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Author	Topic: Blending E85 with E-anything in non Flex vehicle. Post your mpg averages or comments	Post a Reply Back to Topics

WE0H Champion Author Twin Cities Posts:1,562 Points:489,725 Joined:Feb 2011	Message Posted: Apr 15, 2012 2:27:01 AM Ignore WE0H Report Abuse Anyone else have actual experience in your own vehicles blending E85 with E10 or E0 gasoline? Not interested in hearing nope it wont work or I read this info online. Real data from your own personal experience please. Interested in hearing how your blends worked or did not work. What vehicle did you experiment on? Some vehicles will actually increase mpg and others will drop mpg running blends or straight E85. Higher compression motors get higher mpg on E85 or E85 blends and lower compression motors get better mpg on E0. What compression ratio is the point of higher and lower? I don't know that for myself. Post your calculated tank averages if you like. Do you blend to the point of the check engine light or just shy of that blend? I see people blending almost every time I go to the station. Old vehicles and new vehicles. Most don't have any indication that they are a Flex vehicle (yellow gas cap, FFV badge). I have 3 converters that I haven't had time to install yet so I am running blends and on one vehicle I worked my way up to straight E85 which runs fine with rough starting only when it is 40's or lower OAT. It really needs the converter for the cold start enrichment cycle. So lets hear some stories and hopefully have a friendly thread :)

WE0H

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Twin Cities

Posts:1,562
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Joined:Feb 2011

Message Posted: Apr 15, 2012 2:27:01 AM

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Anyone else have actual experience in your own vehicles blending E85 with E10 or E0 gasoline? Not interested in hearing nope it wont work or I read this info online. Real data from your own personal experience please. Interested in hearing how your blends worked or did not work. What vehicle did you experiment on? Some vehicles will actually increase mpg and others will drop mpg running blends or straight E85. Higher compression motors get higher mpg on E85 or E85 blends and lower compression motors get better mpg on E0. What compression ratio is the point of higher and lower? I don't know that for myself. Post your calculated tank averages if you like. Do you blend to the point of the check engine light or just shy of that blend? I see people blending almost every time I go to the station. Old vehicles and new vehicles. Most don't have any indication that they are a Flex vehicle (yellow gas cap, FFV badge). I have 3 converters that I haven't had time to install yet so I am running blends and on one vehicle I worked my way up to straight E85 which runs fine with rough starting only when it is 40's or lower OAT. It really needs the converter for the cold start enrichment cycle. So lets hear some stories and hopefully have a friendly thread :)

