Flex Fuel Question

[Black2000Ranger]

Good morning guys.
Last summer I changed the motor and transmission in my 2000 ranger and the original one was a flex fuel. (The back of my truck has the little leaf)

The motor I replaced it with was from a Ranger, but the previous owner didn't know exactly what year, and claimed it "was a flex fuel". When I switch everything around there were no extra plugs on the wiring harness, and I believe I replaced the fuel rails, but not the injectors.

With gas prices on the rise I've been considering switching over to e85 but I am a little hesitant because I am not positive if this motor is actually a flex model. Is there any real way for me to be able to tell?

On Thanksgiving I was on Long Island and every gas station seemed to have e85, so I put in like 15 dollars worth, (like four gallons) and I didn't seem to have any issues. I just don't wanna toast another engine but would like to quit paying 75 dollars a fill up.

Thanks
Scott

 

[JP02XLT]

Their are relatively no differences in the motor, other than injectors, had you switched injectors from the old motor to the new motor you would have had no issues. The compensation for E-85 is done from the sensor near the rear axle & the ECU. You could either switch the injectors or run a mixture of the two fuels. Start with 1/4 tank E85 and work your way up & see what the results are, I seriously doubt you will see any problems and really no chance of burning an engine up unless your just flogging the crap out of it, On a full tank of E85 it will be a bit on the lean side & you may glaze a plug, but I would think you would have to be running the crap out of it to do that. We run a 1/2+ tank mix through my wifes 93 Cutlass 3.4 DOHC on a regular basis & it runs great, of course she is not a race car driver either.

I run a mix of a little more than 1/4 tank E85 in mine for the octane benefit with the SC, any more E85 than that & the E85 map from the ECU kicks in & the mileage goes way down.

JP02XLT