I was doing a little web research on running alcohol in an engine intended for gasoline. Found this site:
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He claims it's instructions to convert an air cooled Beetle to run on alcohol. But he wants money for the plans.
Has anybody seen these instructions? has anyone done it?
Other sites have described how to enlarge the carb jets to run alcohol, alter the timing, increase the compression ratio, etc. It all sounds fairly straighforward to do......and i'm interested in getting all the facts about it.
And the fuel called E85........85% alcohol and 15% gasoline. I haven't seen it available at any stations yet.
Anyone running alcohol in a vehicle: how does it start in the cold weather? how does it run in the hot weather? what is the mileage compared to gasoline?
I've been running e-85 in my ford sport trac for a few months. I love the stuff, huge increase in towing power, very smooth running, smells sweet when you first start up in the morning. The coldest morning start was 2 degrees above zero and no difference in the start at all from regular gas. To be fair the sport trac's computer is programmed to run the fuel from regular gas to 85% alcohol mix or anywhere inbetween. It has a sensor in the fuel tank that tells the computer what the mix is and the computer adjusts the amount of fuel delivered, proper timing, etc. I guess the only downside is I get 15 to 16mpg on the e-85 vs 18 to 19mpg on regular gas. I pay about 30 cents per gal less for the e-85. The octane rating of e-85 is 105. I have ran all my aircooled on
15% blend alcohol for over ten years without any problems and will be running e-85 in the Puma for sure this spring. Alcohol is an organic fuel without the pollution concerns of carbon based fuels and I have ran it in my vehicles since 1982, many times to pass emission tests. alcohol also burns cooler which is great for my air cooled heads and valves. There is a lot of negative bs about using alcohol and for the most part that is all it is if you set your jets up right, just BS. Dennis
You'll need to define your terms. Minus 30 causes lots of problems with any carburetted engine. But if you mean the latitudes & wx normally found in the United States, you should not have any problems. What you MAY run into is the formation of ice in your fuel tank/lines, since alcohol is hygorscopic.
Generally poor. The BTU content of a gallon of alcohol is much less than for gasoline. But your actual mileage will depend on the specific fuel (not all 'alcohol' fuels are the same -- E85, M50, etc.) and if your engine is fitted with modern combustion controls. But if you're talking about your basic carburetted 1600cc VW engine, E85 will generally cut your mileage in half (ie, you'll need twice as much to go the same distance).
Bottom Line: Alky isn't a very good choice as a motor vehicle fuel... unless you have no other option. Politically, it is extremely attractive since American production is presently subsidized by the government to the tune of several bucks a gallon (!) I believe ADM is presently the largest producer... and the major receiver of the pork-barrel funds.
Read the fine print. The claimed costs are only for PRODUCTION of the alcohol -- they do not include the cost to grow & transport the corn. Brazil's program was based on sugar cane, which has a significantly higher alcohol-yield than corn and at a lower total cost.
Actually the the true cost per gallon does not have much federal government money in it unless you are counting the subsidized crop production itself and with millions of tons of corn being stored on the ground since the elevators are full this year, I hope it does not go to waste. Also the by products of the alcohol production is made into animal feeds and fed to them for our consumption. Iowa has lead the nation in alcohol production for decades and has required it at all gas station pumps. If you google their alcohol site you can find out much more on the true costs and benefits. Brazil on the other hand uses the residues of alcohol production to fuel their national electric production which I find very interesting also. The actual burn of the alcohol is slower and I believe can be made more complete than gas with the proper engine modifications and that is what I will be doing this year. Dennis
I think that one of the issues is that the alcohol is very corrosive for the internal parts of engine. The engine will not last as much as if you use fuel.
:::groan:::: it's just hit me........ I have a Beetle and a Volvo, i'm investigating alcohol fuel, and now I'm reading Mother Earth News sites. I'm gonna be mistaken for a granola head earth muffin.
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