So what have the manufacturers actually done to make these E85 compatible? It's my understanding that running E85 in them as they are from the factory isn't a good idea too. Is this generally true?

If a vehicle is tuned for 93, I assume that E85 will not work, correct? I am under the impression E85 applications only work when you are dumping tons of fuel in the system to prevent detonation when increasing hp.

i am just curious because, if I get a supercharger, have it tuned with a 93 octane tune, then my truck should no longer safely be able to use E85 longer, unless i upgrade the fuel system even more and tune it to dramatically increase fuel usage, correct?

 

ethanol is corrosive to standard fuel system parts, Rubber, steel, etc. E85 systems use a different type of rubber and stainless steel parts.


E85 has an octane rating of 110 so there would be more resistance to detonation than 87 octane. Not sure how it affects tuning. That would be a question for one of the tuning company's.


With all that said I tried E85 last month after I bought my 2011. As soon as I filled up with the second consecutive tank of it, it threw a CEL. Banks 1 and 2 running rich. The guy at the parts store said it happens sometimes if you fill up a half full tank of regular gas with E85 cause the non-standard alcohol mixture confuses the computer. So either I got bad gas or something else is wrong. I'm on my first tank of regular gas and the CEL light is still on. Not too excited to bring it to the dealer and pay for a more in-depth scan.
Maybe something else is wrong and it was just a coincidence the CEL came on exactly when I filled the tank, but I probably will not run E85 again.

 

BTU content is different
Stioic point is completely different.

You must ( and can) get new tunes to run E85 - with a possible upgrade to the fuel system capability to match the increase in flow rate required.

First step - consult yer custom tuning shop.


MGD

 

I wouldn't dare put anything in the tank other than what the truck is tuned for, I was just curious about the topic.

 

I had the very same question when I got my custom tunes from 5* and they told me that ethanol makes no difference as it is controlled by oem programming not touched during a custom tune write, they said I could run as much E as I wanted on any octane rating and the only thing I need make certain of is I'm not running a higher octane tune with a lower octane fuel.

 

He's boosted - hence his fueling requirements are different. That's why VMP has separate E85-specific tuning for all of their boosted vehicles.

MGD

 

He's not boosted yet and it still wouldn't make any difference, the tune will be written to maximize injector pulse width and bigger injectors to accommodate the added air from the charger. The amount of ethanol makes no difference, according to 5* tuning that is.

Since they are pro's writing tunes I would lean toward them knowing what they are talking about.

 

I am getting the supercharger installed on the 24th of this month. It's all sitting here in the living room.

Unfortunately, there aren't any E85 pumps in my area. I just looked in to it, so it looks like no E85 tunes are in my near future anyway, but it's still interesting to know if I could or not. I guess as long as I don't go under anything rated for less than 93 octane, it would technically be ok, right? You said E85 is the equivalent of 110octane, and I think the sole purpose of E85 is to crank up the boost without fear of detonation. It's probably still not worth it on my DD though, because as pointed out earlier, it's not good on seals etc.