Does running e85 keep the engine cleaner?

[pcguru2000]

Anyone that has run e85 for a long time and torn open the head, are you cylinders squeeky clean?

Since the oil gets contaminated with the ethanol, does it keep the passage ways and walls that are in contact with the oil cleaner?

I've read that people that convert their car to run on Hydrogen as a fuel (not fuel cell), the hydrogen does not taint the oil and the oil almost looks brand new at oil changes and the cylinders are perfectly clean. That could be because the hydrogen combining with oxygen produces water as the exhaust gas, and water cleans the cylinder.

[venturaII]

I'd think it'd at least help keep the intake valves cleaner..

[steve99]

have not pulled my engine down but my exhaust is spotless on E85 no carbon or gunk

[DarkSideFRS]

isn't e85 bad for rubber parts? pretty sure out fuel system has rubber parts....

[Tcoat]

The water would not be cleaning anything in fact it would be a bigger issue that carbon build up since it would rust the steel parts. It doesn't rust (nor clean) because the heat of the engine evaporates it and you do not end up with liquid water in the cylinders.
The reason that non petroleum based fuels leave engines and oil cleaner is simply that there are less contaminates, carbon and other combustion by products to leave crap behind. Oil based fuels are really actually nasty for their byproducts all around.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by DarkSideFRS

isn't e85 bad for rubber parts? pretty sure out fuel system has rubber parts....

There is very little real rubber left in car parts now. Most are at least a rubber and synthetic mix which does not break down in alcohol. Keep in mind that most fuels have some level of ethanol in them now even if not marked as such. Just don't try to run E85 in your Model T and all will be fine.

[FRSBRZGT86FAN]

Originally Posted by venturaII

I'd think it'd at least help keep the intake valves cleaner..

Hard to tell as we have port and direct injection, so they'd be pretty clean with normal fuel as well

Originally Posted by pcguru2000

Anyone that has run e85 for a long time and torn open the head, are you cylinders squeeky clean?

Since the oil gets contaminated with the ethanol, does it keep the passage ways and walls that are in contact with the oil cleaner?

I've read that people that convert their car to run on Hydrogen as a fuel (not fuel cell), the hydrogen does not taint the oil and the oil almost looks brand new at oil changes and the cylinders are perfectly clean. That could be because the hydrogen combining with oxygen produces water as the exhaust gas, and water cleans the cylinder.

The oil doesn't always get contaminated with e85, but it does break it down quicker if it's not a flex-fuel approved type. Also I highlighted a statement you made which is odd and incorrect. All combustion chemically produces water and CO2, what matters is how much carbon it creates in the process and how cleanly it burns, that's what "cleans the cylinder" not the water. In fact there isn't much water in the combustion process at all....

I would say however, my exhaust system is much much cleaner than when I run a 93 tune and I could wait months between cleaning the tips on my axle back. So I would think the exhaust valves and further back are cleaner. To ask if someones engine is cleaner would require a tear down and comparison back to back with someone not running e85. You could also compare oil analysis' from multiple 93 octane cars and e85 cars to see what materials ended up in the UOA.

[venturaII]

Originally Posted by FRSBRZGT86FAN

Hard to tell as we have port and direct injection, so they'd be pretty clean with normal fuel as well

.

True, but I mean just relative to straight gasoline. And since we only use port injection under heavy load, I'd assume we're still considerably dirtier than an all-port injection setup, fuels not withstanding.

[MasterAzir]

Do you guys know if its okay to store my car for like 8 months and have e85? or should I switch back to 93?

[FRSBRZGT86FAN]

Originally Posted by MasterAzir

Do you guys know if its okay to store my car for like 8 months and have e85? or should I switch back to 93?

I wouldn't chance it, ethanol absorbs moisture after it sits for too long however it should last around year:


Ethanol is in fact more stable than gasoline when stored properly. At typical storage temperatures, it neither oxidizes nor decomposes while gasoline will readily oxidize.The only unique issue to ethanol is that it will absorb water from the air. This can cause two issues. First is that during low temperature combustion (i.e., when a motor is cold), the water and ethanol produce an acid that can potentially do some damage. The other issue is that when enough water is absorbe into E85, the ethanol will stratify at the bottom of the container. However, for E85, the amount of water that needs to be absorbed for these things to happen is quite substantial - about 1/2 to 2/3 of a cup of water per gallon of E85. They key to storing E85 (and gasoline) is to put it in a fully sealed, dark colored container. Its better for the gasoline if the drum is completely filled so there is less oxygen to react with the gasoline. Under these conditions, E85 will have a shelf life that is better than gasoline. Should be no problem to keep it for 1 year, and there are several reports of people having successfully used E85 after storing it properly for 1 year.

If you want to do some reading, here is a useful article:

http://ethanolrfa.3cdn.net/dd9e74ce1..._rbm6bdgh3.pdf


I had done this before for 6 months and it still ran fine on my car, just make sure you have a filled tank, more importantly make sure your car is on a battery tender your wheels are parked on some cardboard to prevent dry rotting etc etc.