E85 Help

My Girlfriend has a 02' Taurus that can run E85.She said it`s cheaper,but what are the pros and cons of it? I told her not to run it until I find some more info. I have no idea about this fuel.

Thanks, Bill

Reply to
Bill
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Pros are it's 85% ethanol...con is less btu's. Corn is easy to grow, dinosaurs are not.

Reply to
Advocate

Pros are, its cheeper, burns cleaner Cons are, not as far on a gallon of E85 than gas, less hp, some vehicles have rough starts, more corrosive on engine parts.

If I were you I would stick with gas, unless gas gets 4 bucks a gallon and e85 is only 2

Reply to
Adam

And next time post to a Ford newsgroup. Why would you want a Taurus anyways! Get a cobalt or Malibu, or Impala

Reply to
Adam

He needed some GOOD advice.

Reply to
Bill

Reply to
David Johnson

I don't know for sure, but I believe a vehicle has to be specially prepped for E85, special components, timing, etc. Alcohol is corrosive to softer metals and standard fuel lines.

Reply to
Shades

Did you not read the whole thing? I was posting to the group about E85 not about the Taurus.

Reply to
Bill

Actually it`s been a great car for her. She bought it used with 13,000 miles,and now has almost 50,000 on it. She hasn`t done one repair to it yet. Not even brakes. Its not the 24v cuz those suck. Just the plain old 3.0

Reply to
Bill

Alchol is not corrosive but the water it can carry can be. It can be hard on seals and hoses too. Also because of it much lower energy content you will get a lot less MPG with it and it would not be a goos fuel in a cold cilmate either. I also question what you are saving because it takes fule to grow the grain it is made from and you nead a lot more of it to go the same distance as gas will.

Shades wrote:

Reply to
TheSnoMan

Her car is set up to run this. I should have said that. Sorry!

Reply to
Bill- QMJ

How much less mpg are we talking?

Reply to
Bill- QMJ

Is there anything I post that you don't contradict? Alcohol IS corrosive. I grew up around Drag Racing and know that special materials were required to handle alcohol!

Reply to
Shades

If it is set up to run E85 then it would be best to run E85. I would be more worried about NOT running E85 in it!

Reply to
Shades

If the car was designed for E85, no worries. The only caveat would be that it will clean any varnish out of the tank and lines which will end up in the filter. If she's been using 10% ethanol regularly, it shouldn't be a problem since it prevents varnish buildup. I usually use the 10% ethanol and I've noticed no decrease in mileage between that and regular gas. With E85, I'm sure mileage would decrease, but I'm not sure how much. Try it and see.

Dave

Reply to
Hairy

Actually, cars that are set up for E85 from the factory, can use either.

Dave

Reply to
Hairy

Reply to
TheSnoMan

A ball park figure is about 30 to 40% less MPG based the the lower energy content of the fuel.

Reply to
TheSnoMan

Sure, pure alcohol will be OK. We're talking about a mix of 85% alcohol (ethanol) and 15% gasoline. This mix is stored in tanks that may contain water. Typically fuel won't absorb water, but alcohol will. The ethanol in the fuel will absorb water and can cause corrosion.

Your alcohol c>You are completely amazing. When I dis mil spec circuit modules for

Reply to
Mike Levy

It is cheaper and burns cleaner then other fuels plus it's renewable. The mileage per gallon drop though, I can't remeber if because there's a loss of compression or if it's something else. Doug

Reply to
Doug aka Skippy

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