Converting an older non flex fuel vehicle to run E85

[MISWFL]

The $1.30 a gallon E85 in the big fuel price thread got me thinking. Even with a slight drop in fuel mileage, that might be worth considering. I'll be living close enough to there, that it might be worth making trips occasionally to buy a trailer's ( utility maximum weight 1000 lbs inc trailer ) worth, while on a return trip from a neighboring state for other business.

What specifically would need to be changed in a 1990 Ranger XLT 2.9 to make that work long term? I'm OK with running plastic fuel tanks.

Fuel tank(s)
Fuel lines
Injector swap
Fuel system o rings to Viton
ECU recalibration or something stand alone?

For a different vehicle that's carbureted, is that feasible? Eventually my carbureted vehicles will be converted to stand alone fuel injection, but that'll be far down the road.

What's the difference between E85 and the old gasohol that I never saw, but heard about?

 

[SenorNoob]

I get the impression that any fuel savings would be taken up by the cost to convert. An exception might be if you had a Flex Fuel 3.0 truck to pick parts from at basically no cost. Even then none of the flex fuel trucks had a distributor type ignition. Not sure how you'd handle that.

There is this:

Ford Ranger (American) E85 Flex Fuel Kits​

eFlexPlus for Ford Ranger (American)​

At $799 you'd have to save an awful lot of fuel to pay for it...

 

[franklin2]

I would not buy it in bulk and store. The regular fuel stations and tanker trucks are already having a hard enough time keeping it mixed up and fresh.

E85 does not store very well compared to regular gasoline. Because ethanol is highly hydrophilic (it absorbs moisture from the air) and corrosive, E85 can degrade, lose octane, and cause system corrosion within 1 to 3 months if it is not kept in a completely airtight container.

 

[Roert42]

On the flex fuel trucks there is an ethanol content sensor that determines the % of ethanol and adjusts the A/F ratio. I believe they also all use wideband O2 sensors to adjust the fuel trims on the fly.

They also say to run regular e10 through the system a couple times a year, but I’m not sure why. It’s in the owners manual though.

Without that you would need to tune your ecu for a specific fuel/ octane and always use that.

I’m not an expert in e85 but I’ve heard the actual ethanol content can very quite a lot at the pump, so could be difficult to keep a ecu tuned in with a full flex fuel setup.

 

[MISWFL]

I get the impression that any fuel savings would be taken up by the cost to convert. An exception might be if you had a Flex Fuel 3.0 truck to pick parts from at basically no cost. Even then none of the flex fuel trucks had a distributor type ignition. Not sure how you'd handle that.

There is this:

Ford Ranger (American) E85 Flex Fuel Kits​

eFlexPlus for Ford Ranger (American)​

At $799 you'd have to save an awful lot of fuel to pay for it...

Off the top of your head, how does that system work? I was under the impression that you can't alter the engine ECU's software from the OBD port. Don't you have to install a programable chip or something to do that?

 

[MISWFL]

I would not buy it in bulk and store. The regular fuel stations and tanker trucks are already having a hard enough time keeping it mixed up and fresh.

E85 does not store very well compared to regular gasoline. Because ethanol is highly hydrophilic (it absorbs moisture from the air) and corrosive, E85 can degrade, lose octane, and cause system corrosion within 1 to 3 months if it is not kept in a completely airtight container.

I'd be using it up quickly and storing it in plastic air tight containers. Not long term storage.

 

[MISWFL]

I get the impression that any fuel savings would be taken up by the cost to convert. An exception might be if you had a Flex Fuel 3.0 truck to pick parts from at basically no cost. Even then none of the flex fuel trucks had a distributor type ignition. Not sure how you'd handle that.

There is this:

Ford Ranger (American) E85 Flex Fuel Kits​

eFlexPlus for Ford Ranger (American)​

At $799 you'd have to save an awful lot of fuel to pay for it...

Since the 3.0 is just a bit bigger than a 2.9, why couldn't you just swap over all the engine management stuff? I could see having trouble with adding a crank sensor if the 2.9 doesn't have one.

I think the flex fuel engines have a bit higher compression than the non flex ones.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

I was under the impression that you can't alter the engine ECU's software from the OBD port.

Lol.

Lmao.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Since the 3.0 is just a bit bigger than a 2.9, why couldn't you just swap over all the engine management stuff? I could see having trouble with adding a crank sensor if the 2.9 doesn't have one.

I think the flex fuel engines have a bit higher compression than the non flex ones.

3.0 is an entirely different animal despite being only slightly more displacement. The 2.9 shares the most commonality with the 4.0 OHV, which didn’t have a flex fuel option.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

Off the top of your head, how does that system work? I was under the impression that you can't alter the engine ECU's software from the OBD port. Don't you have to install a programable chip or something to do that?

With OBD1, your only options are a burned chip, which SUCK, or to go to a standalone unit, which are awesome. There's probably other options out there that are no longer supported. Unsure.

OBD2 can be written directly through the port.