Well, I just completed my E85 conversion. Still have some tuning to do but the car is running great of E85 @ 20PSI max with virtually no knock.

I am getting all of my pictures and docs together and hope to post all of the details soon. Thanks to everyone that has posted in this forum for the great Q&A. It was really much easier than I thought it would be.

Modifications:

Injen TBE
K&N cone filter
AFI 1000cc fuel injectors
Walbro 255lph pump
ARP headstuds
RRE MBC
Swift Spec-R springs
88rotors cross drilled and slotted rotors
PBR ULT pads
RBF600 brake fluid
RT-615's on stock BBS
Carputer (mac mini with 7" touch screen, WinXP, Centrafuse, ECUFlash, and Evoscan)
Zeitronix wideband O2 (w/ EGT, boost, LCD data logging to evoscan)

Modifications to do:
20G turbo upgrade
272 intake/exhaust Cosworth cams
New clutch

 

Welcome to the club!

 

Congrats! E85 is good stuff

 

Turn the boost up on that car...

Cheers-
E

 

Is there a reason you are running such low boost?

 

Just tuning out some of the knock. Going to up the boost this weekend to about 24 and go from there. Only problem is last night I was doing some tuning (rescaling injectors is a PITA) and now my afrs are - .3. The trims all look fine +/- 1% but the AFR is never at 14.7 at idle or cruise.

I reflashed to a known working and very close configuration last night and I get the same results so I think that there is something wrong with the Bosch wideband sensor.

I am guessing there is no way to calibrate the wideband at all... Guess I get to buy another one.

 

The zeitronix wideband calibrates itself. When you're driving, does the AFR change?

You can get away with about 28-30 psi on E85... Turn that boost up...

Cheers-
E

 

Yes, it fluctuates as normal. Cruising shows about 14.0-3 and idle is about 14.4. WOT drops to about 9.9 and cutting the throttle will show 21.0 for a second or two.

From my understanding if my injector scaling and latencies were truly this far out of whack my trims would be just that... whack. The trims look fine and the car runs very well. I guess if it was showing lean I would be a little more worried.

This weekend I am just going to pull the sensor, clean it off some, and tighten the thing back up and see where that leaves me. The only other concern is that it was raining last night in LA so maybe some water got on there and messed it up somehow?

 

Well, filled up with 91 octane to make sure everything looked good with the pump gas flash. Still the AFR's were having issues. Pulled out the O2 sensor, wire brushed with some electronics cleaner and everything is good with the AFRs now on pump gas and E85. Boost is now up to 24psi and no issues so far on the stock turbo.

Does anybody pull the lower support bars off of the evo? I have a 3" downpipe that I think is causing some knock on the bar. Probably going to pull it off this week and see if it makes a difference. I just don't think that the tubular steel adds that much to the rigidity of the car as mine are all chewed up and bent as it is.

 

It is VERY hard for the knock sensor to pick up "phantom knock" from the bar. They are programmed to pick up certain frequencies that only the motor can make.

I would suggest you putting some washers between the bar and the chassis then bolting the bar up. This will give you more space leverage between the downpipe and the bar.

You should be running low boost at 25-26 on E85 and 28-29 on high boost with E85.

Cheers-
E

Cheers-
E

 

Thanks. It isn't much, 1-2 counts of knock and seems to happen the most when I come off the gas with a hard pull. Max knock on a hard 1hour session is 3 counts maybe 3-5 times.

I just want to make sure that I am not going to blow the thing up as I am new to tuning.

 

is e85 that much better than regular 93 octane?

 

Equivalent to about 105 octane, near the same price per mile as 91 octane here in Los Angeles, less heat, and less dependence on foreign oil. All of which equals a win IMHO.

I am just a little cautious about cranking up the boost that high on the stock turbo. I will feel much better about it with a FP green or 20g. 28-29psi is well outside of the operating efficiency range of the stock IX turbo.

 

E85 is the same as 105 octane... you tell me...

93 and you pay OPEC out the *** or 105 and you pay American farmers and pay less for more power?

Cheers-
E

P.S. OP, 1-2 knock counts is nothing to worry about, it takes 3 counts for the ECU to back off 1* of timing. I personally wouldn't chase my tail over those 1-2 counts...

 

Hey, I think we met at Conserv fuel today. I liked your mini mac in the glove box. Your car looked very nice.
I won't put any computers in my car though. My neighbors like to smash the windows and search the glovebox.