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E85 NO MORE!!! Now called Flex Fuel ethanol and is lowered to E54

Old Sep 11, 2016, 12:28 PM
  #31  
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My neighbor works for a petroleum service company (he fixes stuff at gas stations). Anyway he showed me how they test for ethanol and it is very simple. In a 100 ml graduated cylinder place about 30 ml of pump gas and fill with water to 100 ml, cork and shake. The ethanol comes out of the gas and dissolves in the water. Check the change in volume of the gas and that amount is ethanol.
Old Sep 11, 2016, 05:05 PM
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Just filled up this morning and noticed this new change. Here in Texas.

Old Sep 12, 2016, 06:29 AM
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Originally Posted by 06RedRalli
Just filled up this morning and noticed this new change. Here in Texas.
Another state bites the dust?

Is there a way for you to confirm by stopping at another station in Texas? Would be very interesting to know.
Old Sep 12, 2016, 07:34 AM
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I think you should relax, the California pumps have said "minimum 70%" here for 8 years now.
Old Sep 12, 2016, 07:44 AM
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Originally Posted by razorlab
I think you should relax, the California pumps have said "minimum 70%" here for 8 years now.
Thats what the pumps said here before as well, just recently switched to these.
Old Sep 12, 2016, 07:47 AM
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Originally Posted by 06RedRalli
Thats what the pumps said here before as well, just recently switched to these.
Time to get your flexfuel setup then.
Old Sep 12, 2016, 09:07 AM
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I wouldn't be too concerned about 54% eth. I made the same power on 60% ethanol that I made on 75% ethanol.
Old Sep 12, 2016, 09:23 AM
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Originally Posted by mrfred
I wouldn't be too concerned about 54% eth. I made the same power on 60% ethanol that I made on 75% ethanol.
Interesting... Same timing?
Old Sep 12, 2016, 09:53 AM
  #39  
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ASTM changed the specification to allow E85 fuel to be as low as 51% back in 2012.

http://www.afdc.energy.gov/fuels/ethanol_e85_specs.html

http://ethanolproducer.com/articles/...-to-51-percent

It looks like AZ is finally changing their state statute to follow the ASTM standard.

In my city, there are stations that buy e85 from the gas fueling terminal and that tends to always be about 70% ethanol year around (I think the state statute here still says a minimum of 70%). There is one company that has blender plumps at their stations and they have tanks at all their stations that store E98. They blend that E98 with gasoline at the blender pumps to get E85. These stations change the blend ratio on their blender pumps in the spring and fall to get the required vapor pressure for the season. In the summer it is always about E83-84 according to my sensor.

If I lived in AZ, I would call The Jet Industries and express my displeasure at them selling E54 even though the ASTM standard allows this.
Old Sep 12, 2016, 10:23 AM
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Originally Posted by heel2toe
Well this blows. I wonder how long until that makes it's way to the east coast?

What is the justification for the change anyway? Is it the oil companies finally getting their way or the subsidies on the ethanol killing the pricing? Just curious...and the even bigger concern is what happens when stations just decide to do away with it all together?

Ugh this sucks.

And as mentioned above, it would be very wise to pick up a tester. I bought one on ebay years ago and I test my fuel every time I fill up and it has saved my motors a couple times now.
There are no subsidies of ethanol. The Volumetric Ethanol Tax Credit expired at the end of 2011. The Renewable Fuel Standard remains in place to provide a way to limit the monopoly of oil.

Oil, on the other hand:

http://www.ethanolproducer.com/artic...ks-for-big-oil
Old Sep 12, 2016, 01:14 PM
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Originally Posted by lancerrally45
Interesting... Same timing?
Depending on how much timing/boost your E85 (say it was E80) tune is running, you may need to pull some timing, and you will for sure have to adjust fueling.
Old Sep 12, 2016, 03:51 PM
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Originally Posted by lancerrally45
Interesting... Same timing?
No change in timing or fuelling. The necessary increase in enrichment was handled automatically by the increase in gasoline content. On 76% ethanol, I was at about 12:1, and on 60%, I was at about 11.3:1. Now going to 50% may require some fuelling and timing adjustment, but my guess is that it will have minimal impact for the average E85 tune. Kill-mode tunes will likely have to give up a little.
Old Sep 12, 2016, 05:37 PM
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Got my tester today & ran my first sample of So.Cal Propel

Im a pretty exacting, mechanically inclined type guy, so my measurements were on the appropriate lines

Looks like a solid 85% plus to me

Old Sep 13, 2016, 06:36 AM
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Originally Posted by mrfred
Kill-mode tunes will likely have to give up a little.
I thought this was the only tune to have...

From my experience different cars like different afrs. I know that sounds weird but I would pick up ~20hp going from an afr of 11.0 to 12.0 on my dsm with e85. But again, now that you speak the words "kill tune" I guess my tunes are all like that

So yeah, changing the content would bug me. I would retune it. But Im like that.
Old Sep 13, 2016, 10:16 AM
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Originally Posted by mrfred
No change in timing or fuelling. The necessary increase in enrichment was handled automatically by the increase in gasoline content. On 76% ethanol, I was at about 12:1, and on 60%, I was at about 11.3:1. Now going to 50% may require some fuelling and timing adjustment, but my guess is that it will have minimal impact for the average E85 tune. Kill-mode tunes will likely have to give up a little.
I could see an average E85 tune running 17-18* of timing out the top turning into a kill mode tune on E50, and pulling a degree or two of timing could help keep things happy.

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