and had no problems with corrosion. In fact, he saw improvements in the cleanliness of the pistons and heads due to how clean E85 burns.

I use E-85 in my wife's 02 Voyager with no problems. The only thing I have to do more often is change the plugs, as it takes a hotter spark to ignite the E-85 and if they are remotely worn out, you start to get a miss.

Yes I live in Iowa, yes I grow corn for a living, and yes I am pro ethanol. I am not afraid to argue about it, however, I have seem much more positve here than I have negative. Before people say "yes, but of course you would support it" keep in mind that due to the amount of availabilitly we have here, I have more exposure than most people in other regions.

 

4wd- The spread of stations was my personal opinion. Iowa is a corn state and I expect more stations there. It just does not seem to be spreading in non-corn producing states very fast maybe due to high cost and transportation expense. Some of the high costs at the moment are due to the MTBE fiasco. I expect when they get the biomass production process perfected there will be more stations in other non-corn producing states. We produce a lot of corn down here in Kansas and there are still not many stations. The closest station to me is 8 miles away.

 

Heck Eric until 6 yrs ago the closest gas station of any type selling any kind of fuel was 11 miles away from me.

 

New York is working at getting ethanol plants going there. I realize corn is the current main source, but that is in the way to changing too, as there is more suitable crops. Since it is so plentiful in the Midwest, it is cheap and available. The thing with corn too, is that it can be grown in all 50 states, just that there are other ways to get the end result. Missouri ha something like 58 pumps, but most are concentrated around Columbia, I think they have that town pretty well covered... Jefferson City as well, beiung the governing center, but the rest of the state, nothing. Plenty of corn here too, as is Kansas, Oklahoma, and other states, just not the prominent crop.

 

It will all take time to convert vehicles, convert crops, manufacture and buy farm machinery, build storage and transport facilities, and build processing plants. Just like it will take time to develop biomass, build nuke plants, develop oil shale, coal gasification, drill for new oil, build pipelines, and more refineries. We have been sitting on our duffs with our heads in the sand for far too long doing nothing. It will also take time to improve energy efficiency and conservation in homes, businesses, and vehicles. Nothing will improve fuel prices and efficiency in the short term. We are paying the price for yesterday's complacency today...

 

And we will continue to pay the more we procrastinate. And not only in dollars.

With regard to ethanol, the Brazilian model shows that it can be done on a mass scale.

But I agree that it's going to take a multi-faceted approach to lick the oil addiction problem.

 

Lots of good info, thanks!