Cold start with E85 in Colorado

[Hiitman]

So my car hasn't run in over a year while waiting on a tranny rebuild. Got everything together and am now having trouble starting it. Ran perfectly fine when the tranny went. Replace the flugs, wires and all the fluids. It sputters like it wants to start but won't. Some people suggested that the 20 deg temps here in Colorado might be a problem. So looking for suggestions on how to help with the cold issue. Thanks in advace for any input.

 

[400hp93talon]

My dsm runs on e85 and it takes like 6 or more trys to get it running depending on how cold it is.....You should put a higher cranking amp battery or hook it up to a charger that can give it some extra power to turn over faster!! See if that does anything for you.....I'm in Iowa so its not that cold out but If its negative over there you would probably have to park it in a heated garage for a while to get it started!!

 

[juanpac0]

Try a block heater if ^ doesn't work.

 

[Hiitman]

I got it to run at a very rough idle for a few seconds. This only worked if I feathered the gas. Next question is, how noticeable should fuel be on the spark plugs? Cyl 3 was the only one that looked a little black and smelled like fuel. The rest looked as clean as when I put them in.

And here's a log of the rough idle.

 

[JDOliver]

If you left E85 in it for a year you need to drain it out and get new. It absorbs water from the air over time.

 

[Calan]

^^^ True story. I left E85 in mine for 4 weeks a month or two ago and it would barely run when I started it back up. Drained the E85 and put some fresh 91 in it and all was good.

 

[400hp93talon]

He said he put all new fluids in it though?

 

[jrohner]

I've never had an issue even way below zero on any of my DSM's on E85.

 

[Calan]

I've never had an issue even way below zero on any of my DSM's on E85.

You lucky bastard

Even after letting it sit for a while with pure E85?

 

[jrohner]

I've let my car sit all fall and 1/2 the winter, and started it right up in the snowbank. On the Evo 8 ECU, it messes around after a cold start, but on the 95 EPROM ECU it was fine; as is my "new" 1G so far.

My cousin was having issues every moring at the beginning of the winter with his Evo 8 that I tuned, but after an oil change it now fires right up every time, weird.

 

[1gDSM4g63]

Doesn't Colorado and Minnesota stations go to winter blend which is like e70 because they do that in Indiana? You can basically smell the difference.

 

[Calan]

Damn. Must be the quality or blend of the E85.

My 2.3l was running great just before Christmas...no knock at 25ish psi, ECMLink estimating around 400hp. Parked it for about a month, and the next time I started it it would barely idle and was missing like crazy. After nothing more than some new gas, it was back to normal.

EDIT:

Here's another thought...how much fuel did you have in it? Mine was below 1/4 tank, which would mean there was quite a bit of air available to absorb moisture from. If your tank was fairly full, that could explain it somewhat.

 

[Savage Talon]

I let mine sit for 9 mos with E85 in it after a broken trans. When I started it she ran on 3 cylinders until it was warm, I revved it up and it cleared out. I used Stabil ethanol treatment though.

 

[olmytsi]

Put some pump gas in it...I had to that last week to start my car in Philly...I added 5 gallons of 93 to the half tank of e85 and it started.

My car wouldn't start on straight e85 in temps under 45 ish.

 

[Hiitman]

The E85 residue had solidified on the injectors after sitting for a year. Looked like that tar stuff that you find under the door panels. Took them to Jacks Transmissions, they ran some solvent through and ta-da, she started right up. Then, after idleing for a few minutes, one of the oil cooler lines blew of. I was standing right there and was able to shut it down quickly but hopefully nothing bad will come from that.

Anyone ever seen a DSM run on no oil with no damage for 8+ seconds?

 

[olmytsi]

Im sure you are fine.

BTW, running pump gas once in a while or mixing it with the e85 once in a while should prevent that black tar from building up.