E85 gasoline?

Don't do it. E85 is not good for your engine...I work in the automotive industry, and lead a global team that develops new alloys for valvetrain and turbocharger applications. E85 accelerates wear in valvetrain components...it is pushed by special interests and is a political football, not a sound technical solution. Iowa votes first, and all presidential candidates promise the corn state whatever it wants in order to win the caucuses.
 
The idea behind ethanol as a fuel additive/fuel is that it contains an atom of oxygen in its molecular structure, therefore it burns more completely and emits fewer air pollutants. And that is its only advantage, at least if you are not a corn farmer.
 
I experimented with E85 back in 2009 when I bought my Chevy. My engine uses premium or E85 - I found that the mileage difference was 4/5. Using that ratio, I found that it was much more expensive per mile to use E85. If it is more than premium I don't think it would match up very well against regular either. I didn't notice any difference in performance in normal driving.
 
I use premium in everything, because nowadays it is 93 octane at best-and has ethanol in it, I hear folks say-usually the Lady's-that the cars handbook, or someone at the dealership, told them that "all it needed was regular" which is true if you mean to be able to start it. That is a sales gimmick IMO. The additive packages are better in premium-and some are better that others, but I put a small amount of Star-Tron and Marvel Mystery Oil in each tank with good results.
 
amazingflapjack said:
. ...but I put a small amount of Star-Tron and Marvel Mystery Oil in each tank with good results.
Click to expand...

Way cool! Another MMO guy...I use Marvel in the tank and in the crankcase, but once in awhile...not always. Also have used it to lube my guns, although my primary product is Frog Lube...auto lubricants, fuels and gun lube products are all interesting subjects...resulting in more opinions and only slightly less passionate arguments than politics. I don't care to hijack or detour the thread, but had to comment on MMO...and mentioned Frog Lube just to annoy some...:D
 
E85 is not cheaper than gas. It is actually $1 to $2 more expensive per gallon. Tax money subsidizes it to the point where the price at the gas station is lower than real gas. If there was no subsidy and you had to pay the full price at the pump, nobody would ever buy it. It also takes up a rather large percentage of farm land to produce it. Every acre used to produce E85 is one less acre used to produced food. E85 is the main reason that grocery prices have gotten so much higher in the past few years. E85 is costing you lots of money whether you buy it or not.
 
At one time, most corn grown was used for livestock and chicken/turkey feed. Today, most goes for ethanol production. As previously noted, that change has created higher prices for food. No idea if that effect was intentional, but it shouldn't have been difficult to figure out.
 
As others have stated, ethanol has a lower BTU/gallon energy density so the the fuel mileage will be lower.

Modern cars are equipped with seals and plastics that are alcohol compatible so there should be no issues there.

One other potential disadvantage of alcohol as fuel is that it is hygroscopic - meaning it can absorb water/moisture from the air. As long as you are burning it up and replenishing it with fresh fuel all the time that isn't a problem, but if it sits for long periods of time in humid areas it can absorb a fair amount of water, which is obviously NOT a good thing.

We need to do what they have done in Brazil and several other countries. They have set up alcohol production facilities geared towards using agricultural wastes - like sugar cane after most of the sugar has been extracted, or corn husks & cobs, or straw left over from grain production, etc. Doing it that way the cost per gallon is low and you aren't using up food to make fuel. In the US we are only equipped to produce alcohol from grain, so we are diverting food crops (mainly corn) into producing alcohol for fuel. Doing it that way the alcohol is MUCH more expensive and also drives up the cost of grain-based products (food) due to increased demand.

I'm not 100% certain about the rest of the country, but here on the West Coast virtually ALL gasoline is blended 10% with ethanol. Unless I am mistaken I believe that is true nationwide due to a Federal law passed about 10 or 15 years ago requiring 10% alcohol blended into pump gas. It is a prime example of the "unintended consequences" of lawmakers passing a law that sounds good (like forcing an increase in the use of renewable fuels) without fully examining all aspects of the effects and impacts (increased demand for grain and high cost of grain-based alcohol & food) beforehand.
 
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BC38 said:
As others have stated, ethanol has a lower BTU/gallon energy density so the the fuel mileage will be lower.

Modern cars are equipped with seals and plastics that are alcohol compatible so there should be no issues there.

