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#1 |
Back in the sticks
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Fordland, MO
Posts: 3,188
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E85 or alternative???
Has anyone tried using E85? Is there a conversion required for our V8's to run on it? I know its not that much less price wise than regular gas, but if we could lower our dependence on oil, I'm all for it. Let us know what alternatives you have used for your truck.
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1971 Cheyenne C-10 w/700R4 and Tuned Port Injection 1969 K5 Blazer w/Tuned Port 2010 2SS/RS Flaming Orange Camaro 2011 K1500 Suburban 2014 K1500 Pickup 2008 Nissan Altima? The wifes' hoopty |
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#2 |
Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: cambridge,ont,canada
Posts: 128
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Re: E85 or alternative???
Heard the other day that the Ethanol in E85 will eat away fibreglass gas tanks. Correct me if I am wrong.
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Nelson 1970 C10 350 Auto. A/C not Working |
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#3 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Brookings, SD
Posts: 10,497
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Re: E85 or alternative???
You will need to convert to stainless steel anywhere the E85 will touch, gas tank, fuel lines, carb, etc. It supposedly will eat away at other metals.
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Some people are like slinkies, they aren't good for anything, but you can't help but smile when you see one tumble down the stairs. |
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#4 |
Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Allen Park, MI
Posts: 280
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Re: E85 or alternative???
So will it eat thru aluminum heads ?
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#5 |
Senior Member
![]() Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Estherville, Iowa
Posts: 3,371
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Re: E85 or alternative???
Mainly you would need increase the carb jet sizes quite a bit, like 20 percent or so to get a correct mix and then you will lose some mpg. I don't think ethanol solves any energy problem, look at all the energy inputs, tractor fuel, grain drying fuel, etc and guess what the use to cook all of the water out of the mix - natural gas !!!???.
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1968 C10 307 3spd Long Fleet ------ http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=201103 1970 C10 305 Super T10 Long Fleet --- http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=202285 1971 C20 383 TH350 Dana Posi ----- http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=206894 2001 GMC Sierra 1500 C3 6.0 |
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#6 | ||
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Brookings, SD
Posts: 10,497
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Re: E85 or alternative???
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Some people are like slinkies, they aren't good for anything, but you can't help but smile when you see one tumble down the stairs. |
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#7 |
Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: WV
Posts: 227
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Re: E85 or alternative???
Isnt Methonal the really destructive alcohol not ethonal?If it was so corrosive wouldnt the beer cans dissolve and run out into the floor of the store?I have run 10% ethonal with no adverse affects to my knowledge.
Hope this helps Shane
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1993 K1500 350 5 speed ![]() 1985 K10 Silverado Vortec 406 5 speed (in body shop) "I been drivin' this '85 pickup truck Them buddies of mine call it a bucket of rust She's a little beat up but she still runs like the wind Yeah, kinda like me I been banged and bruisedBeen around the block a time or two But I'm runnin' like new goin' places I never been No, I ain't broke I'm just broken in" 1963 Dodge Townwagon(its amazng what 30 years and zero miles will do to a vehicle ![]() Member#20327 |
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#8 |
Questionable
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 13,376
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Re: E85 or alternative???
please see this page for all the info you require:
http://www.e85fuel.com/index.php this topic has come up a few times in the general discussion forum. check here to see if your engine is compatible: http://www.e85fuel.com/e85101/flexfuelvehicles.php some people can't even use it. please read this FAQ to answer almost every question imaginable about E85: http://www.e85fuel.com/e85101/faq.php Those three links should hook you up w/everything you need to know. Expect to save only ~10-20% on E85 costwise. if your engine supports it now, you could do it. if not, i understand it will eat the seals out of your engine or something if you put it in a non-compatible vehicle? this was something someone said in the thread i started a few months ago. they may have more info at the sites above. if you live in South Carolina, there are dozens of places to get it - but most states have only private (military bases etc.) places to buy it and the general public can't get it in those states. it still hasn't caught on yet, so supply is limited.
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If I've got anything up for grabs, it'll be here: 7-hole gauge cluster for a 67-72 p/u FREE (link) I can't check the forum daily. If I don't reply to you within 24 hours, drop me a PM! I'm (hopefully) still alive and will reply faster to a PM. |
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#9 |
Registered User
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Beaverton, OR
Posts: 3,728
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Re: E85 or alternative???
The article I read about the conversion just said you need to make sure your rubber fuel lines are a quality grade and use a metal or glass fuel filter.
Cut a section of hose and soak it in e85 for about 2 weeks. If it doesn't get hard and brittle, your good to go. There is a card lock station down the street that had e85 and bio for less than gas at Chevron. When I relocate my tank, I am running e85 approved lines in hopes of converting. Ever bit helps. |
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#10 |
Back in the sticks
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Fordland, MO
Posts: 3,188
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Re: E85 or alternative???
Hmm, I don't know. All that info on that page, seems to say that if your vehicle wasn't originally designed to handle it, its illegal to convert it due to emissions. It doesn't really say anything about what has to be done to convert. And compliant vehicles only go back to 2002. I'd like to know more about what it will do to valve seats and seals in the engine. Not to mention, you were right shifty, there are only a few stations around and most are on military installations. I'd have to drive an hour to find a station near me. If I weren't military, I wouldn't be able to use it.
