ethanol fuel

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Mar 4, 2007 | 06:33 PM

Spud

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Joined: Jul 2003

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From: Round Rock ,Tx

ethanol fuel

does ethanol burn cleaner?? Thanks Ted in Austin 99 ranger flex fuel

Mar 4, 2007 | 06:42 PM

fflintstone

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From: Aurora

Yup. burns hotter too. I think it's got a higher octane rating. An engines' gotta be designed for it(flexfuel??) We don' t have E85(high ethanol)fuel up here in the great white north, but I do know it's used quite a bit in the US.

Mar 4, 2007 | 07:24 PM

pgw85706

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From: Lynchburg, VA

It's been discussed here quite thoroughly recently and there is a whole forum dedicated to alternative fuels you might want to peruse. Generally, burning E85 produces less CO and smog.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/5...ml#post4183095

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/forum146/

Mar 4, 2007 | 09:08 PM

99F150

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Joined: Aug 2002

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From: Sioux Falls SD

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spud

does ethanol burn cleaner?? Thanks Ted in Austin 99 ranger flex fuel

Yes it has been discussed to death. It does burn cleaner and cooler not hotter. On E10 you will not notice any difference in power or economy, but on E85 your mpg will drop from 4 to 6 due to the the factory tuning and your 3.0 V6 designed for gas rather than ethanol.

Engines with high compression run best with pure ethanol and make impreeive power. Check out www.rune85.com

DAn

Mar 4, 2007 | 11:00 PM

rubydist

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From: Denver

Well, that's not quite right. E10 typically results in 5% lower fuel economy (about 1mpg in the Ranger) compared to 100% gasoline. E85 has considerably lower energy per gallon compared to gas (around 30% less), so that's the reason for lower mileage with E85. Most engines typically are actually a few percent more efficient with E85, its just less energy per gallon is impacting the gas mileage.

Mar 5, 2007 | 11:16 AM

99F150

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From: Sioux Falls SD

Ruby, I have run both straight gas for 3-4k miles and then done the same with E10 and see no difference in the mpg. I used to talk ethanol down big time for all the things you mention, I have changed my tune over the last 100,000 miles although I do not think it is the magic answer to our fuel problems or needs.

The thing that has impressed me most about ethanol is how clean it keeps your engine, both in the combustion and fuel system, plus if you engine is tuned properly it is a performance boost.

As a side note to the 5% drop in mpg on E10, I had a custom Diablo chip burned to take advantage of the E10's 89 octane and am getting better MPG now than I did previously with the stock tune and straight gas 87 octane.

Mar 5, 2007 | 12:20 PM

rubydist

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From: Denver

You are right, if you tune the engine for the higher octane, you can run more timing, and offset the lower energy content. The issue is that straight gasoline has ~117k BTU/gallon and ethanol has only ~76k BTU/gal, so you have to be creative to overcome the loss in energy even w/ E10. A regular vehicle that you just put E10 in will demonstrate less mileage because of the lower energy content, unless something is done (like an adjustment to the tune).