E85 people check in..

[leadfootdriver]

I've had my 02' for 10 years and never realized it was a FFV.. I've since ran about a tank full and it runs strong. It really responds well to the stuff.

Question; are you running any additives with this Fuel? There are a few like Stabil 360. I can see that it might be good to displace moisture in the winter months. The stuff is pretty cheap and only requires 1oz per 5 gallons.. But I could be wrong.

What say you?

 

[leadfootdriver]

Did a 400 mile trip this weekend.. I figured about 14.4 mpg on E85 at $2.80 a gallon.. Stopped to get Fuel after the E85 tank ran out and put 10 gallons of 87 Octane at $3.70 a Gallon..
I can say without a doubt the vehicle is down on power.. E85 brings it

 

[TTSaleen]

I've had my 02' for 10 years and never realized it was a FFV.. I've since ran about a tank full and it runs strong. It really responds well to the stuff.

Question; are you running any additives with this Fuel? There are a few like Stabil 360. I can see that it might be good to displace moisture in the winter months. The stuff is pretty cheap and only requires 1oz per 5 gallons.. But I could be wrong.

What say you?

I've done research in my 2003 V6 Explorer XLT.
If I run E85 for 2 full tanks, it throws a Lean-Code on the check engine light.
In order to prevent this, I simply run 1 tank of E85, and the next tank I run E15.
It runs great, cleaner, but it does get less miles per gallon.
I average 14mpg on 87 octane in stop and go traffic. I average 17mpg on 87 octane for highway driving.
I average 11 mpg on E85 in stop and go traffic. I average 14 mpg for highway driving.
I average 12 mpg on E15 in stop and go traffic. I average 15 mpg for highway driving.

Based on the current fuel prices (87 octane is $3.49), I am OK running Ethanol fuel (E15 is $3.15 and E85 is $2.98 locally).
Ryan

Here's a video I did right when I switched over.

 

[Mbrooks420]

Did a 400 mile trip this weekend.. I figured about 14.4 mpg on E85 at $2.80 a gallon.. Stopped to get Fuel after the E85 tank ran out and put 10 gallons of 87 Octane at $3.70 a Gallon..
I can say without a doubt the vehicle is down on power.. E85 brings it

E85 should provide less power. Hence, why you get LESS MPG.

 

[Rick]

E85 should provide less power. Hence, why you get LESS MPG.

Alcohol had less BTU than gasoline, so in itself it is less powerful. However it burns cooler which allows the engine to make more boost without knocking. More boost makes more power, more timing makes more power that's why E85 "makes more power".

 

[Mbrooks420]

Alcohol had less BTU than gasoline, so in itself it is less powerful. However it burns cooler which allows the engine to make more boost without knocking. More boost makes more power, more timing makes more power that's why E85 "makes more power".

I thought to see any real gains you had to burn a lot more of it, which is why the ethanol builds use huge pumps and injectors.

In a later model turbo I wouldn’t have questioned it. In an NA ‘02 I think it’s a completely different animal.

 

[TTSaleen]

Alcohol had less BTU than gasoline, so in itself it is less powerful. However it burns cooler which allows the engine to make more boost without knocking. More boost makes more power, more timing makes more power that's why E85 "makes more power".

All very true. I run E85 in most of my other vehicles but they are all high performance cars.
They have larger injectors, fuel pumps, etc.
As mentioned the main benefit is the heat in the engine is less (runs cooler) and acts like a higher octane race fuel (105 octane).
For that reason I can run additional timing in those engines for more power.

I like E85 (and E15) because the engine runs much cleaner. You can install a new spark plug, drive the vehicle 500 miles and pull that same plug and it will look almost exactly the same.
The main benefit to running E85/E15 in my explorer is simply due to current fuel prices.
I will tell you that the explorer feels slightly faster on Ethanol especially from a stop. Could be the leaner mixture.

Ryan

 

[JB05Limited4x4]

I'd just like to point out, because I haven't seen anyone else mention it, But only the 4.0L is FFV, not the 4.6L. So not all Gen 3 Explorers are FFV, before you go trying this for the first time.

 

[Sweersa]

I've run it on occasion, usually not a full tank though. Not my thing, worse MPG than normal (which is bad on an Explorer, at least on this generation). When I do it, it's more of a curiousity or if I think I can save some money. Every once in a while I'll run premium in it too if it's running weird.