E85

A

Afireinside

New member
Will having 3gals of e85 in a full 20 gallon tank do any harm to my IH motor? In Colorado we already have 10% ethanol in our winter blend.
Thanks
 
With ethanol, time and concentration are everything. While it May act cold blooded and might act lean you won't hurt it as long as you use it fast.

Burn it off, don't park it and let it sit. The shorter you let the alcohol sit in your fuel system the better.
 
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The t-all doesnt get driven very often at all but I could change that and drive it to work everyday(3 miles total)
thanks
 
In that case you May want to rethink leaving it in there. I could not say for certain how long is safe but more that 2 weeks would worry me.
 
Don't do it e10 is enough to cause the need to rejet many vehicles as it's stoichemtric a/f ratio is 14.2 to 1 instead of pure unadultrated gas at 14.7 to 1. Since it is winter time the e85 is actually e70 which means that 3 gallons of 20 when mixed with e10 will net you aprox e20 which will require a stoich a/f ratio of ~13.5. Now in those situations where power enrichment is needed it will be even leaner as ethanol requires a proportionally richer mixture in those situations. So you do run the risk of burning a hole in a piston.

The other issue is cold starting, ethanol doesn't evaporate as easiely as gas so you need a proportionally richer mix for cold start with ethanol blends than you do with gas to get enough vapor in the cyl to light. That is the reason the winter blend "e85" is really e70 and even that is isn't volatile enough for areas where you see temps well below 0.

Then there is the materials compatibility issues, the old rubber fuel line for one can't stand up to e10 for long so e20 will only accelerate issues.

If you have a late model (96+) rig suck out as much as you can get in it (them) and use it up in that way. Get it down to 3 or 4 gallons and fill it up again.
 
Eric,

in case you didn't notice the t-all is in Colorado and most likely sees a high density altitudes. Already Rich and down on cylinder pressure. Detonation on alcohol with 8-1 at high altitude. Sorry I don't think so. With the increase in effective octane (100) of the fuel you won't be able to generate enough heat to get anywhere close to the critcal temps needed to cause detonation.

Like I said it will be cold blooded. And that if the truck will sit I would not do it.

I have run 30% m1 (methanol) in engines with gas jetting with no difficulty other than minor drivability issues. It was only in the vehical for 2 days so exposure was limited. Ethanol is was less agressive. Anyhow there are only educated assesments of the question asked.
 
Being in the "carburetor" bizz onna a semi-pro level...

I'm facing this same kinda shit every day right now. And the problems caused just by the forced use of e10 is bad enuff, but e85 is a whole other animal. This started becoming a real problem in the northwest last August as use of the shit was forced into the marketplace.

Best case...remove the e85 and use it to light a burn pile (if ya can get it to ignite). If that's not practical, then dose the load heavily with a marine-grade of sta-bil and go run it out. Get rid of it!

It's an acknowledged fact that the "shelf life" of e10 is approximately two weeks when stored in a container (such as a fuel tank) that is not sealed and to which atmospheric air can react with in an oxidation process. Sta-bil can greatly enhance that long-term storage issue but not offset the debilitating effects to oldskool fuel systems and components which are a byproduct of exposure to e10.

We experienced this same situation back in 1974 with the introduction of "gasahol" (10% mix) in many markets in the u.s., but that useless shit was at least "stabilized" to provide somewhat of a shelf life...e10 is not. And e85 is not a suitable fuel for any oldskool oem fuel system for which it was not designed/dedicated.

For Holley carb setup today in my shop (when doing "stock" reconditioning operations) all main jet calibrations are now increased by two steps to compensate for the "leaning" created by the forced use of e10. If the fuel being used in a particular application is that "clear" stuff (not legal for on-highway use), then a carb/engine is set up for that application.
 
I don't think the mix would be anywhere near 100 octane. From my calculations based on high alt regular's 85 octane and the 101 octane of e70 we get in the low lands, would yield an octane of only ~88.

And yes I did notice that the rig is in Colorado, so yes it could be running Rich on pure gas. However if it has lived in co all of it's life it is entirely possible that it was previously re-jetted for high alt, particularly if it has been registered in a area with emissions testing. So with the info provided imo the safest bet is to remove as much as practical, use it in a vehicle that has the ability to control the a/f ratio and was built with ethanol compatible materials, and dilute the remaining fuel.

It is definitely possible that it could be run out w/o any issues but why risk it?

Don't get me wrong I love using e85 in the wife's ffv for the extra hp and savings when the price difference is right, and I'll even put e10 in my late model FI rigs. But until my state mandated minimum 2% ethanol as of dec 15th 08 I drove out of my way, payed 10-15-20 cents more per gallon, to avoid the stations selling e5, e7 and e10, and kept my binders and small engines non-alcoholic, even the FI'd t-all.
 
The dude in Colorado asked a simple question regarding using e85 in a dam Travelall. Why the fuck has this turned into a discussion of "f.I", "f.f.v." and fuel regulations/marketing in some other state? That has no use in answering the member's question.
 
Thanks for the answers and it seems common consensus, is get rid of it. It does have a full bottle stabil in it because gas was cheap so it got filled up. Someone besides myself drove it and put the 3gals of e85 in it,dont ask me why but probably price.
It has an older carter afb tuned to run in Colorado fine, it actually just got emissions done this January and passed fine.
So on to the next question, should I slowly add gas as I drive it or should I use it all up and then refill?
Thanks a lot
 
Don't do nuthin' special...just drive tha sukker and keep tha tank(s) full when ya can afford it (with sta-bil treatment since ya don't use that so-called gasoline too quick!).
 
I drove it abou 60 miles yesterday just for fun and knowing I should get rid of the gas. I couldn't tell any difference except around a steady 20-25 mph there was a very slight surge.
Thanks again
 
Thanks for the update,
that would be a bit lean in cruise so no problem, not enough heat or pressure at that power setting.
 
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