Negative. The injector pump is full of little parts the "corn alcohol" will chew up in a lot less than 100k miles. I'm talking 3-4 tanks of gas. If you like, I can PM you a phone number for a guy I work with who thought the same thing. He started running about a 50/50 mix of E85 and gas. Claimed all kinds of crazy **** until his 2004 F150 went TUD and had to go to the shop. It was going to cost him more to repair the truck from the fuel tank to the injector pump and all in-between, than it was worth in a "cost effective" sense. He now owns a new vehicle. Everything has to be stainless steel that the fuel comes in contact with. There are also special plastics that are used that the E85 doesn't munch on. Feel free to run the E85 in a non-FFV if you'd like. When it dies a painful, alcohol induced death, I'm going to say "I told you so".

 

Oh yeah, and the computer gets a "constant update" via a probe in the fuel tank that measures the amount of ethanol in the tank. the computer then adjusts the A/F mixture, and adjusts the timing. That's why you can mix gas and E85 in any quantity you want. 5 gal of gas, and 30 of E85, 50/50, 30/70 etc.

 

sounds like your friend had other problems. There are plenty of people running E85 successfully on non E85 vehicles, for far longer than 3-4 gas tanks. I can PM you phone numbers for shops that have tuned dozens of these vehicles.

 

I wouldn't....I personally know two people who tried...and had huge problems. One corrosion and one leaking gaskets and seals..

 

Actually, the dealership showed him the damage. First, the E85 "cleaned" his fuel system removing all the sludge and varnish, depositing it in his fuel filter. His injector pump disinegrated internally, his oxygen sensor got wacked by trying to figure out what was going on, his catalytic convertor was ruined, and it did something to the rings and cylinders. (which I don't recall what he said happened) His extended warranty was "voided on the spot" because of his running the E85. Not worth the risk to me. My 08 is a FFV, and I run the E85 once in awhile. It cleans the fuel system.

 

sounds like it ran lean if the rings and cylinders were affected, which would support my theory of him having other problems. Basically, it doesn't sound like he had it tuned at all.

I don't know that these trucks have what you call an injector pump. You're probably talking about fuel pump. why that would desintegrate on e85 is beyond me, it's not made of plastic or anything. If his sludge and varnish was deposited in his fuel filter, that means he had sludge in his gas tank? Seriously, think about what you're saying, if you're gonna have sludge in your gas tank and somehow that is the fault of E85, you're out of your mind.

 

No, it's because E85 is CORROSIVE. It "cleaned" meaning ate at his fuel lines, fuel tank, rubber and plastic gaskets between his tank, and the pump. Yes, it's a fuel pump, not an injector pump...oops. E85 is still a corrosive. Yes, it was running lean because that's what happens when there isn't a probe telling the puter how much alcohol is in the tank. In your theory, if you set the computer to run E85, then if you decide to run gas, or any combination of E85/gas you'd have to tune the puter every time. No thanks.

 

i think e85 is a joke.id rather have my belly be full than my gas tank(most of the time).There are a lot of things that corn is used in,and all the food prices will get jacked up,along with fuel prices.

 

Indeed. Funny how everyone seems to think that death and doom will come to the vehicle if you even mention E85 within 20 feet of it.

 

The fuel lines and injectors are fine with E85. The only reason you would change the fuel pump or injectors is if they don't flow enough fuel.

As far as re-tuning the computer, there is a thing called a switch chip. You fill up with E85 and switch to the E85 tune. If you fill up with gas you flip to the gas tune all with the flip of a switch.

 

The injectors for my 94 Mustang are different from my roomate's 96 Mustang. Different years, different parts.

 

Then why are my fuel lines made out of Stainless Steel, and my Wife's 2007 Ford Edge made out of galvanized steel, and rubber hose? Mine is a FFV, and hers is not. Over time, the alcohol will eat the zinc coating off of the galvanized lines, and then start eating through the lines themselves. This is all over the Internet, and in the car mags, pro E85 sites, etc. I can find as many sites saying "don't do it" as you can saying "it'll be fine". The big difference is not a single automotive engineer is coming out and saying it's fine to run E85 in a non-FFV engine. This dead horse don't need beat no more. I would be upset if it were ever proven that the Automotive Industry was lying about it the whole time, but they're not. Time for me to go pick up my Weathertech floor system. 3-piece in Black to match my carpet. I like the way they have the entire back seat floor in 1-piece.

 

First of all, E10 is quite common across the nation so there is ethanol in there already.

E85 has a tendency to attract water which is what will rust older fuel tanks. The government mandated that vehicles be able to run 10% ethanol and as such, todays fuel systems are designed to handle the ethanol and extra water. E85 will deteriorate natural rubber. However, technology has improved since the 70s and so has rubber technology. When you use E85 in an older high mileage vehicle or one that has been run on garbage gas it will dissolve sediments. This could account for fuel pump failures. One must be diligent about changing their fuel filter as well.

As far as comparing your fuel lines to hers, they are different vehicles, are they not? You can't compare apples to oranges. I've mentioned it before but I encourage you to check out runE85.com. There is some rather interesting information on there as far as E85 goes. I am in no way involved with them and am simply posting it as a reference.

 

so you mean to tell me there's absolutely no rubber between your gas tank and your fuel rails? everything is solid stainless steel on your truck? man i'd hate to see what happens if your engine torques to the side a bit when you step on the gas. You know how flexible those stainless steel fuel lines are.

lean conditions don't happen when you don't have a probe in the tank. lean conditions happen when your air fuel ratio is not correct; which for E85 is different than for gas. that is why you have problems; and yes if you just pour e85 in the tank and don't tune it, it will have problems. like CMK said, the only time (on newer vehicles) you'd need to change out pump and injectors would be when you're running out of fuel for the power you're making. On my mustang for example, 24# injectors are running at 95% duty cycle (meaning they're open 95% of the time), which if i were to switch to E85 would mean I'd be running out of fuel since i'd need them to spit out more fuel than they could if they were open 100% of the time. It's recommended you have them running at around 80% duty cycle to avoid lean conditions, and that is what they were running around when the car was stock. more mods = more air going through the motor = have to have more fuel so I don't go lean = more flow through injectors.

On these trucks it shouldn't be a problem as they shouldn't be pushing the injectors or wp anywhere near max on a near stock truck.

 

I don't have near as much rubber line as my wife's,and it's a different material than hers. It's something that was made to withstand the corrosive effects of E85. Now it seems like you want to get in an argument. Argue with someone else. I already said that this dead horse didn't need beat anymore, and I mean it. I'm done replying/talking on this thread. If you want to run E85, and already are, yay for you. May you have many happy miles. When your ride breaks down, and Ford voids any extended warranty for having E85 in a non-FFV, suck it up.