Aj06bolt12r

I think the fuel pump primes as soon as you stick the key into the ignition... before you even turn the key on. At least that's what it sounds like with my truck.

Your almost out of powertrain warranty. I would at least take it in and get the problem on record with the dealer asap.

HuskyOwner

UPDATE - Took my truck into the dealer. First day, they could not get the starting issue to come up. Scanned for codes and found none. Next day, the starting issue did occur. Scanned for codes again and found none. But, they did find that the gas was 78% alcohol. How is that possible? I only buy 100% gasoline, only from two top tier locations, and neither one sells E85. State Dept. of Ag is checking both sellers' tanks for content. Not sure why, but they said it's standard practice. They suspect a delivery was to one of them, of E85 by error. Luckily, I have a flex fuel engine, so no damage, but man, that E85 stuff is not the best option by any means.

mkraffert

I had a 2007 Grand Cherokee that was a flex fuel vehicle. In that you would have noticed it right away. The power band was different and it absolutely sucked down fuel when it had E85. I suspect it's something the dealer tells everyone when they can't identify an issue. Told my son his 2004 Ranger had E85 in the tank and that that was why it wouldn't start. Had them drain the tank and put 'real' gas in it and it still wouldn't start (it had plugged cats). I wouldn't believe the 78% alcohol line they're feeding you.

tareed94

I'm not sure why that would be the issue. These trucks are designed to run on both, why would it cause a startup issue?

silvius

EXACTLY what I was thinking. A dealer BS line they have ready when they don't know what else to say. As mentioned, it shouldn't have that issue even with E85 fuel.

HuskyOwner

Oh you guys are so quick to cast dispersions. Got a call yesterday morning from the State Ag office. They found E85 fuel in the 89 octane regular underground storage tank at one of the two gas stations. I called the dealer and asked if we could do an experiment to confirm. Grabbed a 200ml graduated beaker from the lab at work. Arrived at the dealer. We put 100ml of fuel from my tank into the beaker, added 50ml of water, sealed the beaker and shook for one minute. This causes the water and alcohol molecules to bond. Twenty minutes later, the gasoline on the bottom measured just under 20ml. So, the fuel was 78% alcohol. They siphoned all the remaining fuel out, put a few gallons of non-ethenol gasoline in the tank, reset the computer, and this morning she fired right up.

HuskyOwner

And here is what the manual says about switching to E85 fuel.

tareed94

Well, I stand corrected then...

silvius

Wow, that sounds like a very cooperative dealer.....they are willing to do all kinds of stuff! Very responsive state agencies, too! Which part of the country are you in?........ as that state ag agency's service is stellar.

Atypical scenarios it seems (at least they would be around here) but glad it worked out for you.

Surprised to see that E85 would cause that much trouble, though, regardless of the owner's manual entry you included. How about others who have used E85, do these types of starting problems result? Anyone care to chime in who has experience with that? I don't want to use it if that is the risk; not being a smart aleck.....really interested if E85 causes these types of problems; I haven't heard of that ever before.

johnday in BFE

iTrader: (1)

I ran E85 almost exclusively, except the tank when an oil change was coming up, for right about a year, until I sold the truck with 1/2 tank of E85 in it. Yep, even thru a Michigan winter.
I did have a 93 Race, and then a 93PRX, MPT tune on it thru that period. Never had any starting problems even at -10F. The only bad thing was the mpg.
The only thing I can think of in the OP's case was he didn't normally run E85, and in combination with the cooler weather may have caused a problem because the truck hadn't learned the fuel yet.

If this Egoboost could run E85, I'd be doing it with no reservations.