E-85 users thread
 

If you have been tuned on E85 please post for how long and how many miles.

This will be a good reference if in a few months, we start seeing failures in the cam driven high pressure fuel pump (CD HPFP).

any evidence to support this theory, or is this just speculation?

Yes, just look at Mazdaspeed3/6 direct injection pumps. If you have ever used E85, you know it causes some build up. Even running a regular tank of pump gas doesn't prevent it from happening.

http://www.mazdaspeedforums.org/foru...-issues-79030/

Subscribed for this. You guys seem adamant that this will happen. I know early on people have asked this question and most of the tuners on here simply say "nope, it will cause no problems." I would like to run it come spring but I am waiting for more research.

I am using E85 and have no problems, and expect none.

Anyone comparing a mazda and a BMW pump (reference the link) has not been exposed to both types of pumps, and has no idea how high the rate of Pump failure is on BMW's regardless of fuel, mileage, or driving style.

I manufacture aftermarket fuel pumps for the Mazda/Audi pumps, I have considered the BMW pumps but the design is literally horrible, and way way way too complex for the task...thankfully our HPFP's are more akin to the mazda and audi pumps but have an issue with the side-loading of the pump shaft.

It's hard to say what the factory uses for a coating in the pumps themselves, but I use a combo of coatings and hard enough material to prevent galling should there be a potential

The fact that the guy had "rebuilt" his pump recently, tells me why it failed. nick anything, scratch anything, get a speck of dirt in there, anything and that thing will die quickly....the average clearance in those pumps is .0002" (yes really less than 1/10th the thickness of your hair) the clearance there is closer than the tolerance on your average factory crank bearings.

I've been running E85 for about 300 miles now. Since fuel was on Scarce mode for a while here, I'll be doing more driving in the next few days. I'll report anything odd if it occurs. I'm also going to be dropping a turbo in soon...

How much did fuel economy decrease when switching to E85?

To be honest, I haven't noticed a decrease. At least not yet. I hear it burns faster at higher RPMs and I don't pound the pedal (just snowed here). I've driven it about 300 miles and I've used up about 1/6 of a full tank.

I'm glad we're switching to E85. Once we run out of fossil fuels, we'll still be able to drive our cars! :happyanim:

you sir are either a troll or you can't count, you realize you just proclaimed something north of 100 miles per gallon right?


there is a basic requirement due to the chemical composition of Ethanol (the E in E85) VS gasoline that says you need ~25-30% more fuel not 1/3 the fuel as you are claiming.


I get about 140 miles to the tank or about 14 miles per gallon, but i drive...enthusiastically. and my tune is still slightly rough

(im not on a stock ECU we are running AEM series 2 on mine)

Your gas gauge is frozen. People have been having this problem with the latest rounds of tunes.

believe me I'm not troll and most likely miscounted, badly. my fault.

I don't drive spiritedly - haven't gotten a chance to... I haven't sat down in my car and crunched actual mileage and numbers and all - just did some quick calculations in my head and came up with 300... pretty sure it's less now that I think about it... Thanks for doing the thorough calculation!

That COULD be a possibility, but it has moved... slightly... is there a way I can verify this? Or can it be fixed quickly if that's the case?

I know Visconti's E85 rom replaces the MPG gauge with a number indicating what percentage of fuel is in the tank.