Noob E85 question - Page 2 - Toyota GR86, 86, FR-S and Subaru BRZ Forum & Owners Community

pgranberg11 · 03-22-2018, 05:09 PM

most gases already contain 10% ethanol in them... regardless if that's 87, 89, 91, 93 etc... the range you are seeing in ethanol depends on the state in which you live in. IL states that "E85" can be as low as 50ish % ethanol and is considered to be legal "E85" (85% ethanol). But to answer the question that seems like it has been answered already, You will definitely need a flex fuel kit and a flex fuel tune. You will run the risk of harming your engine and that definitely isn't worth it. It's also been proven that flex fuel is definitely worth the investment whether it's NA or FI. It really wakes the car up. happy modding!

Sapphireho · 03-22-2018, 05:12 PM

50%, that sucks. California minimum is 70%. Mine always runs between 78 and 81.

Flex fuel kit is nice. Just put in whichever, car figures it out.

stlgrym3 · 03-22-2018, 05:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by driggity

Yes, that's the nice thing about flex fuel. It will adapt for the ethanol content in the fuel you have from normal pump gas to e85.

do i need to drain the fuel tank completely before putting new tank of different fuel?

Submarinesonce · 03-22-2018, 05:41 PM

get a kit, test the fuel and see what the ethanol content is. OFT will run 60-90% and be OK, you need to monitor your AFR and fuel trims however. before you do anything, id suggest doing some more reading so you can understand what it is you are doing before you do it. Toyota isn't going to help you if you damage the car putting the wrong fuel in it on a tune you got from the internet....tread carefully, and arm yourself with knowledge.

reeves · 03-22-2018, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bkdshadow

Yeah I think this forum proves my ignorance to a lot of things on my car unfortunately. It’s good to start making myself aware though

One of the things you'll eventually learn is: the 86 has an awesome ECU and is almost idiot-proof when it comes to E85 & 93.

I've forgotten to select my E85 tune several times, and have driven around on my 93 tune for several miles before realizing it. And vice versa (drove on my E85 tune after filling up with 93).

I wouldn't recommend it, but unless you're racing your car, you won't blow your engine driving around 'normally' on either E85 or 93.

reeves · 03-22-2018, 06:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stlgrym3

do i need to drain the fuel tank completely before putting new tank of different fuel?

If you have a flex fuel kit & tune, no you don't. The kit/tune will adapt to any mixture of 93/E85 you put in your tank.
If you don't have a flex fuel kit (and only have the tune), yes it's ideal to run your fuel down as low as you can before filling up with another type of fuel.

Bkdshadow · 03-22-2018, 06:17 PM

Yup this is my daily driver so I’m definitely gonna read and watch a lot. I don’t think I’ve had a day yet that I haven’t monitored my fuel trims and IAM on my tablet, still the best investment for my car thus far. Hopefully engineering explained will answer my questions and I’ll be able to stop making noob threads

pgranberg11 · 03-22-2018, 08:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sapphireho

50%, that sucks. California minimum is 70%. Mine always runs between 78 and 81.

Flex fuel kit is nice. Just put in whichever, car figures it out.

I got lucky and found a station or two here in Chicago that is straight e85 lol

. But the Shell gas stations that offer their flex fuel... that shit is like e50.....

guybo · 03-23-2018, 07:01 AM

That's a weird set up. At the E85 stations here it just says E85 on the handle and gives the minimum ethanol content on the pump. On a few pumps there's a minimum ethanol content, on others there's a range from min to max. On one pump there's a sticker that says min 51%, but another sticker on the same pump that says 60-90%....

On the pump you posted above, the sticker says 51-83, so if there's no other filling station for E85 in town, I'd try that one but monitor fuel trims closely. Get your tank ALL the way down to under 1 gallon or so then fill half the tank with the E85 and tune on E85 normally. That way if you do find it's only E40 or something like that (I don't know why it would) you can fill the tank the rest of the way with 93 and run lean on a 93 tune until you run that tank out. If your fuel trims are OK, you know the fuel is safe to use on the E85 tune.

I'd recommend getting an OBD2 port reader and Torque Pro and just keep an eye on your fuel trims after each fill up. Don't put the hammer down immediately after filling up, know what you got for fuel before stomping on it, so give it a few miles. Around here I have found that the stations run high ethanol %, my fuel trims are always closer to +10 (on 93 up until February I always ran a little rich, it's not an intake or exhaust leak) sometimes I add some 93 to bring LTFT down a bit.

Most importantly- READ UP on E85. Know what you're getting in to. Shiv runs Open Performance and has a lot of info on E85 on this forum.

