Ethanol

GalaxyTitan · 01-10-2005, 07:39 PM

Anyone with an 05 use ethanol for fuel yet? I noticed that some 05's can run on gasoline or ethanol. Pretty cool, but does anyone actually use it? Thanks.

FRD ETR · 01-10-2005, 10:10 PM

Is this a change just for 05's

wrenrj1 · 01-11-2005, 07:06 PM

Do you mean 10% ethanol or the E85% ethanol which is a flexible fuel?

I use the 10% ethanol here in NE which is a couple cents cheaper than regular unleaded fuel.

lowlypawn · 01-11-2005, 10:22 PM

I thought ethanol was something they added to the fuel just during the winter to help with emissions.?.

I don't know of any place you can buy straight ethanol here in Vegas. I also think pretty much all the fuel u can buy has some ethanol premixed into it during the winter. It's been like this for so long I haven't bother to read the sticker by the fuel pumps in years.

zachopp · 01-11-2005, 10:29 PM

I live in South Dakota and the ethanol is used year-round here. In the winter all it does is help the moisture in the gas from freezing. It is only 10% ethanol. and you can use it the 04' also.

Hughey79 · 01-12-2005, 05:12 AM

I live in Iowa and Quik Trip is my choice to get gas. And with out starting another war on gas choices. I would love to use ethanol in my truck, if I thought it was a wiser choice. Iowa uses 10% ethanol with a minimum octane rating of 90.
I am currently switching back to 91 because I feel that I get a little better performance with it.
But here ethanol is the cheapest even over regular 87.
Any further info would be great.

I also have a 99 Jeep Grand Cherokee with the I-6 and it was always fed ethanol but after switching to 87 it runs better and gets more mileage per gallon on that than it ever did on 90.

MO Titan · 01-12-2005, 10:59 AM

Actually all gas has some amount of ethanol in it. The only reason you see it posted is that they have to tell you if it has 10% or more in it, thanks to the government. If their gas is 9.9995% ethanol they don't have to have it posted on the pump. Little fact.

JS02 · 01-12-2005, 02:59 PM

Gm has an option at no cost that will allow you to run on 85% ethanol or any blend of regular unleaded gasoline. I think it has different tuning and larger injectors. My dad has a new Tahoe with one of those engines and you can't tell the difference when driving it from a regular engine. 85% ethanol is cheaper per gallon but usually requires more volume to do the same job=poorer fuel economy. Ethanol usually has more octane but less energy than the same volume of unleaded.

*Titan2004* · 01-12-2005, 03:07 PM

Our local Shell station (and maybe all...no idea) has stickers on all pumps stating that this fuel MAY contain 10% ethanol. No idea what effect that has or if all gas contains this but...I just fill up and drive away!..lol

GalaxyTitan · 01-12-2005, 04:25 PM

The window sticker said it could run on either gasoline or ethanol. I believe it said E85. I'm not 100% sure. Anyway, I took pictures of the window sticker and will try to post them tomorrow night. I'm out of town, so I can't post them right now. And yes, you are correct about it getting less miles per gallon using ethanol. I think it said 10mpg city and 13mpg on highway.

*Squid* · 01-12-2005, 04:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hughey79

I live in Iowa and Quik Trip is my choice to get gas. And with out starting another war on gas choices. I would love to use ethanol in my truck, if I thought it was a wiser choice. Iowa uses 10% ethanol with a minimum octane rating of 90.
I am currently switching back to 91 because I feel that I get a little better performance with it.
But here ethanol is the cheapest even over regular 87.
Any further info would be great.

I also have a 99 Jeep Grand Cherokee with the I-6 and it was always fed ethanol but after switching to 87 it runs better and gets more mileage per gallon on that than it ever did on 90.

Page 9-3 of the owners manual has all the info on recommended fuels.

It states that if an oxygenate-blend other than methonal blend (ethanol,MTBE) is used. It should contain no more than 10% oxygenate.(MTBE may, however, be added up to 15%)

If a methonal blend is used it should contain no more than 5% methanol.(methyl alcohol,wood alcohol) It should also contain a suitable amount of appropriate cosolvents and corrosion inhibitors.

Hughey79 · 01-12-2005, 04:51 PM

Thanks all, I actually read both the 2004 and 2005 manual online from doing a search just last night. I just wasnt sure if ethanol was a good choice for this truck. I have ran it on 87 for several months with no problem paying about .05 cents more per gallon and like I already said I am going to premium at the moment which is only 1 point of octane more than ethanol here per quiktrip.
Thank

wrenrj1 · 01-12-2005, 06:01 PM

I've burned 10% ethanol in my vehicles for at least 10 years. I've been told that it helps your fuel system, injectors etc. keep clean. I've never had a fuel system problem.

I've also had someone else tell me that they don't use an ethanol mix and also get better mileage. Guess it may be a trade off. I might try regular unleaded to see if I do indeed get better mpg. I'm getting about 10.5 around town currently.

We have several state vehicles where I work that are flexible fuel vehicles, basically Taurus's, but the availability of independent retailers selling E85 is sparse. They basically have to fill up at state roads dept. pumps if they want to use E85.