E-85

[Yamvip]

I'm curious if there are any ill effects of using E-85 in my Explorer???? It is a Flex Fuel, I guess to some it up, Could it harm anything, or would it help things, cleaner engine, filter, plugs....etc........... Thanks for the input.

 

[Charlie]

As far as I know, just so long your explorer is a flex fuel, it will be fine. The only thing you will be, you will get worse gas mileage. That of course, will be taken care of by the cheaper fuel, so it is still a good deal. How much cheaper is E85 there?

 

[Yamvip]

I saw it for 2.50 a gallon, reg fuel is at 3.00 gallon

 

[dmstangu]

As far as I know, just so long your explorer is a flex fuel, it will be fine. The only thing you will be, you will get worse gas mileage. That of course, will be taken care of by the cheaper fuel, so it is still a good deal. How much cheaper is E85 there?

An interesting study here: http://www.edmunds.com/advice/alternativefuels/articles/120863/article.html

Their conclusion:

"Gas/E85 difference:The fuel economy of our Tahoe on E85, under these conditions, was 26.5 percent worse than it was when running on gas.

A motorist, filling up and comparing the prices of regular gas and E85, might see the price advantage of E85 (in our case 33 cents or 9.7 percent less) as a bargain. However, since fuel economy is significantly reduced, the net effect is that a person choosing to run their flex-fuel vehicle on E85 on a trip like ours will spend 22.8 percent more to drive the same distance. For us, the E85 trip was about $30 more expensive — about 22.9 cents per mile on E85 versus 18.7 cents per mile with gasoline."

I don't know, maybe the Explorer performs differently on E-85 than the Tahoe...

 

[Charlie]

I know E.B.Cornburner has been happy with the results of E85. Maybe he will find his way to this thread...

 

[Jorgen]

I bought my wife her new explorer right after christmas. She gets between 15-18 with mostly city driving on gas and the one tank of E85 we have used so far was about 12 so there is a drop in fuel economy. The E-85 if about 50-60 cents cheaper the unleaded here. I also like that the money isn't leaving the contry as much with E-85 (or at least I convinced myself it isn't leaving) as it does with unleaded.

 

[dtholmanmax]

The flip side of using the e-85 is that it has other reprecussions on the price of corn - causing farmers to pay more for feed for cattle which turns into higher prices in other aspects of life. Basically, we can't grow enough corn for e85 for the country AND the other historical uses of corn for livestock and other things. Corn has a pretty low return rate on energy produced - seems like I've read that sugar cane is better...

 

[bensdad]

yeah ur rite dtholmanmax....here in the the nations feedlot lol and cornbelt cattle feeders are definatly on fire about the price of corn ..and a colder than normal winter isnt helping either , but as a gas hauler ive noticed theyre throwing up ethonal plants as fast as they can build em ...also keep in mind ya cant pipe ethonal ..because of its corrosive effects it has to be trucked to the loading rack and blended on the transport truck with the gas as its being loaded .

brad

 

[dtholmanmax]

We're probably about to get schooled by EB! He mos def has some thoughts on the issue...

 

[mikeh44]

i run e85 like cornburner if you take your miles per gallon and divide it into your cost per gallon that will tell you how much it costs you to run you truck mine runs about 19.2 cents per mile on both e85 and gas if you can save at least 5 cents a gallon it is worth using e85

 

[Yamvip]

Is there any effects to the vehicle itself??? Would it be better for it to run e-85, cleaner burning, less deposits????

 

[Yamvip]

Anyone ??????????????????????

I've tried a search and didn't find what I was looking for.........

 

[E.B. Cornburner]

Wow, I'm gone for one day, and I'm a celebrity in this thread! ROTFL!

Yamvip, you got mail. To summarize your questions quickly for the sake of the other viewers, it does burn cleaner, and leaves little to no carbon deposits. Your oil (and even the inside of your tailpipe) will stay much cleaner. If your Explorer is a FFV, which you've stated it is, there's no reason not to use E85, unless it's not cost effective. It has to be at least 50 cents a gallon cheaper to come out ahead, from what I've roughly calculated.

Yes, I've kind of made my presence known around here as the E85 guy to some extent, and with good reason. I love it. Here by me, it's super cheap, performs well, and isn't the horrible voodoo water that all the naysayers tend to claim it is.

