e-85 maintenence /gunk/

[donniekak]

Just to let everyone out there on e-85 know. I was having an issue with running lean at high boost high rpm's. I thought it was something i needed to tune out as i recently switched from 1600's down to some rc 1000's. I kept adding fuel with no results. I changed the fuel filter in the engine bay and it didn't really help. I knew there was no way i was maxxing out a 255 on a evo3, but just in case i was ready to put the second pump back in and run 2 again. When i pulled out the pump the sock was completly "gunked", it was sticky to the touch, and i couldn't pump water through it backwards with a garden hose, it was so plugged up. I put the other sock on from my other walbro, and it is going much better now, except for my stupid rich tune.

 

[doctor_shock10]

Nasty!

 

[945liter]

Check your injectors also, i noticed my injectors get gunked up too on e85.

 

[1995gsx20g]

try adding a little stabil here and there. the red stuff you put in gas when is sits for a year or 2. on the back it says it prevents problems caused by e-85 i think or somthing along those lines.

 

[habitatguy187]

I've often wondered what a bottle of seafoam in the gas tank would do also.

 

[kp116]

When I first got my car I had a lean probably under boost and sometime it would completely cut out. Come to find out my sock was also clogged. Not exactly related to e-85 as the car was a pump gas car at the time. I just had a bunch of crap in the tank that plugged up the sock. Was your wally rediculously loud with the sock plugged up? You could hear mine from two blocks away, it was stupid loud....

 

[ziggo0]

Ran 100% e85 in my srt4 for 2 years, didn't have any gunk build up on the filter end or the injector end. What percentage ethanol is the 'e85'? Mine is 70% here.

 

[1995gsx20g]

im gonna go out on a wing here and guess that the car may have sat for a while in both cases? e85 doesn't last any more than a few months. or maby the gas station just opened up and wasn't to busy?

 

[donniekak]

im gonna go out on a wing here and guess that the car may have sat for a while in both cases? e85 doesn't last any more than a few months. or maby the gas station just opened up and wasn't to busy?

Contrary to known dsm facts, my car runs more than it sits. I also have a spare new gas tank. If this happens again, i'm going to switch them out, and see if most of the problem was debris. The problem was that the sock was actually tacky. Any dirt sticks right to it.

 

[habitatguy187]

Member on here named matthewdesigns has talked about someone on the local forum who's done a lot of testing with the gunk and seems to think that it's localized in different areas or possibly even gas stations.

 

[945liter]

I pulled my injectors two times and found gunk on both occasions could be my dirty running engine but like donnie said my DSM is up more then down judging by 199k stock bottom end so it does not sit. Its my daily i probably put more miles in one month then most in a year

 

[donniekak]

Member on here named matthewdesigns has talked about someone on the local forum who's done a lot of testing with the gunk and seems to think that it's localized in different areas or possibly even gas stations.

I know what you're talking about the "black beard" on injectors. My injectors were prety clean every time i've looked at them lately. This was dirt. But it couldn't be cleaned. The sock had become very sticky, causing any solids to become trapped. It was like cleaning dust off of flypaper.

 

[hubz91talontsi]

Why were you surprised? Have you been changing your oil every 1k miles also?
'

 

[donniekak]

Why were you surprised? Have you been changing your oil every 1k miles also?
'

I bet i change my transmission oil more than most people change their engine oil. My engine oil comes out when it either smells like alcohol, or doesn't look new anymore. Usually 500-1000 miles, i beat on the car. If i go to the track, i change before i go, and after i get back. I was surprised because i've been running e-85 for a while in several different cars, and never had this problem. Running e-85 is well worth any problems it causes.

 

[1995gsx20g]

I bet i change my transmission oil more than most people change their engine oil. My engine oil comes out when it either smells like alcohol, or doesn't look new anymore. Usually 500-1000 miles, i beat on the car. If i go to the track, i change before i go, and after i get back. I was surprised because i've been running e-85 for a while in several different cars, and never had this problem. Running e-85 is well worth any problems it causes.

i didn't mean to sound like everybody doesn't do maintance on their cars. i meant to say it as if e85 sits weather its in your tank or at the gas station it can easily cause problems.
just like race gas, it wants to suck in that water vapor.
i hopefully will be running e85 in a month or 2 just waiting on funds for a wideband and driveshaft carrier bearings. so i can buy dsmlink!!

 

[matthewdesigns]

How long had you been using e85? Was the inline filter clogged too? In the first few tanks there is usually a dislodging of all sorts of stuff from the tank that can clog both the sock and inline filter, but it really shouldn't be happening after that. That sticky goo ought to dissolve in gasoline, too. If you continue to see the problem at the sock that would be a new one to me...it usually stays localized at the injectors after the filters have been swapped once, twice at most.

 

[donniekak]

The inline filter wasn't clogged bad, but i changed it. There is no moisture to pick up where i live. We have under 25% humidity most of the time, it's a desert. Been running e-85 in this car for about 8 months. I expect debris to be flushed out, but the surprise was the sticky sock. I'm going to try some of the stabil, and other fuel cleaner products.

 

[Project2G]

Did you take any pictures?

 

[Benshooter]

Ethanol IS hydroscopic, meaning it will attract water as opposed to pump gas which will repel it (hydrophobic). I don't think the water would be creating the "gunk". The only way to tell for sure would be to make a 90/10 mix of e85 and water in a mason jar with a filter/sock/etc and see what happens. For such a test to be scientific you would also need a control jar with just e85 and a sock/filter/etc.

Who wants to guinea pig it for the greater automotive good?

The inline filter wasn't clogged bad, but i changed it. There is no moisture to pick up where i live. We have under 25% humidity most of the time, it's a desert.

I used to live in Vegas and VP methanol along with certain synthetic hybrid race fuels would still find a way to absorb atmospheric humidity and rust things.

 

[matthewdesigns]

The inline filter wasn't clogged bad, but i changed it. There is no moisture to pick up where i live. We have under 25% humidity most of the time, it's a desert. Been running e-85 in this car for about 8 months. I expect debris to be flushed out, but the surprise was the sticky sock. I'm going to try some of the stabil, and other fuel cleaner products.

Yeah, it's pretty dry here as well in CO. My guess is that the additives won't do anything. The sticky goo is a petroleum product mixed in with the e85, presumably as a lubricant for seals. It dissolves readily in gasoline, but is on the borderline of staying in solution when it's in e85, since the highest concentration of gasoline in pump ethanol is 30% (as found in the e70 sold here in CO during the winter). It just "crashes out" to quote the local chemist who ran some tests on the stuff. There may be enough gasoline in e70 vs e85 to keep it in check, but you may be in a warm enough climate that you never see e70 at the pump and are fortunate enough to get e85 year-round.

There's a local guy who can't run straight e85/e70 at all due to the extreme effects of the goo on his injectors, and he's settled on a blend. IIRC he's at 60% e85 and 40% 91oct, which keeps his injectors clean but gives him a good portion of the benefits of the ethanol. If you continue to see this problem with the sock, you may need to try this as a solution.