New 5.4 and E85...
 

Hey im curious if anyone runs E85 in their trucks? I have a new '08 and its E85 campatiable. Though i have yet to fill up on E85.

I do have some questions, since the optimum a/f ratio is different for gas and E85, how does the truck know whats in the tank?

Assuming that their is some type of sensor that can detect ethanol, what then happens when you have a half tank or gas and another half E85. Is it sensitive enough to figure out the optimum a/f with a mix like that? :confused:

Had mine a year and driven it from NC to AZ and to MO and back a few times, and have never even seen E85. Im sure one of the brain's at the engineering department at Ford thought of that question too. I was told it was all automatic via a sensor and I didnt have to do anything to the truck to make it run right on that gas.

I have run 3 tanks full, you cant tell a difference other that the motor is smoother and runs stronger.

Where did you buy it, & how much did you pay for it?

I bought it at the HEB by my house in Houston. It was 2.49

ok.. now be honest.. what was your fuel milage with E85?

12MPG without the Edge. I am going to run the Edge on level 2 this tank.

What's HEB?

A Texas grocery store.

Lol, I didnt know. Does it stand for something?

herbert e. butt i think.

Ran two tanks of E85 at different times, here are my results.

265.7 miles on 21.840 gallons (12.16 mpg) 10/3/07
267.9 miles on 21.388 gallons (12.53 mpg) 11/15/07

First time I used it, it was $2.19 a gallon (gas around $2.89). Second time it was $2.29 a gallon (gas at $3.19). Not a real big dollar saver, but was curious on the difference. Did notice it to be smoother running and seemed stronger on E85. Did notice a big smell difference as well!

Normal mileage is about 14.5 mpg. Mostly 10 miles on the highway at 55 mph, and 10 miles in town at 25-30 mph....

If you calculate the cost per mile the gasoline cost nearly 20¢ per mile while the E-5 was around 18¢. That is where the savings come from when using E-85.

JMC

You guys must have pretty cheap E85 where ever your at. I just went and fill up my truck up with E85(to try it out) and it was $2.83 and 87 unleaded is $3.19 here in the Detroit area.

Its a hard sell when you lose around 15-20% in milage and only save about 11% in fuel cost. I did not notice a difference in performance or smoothness, only thing different was the smell. Though i didnt drive very far.

I did notice that the pump said E85 105 octane, im just curious if the ECU can detect that? If not, generally running high octane in an engine that does not require it will result in no additional power, and most likely lose a small amount.

It would seem that the ECU must be able to dectect that there is E85 in the tank, will it then make the necessary changes to take advantage of the higher octane (like advancing the spark timing etc...)? Or are we just driving around on the stock tune but with fuel ratio's set for E85? This may be a question for the tuners, but since im already here...this is where it stays.