The reason ethanol isn't piped is not because it's corrosive (it's only corrosive to aluminum, and not much at that.) but because it will clean all the deposits left in the pipeline by gasoline and/or diesel fuel. This not only contaminates the ethanol, but can cause leaks in the pipeline because some minor leaks are acutally being sealed by this crud, and the ethanol will wash them clean, leading to leaks. The only practical way to pipe it, is to have dedicated pipes just for it, which is horribly impractical.

Sure, you will get a little less MPG on it...I generally get about 2 MPG less than if it were running on gasoline. Sometimes more, but a lot of that is self-inflicted too...This cold weather gets me to go out and warm my truck up for about 20 minutes or so when I leave work so the butt-toaster is nice and warm, and the windows are defrosted. My last tank only netted me 10.8 MPG, but a lot of that was just useless idling. Oh well, I'll pay a little for a comfy ride. Other times that I've turned in a rotten MPG number is directly related to the weight of my right foot. I like to give my truck a little flogging once in a while, and of course, horsepower requires fuel.

A great website to visit if you have questions on E85 is at Planet E85. http://e85vehicles.com/e85/index.php
There's some wonderful knowledge there, including one of the directors of the ethanol plant by me here in Oshkosh.

I still am chuckling a bit that my name was brought up in this thread. I guess I should take it as a compliment though. I do appreciate that my knowledge is being shared throughout the Explorer community.

Any other questions, just fire away...I don't always get on here daily, but try to. Otherwise, PM me and I'll get back to you when I can.

 

[mikeh44]

i x2 what eb said

 

[chrisdavis_21921]

i would use e85 in mine but i have yet to find a gas station that sells it

 

[Charlie]

E85 is pretty common around here, I just assumed it was everywhere, guess not

 

[E.B. Cornburner]

i would use e85 in mine but i have yet to find a gas station that sells it

www.e85refueling.com

 

[E.B. Cornburner]

Just to add a little more, I took a little road trip this weekend, and put about 450 miles on all E85 highway miles. While driving, I was also brainstorming. What I concluded, knowing that I get nearly exactly 2 MPG less on E85 than I do on gasoline on a straight highway run, and figuring the difference in cost between E85 and gasoline, I took the difference and created what I've labeled "E85 equivalent MPG". Since the E85 is so much cheaper than gasoline (~70 cents/gallon) here, it's like getting free miles on every dollar.
My "E85 equivalent MPG" on this trip was 19.2 MPG! In other words, I'd have to get 19.2 MPG on gasoline in order to have equal miles per dollar. Another way of looking at this would be that you'd have to get 4 MPG better overall on gasoline when the price of E85 is 70 cents per gallon less than gasoline.

If someone was really good with numbers and computer programming, I know this could be made into a simple calculator program, which would be very handy since the price of E85 varies drastically.

To conclude, the more important factor when using E85 isn't miles per gallon, but rather miles per dollar. You'll have to look at your current E85 and gasoline prices and determine what delivers better miles per dollar.

 

[dhays]

If someone was really good with numbers and computer programming, I know this could be made into a simple calculator program, which would be very handy since the price of E85 varies drastically.

To make it easy, figure out what percentage mpg you get from E-85 compared to dino. For example, if you find that, on average, E-85 gets only 77% of the mpg as regular gas, then simply multiply the current price of gas by .77. That will give you the break-even point. If E-85 is lower than that, then it is a bargain. If it is greater, then you are better sticking with regular gas. Does that make any sense?

Example:
E-85 is 77% of that of dino fuel
Gas price = $3.10/gal
$3.10 x .77 = $2.387

If you could buy E-85 for $2.35 then you will save money with it. If E-85 is $2.39 per gal, then regular gas is a better bet.

 

[jwright4]

i have a love/hate relationship with E-85. I like the idea it burns cleaner. You also will get a much better off the line boost in HP while using it. But in return the gas milage isnt' as good. Though it's not as bad as what other people think. Here in Albany NY i can get it for 2.35 a gallon, which is nice. So it's deff worth it even though the milage is less. My only other problem is that when i use it, it kicks on the Service Engine Soon light and it also takes a turn or 2 extra for it to fire up! Those are my only concerns when using it. I know i'm equipped for it..but why is the service engine light comin on when i use it, but when i switch back to regular 87 octane it'll go off?????