I was wondering if anyone knew a good/simple way to check the mixture of e85. .

I have heard a few people say there is a simple test , but no one could ever explain it to me.

I have seen the electronic gauges that use GM sensors you can install that will tell you the mixture, but they are pretty expensive.

Is there any device you can buy where you put XX amount of the fuel into it and it reads the mixture?
And if the mixture is off, how and where can you buy the right mixture to correct it ?

Any help is appreciated. Thank you

 

Good luck with the junk, that stuff was nothing but problems for me. I made the exact same power on CAM2 gas as E85, best of luck though.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/KENT-...tomotive_Tools


here you go man i used to use this thing all the time when i worked with general motors it worked great. it also let me know to never trust the fuel you get straight from the pumps we hade some come in with 75% ethanol and was supposed to be 93 octane

 

Ethanol is hydroscopic while gasoline is not so it's as simple as mixing a set amount of water with a set amount of fuel and the gasoline will seperate from the water & ethanol. This high-tech gadgetry costs 500 cents.

 

you should be able to measure the specific gravity of the fuel you are using. differant fuels will have differant specific gravity.

 

Just curious if you can elaborate what was the big issue and where you were getting it?

I have heard nothing but good from it on here and in any other forums or locals who run it.

 

http://www.zeitronix.com/Products/ECA/ECA.htm

I keep hearing comments that Ethanol is junk, OP do you care to elaborate??

 

Yes id like to know also... I have personally had no problems with it what so ever...

Friends of mine have made 1210whp on a TT 540BB with a blow through carb and 940whp in a DSM on ethanol...and a few other 700/600/500whp cars....

 

Im sure Steve Lockett (Racerstev) will chime in when hes feeling better. He definitely knows how to check it.

 

I'm pretty sure this may have something to do with tech for the outlaw race Jake is setting up, not for his personal use.

 

it was already explained above how to check it, racerstev's method is exactly the same......

 

Just as I had come to the conclusion I wanted to run e85... I see this thread which now makes me wonder about running it and obviously if so, pumping it from my gas station into 5gal race gas jugs to test it before pouring it in.

 

i posted on eCtune.com to have them incorporate provisions for ethonal content analyzers like the zeitronix deal, only built into eCtune. IMO its pretty straight forward, all a person would need is the sending unit from any flex fuel vehicle. that is for personal/daily use though....to test it outside the car, the method above would work perfectly.

 

if it separates that easy in the graduated cylinder who says it wont separate that easily in the tank at the pump.

afaik those senders work on a 0-5v scale, so you could easily add that to any good standalone to vary the fuel mixture per ethanol content.

 

Because it needs to be mixed with water? Gasoline and ethanol mix perfectly fine together and stay mixed. It's the water that seperates them as gasoline and water don't mix.

If the fuel sits for any amount of time we always drain it and refill with fresh fuel, just as we would even with 93 if it sat for more than a month.

 

right... and all the tanks around here are shitty.. they get water in them constantly. its usually not a huge deal b/c water and gas dont mix, but if any water gets in the e85 tank you get one or the other.

 

And what about condensation in fuel tanks from change in temp?? This could also cause it to separate?

 

it will cause the ethanol to take on water.

 

I had E85 sitting in my Civic's fuel tank for over a year. Drained it and it wasn't seperated. I'd call it a non-issue.

Hell, I think the fuel I used to do the test above was the year old fuel. Just to see about that very issue.

 

x2 my friend let a tank full sit in his hatch for almost exactly a year and it wasnt seperated either, and the tank wasnt oxidized either nor were his seals gone like all the E85 myths I read about.

I ran the stuff for 1500 miles over the summer almost daily and didnt have one issue, my station installed a brand new poly tank for the mix so there is no water issues with my corn, and once I got my AFR's dialed in they never changed from tank full to tank full as long as the seasonal blend isnt being used.

 

I ran it for a year without issues but i had friend running it and it froze up in the intake and wouldnt let the car start.loaded up the cylinders with fuel.
jake-just like tims car did at atco when it starts getting cold out.
i know when i took my manifold off my head the exhaust ports were pitted to hell to.corrosive stuff

 

Froze up in the intake? Pitting?

The freezing point of 100% ethanol is -175* F. So you're racing on the dark side of the moon or something?

The flash point of 100% ethanol (point where it will evaporate enough to be combustible) is 63* F. So you're IAT's must be well below that on E85 to have some issues.

You guys have other problems going on. No OEM manufacturer in their right mind would design vehicles to use stuff as nasty as you guys are suggesting it is.

It seems the people that are having issues with E85 shouldn't be touching a car themselves in the first place. Otherwise they'd know that E85 is not to blame.

 

I cant see how fuel can cause visible "pitting" in the exhaust port, I would think the damage you are describing was from being on the anti-lag alot or something else.

E85 is a bitch to start in the cold when I made some passes in December it was 33 degrees out and it took me a good 10-15second to finally get my car started, in the summer it would start right away. I know my IAT's were in the 60-70's with the OEM IM mounted sensor and with my CAI they were probably in the 40-50deg range with an accurate sensor, my car is apart now maybe I will take my IM off and take a peek.

 

To be fair, we use e85 on one of our all motor cars and this year in november the fuel froze in one of the injectors causing it not to start. we removed the injectors and you could see the crystals in them. .
So what bart ( swapit) said, isnt all that far from the truth.

I asked this question so I could learn how to check the consistency in our fuels in each batch.

Thank you everyone for your help

 

LOL, what's happenin David? I still owe you guys some lunch. David knows his e85.