E85 Cleaning?

Talking about pronounced price difference between ethanol and gas, RON95 gasoline is 1.40€ a liter usually (slightly less since covid) and E85 is 0.60 a liter or less in my area.

Where does one rent a flex fuel vehicle in Europe? That would be a huge cost savings. I've always had diesels when I rented over there, but at half the price E85 would be worth a look.
 
As far as i know, there's only one flexfuel vehicle sold in France and that's the Ford Kuga. One station out of two has E85 now but only one flexfuel vehicle is available, go figure, French logic. Most people running E85 do so just by filling up regular unmodified gas cars with E85 or install a flexfuel kit, some of them are legal with a modified title but most are not. Some people remap the ECU to run E85, also illegal.
 
I have a 2018 Tundra FFV with about 19k miles. I have never used E85. I believe Toyota requires 5k oil changes to maintain warranty on E85 vehicles? If not, at least that is the OCI they recommend and pay for for 2 yrs and 24k for FFV vehicles. All other vehicles get 10k OCIs.

Anyway, I was wondering if I should run a tank or two of E85 every now and then to “clean” the system or is that totally unnecessary? Could someone run their first E85 tank at, say, 150k miles or so without issues?
 
In my opinion on a well maintained car that's only two or three years old it is unnecessary but i've had clogged filters after converting some cars. But i'm talking 20+ year old cars with as much as 300 000 kilometers on the odometer. Other than having to change the fuel filter, never had any problem. When i changed the fuel filter on my C180 a few thousand kilometers after converting it, it wasn't even that dirty.
 
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2015 Subaru Impreza, 2.0 boxer, explicitly say don't go higher than E10. So obviously I ran the tank down close to E and filled it with E85. Mileage suffered but no harm came from it. No codes, CEL, or discernable difference in driving characteristics.

My point is don't fear ethanol. Especially in a rental 🙂
 
2015 Subaru Impreza, 2.0 boxer, explicitly say don't go higher than E10. So obviously I ran the tank down close to E and filled it with E85. Mileage suffered but no harm came from it. No codes, CEL, or discernable difference in driving characteristics.

My point is don't fear ethanol. Especially in a rental 🙂
Problems with ethanol on fuel systems, emissions systems won't show up until multiple tanks and time has passed. One tank is not a test.
 
They simply adapt to it you lose mpg and power on a stock vehicle.
That's partially true. MPG will go down, but you certainly won't lose power, as the ethanol can tolerate much more spark advance and also has an evaporative cooling effect as it's sprayed. Some of the Chevy's have even shown E85 and gas power ratings in their brochures, and the E85 number is ALWAYS equal or higher.
 
Problems with ethanol on fuel systems, emissions systems won't show up until multiple tanks and time has passed. One tank is not a test.
I agree I just think for a rental you could get away with it and they wouldn't notice. I don't make a habit of running E85 I just wanted to see, mostly so I would know if I can get away with it in a rental or not.
 
I can’t really say if it is cleaning or not gut I read on here where some posters were mixing E85 with the 87 octane pure gasoline for performance benefits so I started trying it in my 6.2L. To me the engine throttle response seems smoother and more linear and the vehicle just seems sportier overall.
 
are there any warnings from your manufacturer about using E85???...make sure to check your owners manual...2007 Ford F150 5.4 3V flex fuel for example cautions using E85 (or mix) exclusively...in mine, when using the E85 (or mix) the truck does seem to run peppier but gas mileage suffers a bit and the cost difference here in ChicagoLand doesn't really make it worth it for me...

Good luck with your choice

Bill
 
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