Using E-85 instead of gas

[99RangerKrazy]

Hey guys and gals, I have a 99 Ranger 3.0L Flex fuel and I just found out that a gas station about 8-9 miles away in another town near me sells E-85. I've been using gas (usually midgrade) for about a year and half, and I don't know if it has ever been ran off of E-85...now the question is should I switch to E-85? I know it decreases gas mileage, but it's cheaper, and makes the engine run smoother? Is it worth it to run it off E-85 instead of say midgrade to premium gas? What are all the pros/cons of it? Thanks everyone

[oldmantruck]

If I remember right from chemistry class, you will probably get only about 75% of the mpg you get on gas, so you probably won't get ahead on price, but it will support farmers and help use a little less foreign oil. Now if you had a turbo, you could crank the boost way up since e-85 runs at a little over 100 octane, but on a naturally asperated motor, you just use more fuel to go the same distance.

[MAKG]

You shouldn't need midgrade on just about any stock vehicle sold in the last 30 years or so. Use 87 octane at low altitude.

High octane has decreased volatility and decreased burn rate and can cause problems.

[85_Ranger4x4]

You shouldn't need midgrade on just about any stock vehicle sold in the last 30 years or so. Use 87 octane at low altitude.

High octane has decreased volatility and decreased burn rate and can cause problems.

This engine was designed with this in mind, it should burn it ok.

Guys with the flex fuel F-150's say they get a tad more power and just come out ahead on milage from regular gas. It is dirt cheap around here as refineries are popping up all over too though.

[Zerocide]

Well over all E-85 gives the 3.0 25% less mileage, but roughly about 10% more hp. Never could figure that out, E-85 burns cooler then normal gas but produces more power but still ends up with less fuel economy. Anyway E-85 is worth it as long as your paying 25% less then normal gas. Normal gas where i live is 2.77, and i pay 1.99 for E-85, thats a 28% difference for me.

[michowski]

well think of it this way. Do you do a lot of driving around and know of a lot of gas stations that carry e85? Id hate to drive an hour from home and need to fill up and all the sudden you realize theres only unleaded gas out there and your mixing fuels.

[Wicked_Sludge]

its a flex fuel vehicle....mixing e-85 and gas in the tank doesnt matter.

[Zerocide]

if you mix the fuel youll find your self getten hp between E-85 and normal gas, and mileage between E-85 and normal gas. flex fuel is pretty hard to come by in many places, where i live i got a station that has it about 15 miles away (closest station is 8 miles away) so i really only spend 2 gallons going there and back.

[kunar]

c'mon guys its a no brainer. its a cleaner, renewable, american made fuel. who cares if you get a hair less mpg or a hair less power, its cheaper and it supports the american economy rather than the middle east. not to mention it keeps your engine internals cleaner. and just because you have e85 in it once doesnt mean you cant put straight gasoline back in it if need be, it wont hurt anything. you could do every other tank if you wanted to with no ill effects. theres a couple stations around here that sell e85 now for usually about $.40 a gal cheaper and if i could, i would use it in every tank.

[Wicked_Sludge]

e85 actually generally produces a bit more hp then gas...but with lower mileage...figure that one.

[kunar]

its because its a higher fuel to air ratio....your engine will run on it even if its not a flex fuel but it cant compensate for the extremely lean condition...(i have tried)

[ozzwoman9]

Ok time for my input. I've heard of people having injector issues when switching back and forth directly from E85 to reg gas. I've heard that it's best to mix it a bit if you are switching from one to the other.

Now on my side. I started running E85 off and on since earlier this year and my truck has apparently developed some problems, I'm not 100% sure it's related to the E85 itself, but I just thought I would mention it (there is a post on here about my issue). I did recently got a code and it came back that the flexible fuel sensor was bad. I personally think that the $588 sensor that I had to replace totally made up the difference in the savings from running E85 (and after spending that much $$ my problem is back), only the 99 has this sensor from my understanding. Anyway, I thought I would share this. I now have my truck sitting at a mechanic to find my prob cause my issue came back after replacing that sensor.

Anyway, I thought I would share this info. I personally (when and if my truck is back and running good) am afraid to run E85 again.

[jlr23402003]

i always run premium in my 2003 edge, but since i have a race shop about 1/2 mile from my house about once a month i put 2 gallons of 111 octane on top of a full tank, now that cleans out your internals. plus you can imagine the power boost. screw e 85, go 111

[MAKG]

Umm, 111 octane (or even 91 octane) will do NOTHING to "clean out" anything or to improve power. It will be less prone to detonation, and will allow you to advance the timing further (but your truck WILL NOT do this on its own), nor can you do it yourself with EDIS.

If it has TEL, you've damaged your cat and your truck stinks to heck.

Your truck should run as well on 87 octane as it does on anything else. If it doesn't, something is broken.

[Wicked_Sludge]

dang, mike beat me to it.

your engine has no way of telling what octane is in the tank, and therefor no way of making use of the higher octane fuel.

the only way to see a gain from high octane fuel is with a programmer to advance your timing.

[green99]

your engine has no way of telling what octane is in the tank, and therefor no way of making use of the higher octane fuel.

This is in reference to non-flex engines, right? I would think the flex-fuel sensor would allow the computer to make adjustments to maximaze E-85 performance in those engines.

[Wicked_Sludge]

the flex fuel sensor detects ethanol content of the fuel, not octane. while increasing ethanol has the same effect on the fuels burn quality as increasing octane, the sensor does not detect octane.

[99stepside]

all i know is i love my E85. i havent had any probs with my truck and i do see a horsepower changeand the engine runs a hell of alot smoother. the only down side to having the flex feul was when i went to replace the fuel filter i had one hell of a time trying to find an FFV feul filter. took 3 days and a special order. then i go to auto zone and ask what i should do for engine oil knowing if i had a hard time finding a specil feul filter maybe ive been putting the wrong oil inn it too. well i was right, but i dont quite know why, so now my oil changes cost me 70 dollars now. but other than that I LOVE FLEX FUEL

[Wicked_Sludge]

hate to burst your bubble, but aside from a few computer and fuel system differences, your engine is identical to the regular gasoline 3.0...and has the same oil requirments. your parts store is trying to make a buck off of you. any quality 5w-20 API rated motor oil works dandy.