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4 month old e85 = white smoke

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From what I read E85 will absorb water and water is the cause of white smoke...

While searching out an answer to your question I came across the dumbest answer ...This guy ( no names mentioned ) says maybe it`s brake fluid getting into your engine ...Okay .. you can stop laughing now...
 
Since e85 is hygroscopic, will it cause white smoke after sitting 4 months?
Seems like there is a little more to unpack here. The short answer is yes, IF a large amount of condensation built up in the tank over those 4 months. Was the car smoking previously? A quick test to see if there’s water in the E85 is to take a known amount from the tank (10mL) and then get some gasoline and mix the two together. If there is separation between the two when you mix it then you have water in your E85. If not, it could be the E85 tune. I hope this helps.
 
Seems like there is a little more to unpack here. The short answer is yes, IF a large amount of condensation built up in the tank over those 4 months. Was the car smoking previously? A quick test to see if there’s water in the E85 is to take a known amount from the tank (10mL) and then get some gasoline and mix the two together. If there is separation between the two when you mix it then you have water in your E85. If not, it could be the E85 tune. I hope this helps.

Good point. Never smoked before but this is a fresh built short block. I’m going to drain the coolant and start it to see if it still smokes. That should tell me if it’s coolant or fuel
 
@Widgmaster a engine can suck in brake fluid. I had diaged a car that came in last week that was stalling and eating brake fluid like no tomorrow. The seal on the brake master was really bad and filling up the booster with fluid. But I will say I've never seen white smoke from brake fluid.
 
@Widgmaster a engine can suck in brake fluid. I had diaged a car that came in last week that was stalling and eating brake fluid like no tomorrow. The seal on the brake master was really bad and filling up the booster with fluid. But I will say I've never seen white smoke from brake fluid.
Thank you for correcting me .. I can see how that may happen ..
 
Depending on temp my car when warming will sometimes smoke a light white till warm. This is on e85 tested at 85% and it goes away once car warms up. There is zero smell to it.
 
Depending on temp my car when warming will sometimes smoke a light white till warm. This is on e85 tested at 85% and it goes away once car warms up. There is zero smell to it.

It has been sitting for 4 months


Does it keep getting worse as the car warms up ?

Little thicker than what you see in the video but it doesn’t linger.

I’ll be emptying it today
 
around where i live most of the e85 is really like e68 i run it in my sti. depnding on the weather the exhaust has a (steam) look to it. yours doesnt look to bad. im iterested in how this turns out.
 
around where i live most of the e85 is really like e68 i run it in my sti. depnding on the weather the exhaust has a (steam) look to it. yours doesnt look to bad. im iterested in how this turns out.

It’s about 80% here from what my flex fuel sensor reads. I’ll provide an update soon
 
Just finished draining the tank. Will get fresh 93 tomorrow and see what happens. I haven’t seems what e looks like since I’m only putting it in the tank. How does this look compared to fresh e? The smell doesn’t seem as strong. The odor would linger in my garage before and not so much today.

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Just looking at the video, you're idling at ~11.8 A/F, bet that is why you are smelling e85 at idle haha But it does look like steam to me as well as it disappears as soon as it gets passed the garage door. If it is white smoke, it would carry further before disappearing.
 
Just looking at the video, you're idling at ~11.8 A/F, bet that is why you are smelling e85 at idle haha But it does look like steam to me as well as it disappears as soon as it gets passed the garage door. If it is white smoke, it would carry further before disappearing.

It was cold start and afr goes to normal within a minute but same steam/smoke so it’s definitely not from using rich
 
I ran into a similar issue and it was an issue with venting the crank case i tried using a closed catch can. Changed back to the JAZ filter top and it went away. Just a thought.

I wish that was my situation. LOL
 
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