One other potential disadvantage of alcohol as fuel is that it is hygroscopic - meaning it can absorb water/moisture from the air. As long as you are burning it up and replenishing it with fresh fuel all the time that isn't a problem, but if it sits for long periods of time in humid areas it can absorb a fair amount of water, which is obviously NOT a good thing.

We need to do what they have done in Brazil and several other countries. They have set up alcohol production facilities geared towards using agricultural wastes - like sugar cane after most of the sugar has been extracted, or corn husks & cobs, or straw left over from grain production, etc. Doing it that way the cost per gallon is low and you aren't using up food to make fuel. In the US we are only equipped to produce alcohol from grain, so we are diverting food crops (mainly corn) into producing alcohol for fuel. Doing it that way the alcohol is MUCH more expensive and also drives up the cost of grain-based products (food) due to increased demand.

I'm not 100% certain about the rest of the country, but here on the West Coast virtually ALL gasoline is blended 10% with ethanol. Unless I am mistaken I believe that is true nationwide due to a Federal law passed about 10 or 15 years ago requiring 10% alcohol blended into pump gas. It is a prime example of the "unintended consequences" of lawmakers passing a law that sounds good (like forcing an increase in the use of renewable fuels) without fully examining all aspects of the effects and impacts (increased demand for grain and high cost of grain-based alcohol & food) beforehand.
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Ethanol isn't an absolute requirement, but I don't know how the regs are written to 'entice' its use. In Wisconsin outside of Milwaukee no-ethanol is easy to find. Milwaukee and the surrounding counties have air pollution regs that require it. Indiana is a huge ethanol producer, and E0 is much more difficult to find. I have only found 1 station near me that sells it, even though very little of the state has air quality issues.

I agree that ethanol should be produced from waste rather than grain, but disagree that we should be forced to use it. There are valid reasons to avoid it - its corrosive properties, especially to older cars and small engines. It is completely inappropriate for marine use. I don't think airplanes use it either.
 
We run an ethanol blend in our patrol cars (Chargers 2013-current). It is completely underwhelming. Fleet manager has stated that it has caused some issues, but he wasn't specific. Every couple of tanks I use either STP fuel system cleaner or octane boost. I can tell a real difference. My last Charger was a 2014 and I never ran fuel system cleaner through it. It was kinda sluggish when I switched out of it to my 2017.
 
I just started burning ethanol free fuel in my 07' Ford Ranger 4 cyl. with 190,000 miles on it. Gas mileage went from 23 mpg to 28 mpg.........nuff said!
 
johngalt said:
I agree that ethanol should be produced from waste rather than grain, but disagree that we should be forced to use it. There are valid reasons to avoid it - its corrosive properties, especially to older cars and small engines. It is completely inappropriate for marine use. I don't think airplanes use it either.
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Yeah, I guess I didn't state that very well. I don't see forcing us to use it as a good thing. What I see as good is trying to reduce our dependence on imported oil by using renewable energy.

I also agree that it is bad for older engines that weren't designed to burn it, though that can be remedied and as older engines go away is a self-correcting problem (with the exception of preserved classic cars). It's hygroscopic properties definitely make it a poor fuel for use in or around water. As for planes, last time I checked the FAA hasn't even approved the general use of bio-diesel as a substitute for jet fuel, and biodiesel has gar fewer issues than alcohol as a fuel. So I doubt that they have approved alcohol as an aviation fuel either.
 
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I buy ALL my gasoline at our Wal-Mart,or at a Sam's Club I know in Tyler, Texas, where we shop for large things.
Rarely, do we ever drive into the Mesquite or Dallas area. Why???? Just too dangerous going thru the black neighborhoods, to get where we want to go.
I get the "check engine" orange light on the dash periodically, and remove it with the "plug in" diagnostic tester that I have.
I try and burn the regular mostly because it is the cheapest.
My P/U truck is a 2000 Nissan desert runner with a 5 speed manual and a 3.3 liter V-6. 200,000 miles and runs perfect.
 
My 2014 F150 is a "Flex Fuel" vehicle, but I never run anything but regular gas with 10% ethanol in it. It came with a window sticker that listed the miles per tank of fuel with both E10 and E85, and the numbers were like 425 miles with E 10 and 365 miles with e 85, so the decision to go with regular was a no brainer. No ehtanol gas is available here in SC at about the same price as premium, and that is what I use in my small engines and antique engines. Fuel with ethanol goes bad much more quickly than non ethanol, and the antique engines all have brass parts in the fuel system that corrode with the ethanol fuel.
 
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