Go to this site http://www.flextek.com/ and read.

A conversion kit to make your vehicle run correctly on e85? Well John, can you chip in on this?

 

Might work. looks like they are going between the PCM and the injectors and modifing the injector on time to increase the amount of fuel injected. The question is can the injectors deliver all the fuel required in E85 and are there any incompatable parts (parts that alcohol would harm) in the fuel system.

 

I have read that the EPA ( and automakers ) do not want you to use high % ethanol in vehicles with lead parts. Over time, liquid ethanol will dissolve lead. It will not eat though the parts of the car, but it will put small amounts of lead into the exhaust.

Does anyone know if a car as new as the 2005 FEH would have any lead, or lead solder in any of the tank parts or fuel delivery system? I'm pretty sure lead is no good for the catalyitic converter also. But we are talking minute amounts on any given day.

Over the long term, liquid ethanol will also slooowly dissolve aluminum. Again, not enough to eat through anything in our lifetime, just microscopic amounts will make it into the exhaust.

Ethanol is harmless to stainless steel, and regular steel.
Ethanol is harmless to plastics made after 1984.

Now... The fuel injectors are the second part of the equation.

When I put 10% ethanol in my FEH, my long term fuel trim goes to 3.5%.
When I put 30% ethanol in my FEH, my long term fuel trim goes to 8.5%.

At highway speeds in winter ( 10'F ) conditions, I get 27.0 MPG on E10.
At highway speeds in winter ( 10'F ) I'm getting 27.5 MPG on E30.

I just did an 800+ mile drive in bitter cold with 500 pounds of cargo.
I had headlamps on full time, day and night, and heater on to #2.
Due to snow and icy conditions, I let the air in my tires down to 35psi.
Temperatures at the start were about +10'F. At the end, -2'F.

I started with E30. I was getting 27.5 MPG at 65 miles per hour criuse control. LTFT was hovering around 8.5%.

Next fill up was with E10. Within 45 miles, the LTFT was at 3.5%.
I was still getting about 27.5 MPG at 65 miles per hour.

Next fill up was with 100% gas. ( or so the sign said ).
Within 45 miles, my LTFT went to 0.7% at 65 MPG cruise control.
I was getting less MPG ( down to 26.5 MPG ) but at the same time was nightfall, and temperatures dropped from plus to negative degrees. Also, the road went slightly uphill, a gain of 2000 feet in 200 miles.

Of worthy note:
"Normal" fuel trim during a mechanic test drive can be -20% to 20%.
A DTC will trigger at values less than -25% or greater than 25%.

If I "floor it" and get the ICE to over 5000 rpm with 30% ethanol, the max. fuel trim I ever saw was +15%. As I said, crusing at normal load, the fuel trim was +8.5%.

So I think some of these ethanol conversion "boxes" may tell the car not to trigger a DTC if the car hits over +25% or something similar.

From my very basic test, it looks like the FEH has "headroom" in the fuel delivery department. Next test.... 40% ethanol?

What else should I look for. I have the SGII ( obviously ).

Thanks.
-John

 

I have also been looking into ethanol. Today I am going to start testing different blends of ethanol. I am thinking that it may be more economic to do that, rather than buy a $600 flextek, but I'm still researching. There have been a lot of skeptics towards the whole flextek system and I am trying to get as much info regarding whether or not I should convert my HCHII to a FFV. Any input is appreciated.

 

This may be no big deal for automobiles but...

I had to replace fuel lines on both our Vespas due to ethanol issues. The dealership told me that it's an intermittent problem for a lot of their customers with fuel lines cracking on Moto Guzzi, Ducati and Vespa products. Obviously all are Italian. They said they traced the problem to the gasoline used here at high altitude, particularly the ethanol content. It's E10 pretty much year round here.

They initially thought it was adefect and replaced the lines with factory replacements, but those cracked a few months later. They switched to some sort of clear plastic and told me that it has something to do with butyl rubber (whatever THAT is) and ethanol being a bad combination.

Again, not sure what this means or if this is relevant. But that is what happened to me FWIW.

 

ethanol is bad for natural rubber, and probably mixes that contain natural rubber, and/or plastics made prior to 1984. What is the year of your cycles?

 

This all happened in the last three years. The problems were all with new bikes. That is what was so surprising, as we thought modern hoses were immune to the effects. Turns out they aren't.

I did some research and discovered that a lot of information out there on the internet about what ethanol can do to certain materials that may exist in a motor vehicle fuel system. For those thinking about running mixtures exceeding 15% ethanol, you may want to do some research first. A lot of it is questionable, but there are some pretty interesting studies from reputable universities and gov't agencies.

Most Fords are probably relatively safe, but searching parts books I notice there are some specific differences between flex fuel Fords and their regular sister vehicles in the line.