03-22-2018, 05:09 PM	#15
pgranberg11 BoostedBRZ Join Date: Mar 2014 Drives: Turbo BRZ Location: IL Posts: 689 Thanks: 171 Thanked 258 Times in 190 Posts Mentioned: 3 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	most gases already contain 10% ethanol in them... regardless if that's 87, 89, 91, 93 etc... the range you are seeing in ethanol depends on the state in which you live in. IL states that "E85" can be as low as 50ish % ethanol and is considered to be legal "E85" (85% ethanol). But to answer the question that seems like it has been answered already, You will definitely need a flex fuel kit and a flex fuel tune. You will run the risk of harming your engine and that definitely isn't worth it. It's also been proven that flex fuel is definitely worth the investment whether it's NA or FI. It really wakes the car up. happy modding! __________________ Build Thread/Picture Dump Insta: pete.lete

03-22-2018, 05:41 PM	#18
Submarinesonce Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2017 Drives: Frs Location: Florida Posts: 130 Thanks: 21 Thanked 81 Times in 43 Posts Mentioned: 1 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	get a kit, test the fuel and see what the ethanol content is. OFT will run 60-90% and be OK, you need to monitor your AFR and fuel trims however. before you do anything, id suggest doing some more reading so you can understand what it is you are doing before you do it. Toyota isn't going to help you if you damage the car putting the wrong fuel in it on a tune you got from the internet....tread carefully, and arm yourself with knowledge. __________________ JDL UEL Turbo GT2860RS, AP Racing BBK, Verus Splitter/diffuser/canards, Sard rep carbon wing, TFF bash bar, HKS hi power, Tein Flex A, Hotchkiss FSB, Radium MCB, Konig Hypergram 17x8, FS Indy 500, 6k HID, Whiteline trans bushing insert, Verus AOS, grimmspeed strut brace, Racerx oil cooler w/ setrab 619, ES steering rack bushings, Whiteline subframe bushings, Toms tails, STi mirror caps, IRP shifter, TRD Steering wheel

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03-22-2018, 05:12 PM	#16
Sapphireho ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Join Date: Mar 2016 Drives: '15 ultramarine Location: Idaho Posts: 13,192 Thanks: 5,451 Thanked 18,240 Times in 8,609 Posts Mentioned: 155 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	50%, that sucks. California minimum is 70%. Mine always runs between 78 and 81. Flex fuel kit is nice. Just put in whichever, car figures it out.

03-22-2018, 06:17 PM	#21
Bkdshadow Member Join Date: Dec 2017 Drives: 2013 Scion FRS Location: Virginia Posts: 58 Thanks: 24 Thanked 6 Times in 5 Posts Mentioned: 0 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	Yup this is my daily driver so I’m definitely gonna read and watch a lot. I don’t think I’ve had a day yet that I haven’t monitored my fuel trims and IAM on my tablet, still the best investment for my car thus far. Hopefully engineering explained will answer my questions and I’ll be able to stop making noob threads

03-23-2018, 07:01 AM	#23
guybo Huge E85 fan! Join Date: May 2016 Drives: 2016 Scion FRS Location: Tampa, FL, USA Posts: 1,850 Thanks: 539 Thanked 1,010 Times in 605 Posts Mentioned: 32 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	That's a weird set up. At the E85 stations here it just says E85 on the handle and gives the minimum ethanol content on the pump. On a few pumps there's a minimum ethanol content, on others there's a range from min to max. On one pump there's a sticker that says min 51%, but another sticker on the same pump that says 60-90%.... On the pump you posted above, the sticker says 51-83, so if there's no other filling station for E85 in town, I'd try that one but monitor fuel trims closely. Get your tank ALL the way down to under 1 gallon or so then fill half the tank with the E85 and tune on E85 normally. That way if you do find it's only E40 or something like that (I don't know why it would) you can fill the tank the rest of the way with 93 and run lean on a 93 tune until you run that tank out. If your fuel trims are OK, you know the fuel is safe to use on the E85 tune. I'd recommend getting an OBD2 port reader and Torque Pro and just keep an eye on your fuel trims after each fill up. Don't put the hammer down immediately after filling up, know what you got for fuel before stomping on it, so give it a few miles. Around here I have found that the stations run high ethanol %, my fuel trims are always closer to +10 (on 93 up until February I always ran a little rich, it's not an intake or exhaust leak) sometimes I add some 93 to bring LTFT down a bit. Most importantly- READ UP on E85. Know what you're getting in to. Shiv runs Open Performance and has a lot of info on E85 on this forum.

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