E85 Conversion

[shelldrake]

Current ride is VE Clubsport with supercharger, cam & 3" exhaust. Thoughts please on conversion to E85.

[Darcon666]

Dead easy to do... just need big ass injectors/fuel pumps/fuel system and very deep pockets as you will use alot more fuel than normal 98octane.

Why do you want to do this, just curious?

[shelldrake]

Correctly installed tuned etc more power, cleaner run and much cooler (superch)

[cpbait]

Could be a good thing, just watched a documentary on SBS about alternative fuels and Ethanol fuels, looks like sugar Cain blends are the best, apparently America's got a corn blend that's not much better than 91 fuel, interesting to do more research, is E85 what the V8's are running now?

would have to work out for the price is it worth it over 98, if you have to or want to put in bigger injectors, pump, etc then would be good to look at as an alternative, many servo's stock it?

Found this: http://www.flexfuelkit.com.au/
Might give you some info.

[dirt drifter]

yes the V8's run E85, although not the exact same as the stuff out of the servo (servo fuels ethanol content can vary, eg not always 85% ethanol)

op if u can afford the bigger fuel system/tune side of it, and never wander too far from an E85 fuel bowser, i say do it. u will love the power boost

[Cheap6]

I would think that atm in Aust. availability is going to be the biggest problem. If it's a toy and you're centred around a capital city probably not so bad but if the car gets used for inter city runs or in a regional area it might not be practical to commit totally to E85.

What's available for the engine from the US, in terms of compatible engine management? There's a number of LS powered flex fuel vehicles over there including SUV's that might run the same computer or one that could be swapped in.

There are a few more changes to the OEM fuel systems other than just bigger injectors and pumps, such as anodised or stainless fuel rails and lines in the flex fuel vehicles too. I think that they also have fitted a flame arrestor in the filler neck - essentially just stainless steel mesh - to stop a spark from propagating into a flame. I believe that this is due to the different electrical conductivity of E85 vs petrol making this more likely. Worth thinking about.

[cpbait]

yeh the post i put up with the flex fuel kit explains a bit more, also there's a computer plug in that you can get which they sell that tricks the fuel system a littler like how long the injectors should be opened, etc. from what iv read it holds the injectors open for longer.

[Cheap6]

I have some reservations about using those plug in style conversions - there are a few around.

They require that the OEM injectors (and pump) have sufficient head room to allow the extra fuel flow.

I'm not sure how "flex fuel" they are. They appear to work by simply intercepting and extending the OEM injector pulse, as you have suggested, without any additional feedback or measurement of the EtOH: petrol ratios, but they are generally claimed to be able to cope with a range of fuel mixes. How? Do they just move the baseline pulse width into a window that the PCM can learn and correct with feedback from the O2 sensors? Probably OK on a VE with wideband sensors.

How do the OEM flex fuel systems work? The early ones used a capacitance based sensor in the fuel line that measured the proportion of EtOH in the fuel. The later/current ones may use the - now wide band - O2 sensors and rapid correction to adjust the mixtures.

[cpbait]

yeh i think they use the second one you mentioned, its all in that link i posted above, filled up at a servo that has the flex fuel E85 (i was putting 98 in mine, was next to the pump) and it said on the pump flex fuel 70-85% so there is a 15% difference there allowing for by the sounds of it that it may not always be 85%.

[Trikky]

depending on where you are you can get E90 that is more consistant than the E85, mate of mine runs it on his procharged/efi small block and he is making around 1000hp at the wheels, E85 varies way too much - can go between 65% and 85% depending on the time of year. If you are in Sydney there are a few places that carry the E90 not sure of other places though

[SIG-054]

Your talking about eFlex which can vary depending on the season. E85 stands for 85% ethanol.