REPLIES (newest first)Ignore Short Messages

reb4 Champion Author Chicago Posts:19,361 Points:1,849,825 Joined:Sep 2004	Message Posted: May 31, 2012 8:22:41 PM Ignore reb4 Report Abuse "I have never changed the gas filters in either car" That is phenominal. never changed the fuel filter in a 2000 or 2004.. That is Unbelievable...
reb4 Champion Author Chicago Posts:19,361 Points:1,849,825 Joined:Sep 2004	Message Posted: May 31, 2012 1:21:46 PM Ignore reb4 Report Abuse this is an interesting post... Like reading the real life experience from those that post here...
ned23 Champion Author Columbus Posts:3,116 Points:303,440 Joined:Dec 2003	Message Posted: Apr 30, 2012 10:28:38 AM Ignore ned23 Report Abuse I put a few gallons into my car a few times. Didn't notice any difference, but the engine seemed a little quieter on the highway, somehow.
GM1954 Champion Author Illinois Posts:7,950 Points:131,880 Joined:Dec 2004	Message Posted: Apr 19, 2012 7:30:04 AM Ignore GM1954 Report Abuse I once had a 1994 Dodge Ram 2500 with the 360. For 30,000miles I ran between 30 and 50% ethanol. On my trips to St. Louis mileage would be just over 16 mpg on the ethanol blends and regular gasoline.
Hannie59 All-Star Author Appleton Posts:650 Points:17,725 Joined:Apr 2010	Message Posted: Apr 17, 2012 12:22:32 PM Ignore Hannie59 Report Abuse Hyundai Elantra 2.0L (2006) - Splash blended between E-20 and as high as E-40 for the entire life of the vehicle so far, no problems. I get about 20 MPG in the city and 32 on the hwy. Hyundai Sonata 2.4L (2009) - Splash blended between E-20 and as high as E-40 for the entire life of the vehicle so far, no problems. I get about 18 MPG in the city and 33 on the hwy. I have about 105,000 miles combined on these two cars and I have never seen a check engine light or engine, of fuel system problem yet my friend. [Edited by: Hannie59 at 4/17/2012 1:23:26 PM EST]
Eugene_C Champion Author Columbus Posts:2,299 Points:155,995 Joined:Mar 2004	Message Posted: Apr 16, 2012 1:02:14 PM Ignore Eugene_C Report Abuse I continuously mixed large quantities of E-85 into a 1996 Tracker over about a 4-year period. I suspect the blend was frequently up over E-60 but probably around E30-E40 most of the time. This was a second car that I kept, and before I started adding ethanol, it needed regular injector cleaner and fuel-rail cleaning every couple of years and kept blowing PCV valves every year or two. The first time I filled up with E85 from nearly empty and showed some hesitation and stalled, so I added some Lucas Fuel cleaner, and it started to do better, and I also scaled back the blend a bit. After the early "adjustment" to the higher ethanol, the car ran just fine. The exhaust smelled cleaner, and I never blew another PCV valve again. I kept the car between E30 and E60 for several years, also adding 3-4 oz of Lucas Fuel Cleaner to each tank, which I bought in a gallon jug at the truck stop. Hearing the fire worries, I carried a fire extinguisher in the vehicle, but it never caught fire. I probably drove it 25,000 miles over a 4 year period (it was a second car) and finally gave it to a friend who has been driving it since late 2008 using mostly regular gas. It now has almost 140,000 miles on it and is rusting out, but it still runs. He did blow a PCV valve within a year of getting the car and running it on regular. As for MPG, I never noticed more than a couple of MPG drop. The car got 22-25 mpg on regular, and seemed to get about 20-23 with the ethanol. [Edited by: Eugene_C at 4/16/2012 2:07:40 PM EST]
SilverStreaker Champion Author Twin Cities Posts:12,077 Points:2,244,120 Joined:Mar 2006	Message Posted: Apr 15, 2012 3:11:43 PM Ignore SilverStreaker Report Abuse Ray, what year Subaru? Perhaps a classic car? I forgot to add to my post below that although I have not seen any significant change in mileage from any blend of ethanol, I do notice a difference in mileage between summer (better) and winter (worse) and a mileage drop when I change the percentage of ethanol. It must take the CPU a little time to adjust.
Ray Veteran Author Toronto Posts:324 Points:31,860 Joined:Dec 2001	Message Posted: Apr 15, 2012 12:10:34 PM Ignore Ray Report Abuse Tried E50 in a Subaru. It hesitated during acceleration, and after burning up this tankfull and refilling with E10, there was a strong gas smell from the engine, and I found several spots where hose connections had started leaking. Ethanol swells rubber, so when it's gone the rubber shrinks back, causing a leak. It was spraying over the ignition wires, too, but the wires were good so I didn't burn to death.
SilverStreaker Champion Author Twin Cities Posts:12,077 Points:2,244,120 Joined:Mar 2006	Message Posted: Apr 15, 2012 11:12:31 AM Ignore SilverStreaker Report Abuse 2003 Honda CRV: Used ethanol blends from E0-E40 over 4-1/2 years & 46,260 miles, with no significant change in MPGs at any blend. It gets 17.5-20.5 MPG city and 23-26 MPG highway. It has a separate emissions light (measures oxygen content in exhaust) from the CEL. The CEL has not come on, but the emissions light comes on around 35% ethanol city and 30% ethanol highway. 2000 Ford Windstar: Used ethanol blends from E10-E65 over 3-1/2 years & 14,625 miles, with no significant change in MPGs at any blend. It gets 11-14 MPG city and 17-20 MPG highway. The CEL comes on around 70% city and 65% highway. I blend the ethanol in the car tanks using a mixture of regular gas (usually E10) and E85. I run several tanks at the same blend whenever possible to minimize error and track my data recording odometer readings and gallons in an Excel spreadsheet. Both cars were several years old when I started, so I very gradually increased the ethanol content to prevent the possibility of gunk in the gas tank suddenly clogging my filters. I have never changed the gas filters in either car and have never had a performance or maintenance issue with either car. I sold the Ford last year and at the time, the only issues were that the auto door locks didn't work and the body was a little rusty.
goldseeker Champion Author West Virginia Posts:19,763 Points:2,747,490 Joined:Sep 2005	Message Posted: Apr 15, 2012 3:21:58 AM Ignore goldseeker Report Abuse I just splash blended E85 to E25 in my 2010 Ford Focus. I averaged 34.1 mpg on a 200 mile trip. Last year I also splash blended E25 on three 300 mile trips and had approx. the same average. I also splash blended E35 on a 300 mile trip and lost about 1 mile per gallon. I am very happy with the results. Had no problems and no check engine light. If E85 was readily available in my area I would convert all my cars to e85 or even higher blends.