I have run E-85 in my non FFV 1997 F150 for several years. About 150,000 miles or so... It still runs good at over 300,000 miles, and I was on my stock fuel pump until about 1,000 miles ago. After 9 yrs of farm use it was about time for a fuel pump anyway, so I don't really attribute its failure to E-85.
There are a few issues with running E-85 in a non-ffv truck.
The truck doesn't crank as easily on a very cold day.
You have to gradually convert from gasoline to E-85. You can't just run the gas tank dry and switch to E-85... The non ffv computer program does not allow the trim tables to be adjusted aggressively enough to make the instantaneous jump from 14.7:1 to 9:1 all at once. Also, depending on your vehicle's "adaptability", you may lean out above 4,000 rpm. This will produce a noticable "flat spot" in your hp curve.
You will most likely get a CEL. The codes you get will tell you if the conversion was successful.... If you get 2 lean codes only, then it was successful... If you get "O2 sensor lack of switching" errors, and circuit malfunctions, then it was not successful. It will still run, but it will be running very lean, and have no power.
It would take a long time for me to explain all the issues that arise with running E-85 in a non ffv. Some vehicles (like my dad's 2000 V10) convert over with no problems. Some have more difficulty.
But it is possible, and by my experience, it doesn't hurt it.
If you want to try a bit, just mix a 50/50 e-85/gasoline mixture. Most newer vehicles will run on that with no problems and no CEL.
Sun, August 9th, 2009, 04:55 PM
Threaded Mode