E-85 is a corrosive

Green Meanie · Jul 30, 2009, 07:29 PM

I have heard this increasinly in the last couple of days. When I ask what proof people making the claims have they can't give me any concrete evidence or examples (not even a hearing about a friend's, brothers, mothers, grandmothers, cat had corroded fuel system parts).

What gives....is E-85 truly a corrosive agent. I always hold Mike@amwmotorsports up as an example why E-85 isn't a corrosive....is he an exception and not the rule?

Has anyone else heard this. I'm not a chemical engineer or a car guru but I don't think thats true

JohnBradley · Jul 30, 2009, 07:34 PM

No its not. People seem to have the tendency to confuse Ethanol with Methanol, which is corrosive. There are many cars on this board with YEARS of E85 usage on stock fuel systems with no problems. Lucas has run his car on E85 since early 06 with no changes or issues.

I have also heard that E85 seperates almost instantly from gas and you need fuel stabiliser. This was some JA that oddly enough sold the stabiliser. The only way it seperates is with HEAVY water contamination but that doesnt happen anymore (or you'd know really fast). I ran E85 for a full year with no issues before I had to momentarily switch back. I can personally say my fuel system is 100% stock other than the 255 and I didnt even end up with a clogged filter.

kanyonkid · Jul 30, 2009, 07:34 PM

+1

Green Meanie · Jul 30, 2009, 08:40 PM

Just amazed at the amount of people that give me this worried look when I say I'm going to get tuned for E85.....Like "Dude you going to kill you car, denounce god and eat your young"......Its actually quite annoying.

EVOL2003 · Jul 30, 2009, 09:15 PM

ived heard that as well as ive wanted to "convert" as well. 400 hp or close to it on a stock turbo would be great

Mellon Tuning · Jul 30, 2009, 09:19 PM

unfortunately all it takes is one so called expert to say "you can't do this or that" and next thing you know it's being regurgitated on EVOm by everyone else until it becomes the gospel

sometimes you have to ignore that mess and do your own testing to get to the truth.

D-Mon3y69 · Jul 30, 2009, 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mellon Tuning

unfortunately all it takes is one so called expert to say "you can't do this or that" and next thing you know it's being regurgitated on EVOm by everyone else until it becomes the gospel

sometimes you have to ignore that mess and do your own testing to get to the truth.

do you have any tests you have done, i'm sure you have worked with the stuff

Mellon Tuning · Jul 30, 2009, 09:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by D-Mon3y69

do you have any tests you have done, i'm sure you have worked with the stuff

unfortunately no, the nearest e-85 station is 1.5 hours away

Kevin and I have been talking about getting a 55gallon drum and making a road trip and retuning his car to see what it'll do. He's at 323awhp/323awtq right now at 25psi on 93 octane.

p.s. I know JohnBradley and the gang over there well enough to feel confident that if he says they aren't having issues with it, that's good enough for me personally.

project_skyline · Jul 30, 2009, 09:42 PM

There are probably over a hundred evo's and subaru's in colorado on e85 for the last few years and I have never once heard of any problems.

c_sautter · Jul 30, 2009, 09:50 PM

I remember some people saying that if you leave E85 in the tank and let it sit, it will corrode seals. I've never actually heard of anyone having any problems though, other than that it is an addiction. lol

projectevo9 · Jul 30, 2009, 09:55 PM

There's many threads about this stuff....the answer is no. Many of us use it 24/7 without any problems. Just do it ...you'll love it

Green Meanie · Jul 30, 2009, 10:09 PM

Oh this wasn't going to deter me.....if anything it has made me want to do it even more.

rodent · Jul 30, 2009, 10:18 PM

The only problem some are having is the black goo on the tips of the injectors which will end up clogging them.

http://www.codsm.org/forums/showthread.php?t=3965

Quote:

This is what happens when you cram food in your injectors! Here are some pics of my brothers again. He just cleaned them a couple of weeks ago and he pulled them out the other day to see this:

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l2...0/DSC02928.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l2...0/DSC02929.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l2...0/DSC02930.jpg

We are still unable to figure this out. We feel that we have tried a lot with no results. The only thing that may be promising is my car was starting to act up like my brothers when his gets like this. I ran fuel injector cleaner in my car when this started to happen and it ran a little better and now starts on all 4 cyliders when cold, which means they are clearing out. I haven't had the chance to pull them yet to see how clean they really are, but it seems to be doing something.

Some people seem to have this issue and others don't. This is starting to get annoying having to pull the injectors every few weeks. Still worth it though

Anybody have any ideas? We believe that the E85 is having some kind of reaction with something else and leaving this crap on the tips. The fuel systems are filtered very well and spotless. The stuff is being created on the injector tip and valves only. The valves had an insane amount on them too!

Even have a chemist analyzing the goo.

Another link:
E85, Injector Gunk & Seafoam.

No problem with mine on my Evo.

Green Meanie · Jul 31, 2009, 07:15 AM

Pulling the injectors wouldn't be a bad thing to do....but will injector cleaner work as well, because if it does then I'd rather do that then yank the injectors every couple of weeks. Honestly I was going to run E85 only half the time anyways.

8thWonder · Jul 31, 2009, 07:22 AM

The links that Rodent posted are very good links for those with E85 questions. I've run it with no issues for a year now. Every once in awhile I have to switch to 93 because wherever I'm driving may not have access to E85, which may also aid in removing that "black gunk" people have experienced.