can all 2006 5.4L F150s run on E85?

 

NO it will say on the gas cap or under the hood if your 5.4 is E85 Capable

 

I sometimes wonder, with the inefficiency of the flex fuel hybridization of gasoline engines, if big oil isn't the driving force behind the current E85 media machine. Could it be that they want us to explore this option more thoroughly so we will later come to believe that we really don't stand to gain much by E85 economically and enviromentally, and they can continue to gouge the crap out of us over gas prices and blame it on foriegn oil dependencey (which isn't an absolute truth, there's far more oil in Alaska and oil shale in the Rocky Mountains than what's in the Persian Gulf).

I'm also curious what kind of numbers you could get from a vehicle that was engineered to run off of E85, and E85 alone. Even an E85 electric hybrid perhaps. I still believe a massive push for bio-diesel technology would have the largest positive impact on our national energy needs and economy. Maybe now that gasoline suppliers are raking in massive record-breaking profits and car companies are losing billions they'll stop catering to them and do more research into the vast possibilities that exist with renewable fuel resources. Powerful engines that run off of vegetable oil and animal fat can be designed for every vehicle on the market, so why not make more options?

Alright, alright, enough rambling already lol. It's 4AM and I'm bored at work. What's a guy to do...

 

Haven't you seen BP's ad campaign? It answers your question to a "T".

Steve

 

Are you considering how much of our grain would be used up to just replace a very small portion of the energy created in this day and age? i dont see the economicaul advantage at all. at todays prices in Alabama, a bu. of corn "56lbs" is $2.44 broker price. that is what the farmer is getting. at the feed store a 50lb bag of corn is going for $5.??. How many gals. of E85 can be made out of a bu. of corn. Soybeans? i think not, they broker anywhere from $5.00-$10.00 a bu. "60lbs". What i think would happen is we would stop growing food and start growing energy.

 

i think that there is plenty of grain to do both jobs....i know of farmers at home that cant sell what they have, they have so much grain that it sits in the bins and rots because they cant sell it fast enough. new hybrids are producing more bu per acre. my dad (and i used to) works for a guy that has 3000 acres split between corn and beans. just in the last 10 years they have increased bu per acre by 25% and his boss has to run loads to the river every day just to keep up with what is in storage. and importing corn due to a shortfall is cheaper than importing oil....it has to be. even when brazil had that big fire in 97 and corn prices went up to 5.00/bu we sold all we could to them and still had enough for our own use and then some.

 

I think that the best part is that you get far more than a gallon of fuel from a bushel of corn, I think its like 10 - 12, if I remember correctly, and that you can use more than one type of grain... it doesn't have to be just corn or beans...

 

....agreed

 

i really dont think there is enough grain to go around. around here farmers are really pushing it just to keep up. the last 5 yrs corn crops has yielded 150-185 bu to the acre. in north tenn, theres some making 200 bu, but you better believe that only on the ideal ground. this year being very dry most farmers are lucky to see 75 bu. sure i have some branging corn in making 125 bu. that they aragated. i'm not saying it is a bad idea. i just dont think we could keep up. what i think should happen is we as people and mangers of this great land "earth" need to learn to cut back on energy instead of coming up with more ways of mass producing it. for example; 2 of my cousins live in town on the same street 7 houses away from each other. when 1 goes to the other's house, she jumps in the car and drives there. sure, you might not beable to see the amount of gas that is burnt in that distance but when you multiply that by the millions of people that do just that it equals ALOT of waste.

in 04 i had contracts in china for soybeans at $18.00 bu, i could'nt fill it all. i need to get up with all that have this spare grain. i run out all the time. matter of fact this whole corn harvest i've been behind, i need some of this surplus corn. i'll get a barge up to yall. i'm butting out 2 barges a day and cant keep up. this is only on gargill and chicken houses and feedmills. i would hate to see what where to happen if i had to keep up with refineries. Any body that has surplus on corn or beans let me know and we'll make arrangements. i take it on rail,truck,and barge. we pay daily broker market prices even buy on contract.

 

I doubt there is any performance increase. Higher octane in a truck that is configured to burn 87 or there alike could suffer in performance with higher octane. The only real way to determine is to get it on a dyno! If your performane was that much better then it stands to reason so should your mpg be better! Since everything is the same, and nothing has been done to enhance the use of E85.

 

This is a VIN code V 5.4 flex fuel engine. The PCM is able to adjust the engine's timing and fuel flow based on what the O2 sensors are reading. It is supposed to automatically adjust for any ratio of fuel from undiluted unleaded to straight E85 or anything in between. Or at least that's how I understand it.

Anyone know exactly how it works?

I'm not saying it's a rocket or anything like that. No. I think this truck is a slug, just slighly less sluggish with some E85. (I guess I was spoiled by my V10)

 

E85 has less heat energy as compared to the same amount of gasoline. With that said there is a sensor in the fuel line to determine the fuel composition that is being delivered and the program for that fuel composition in the ECM is utilized. Since there is less heat energy in E85 ( 65 to 75% of regular gasoline)the fuel curve and the spark curve are adjusted. The key here is the curves for each fuel are to maintain close to equal drivability. In order to take advantage of E85 upper end and sports auto manufacturers are welcoming E85 since now they have just upped the forced induction, higher boosts and compression limitations on a cheaper fuel. This is really the only way one will see the difference.
The most I have seen in a FF vehicle is an increase of 3% hardly an amount one would notice when driving. In fact this was done by reprogramming the factory FF PCM curves. This is why I say put it on a dyno, I will be surprised you see any increase in output.