E-85 Questions and Advice

[SASCRAGGS]

I have a 2007 GMC Yukon With the 5.3 Flex Fuel and I have run E-85 in it a few times in the past. In the last month I have been filling up with it every time. Basics are the fuel prices especally duing and right after the hurricane in Texas, but also it seems to give my truck more power and it runs better on it. My main question is do I need to be adding an additive to the fuel system on fill ups or every so often? I am sure that thier is some draw back to the ethanol I know that it will eat rubber lines etc. I run royal purpule oil and stock fuel system filter etc. any advice or experince will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

SAS

 

[fco_gonzo]

your truck was built to run on both E-85 and regular gas. I highly doubt the rubber is being eaten away. I would not add any additives unless it is recommended by Chevy or gmc.

 

[GIXXER]

Ethanol is an extremely inefficient additive in gasoline so you shouldn't be noticing any significant performance gains. This is probably the largest drawback to ethanol...with the added exception that it expends more carbon to make ethanol than gasoline, but that's another discussion.
You are correct in that the storage/tankage of ethanol requires different handling requirements than gasoline; however with an E-85 ready vehicle there are no risks to you the consumer. However, if you were a traditional gasoline vender (i.e. a gas station) who wanted to switch to sell E-85 fuel, you wouldn't be capable of doing so without significant equipment, tanking and piping upgrades.
Good question!

 

[bad63lac]

...but also it seems to give my truck more power and it runs better on it.

Despite what you may be thinking, you are incorrect.

Using E85 is less efficient and your engine will make less power. Your torque and HP are lower. There is no performance gain by adding ethanol to your fuel mix. There is a performance degradation. You will also get less MPG. This is all fact and spelled out very clearly in any E85 FAQ you read.


The only "benefits" (and I put that in quotes because there are really no benefits at all) to E85 are two-fold:

First, E85 is supposed to be cheaper than regular gasoline. So in theory, even though you are getting less MPG, you should also be paying less and thus saving a few cents per gallon. The reality is though that E85 is not always cheaper in some parts of the country. In fact, only 33% of areas that have E85 is it cheaper than regular gas. The other 66% it is equal or higher!?!

Second, E85 is supposed to be better for the environment because by using less gasoline, we would be lowering our dependency on oil. The problem is that the corn which is being used to produce this ethanol has severely impacted the farming industry. This has led to all of our food prices increasing. Farmers are producing less grains and instead taking funding from the government to produce corn, not to eat but to make ethanol. The result is less "farms", higher food prices and additional pollution from the ethanol production process.


E85 is a sham. It is pretty much dead and not talked about anymore. My guess is it will all but disappear very very soon...

 

[fco_gonzo]

A Sham and disappering fast?

I think not, there is a Ethonal plant about 15-20 miles from my house. Two years ago when I bought my Hoe there were only two places in AZ that Sold E85 now there are over 24 and one a new e85 gas station is being built in my own town, due to open by January. E85 in my neck of the woods has always been at least 70 cents cheaper than E85. Will E85 reduce the need of forgien oil probably not.

 

[fco_gonzo]

Yes, its a sham. It's all smoke and mirrors. There are no benefits to it, only additional drawbacks. Additionally, the entire cost basis behind it is a total sham. It's not sustainable. How much is regular gas by you right now? How much is E85? I paid $2.14/gallon on Monday night, albeit NJ has the lowest gas prices in the nation. For arguments sake, lets say in your part of the country you are paying $2.50 for regular. So, E85 is $1.80? Yet E85 is 85% gasoline + 15% ethanol. Now, 85% of $2.50 is what? $2.13? We havent even added in the cost of the ethanol yet but yet it is being sold for less than $2.13 according to what you say. The cost recovery is completely out of whack. This is why many people on here and across the nation have reported that E85 is being sold for MORE than the cost of regular gas (which makes sense if you do the math). E85 is a Democrat generated SHAM. It is still being pushed in areas due to intense lobbying, however, it is just a matter of time before yet another Democrat created bubble bursts. It is just not financially feasible. The "ethanol mafia" will die it's death soon. There is no disputing it. Even the Democrats are finally starting to admit it.


