Can you run E85 on canned Gryphon level 3 tunes instead of 91/93? I know PHP offers custom E85 tunes, but was curious if it could be done during the interim. Has anyone tried it or know if it is possible and safe to do?

 

I ran E-85 in my F-150 for years on level 3 edge tune. It did fine. I got a CEL when running 50% or greater ethanol. But I have a wideband, and it did accommodate 85%. Kinda hard to start on a cold morning, went lean @ ~4,000rpm (on 85%) but other than that, it did fine. Wideband stayed in the green running E43. I ran it for over 100,000 miles(whenever I could get it). Truck still runs fine, at 300,000+ but I just bought me a bigger one.

I ALWAYS run half-&-half (E85/87 Gasoline) in my "new" dually. It stops the "V-10 spark-knock" and its cheap, and the exhaust doesn't stink as bad. (And I'm a corn farmer) No CEL and NO problems. I've put 20,000 hard miles on the V10 running half-&-half ~E43.

 

Thanks for the info. Sorry for my ignorance here, but what is a wideband (is it a type of O2 sensor)?

 

hope this isn't considered a hijack of the thread, but can you run E85 on canned evo tow tune?

 

Lets not call it hijacking, lets just change the overall question of the thread...

With an Edge or Gryphon can you run on E85 with any of the canned tunes and if so which one(s)?

 

It is not recommended to run E85 on canned tunes. You can have lean conditions.

 

Thanks, that's one thing I was worried about.

 

I'd definitely get a custom tune written for E85.

 

It is a special kind of O2 sensor. Wideband O2 sensors measure the Air-to-fuel ratio (A/F ratio) by "sensing" the concentration of O2 molecules in the exhaust gasses. It works almost the same as a regular O2 sensor, but it gives an accurate "value" for A/F ratio, rather than to simply indicate "lean" or "rich". (as do the standard O2 sensors) The standard O2 sensors work fine for your truck because all the computer is interested in, is whether to add fuel or take it away. With a wideband sensor, it can tell you exactly how lean or how rich the truck is running. Very useful...

Yes you can. Thats why you need a wideband.
I would say that this is good advice unless you have a wideband and you like to fiddle with stuff like this yourself. If you wanna run it yourself, you need to do some research into how the truck's computer accounts for variations in alcohol content of the fuel, temperature, barometric pressure, vacuum leaks, fuel delivery problems and general wear and tear. Then you will be able to figure out how much alcohol the computer will accomodate, and how to trick it into accomodating more! I have had a blast doing it!

As a general rule, any ford vehicle built since 1997 will accomodate ~40% alcohol with no issues. (Some more, some less.) So if you want to try a little of it without actually doing anything to the vehicle, try mixing a 50-50 blend of E-85 (~43%) and see how it likes it. If you have a tuner, put it on the high performance tune. (that will take advantage of the spark advance, and the extra WOT fuel delivery) You will notice a big jump in power. If you get a CEL just back off the alcohol concentration a bit. But you probably won't get one unless you already have a small vacuum leak.

Disclaimer: I am not telling everybody to go pour alcohol in their truck. Use some common sense and don't tear it up.

 

Great info thank you!!

 

Here's a video of my wideband in action. You can see the switchrate. This video was taken when I first put it in years ago. It was before I calibrated it, that's why it's so erratic. It was a lot smoother after I calibrated it. I took this video because I didn't know what was wrong with it. But you get the general idea. Target A/F ratio (stoich) is ~14.7 - 1. That's the ratio that gives 100% combustion of the fuel, theoretically.

 

emailed edge yesterday on running E85 with a edge programmer. my truck is a 2007 5.4 and is flex fuel compatable. i asked if i can run E85 with my edge? and if so at what level.
their reply is: You can run E85 on any power level. the octane is high enough to prevent any issues with preignition.

 

I agree with the octane level, but still not sure if I am willing to try it. If you plan on running E85, let me know how it does on level 3.

 

Running e85 with a gryphon 93 performance tune. No issues, and lots of extra power.

 

did you gain more from adding the e85 ontop of the tune?

i'm sure there would be LOTS of extra power to be found w/ a e85 specific tune as e85 has a stioch of 9.7:1 which is MUCH richer than 14.7:1 with gasonline.