diskman

Need a project for this weekend as I have nothing going on really. So here goes.

Would throwing E85 Gas (gallon or two for testing) into my 1984 Cherokee 2.5L damage the fuel pump or sending unit? How about the carb seals (rebuilt last year)? How about any remaining rubber lines in the fuel system? All of the lines under the hood have been replaced in the last year with new fuel line so I am sure that is ethanol safe.

Other than re-jetting my crappy Carter YFA (Can do it in about 5 minutes with it still on the Jeep), and setting the timing. Anything else I should look at? Oh yeah, get another fuel filter.

It's a project.. AND a good way to clean my fuel system at least for a weekend..

nick_n_ii

I would not try it, anything older than say '04 it would be a bad idea to put E85 in.

Plus why? worse fuel mileage and less power using E85

BlueXJ

I would worry also the E85 is notoriously rough on any of the rubber it contacts.

Jabo

Its not set up to run e85 so it will run like crap had a truck that would run ether way and it ran like crap until i got it all ran out of the tank

whowey

Nice to see someone using their head, and actually thinking about ways to break the oil cartel, rather than pretending with water and Baking Soda....


Q. Will a couple of gallons of E-85 do any damage to your pump, carb or fuel system?

A. It really depends. Pure rubber in fuel systems went away in the mid-80's as more and more gasoline had Ethanol in it on a regular basis. Chances are that if you live in a farm state, you have been running up to 10% Ethanol in your vehicle without even knowing it.

Try driving it a touch before rejetting your carb. I don't know off-hand whether that carb was set to run rich or lean from the factory.


I've been running my 90 4.0l on increasingly larger percentages of E-85. With an eye to running it solely on it. I'm at a 50/50 blend of E-85 and E-10 right now. I haven't had anymore that normal starting time, and power is just fine for turning the 33's off-road. But its not a street Jeep, so I can't give you a MPG number.

I'm also running my 94 5.2l ZJ on increased levels of E-85. Im currently at 25% E-85 ratio. It has run fine also. no issues with starting, no rough idle, no codes.

diskman

WHOWEY-

Thanks for the input. I think the original jetting on my Carter is a tad on the rich side. At least thats what mine is now with 130K miles as gasoline IS abrasive. Since I had the head freshened and shaved a few years ago, my compression has gone up a smidge so I get pinging unless I run 91 octane. Soo... the higher octane would be a benefit I guess. I can run a more aggressive advance curve on my dizzy. yay.

I live in the midwest and E-10 has been the norm here since the late 80s. Heck, seems that every station in town offers E85. I really don't agree with the whole Food for Oil and the massive subsidies that the govt is paying to the farmers to grow corn for ethanol. There are MUCH better solutions for ethanol production other than corn. But, I figure that since my taxes are going to the ethanol program anyways, I should mess with it some. Not too sure on the oil offset though. We still use a TON of petroleum for fertilizers, farm equipment and such to produce the ethanol, but I am sure the offset IS improving.

WAS also considering Propane as it WAS cost effective when gas started jumping higher. I believe when gas hit 3.10, propane in bulk was about 1.85 per gallon. Even considering the lower BTUs in the propane it was still a win-win. Plus I could still run gasoline if needed. Sigh.

DONT get me started on the HHO scams. Sheesh. Well maybe.. Nah, it hurts my brain to even think of peoples rationale on that hokum. "But it's true!".. Yeah, you can produce extra energy from NOTHING. TANSTAAFL all the way. [T]here [A]int [N]o [S]uch [T]hing [A]s [A] [F]ree [L]unch.




To all the Naysayers...

Running E-85 will NOT "break" or "blow-up" your engine. Sheesh.

The trouble you have on a fuel injected engine, is that the O2 sensors detect a "too lean" situation along with the other sensors. Therefore you end up running the stock fuel maps and timing maps out of wack in the ECU causing the whole system to act-up. With a carbed system as in my old 1984 2.5l, I can manually richen the fuel mixture and advance the timing that would otherwise be impossible in a non flex-fuel vehicle. My concern is any rubber in the system. But, I am pretty sure that the majority of it has been replaced already. I will give it another once-over this weekend if I get time.


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SeriousOffroad

Wow, Where do get this stuff?

E85 does decrease the fuel economy, but it's also a lot higher octane rating and increases performance.

I've run it in 97 without any ill effects.

E85 will ruin rubber hoses and seals so using it in older rigs is not possible without incurring significant and costly degredation of those materials.

Vinc

I have been running my '99 Cherokee 4L on E85 mix for the past 3 months and it works like a champ.

I started with 5% and now I am at about 50% E85, 50% regular unleaded. So far, so good. I didn't do any modifications and, other than some hesitance when I start the engine in the morning (because it is cold, I guess), the car runs smoothly.

Any bad experiences with ethanol out there? Everything is going so well with my Cherokee that it seems too good to be true...

Belto

well a friend of mine switch cold turkey on his EVO to 100% E85, and his HP has gone UP and his MPG has algo gone UP, he also can run higher PSI on his turbo.. so IDK why people think E85 is bad,, I wish I had that here in PR,, on only lil sugar cane here is use to make rum....

jstewart1960

ethonol is very crossive will damage fuel pump and fuel lines.

SeriousOffroad

97 and newer XJ's aren't affected, 96 and older that have rubber lines are. I run it in my XJ from time to time....no problems at all. Keep in mind that I'm running a stroker with 24lb injectors too.

Vinc

Thanks for the quick response!

It is interesting. I have been doing some research and, though many people talk about the dangers of ethanol and how it will corrode the engine, I couldn't find anybody reporting about an engine actually damaged after running on ethanol.

SeriousOffroad

It's not the engine that takes a beating, it's the lines, washers, grommets, etc,etc.

whowey

I guess those thousands of miles I have driven in the last 10 years using nothing other than ethanol blended fuels with no related damage to anything must have never happened.....

There have not been natural rubber parts used in fuel systems since the mid-80's. With the increase of ethanol in fuel all over the nation the OEM manufacturers started using Nitrile rubber, Viton, or even stainless steel in fuel systems.

SeriousOffroad

I was wrong!! more info to follow.

Let's just say I'm learning thru spending more money.