The choice is very simple if you dont want to use E85 don't use it. Trust me I'm not lossing any sleep over this subject!

 

[GHR2]

I have a 2007 GMC Yukon With the 5.3 Flex Fuel and I have run E-85 in it a few times in the past. In the last month I have been filling up with it every time. Basics are the fuel prices especally duing and right after the hurricane in Texas, but also it seems to give my truck more power and it runs better on it. My main question is do I need to be adding an additive to the fuel system on fill ups or every so often? I am sure that thier is some draw back to the ethanol I know that it will eat rubber lines etc. I run royal purpule oil and stock fuel system filter etc. any advice or experince will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

SAS

I, too, have a 2007 GMC Yukon - took delivery on it in March 2006. I have been running it on E-85 almost exclusively since we bought it. Only times it has had gas in it is on long trips when E-85 isn't available. More and more stations in my area (southeast AZ) are selling E-85, and they get my business. I intend to run nothing but E-85 in my Yukon whenever possible. Perceived preformance and responsiveness is slightly better when burning E-85.

As others have said, your flex fuel engine is set up for E-85 - you will have no problems running E-85, or gas, or a mixture. Note that GM did initiate a campaign to re-flash your ECM to better read the mixture ratio of gas and E-85 when you run a combination. If you haven't taken your Yukon in for that, you should.

The National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition has an informative web site (www.e85fuel.com) that discusses all aspects of E-85 - production, octane, power, carbon footprint, etc. Good comparison to gasoline, some good FAQs. It makes for a good read.

I did some back of the envelope calculations to determine how many equivalent barrels of oil I would burn in a year using gasoline, and then made the same calculations for using E-85 assuming a 24% reduction in mpg. To the best of my memory, it turns out using gasoline for a year I'd burn about 40 barrels of oil; with E85 it drops to about 8 barrels. Or another way to look at it - burning E-85 my "effective gasoline MPG" is about 70 mpg. This is because, using E-85, every tankful of fuel is only 15% gasoline. So your 26 gallon tank of E-85 contains 3.9 gallons of gasoline. In my town, E-85 is NOT 24% cheaper than gasoline, so if I wanted to save money, I would be better off burning gasoline. I have chosen to reduce my usage of foreign oil and give my money to American farmers.

 

[Rebound]

You have probably noticed the reduced mileage with E85.

My recommendation is run the numbers. Figure out at what price differential E85 is cheaper. At or below that point, run E85. Above it, run "regular" gas.

 

[sievz7]

Second, E85 is supposed to be better for the environment because by using less gasoline, we would be lowering our dependency on oil. The problem is that the corn which is being used to produce this ethanol has severely impacted the farming industry. This has led to all of our food prices increasing. Farmers are producing less grains and instead taking funding from the government to produce corn, not to eat but to make ethanol. The result is less "farms", higher food prices and additional pollution from the ethanol production process.

This is a very common misconception about E-85 as well. My family owns and operates 3 farm equipment dealerships (if it ain't RED, leave it in the shed!) and I can tell you that a very, very small percentage of the corn raised by famers is used for food production. (pick an ear of corn from 95% of the fields out there and eat it, I guarantee you won't like it)

I am aware that corn, or corn based ingredients are used in nearly every food product, but the percentage of the price tag you and I are paying for the amount of corn additives in food are minescule.

I am not an E-85 proponent, in fact I think that whoever decided at the 85/15 mix is a moron. The principles are good, but the implementation was not. All of this talk about E-85 and farmers driving up the food prices always annoys me, and gives farmers a bad wrap at the same time.

"Never criticize the farmer with your mouth full"

Just my 2 cents.

 

[73shark]

Two reasons that ethanol is cheaper is cuz there's a $.50 subsidy/galloon (your tax dollars at work) and about a $.50 tariff on imported ethanol.