Wonder what it actually costs per gallon to produce?
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1971 Cheyenne C-10 w/700R4 and Tuned Port Injection 1969 K5 Blazer w/Tuned Port 2010 2SS/RS Flaming Orange Camaro 2011 K1500 Suburban 2014 K1500 Pickup 2008 Nissan Altima? The wifes' hoopty |
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#11 |
Questionable
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 13,376
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Re: E85 or alternative???
PS - i heard another story that if you've been running regular gas and then you run a tank of E85, something will gum up or some crap like that - again - don't know how valid that is!
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If I've got anything up for grabs, it'll be here: 7-hole gauge cluster for a 67-72 p/u FREE (link) I can't check the forum daily. If I don't reply to you within 24 hours, drop me a PM! I'm (hopefully) still alive and will reply faster to a PM. |
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#12 |
Cantankerous Geezer
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Bel Aire, KS
Posts: 6,264
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Re: E85 or alternative???
One other problem is supply. Right now the government is forcing the use of ethanol in gasoline, and there is a shortage of ethanol in certain areas. They are building plants all over the plains to produce it, but there will be a supply problem for a while. Adding to that is a storage problem, it can't be stored in conventional tanks due to the corrosion issue, so new facilities have to be built for storage.
Unless you have a newer vehicle that is completely computer controlled, switching back and forth on fuel types is a pain. I would not convert an older vehicle at this time. In another year or two, it might be worth looking into.
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Fred There is no such thing as too much cam...just not enough engine. ![]() |
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#13 | |
Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Lincoln NE
Posts: 89
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Re: E85 or alternative???
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That all depends on who is doing the research i am still for it, but since they are using corn you have to take into account all the fuel for Nitrogen, pumping irrigation water, and transfer to the ethanol plant i dont see anyway that there is a net increase in energy. With the cost of corn being so low i dont mind them using corn for ethanol production. In the future they will start using perrenial grasses such as switchgrass that only have to be planted once (they grow every year) and dont require irrigation, or much fertilizer then they will likey have a net energy increase. E85 was really a good deal until the gas companies bought it and made it the same price as regular gas because it was cutting into their business. There were alot of farmers who also could buy straight ethanal from the ethanol plant that was suppost to be used in their state of the art irrigation motors for like 1 dollar a gallon as lately as last fall and add 15% dino fuel and run it in their E85 equipped trucks, but now that straight ethanol is like $1.85 that scheme is over. Im sorry if i went off on an extreme tangent but i go to school at UNL for agronomy and i am full of useless info about stuff like this. |
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#14 |
Drillin oil on American Soil!
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Minot. North Dakota
Posts: 418
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Re: E85 or alternative???
there are like 5 or so ethanol plants up here in north dakota and there are plans to build a few more. there is 10% ethanol all over and many towns up here have at least 1 pump with e85
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#15 | |
Back in the sticks
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Fordland, MO
Posts: 3,188
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Re: E85 or alternative???
Quote:
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1971 Cheyenne C-10 w/700R4 and Tuned Port Injection 1969 K5 Blazer w/Tuned Port 2010 2SS/RS Flaming Orange Camaro 2011 K1500 Suburban 2014 K1500 Pickup 2008 Nissan Altima? The wifes' hoopty |
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#16 |
Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: saskatoon, planet earth
Posts: 687
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Re: E85 or alternative???
Funny,, when I was a teenage kid back in the 1970's I was intrested in alternative fuels, not only for cars, but industrial uses. Such as finding a way to use the crap that came out of pig barns and Feed Lots so it didn't stink up the neighborhood and contaminate the water. But back then those ideas and often me along with them were dismissed as " Hippy tree hugger pot head fantasies". Maybe I should have Ragged against the machine a little harder back then. I could really dig being the Bill Gates of alternative fuel technology right about now.
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I got a bench seat baby, you don't have to sit over there. |
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#17 | |
Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Lincoln NE
Posts: 89
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Re: E85 or alternative???
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#18 | |
Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Mission, BC Canada
Posts: 31
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Re: E85 or alternative???
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Running ethanol reduces hydrocarbon emmisions over regular gas, NOx emissions increase a little. We have to have annual emmisions tests here, called AirCare, I've had to use a few tricks over the years to get some vehicles to pass, use ethanol, methylhydrate, turn back the timming, lean out the idle mixture, make it overheat.
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71 GMC 3500 Longhorn 454 72 GMC 2500 Sierra 350 69 C20 Longbox fleetside 305 68 C10 Shortbox Stepside 250 94 Chevrolet K1500 Cheyenne 350 88 GMC K1500 |
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#19 | |
Back in the sticks
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Fordland, MO
Posts: 3,188
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Re: E85 or alternative???
Ya, we have the same tests down here in some counties and cities, but when I retire and return to MO, I won't have to worry about it then either. My farm is in the country and the nearest city that requires smog testing is 3 hours away.
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1971 Cheyenne C-10 w/700R4 and Tuned Port Injection 1969 K5 Blazer w/Tuned Port 2010 2SS/RS Flaming Orange Camaro 2011 K1500 Suburban 2014 K1500 Pickup 2008 Nissan Altima? The wifes' hoopty |
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