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E85 Ethanol Problem

post #1 of 4
8/12/10 at 2:45pm
Thread Starter 
***Disclaimer - I did not do this, and its not my car, I'm just a good Samaritan ***

My friend's mom ran E85 through an unleaded engine, and it now starts very rough. Being a semi car buff, I agreed to take a look at it. I siphoned out what I could in the tank and ran a couple of tanks of standard fuel through the system and its much better, but far from good. Would a fuel treatment work to help take some of the rough start out of it? Or does it need a complete overhaul? I was thinking about using Seafoam in the fuel, oil and intake like advertised, but I didn't know if any of you had similar experience before? Thank you!
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post #2 of 4
8/12/10 at 11:19pm
Ethanol. What a crap fuel. Now if the guys in DC would stop pandering to the people in the corn belt, we could put a bullet in this idea's brain and move on to something sustainable and worthwhile.

Sorry, I'm of no help, but felt the need to vent.
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post #3 of 4
8/13/10 at 10:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bkk View Post
Ethanol. What a crap fuel. Now if the guys in DC would stop pandering to the people in the corn belt, we could put a bullet in this idea's brain and move on to something sustainable and worthwhile.

Sorry, I'm of no help, but felt the need to vent.

E85 should burn through a non e85 engine no problem. The issues are more with storing the fuel (as the e85 will decimate normal seals, hoses, etc.. if left for a long time). You didnt say what kind of car it is, but chances are something pissed off the ecu and its holding back, or you damaged a sensor. I would suggest pulling the plugs, doing a tune up, yanking the battery while said tune up is being done, and go from there.

so - full tune, oil change, air filter. Stay away from seafoam, I love using it but its aboslutely worthless.
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post #4 of 4
8/13/10 at 10:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by cahlersmeyer View Post
***Disclaimer - I did not do this, and its not my car, I'm just a good Samaritan ***

My friend's mom ran E85 through an unleaded engine, and it now starts very rough. Being a semi car buff, I agreed to take a look at it. I siphoned out what I could in the tank and ran a couple of tanks of standard fuel through the system and its much better, but far from good. Would a fuel treatment work to help take some of the rough start out of it? Or does it need a complete overhaul? I was thinking about using Seafoam in the fuel, oil and intake like advertised, but I didn't know if any of you had similar experience before? Thank you!

Seafoam is mystery liquid, and won't help your fuel injected car. Neither will any of those other fuel additives. They are snake oil, and designed to rip off the rubes. Don't be a rube.

E85 is a financial boondoggle, but shouldn't have caused this problem on its own. As jgold47 wrote, it can cause issues if left to sit for a long time, but that doesn't appear to be your situation. I too recommend pulling the spark plugs to check for wear.

Does the engine throw a code? It could be any of a dozen valves or sensors acting up that could be causing your trouble.
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