What all does it take to run a car off ethanol? I've read that it deteriorates some papers and cork so you'd have to replace any paper or cork gaskets or filters that the fuel touches. Also its stoich A/F ratio is 9 unlike gas' 14.7, so obviously you'd want to run way richer than a gas mixture. Also it burns slower than gas so I guess you'd have to play with the timing as well. What other requirements are there? Any metal incompatibilities? I've heard rubbers may not like it either but I've seen conflicting info about that. I was looking through my jegs catalog wondering what the difference btwn alcohol compatible and not compatible fuel regulators and pumps are? Didn't think there was any paper or cork in those. I'd like to hear from people who have actually raced with the stuff, or just ran it in their cars enough to know how it works. Not necessarily looking for people saying it's bad stuff cuz gasoline is "watered-down" with it. But as always, all replies are welcome. Thanks!
My little brother runs a tube framed drag racing Henry J. It runs a DRCE engine on gasoline now, (166 mph @8.13), but for a while he ran alcohol in a 15/1 CR, 498" (455) Olds engine with automatic and Hilborn fuel injectors. On cold or cool foggy days when the engine was dead cold it didn't start worth a darn on straight alcohol. (Altitude approx 350'.) The drill for starting got to be a gallon of racing gas in the tank, light it off - and it did rattle due to the high comp - get a little heat in the Batten heads, not much was required, shut it down, drain gasoline, refill with alcohol and the car started easily for the rest of the day. He did make a point to drain the alcohol at the end of the race and make sure to store the car with the fuel system empty. One interesting thing was, when the car ran a 468" carbureted gasoline engine, it couldn't go from pit to and through the staging lanes, do the burnouts, make the run and drive back to the pits without overheating. The change to the alcohol engine - no other changes were made - found the car able to do the above and when it got back into the pits the temp gauge was at 180 degrees. It wasn't long after going to alcohol that we found the 2.5 gallon fuel tank wasn't big enough. That limited us to towing the car to the staging lanes, making the burnouts & run and towing back from the top end. We built a stainless 5 gallon tank that was sufficient capacity-wise.
Wayne, I have had this interest for some time now - my future project plans are to run Ethenol in my 73 BBB. This is what I know/understand... Ethenol is not as corrosive as methenol, however it will deteriorate aluminum and gaskets as well as seam materials used in standard fuel tanks. It is higher octane typically in the 100 to 105 range. Here in Minnesota - we have it available at multiple fuel stations throughout the state. Here it is called E85. It is a blend of 85% ethenol (corn ethenol here) and 15% gasoline. The 15% gasoline is needed for cold start-up as the thermal energy is lower for ethenol so the gasoline portion allows for easier starting when the outdoor temps get colder or the motor is cold. Prices at the pump here are typically 10 to 20 cents cheaper per gallon then 87 octane unleaded. Pump prices here today are about 1.97$ for 87 octane, and about 1.80$ for E85. It does require a lower air/fuel ratio, but not as low as you stated, I think that is a number closer to methenol. Tuners I have spoke to say they typically go for about 11:1 vs normal 14.7:1 for the normal ratio. I would do a internet search for "E85" or ethenol, there are many good sites for the info you want. My plans to use this fuel will require me to due the following. Aftermarket carb made for alcohol, many companies make these, stainless steel fuel lines, alcohol compatible fuel pump - TRIshield performance has a billet pump that IS compatible according to Jim W. , a fuel tank that is compatible, SS, plastic, or existing with a liner ( I plan on a SS unit) and engine tune to accomidate... I plan on a 462, with 12:1 compression and AL heads. For my application it addes alot of dollars but my reasons for the conversion are - interesting factor - and energy independance. A few interesting perks are - a very clean running motor - cheap fuel for a 12:1 compression street motor, and cooler running. With the ethenol at a lower air/fuel ratio - the motors run cooler. The fuel mileage as stated will go down becasue of the increased A/F ratios. I spoke to a few racers as well at a NHRA event last year that have switched to E85 - and have no plans to go back to race fuel... Thanks my 2 cents....
Wow, thanks for the replies. I'm actually thinking about this for my '94 turbo camaro. I've put a megasquirt (www.megasquirt.info) on it so tuning the EFI shouldn't be a problem. I'm mostly interested in this from a fuel independence stand point. I just think it would be really cool to produce my own fuel that's higher octane and cheaper than local permium pump gas (currently ~$1.95/gal for 93 octane). And learning more about it could help me learn how to run a buick on it too I've been looking at this site: http://running_on_alcohol.tripod.com/id2.html and how I could go about doing it and it seems really cool to see if I can do it. The main problems are if major parts of the fuel system can't handle the ethanol. From that website I gave it makes it sound like it's not a problem on newer cars, but other sites say it can rust up your injectors and cause them to fail. Also other sites say I'd need a stainless-steel fuel rail(currently mine is aluminum). I could deal with needing a plastic fuel tank if requiered, but other major things like injectors could run up the bill in a hurry...
Wayne, here is a couple of sites that help understand what will and won't work. Also - as far a fuel injectors - remember several cars built at or after 2000 are E85 compatible - therefore many injectors etc can handle ethenol. Assume you know this - if you didn't - they call them FFV's - or flexible fuel vehicles - can run typical gasoline - or E85 ethenol.. I would think a turbo application could be perfect - as you may also gain a cooler charge advantage iwth the alcohol - kind of a free intercooler.... I will check out the site you posted.. here are a few of mine.... http://www.e85fuel.com/pdf/ethanol_guidebook.pdf http://www.e85fuel.com/ http://www.engr.unl.edu/~ethanol/convert.htm
That was a cool link. Id love to be able to home brew something to mix with gas though. Something easily made that you can water down store bought gas 50-25%
I run methanol in a dirt modified and it is neat stuff. I think the air/fuel ratio is about 7:1. Ethanol is about 9:1. The engine runs very cool with a 19X22, 2 core aluminum radiator. I don't think ethanol is near as corrosive. Methanol is just plain evil in the corrosion department, but is far more common due to the legality issues of ethanol. You don't want the BTAF showing up at your shop. Interesting thing about methanol I didn't know is that it is made from either coal or natural gas in this country. And here I thought I was saving the planet one lap at a time when I switched from gas. Oh well. Good luck with the ethanol deal.
