Re: E85 use in a WD 45 and small engines

Posted by Gerald J. on July 14, 2006 at 09:58:56 from (67.0.103.115):

In Reply to: E85 use in a WD 45 and small engines posted by JackT on July 14, 2006 at 07:30:11:

Those who claim it takes more fuel than ethanol supplies have an agenda to kill ethanol, often paid for by big oil. And they base their claims on perceptions of farming and ethanol production based on 30 year old technology that isn't being used today. We sell corn from the field at $2.00 to 2.50 a bushel and we don't go broke rapidly. The best ethanol plants make 2.9 gallons of ethanol per bushel of corn, and have some waste heat to use warming green houses for vegitable production and process heat for other projects plus the distiller's grain is as fine a cattle feed as the raw corn that went into the ethanol plant.

The number I've seen in my research on conversions is that E85 needs 43% greater volume. So that means larger jets in the carburetor or fuel injectors with larger volume ratings. Beyond the gasket question, in the none computer engine, it means tuning the carburetor for the E85, then back again for regular gasoline. This issue is so complex (NOT!!) that it was standard issue for Model T and A Ford cars where the main jet was adjustable from the driver's position specifically to allow the use of straight ethanol or gasoline nearly a century ago.

I think the key to using E85 in a conversion is to monitor the exhaust gas temperature and watch for the high temperature of lean running, then there shouldn't be burned pistons or valves.

The low compression engine won't make great use of ethanol unless its run a bit on the lean side and maybe with more advanced timing. One Volvo turbo engine actually raises the boost to effectively increase the compression ratio when it senses lots of ethanol in the fuel and does make better use of E85. That higher octane does allow E85 to run some leaner than gasoline partly compensating for the need for greater volume.

A computerized fuel injection engine may well run E85 with no modifications if not run at full power. Or if the factory injectors are bit on the large side.

There may be some concerns with in line fuel pumps, gaskets, and tank flash overs, though E10 should have shown up gasket and tank cleanliness issues already.

Gerald J.

Replies:

• Re: E85 use in a WD 45 and small engines RustyFarmall 12:20:13 07/14/06 (0)

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