i was wondering if my 2003 cavalier would run on E85 or how i could tell. its an 03 cavy ls sport 2.2 ecotec (auto)
no
this has been covered before. search for the reasons
Im a Xbox 360 fanboy...and damn proud of it!!
i did b 4 i posted but found nothing sorry to wasted your time
Couple older threads
http://www.j-body.org/forums/read.php?f=11&i=90972&t=90972#90972
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GM has a web site called gmaltfuel.com that lists all of their current alternative fuel vehicles and the only sedan is the impala/montecarlo.
I also found an article about someone wanting to convert their 2001 Cavalier to E85....
Q. Could I convert my 2001 Chevrolet Cavalier to burn E85 fuel?
M.S., Chicago
A. The long answer to your short question: Unless the car is designated as a flexible-fuel vehicle (FFV), there are no guarantees you won't experience a problem using fuels with more than 10 percent ethanol. Still, some people claim to use up to 85 percent ethanol (E85) in their vehicles, garden equipment and boats without problems. Ethanol burns differently than gasoline so the check-engine light may illuminate. Carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon and oxides of nitrogen emissions may go up. Chances are you would fail the emissions test.
Doing a conversion to make a standard gasoline-powered vehicle ethanol compatible would involve making sure the fuel system seals and gaskets (elastomers) can tolerate alcohol.
If they can't, the fuel pump and related fuel system parts (fuel rail, pressure regulator etc.) may fail. Rubber parts swell and ultimately fail when exposed to too much alcohol. Alcohol also may attack metal parts not suitable for such exposure. Such parts would need to be replaced with E85 compatible parts.
Short answer: Probably not.
chicago tribune June 5, 2005
http://www.j-body.org/forums/read.php?f=2&i=353507&t=353507#353507
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This is not a new subject. But there will be plenty of misinformation about it.
1) Ethanol is a consistent and pure hydrocarbon fuel. There's no reason to need a "special oil additive" to use it. Additionally, many cheap oil additives are based on chlorine molecules which, when subjected to heat and moisture inside an engine, can create acids detrimental to long engine life.
2) Because Ethanol (and all alchohols) contain a higher ratio of oxygen to hydrogen/carbon than gasoline, the mass of fuel required to properly combust the fuel:air mix is very different. Each conversion should include research into the appropriate size components to include in the fuel system. GM's flex fuel vehicles generally include larger fuel injectors as well as a fuel rail pressure sensor and an alcohol content detection method since the basic calibrations for the two types of fuels are different.
3) No one here has said E85 will hurt the engine.
4) A simple Google for "E85 Conversion Kit" pulls up this page by the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition in the very first link which addresses E85 conversions with an extremely practical answer. "The differences in fuel injector size, air-fuel ratio, PCM calibrations, material composition of the fuel lines, pumps and tanks are just a few of the components that contribute to making an E85 conversion extremely complex.." This doesn't mean it's impossible, just that you need to use your head before doing the conversion. These guys also mention that E85 conversion can be considered illegal in some areas, which might be important if you live in a place with stricty emissions laws.
5) If you've found a conversion kit, post a link. Don't make people waste time looking for what you've found. It's not like this is a FAQ (yet).
Some Excellent E85 reading (answers questions about conversion kits, etc):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E85
Additionally, you wouldn't be able to go anywhere that didn't have E85 unless you retuned for pump-gas. In my search, I found rumor of some models w/ the Eco being flex-fuel compatible, however no mention of which ones
Why would you want to use E85, hell I don't even like using the E10. You get crappy gas mileage and it's been proven that ethanol doesn't give you the same amount of power versus straight gasoline when it's combusted. Even if the E85 is alot cheaper than regular gas, if you figured out mileage and how much it costs you in the end I would bet that you're better off with regular gas. It's your choice though, this is just my opinion, take it or leave it.
i was really just wondering if it would run without major mods i didnt say at any point in time that i was doing it now did i
God help us all if Ethanol is the future.
I think ethanol may be the future, at least the immediate future. However, corn ethanol specifically is very inefficient to produce requiring about 1 gallon of fossil fuels to process enough corn to make a gallon of ethanol.
I hate to say it, but George W. was right a couple years ago in his state of the union address. Switch grass is one of the better biomasses available for making ethanol and it doesn't require near the agricultural effort to produce that corn does. If I remember correctly its more like 12 gallons/ethanol per gallon/fossil fuel.
Also, megasquirt says in their manual that the fuel systems in most vehicles made in the last 20-25 years can handle E85 with no adverse effects. I would expect them to know what they are talking about. This is not to say you can just fill up with E85 and go. DON'T!
The mileage issues are partially due to the different stoichiometric ratios of gasoline and ethanol. GAS = 14.7:1 while E100 = 9:1. So yes, you will use more fuel.
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Additionally, you wouldn't be able to go anywhere that didn't have E85 unless you retuned for pump-gas.
That is not quite true. GM FlexFuel vehicles use a sensor to determine the ratio of gasoline to ethanol in the fuel line. This allows the vehicle to adjust fuel delivery to match fuel type, without having to flip a switch or manually retune.
Better yet,
HERE. Read it for yourselves.
After reading this page, I have decided to make my J a FlexFuel vehicle. Unless Shifted incorporates this option into his upcoming ECU, I will be swapping in a standard transmission so i can run megasquirt.
ZZZZZZZ
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Also, megasquirt says in their manual that the fuel systems in most vehicles made in the last 20-25 years can handle E85 with no adverse effects. I would expect them to know what they are talking about. This is not to say you can just fill up with E85 and go. DON'T!
The mileage issues are partially due to the different stoichiometric ratios of gasoline and ethanol. GAS = 14.7:1 while E100 = 9:1. So yes, you will use more fuel.
E85 AFR = 9.6:1
Any flexfuel vehicles will have a sensor in the fuel line to monitor the alcohol level. They will adjust fuel according for any percentage of alcohol in the tank. Megasquirt can read one of these sensors, however they are very expensive. I believe the MS site even points out that they are around 500 bucks for a sensor. Then you'd likely have to get the settings correct for your sensor programmed into the MS, in addition to having MS in the first place.
I don't believe that you'll see an immediate effect on your fuel system from running E85, since all cars since the 80's are made to tolerate some alcohol in the fuel (10
. I think it's also suggested to use a stainless steel tank. I don't think that's a real requirement. My dad has a 2000 Ranger that is flex fuel, and still apparently has a plastic fuel tank. Though it's the long term effect that is to be determined. There's a difference in running it a couple of weeks compared to a couple of years.
Running E85 in your completely stock vehicle is likely to turn the check engine light on. If you weren't rough on the car, I'd almost bet you'd make it through a tank or so before you start getting damage to the engine from it running extremely lean.
