Has anybody use E83 gas in any type engine
new /old /hybrid
it has 83 ethanol and 15 gas
105 octane
40% less energy per gal
list pro and cons
thanks
JOE

 

I have done quite a bit of work with E85 and had a combo for my 68 chevelle street/strip car briefly.

The benefits are pretty much that you get 105 octane for higher compression at a cheaper price then race gas.

Downsides are all the downsides of running alcohol or methanol pretty much. The corosian factor can be an issue depending on your fuel system selection. The volume issue cuts fuel economy, cutting into your gas price savings. Also e85 generally requires a specfically calibrated carb for alcohol or methanol, and you generally have to increase your fuel pump capacity... all adding hidden costs.

IMO it would be worth it if you your really want to run higher compression (but not real high compression) on a motor that will see considriable street time in an area where E85 is much cheaper then 92 or higher octane, but it will take a while for it to be financially worth it. Otherwise you may want to look into other wasys to increase compression, while reducing detenation (alum heads, proper quench distance, piston and combustion chamber design, coatings, water injection, camshaft profile,etc.)

 

http://www.calstart.org/info/newsnot...il.php?id=7697

This is a link to some info on using E85 in vintage cars. Even the manufacturer's are making changes to their current cars so they can be listed as "flex fuel vehicles". Ford just started manufacturing flex F-150. The fuel metering differences between E85 and regular gas are what cause the major differences. This will result in a difference in miles per gallon for you. Your truck will get fewer miles per gallon with E-85 because you have to use more fuel to get the same power. You will have to figure out if the difference in costs between the fuels factored in with the difference in miles per gallon is economically worth the changes. You will have to figure in the cost of the parts to get the truck to run E-85 as well.

Hope this helps.

Phil

 

advantages?: IMHO none.
disadvantages: almost way too many to list.
bottom line: It would be cheaper in the long run to use 105 octane "race" gas (sold at some regular gas stations) or use an octane booster when you have to use a lower octane pump gas, IF your engine can't be detuned enough to use 93 octane. If you expect to gain power just from changing to a higher octane, that won't happen.

 

I was looking for pro/cons
using E83 gas in a vintage flathead
low compression 6.8 to 1
I know you can use a super low octane gas
any ideas?
Joe

 

The answer is even more emphatically: a total waste of money and effort, there are no pros to using a higher octane fuel than the engine requires no matter if the source of that octane is arab black gold or corn squeezins. in a very low compression engine like your flathead, it would run poorly at best and may even not run at all. Let me turn the question around: Why would you want to try to use this fuel? I can more specifically address that answer, otherwise trying to answer your question is kinda like asking us to list the pros and cons of installing a saturn rocket booster engine in an F100 or for you dating your wife's sister.
Sorry, not trying to be ugly or anything, but seriously in this case there are just no pros to list IMHO.

 

I run E-85 in my 782 International Garden tractor, and my brigs and stratton lawn mower. Both run fine and have adequate power when I need it. You can't do it in the winter, but it runs fine in 50 degree + weather.

E-85 has very few disadvantages. We have experimented with it extensively in our 74 Cuda race car. It is much cleaner and easier to tune than gas.

The loss in mileage is a wash when you compare the cost per mile. I prefer burning local fuel over the furrin' stuff.

 

I like the idea of using clean burning home grown fuels like E-85. It's a good thing to learn how to use this type of fuel why not help our farmers. Brazil has used something like this for a long time now it seems to work for them. It is not sold in my area so I havent tried it. But would like to.
I understand that you would need a different kind of fuel hose does anyone know what kind to use?

 

I'm not against this fuel, just against ruining a perfectly good engine. If you are dead set on running alchohol (It's not new, alchohol has been used as a motor fuel for a long time, the reasons it hasn't been popular are multitude) Then do it right. You'll need an alcohol compatable carburator, neoprene and other synthetic rubbers used in gasoline carbs will swell and disintegrate, jets will have to be considerably larger. You'll need a larger volume alchohol compatable fuel pump, larger diameter fuel line, a larger gas... I mean fuel tank, unless you are going to fill up more often since your gas... er fuel milege is going to drop significantly (better keep a list handy of where all the stations are where you can buy it if you are going on a trip or more correctly you'll be planning your trips around where you can fill up). Throw in an alchohol profile cam, and a recurved distributor if you want to outrun an 60's era VW bug, oh and better install harden valve seats while the engine is apart. Stock up on the expensive and hard to find alchohol compatable engine oil while you are at the race shop familiar with running alchohol fueled engines getting the engine tuned. Since alchohol is highly hygroscopic and corrosive to non ferrous metals if you plan on not driving your ride for a few days you'll need to drain the entire fuel system and purge it with gasoline, then find someplace to dispose of whatever you drained out because unless you store it under extremely critical conditions it won't be usable again. Best have a fireproof suit and helmet on when handling it, because alchohol burns with a colorless flame, so no one will know why you're dancing around and may just appauld while you burn to death should it catch fire.
IMHO if you really want to avoid using foreign oil, leave your truck parked and ride a bicycle. This fuel is a "crude" government joke!

 

Come on AXracer, don't sugar coat it, tell us what you really think.
Just bustin ya! I like your description in the last post!
Got a flathead, and no fire proof suit, guess I'll stay with camel juice!

 

I recently got a vehicle that could run either regular gas or E-85 but I don't use the E-85. What irritates me is how the price of it follows gasoline and not the price of corn. I understand supply/demand, free markets and all that but it just seems like price gouging to me. With the price differential as it is it comes out as a wash. The E-85 is cheaper but the gas mileage will suffer.
About the only person I've met who uses it was a guy with a vintage 1910 stationary gas sawmill engine who liked it because he said his ancient air/fuel mixer worked better with it.

 

AX-Racer, read up on ethanol a bit. You can switch back and forth if you go on a trip, as I do regularly.

As for the parts, we soaked a spare carb in pure Ethanol and saw no degreadation, even after 1 month of soaking. This isn't race alcohol, it is E-85 Ethanol.

Pretty soon you will say that you can't mix sythetic and conventional oils.

 

you're right, I was confusing ethanol with methanol (racing alchohol fuel) as far as corrosive qualities, ethanol is much less corrosive but still hygroscopic. I see you are from IA, so I'd guess you have a dog in this hunt?
No I wouldn't ever say that you can't mix oils, but I would say the same as about running E-85 (or high octane gasoline for that matter) in a low compression engine: Why would you want to?
When we go to our national races we avoid having to gas up the race car in MO since all they sell is gasahol. Didn't know that the first time we drove thru there, and needed to gas up in St L., power and milege dropped off measurably on that tank.

 

I'd be curious is it is the gasahol, or the conditions your were driving in.

We have seen up to 50% ethanol mix without a drop in mileage. That was in a Ram truck, which are will know gas hogs.

I drove our minvan from CA to IL and back three times, and never saw a difference in mileage in 10% and straight gas.

One might guess our differences are from the vehicles and the load they are pulling.

I work for a seed company. We sell corn no matter what it is used for.

 

We were driving cross country in our Celica (the car we were racing, but the engine is stock) pulling a small tire trailer with tools and 4 race tires and with another 6 race tires and our clothes inside, so we were pretty loaded. I am **** about keeping a log of all our gas purchases and milege since it can indicate impending problems. The leg in question was perfectly flat nearly straight interstate driving the same speed we used most of the trip on cruise control. Our gas milege dropped a little better than 10% or 3+ MPG. We compared it to the return trip over the same roads this time gassing up in KS with regular gasoline. We have friends who also autocross in St L. who told us the same results, a loss of power and that they drive out of state to buy gas for race days.