First E85 and check engine light stays on...

Hello Group Here's the deal. I owna 2007 Sport trac, about 85k miles on it (just to and from work). On the 26th of this month they had the first E85 station open in Massachusetts and I was the 2nd in line to get it. for the first 85 minutes, it was 85 cents per gallon. after that it's $2.85 or something like that. I wa down to about a 1/4 of a tank. filled it up to a total of $14, can't remember the last time that happened, but drove about an hour. no problems. park at the mall to get the wife a gift and when I came back the check engine light was on. it runs fine, but the light doesn't go out. same thing this monring. I know my truck can use E85 because I checked with the dealer, ran the vin number on the Ford web site to confirm. My question goes to others here to see if this happened the first time they ran with E85 or what could be wrong in my case. Thanks for cehck my post, Have a Great Day

Reply to
Cableguy
Loading thread data ...

Are you sure your Sport Trac is intended to run on E85? The EPA does not list an E85 version of the 2007 Sport Trac. Is the 8th letter of the VIN a "K"? None of the E85 lists I see include the 2007 Sport trac. You should get the error codes read and report back.

Ed

Reply to
C. E. White

Just to be sure,check the inside of your fuel fill door. I think all E85 vehicles are labeled there.

Reply to
SRN

Some are not just labelled there. The 2008 F150 flex has a YELLOW fuel cap VERY hard to miss.

Reply to
At Where

My '07 F150 5.4L is Flex fuel. What engine does your have?

BTW, my fuel cap isn't yellow

Reply to
Rudy

According to the 2007 Ford F150 Owners Guide:

"To identify if your vehicle is an FFV, it may be equipped with a yellow fuel cap with the writing "E85/Gasoline", or check if there is a label on the fuel filler door, or check your VIN. When checking the VIN look for the engine type identifier (8th character). If your vehicle is an FFV, then the character will be labeled as a "V"."

According to the 2007 Explorer Sport Trac Owners Guide:

"Choosing the right fuel

"Use only UNLEADED fuel or UNLEADED fuel blended with a maximum of 10% ethanol. Your vehicle was not designed to run on E85 fuels that are blended with a maximum of 85% ethanol...."

Everything I have read leads me to believe that the OP's Sport Trac was not designed to run on E85.

Ed

Reply to
C. E. White

Aren't FlexFuel vehicles plastered with logos that advertise them as such? Sure, somebody could take the logos off, but most of us don't. So, the original owner could simply walk around his car and find the logo -- typically on the trunk lid.

Reply to
Jeff Strickland

Our 1999 Plymouth Grand Voyager was not marked with any logos that were obvious. The only way I found out it was a flex-fuel vehicle was when I looked up the part number for a new fuel pump and the VIN# indicated it was flex-fuel (uses an ethanol-resistant pump). I never paid attention to the fuel filler door, I guess I'm not very observant. :-)

Reply to
SRN

Ford Light Truck VIN Position 8 for 2007:

C 3.5L Duratec V-6 Gasoline Ford 265 D 2.3L EFI I-4 Gasoline Ford 143 E 4.0L SOHC V-6 Gasoline Ford 207 / 210 H 2.3L I-4 Gasoline* Ford 133 K 4.0L SOHC V-6 Gasoline Ford 210 U 3.0L EFI V-6 Gasoline Ford 148 V 5.4L SOHC V-8 FFV Ford TBD W 4.6L SOHC V-8 Gasoline Ford 231 Z 2.3L I-4 Gasoline Ford 153

1 3.0L Duratec V-6 Gasoline Ford 200 / 203 2 4.2L EFI / EFI-OHV V-6 Gasoline Ford 201-202

Notice only one Light Truck Engine was FFV - the 5.4L and this wasn't used in the Sport Trac. More confirmation that a 2007 Sport Trac was not an FFV vehicle and isn't designed to run on E85. The OP was lucky that he only added about 5 gallons of E85 to the gasoline already in his tank, making something like E35. Probably not a good thing, but all modern vehicles can run on E10, so I suppose you can get away with E35 for a little bit.

Ed

Reply to
C. E. White

I have Flex Fuel Ranger and it runs fine on E-85. Runs better than with gasoline, but does not get as good mileage. Mileage with E-85 varies. I believe that is based on the amount of ethanol that is added to the gas. The pump says AT LEAST 70% ETHANOL.

Reply to
Blue C5

mine has a green flame label on the tailgate - 2000 Ranger

Reply to
Blue C5

mine has a green flame label on the tailgate - 2000 Ranger

I think thats a green "leaf"

Reply to
Rudy

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.