zap

Ethanol burns cleaner as well as more completely. The problem, the fuel helps lubricate the upper walls of the cylinder ever so slightly. Because ethanol burns more completely, it actually burns all of the fuel as well as the film left by the oil following the piston on the upstroke. If you don't have lubrication, your going to wear through those rings mighty quickly. As far as burning oil slightly quicker I could see changing oil a little more often. I never was a fan of following the idiot display that shows engine oil life. My truck gets the oil changed every 70 hours or so. Just because your computer says the engine can go 150 hours between oil changes doesn't mean it should. My dads truck gets changed every 100 hours, but that is because that is what Cummins, not dodge, says to do based on the fact diesel fuel has slightly better lubrication qualities than gas and ethanol.

bubbabud

Ethanol burns cleaner? what about the part that doesent burn. As with most fuels some more than others dont burn completly and what doesnt ends up in the oil. Eathanol is highly corrosive thats why they had to change many rubber. plastic and METTAL parts in the engine and fuel system to acomadate it. leave it in the oil long enough and strong enough you might as well use battery acid for lubricant. Ergo more frequent oil change recomended. Ethanol use is considerd severe dutyBubbabud

panthercity

iTrader: (1)

ramblinwilly

Need a bit more info on fuel. I live in central PA. Talk in PA is that percentage of ethanol in fuel will be going up. I love my truck but will it survive the increase in ethanol? I've heard that ethanol can/will damage older engines like mine. I "sea foam" every month and do regular maintenance. New vehicle? New fuel system? New Motor? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

pickupman2007

Gas can have up to 10% ethanol. Next year E15 (15% ethanol) is supposed to become available but has only been approved for use in 2001 models or newer so if you currently have E10 gas it will still be available to you.

centraltxf150

my young adult kids put E85 in my tank, by accident, what do i need to worry about, will it damage the engine, fuel injectors, etc

pickupman2007

Since its not flex fuel, I'd dilute it as soon possible with gas. How low was it when they put E85 in and how much did they add? If the total mix of ethanol is over about 30% you'll probably get a check engine light with an oxygen sensor code because the computer will think the engine is running lean and try to compensate. Since most gas has 10% ethanol mixed in your fuel tank and line should be ok from one accidental full up. I would think the injectors would be ok too but I don't know much about the Ecoboost direct injection system.

southportandford

When u use gas u get a lot better gas mileage because there is more energy in it than e85

2010FX4F150GILROY

Pickup man in particular and those for or against....
First let me say always be aware when quoting "research"... who paid for the research... If your pro E85 you can make the "research" skew for you and if your anti E85 you can make the research skew away from it being good. So lets get a few facts about E85 and what it is. What it is not is perfect, petroleum free or corn based only. It is alcohol and it is based on what is essentially right now about the cheapest way to make it is from animal based corn feed. If it did not have 15% fuel added you could actually drink it as it has been for years, also known as white lightning. It currently is made from animal feed as it is removed from the corn the corn is still used for feed. The truth in the matter is removing the alcolhol from the feed makes the feed better for cattle. There has been no reduction in cattle feed as a result of using it to make ethanol alcohol. The rise in prices on cattle feed is more due to several factors including the rise in fuel and labor costs, but I have not studied this as of yet to quote exactly what percentage and why. The feed is still used to make cattle feed after the alcohol is removed and its sold as high yield cattle feed. It is better for the cattle once the alcohol is removed.
To make it clear to everyone it is simply alcohol...
Second thig to know is it has a very low yield in "BTU" for fuel . SO most people will use it and find that there fuel mileage is off about 20%, it takes more to make the same horsepower. This is not all bad since down the road you can all make your own fuel by distilling alcohol. Someone refrenced that they were going to make E85 out of grass, saw grass is the current goal. But the reality is you can make it out of any organic material.
Three alcohol burns cleaner is a myth it burns differently and has different by products than petroleum based fuel. Ford knows and says in the manual you must run one tank of regular fuel prior to an oil change, you have to ask why now.
Four we have been making alcohol based motors for a lot of years and they get crazy horsepower from drag cars based on alcohol motors.Jjust not cost effective to do it for a car company yet. This brings up the failure in alcohol based fuel in backwards compatabilty. There is none as alcohol eats platic and rubber and will virtually melt them in current and older model vehicles. As for non-flex fuel based vehicles putting E85 in to it will eat the rubber and plastic. E85 equipped vehicles cost more because they cost more to make. All the fuel system must be stainless steel hoses ets. No rubber seals or plastic tanks as they will fail quickly.
Five and the most dammin part of all, the experts say we have 20 years left of pumping pertroleum out of the ground and then you have the otherside saying there is at least 40 years left. In either case the writing is on the wall that petroleum based products will eventually be gone. Then what? No more petroleum means no more petroleum. Our entire society is completely based on petroleum to make move store food and other products we need to survive. No trucks moving stuff means no more grocery stores getting product.
I myself will not live to see the end of petroelum but my kids and grand kids will certainly live to see it. So what then, no more mass production and moving product.... Of course we will have to adapt to a new fuel source im not saying E85 works but something had better and soon or we are headed for some rough times ahead....

Just for thought......

Jody J Ratcliff

I just bought a New 2013 Ford F-150 XL. Flex Fuel. The Ford Company got it ready, filled it up with gas, I'm Not sure what they used. From what I read here? I can and WANT to use Reg. Unleaded. Can I Fill up (from where my stand point is now? I've only burned up a 1/4 tank) With Reg. Unleaded or Wait and burn out the rest of what is in gas tank as I am Not sure what they used. They are closed today so No sense in trying to call them.