E85 in the Mark VIII?

[fonzieguy]

Ok now the (1994) Mark VIII can NOT take straight E85 can it?
For some reason I thought I remembered reading somewhere that it could. I know that when you look up the oil filter/ air filter in the book at walmart it says the engine is Flex Fuel, so whats the deal with that?

 

[MonsterMark]

Give it a try and get back to us.
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Or NOT!

 

[unity]

It should be ok.... IF:

You have a new fuel pump, a tune for it and NO WATER in the tank AT ALL.

I run E85 often but I have a VERY different setup than stock. The primary concern of E85 is the corrosive nature when combined with water. Although it wold require lots of H2O exposure to form the acid and the acid would have to eat at the lines for years before you will have a problem, its still the primary concern. Most Marks come with poly tanks, not metal - thats a plus.

The second concern is the ECU. It should be able to handle the high O2 output the fuel produces without freaking out and screwing up the fuel to air mix. According to my tuner E85 will work fine, it just wont get the best economy over a car designed with E85 in mind.

Now that I have ran it a many more times I can tell you my economy on the highway with premium gas is 30mpg at 65mph. With E85 that drops to 24mpg at 65mph.

Do the math, there is no real huge savings. I drop almost 30 percent in economy and E85 is about 30% cheaper. In town its not much better. I mainly run E85 for long hauls. Now this is for MY Mark and I am very sure my MAF is screwed up - need a new one. When I do I will see how things work out again with E85.

 

[turborich]

I agree about the fuel mileage loss. You will get fewer miles per tank. This E-85 crap seems like a scam to me.

Farmers are growing corn like crazy for this E-85 fuel, now the price of corn has increased, now it cost more to feed the animals that we eat (beef, pork, chicken, etc) The price of these items are going up as well. It seems like a real poor solution for a fuel to me.

 

[unity]

Ya, even a "proper" E-85 vehicle gets less milage on it. It was a good idea that was badly executed. They should have went for blended E-40 or something, not go full out. Yes I know E-20 is out, etc. But instead of increasing the blend, which would have been fine for almost any car, they promote is as some "alternative" that "requires" a capable fuel delivery system.

I am all about bio-diesel.

 

[slowmkviii]

Farmers are growing corn like crazy for this E-85 fuel, now the price of corn has increased, now it cost more to feed the animals that we eat (beef, pork, chicken, etc) The price of these items are going up as well. It seems like a real poor solution for a fuel to me.

Why would it increase the price of corn for your animals I was told that animals can eat the leftovers or byproducts after the e85 is made

 

[Rich88LSC]

I agree about the fuel mileage loss. You will get fewer miles per tank. This E-85 crap seems like a scam to me.

Ethanol has less about a third less energy per gallon then gasoline so no matter what there will be a mileage loss.

 

[MediumD]

Why would it increase the price of corn for your animals I was told that animals can eat the leftovers or byproducts after the e85 is made

Ethanol production requires the kernels... the edible part. Companies are currently working on making cellulosic ethanol production commercially viable. Cellulosic ethanol uses the inedible parts of plants (stalks, plant material, even sawdust may be able to be used) to make the ethanol, leaving the edible parts to be eaten.

 

[vr4]

Ethanol production requires the kernels... the edible part. Companies are currently working on making cellulosic ethanol production commercially viable. Cellulosic ethanol uses the inedible parts of plants (stalks, plant material, even sawdust may be able to be used) to make the ethanol, leaving the edible parts to be eaten.

switchgrass is a great ethanol source but the corn producers wont allow that.


e85 would work in a mark but youll need to provide it enough fuel to be tuned properly. a larger pump, injectors, wideband, and a way to tune fuel (at the minimum) would do it. having timing control will help as E85 likes more ignition timing. a whinebro 255 and some terminator injectors would do it on the fuel side.


the stealth in my sig is built for E98 but im limited to 14 psi due to having too small injectors (720cc/min)