E85 pissing me off

[EvolvedRegal]

So this morning I made a blunder. I went to the wrong station to fuel up and the same misfire is back again.

Isn't this stuff regulated?

It seems that Andys on Rawson is the only fuel that works in my car and what it was tuned for.

[DRK]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200364597073&crlp=1_263602_263622&ff4=263602_263622&viewitem=&guid=6a3bde6f1290a04372017f91ffcd6817&rvr_id=129153886873&ua=%3F*F%3F&itemid=200364597073

[EvolvedRegal]

I have one of them but it would look a little weird to pull out a chemistry set at the station.

[That_Guy]

My buddies all run e-85. They tend to tank up at the kwik trips.. in waukeesha they don't issues. Just a thought.

[floaters]

woodmans or andys always work fine for me, what you need is a flex fuel sensor wired into your setup to tell you exactly how much ethanol is in your tank.

[WhatsADSM]

FWIW I have NEVER run into an e85 station that I couldn't use.

Tune the fueling for e95 and ignition for e70 and be done.

IMO I'd bet there is a problem elsewhere like in the ignition system or something.

[EvolvedRegal]

Ignition was just re-done and 2 tanks already thru it ran like a champ before this happened. Maybe it's just old gas???

Although I did notice it started kinda hard after the fill up. Plus that stations E85 pumps are down a lot.

Im wondering if a quick re-gap of the plugs will do the trick. Since the mis-fire began I did do a few different gaps on the plugs. At .018 the car would cruise horribly but in boost it ran like a champ. Now I have the gap at .026, seems like the cruise is a lot better (at least it was) and now slight misfire in boost.

Got to get the car home and try them at .023, that might be a good trade off for both worlds.

[SSLEVO]

I ran E85 in the evo i had for a few months and didn't have any issues. I usually got it at a place in hartford off of hwy 60 because they were able to confirm it was true E85. According to a lot of charts and people i talked to; wisconsin only gets true E85 to most stations in July and August. All the other months it's too cold, aka, the car will start like shit. ( Its really not that bad, i did notice it started a little rough around 50*) At any given time you can get between 70%-85% ethanol out of an "E85" pump. So to answer your question, no it's not really regulated, LOL.

As far as the gap goes, .026 is close to stock i believe. I was running a ported evo 9 snail at 30 psi with a .020 gap if i remember right. I would say somewhere around .022 would work well for you.

[WhatsADSM]

I ran E85 in the evo i had for a few months and didn't have any issues. I usually got it at a place in hartford off of hwy 60 because they were able to confirm it was true E85. According to a lot of charts and people i talked to; wisconsin only gets true E85 to most stations in July and August. All the other months it's too cold, aka, the car will start like shit. ( Its really not that bad, i did notice it started a little rough around 50*) At any given time you can get between 70%-85% ethanol out of an "E85" pump. So to answer your question, no it's not really regulated, LOL.

As far as the gap goes, .026 is close to stock i believe. I was running a ported evo 9 snail at 30 psi with a .020 gap if i remember right. I would say somewhere around .022 would work well for you.

IIRC yes it is regulated. IIRC right on the pump it says minimum 70% ethanol. So it is regulated to between 70% and 98%.

Like I have said tune fuel for 95% ethanol, tune ignition for 70% ethanol. Then just make sure you have enough ignition power to blow through it. It sounds like the OP has some ignition issues. FWIW I can run .040 and still burn through my 20psi charge no problem... But then again I run custom LS coils, not sure how good the stock Evo stuff is.

[EvolvedRegal]

I use a MW CDI box with 4 300m coils

[WhatsADSM]

I use a MW CDI box with 4 300m coils


?? I use bone stock ls3 inductive coils and like I said have 0 problems with a gap much bigger than the aforementioned evo gaps.

Do you have power being provided to the CDI box directly (well through a relay obviously) from the battery. Is the ground a straight shot from the CDI box to battery ground?

[Smokey1226]

Easy fix, drum of E98 and put 3 or 4 gallons of that in when you are going to fill up with E85. :)

[lordairgtar]

My vehicle is a Flexfuel vehicle but I never tried the E85 yet.

[stealthy1ss]

When is the car backfiring? I know that my car isn't happy until it gets close to running temp.

[EvolvedRegal]

?? I use bone stock ls3 inductive coils and like I said have 0 problems with a gap much bigger than the aforementioned evo gaps.

Do you have power being provided to the CDI box directly (well through a relay obviously) from the battery. Is the ground a straight shot from the CDI box to battery ground?

Power is directly from the battery and directly to ground.

[EvolvedRegal]

When is the car backfiring? I know that my car isn't happy until it gets close to running temp.

Its not really backfiring, just slight missing. It usually happens during cruising only, accelerating isnt affected nor is decel.

[CarrotTop]

My vehicle is a Flexfuel vehicle but I never tried the E85 yet.

I did once seem to run about same. Then again i have just a ford ranger lol nothing major going on with it lol. :rolf

[hrsp]

why not just run normal gas if its giving you so many issues?

[SSLEVO]

why not just run normal gas if its giving you so many issues?

Because E85 f'in rocks when its set up right. 50+ hp over pump on the boost.

[lordairgtar]

How much power should you see on a Non turbo Ecotech four with E85?

[hrsp]

Because E85 f'in rocks when its set up right. 50+ hp over pump on the boost.

there ya..that makes sense...:thumbsup

[SSLEVO]

How much power should you see on a Non turbo Ecotech four with E85?

Probably nothing, if not less.

The power in a turbo car is from turning the boost up. The ethanol flash evaporates and cools the charge. Pretty much the same as meth injection.

[EvolvedRegal]

why not just run normal gas if its giving you so many issues?

I don't want to pay $15/gal for Q16.

I think you guys are right, it has to be ignition related. I have everything pulled back apart and will be looking for loose wires and what not.

On the drive home it ran much better except for the last few minutes.

You think it would hurt to go another step colder. Stock is a 7 heat range (NGK) I have 8s in it right now so would going to a 9 do anything? Or else I have crappy coils which were replaced when the ignition harness was re-done.

[Racer X79]

You really have to watch the labels on the pumps at the E85 stations. I get mine at a place on Hwy 50 & Hwy 83 just south of Burlington and their pump says "Minimum 85% Ethanol". I stopped at the Kwik Trip in Waukesha when they first opened and I belive the pump said "Maximum 85% Ethanol". I filled up a 5 gallon can there and it smelt like straight unleaded gas, so I didn't even run it. I'd like to try the Rocket brand E85 or E98 but I have no idea where to find it.

[stealthy1ss]

Probably nothing, if not less.

The power in a turbo car is from turning the boost up. The ethanol flash evaporates and cools the charge. Pretty much the same as meth injection.

In stock form yes. Now if he was to get tuned then you would be able to gain a little bit by adding more timing.