E85 and the 2008

[pkrog]

Is there any problem running E85 in the Prius?

I cannot find any referance to this in the owners manual.

Paul

[hdrygas]

The Prius will not run E85. The computers would have to be reprogrammed for that. Some folks have tried it with varying poor results. Not recomended.

[rigormortis]

i dont think its just the computer you have to worry about, but the entire fuel system and various parts of the engine have to be replaced to run e85, or you will do damage

motorweek a while back showed how many parts you had to change to run e85, and it was a lot more then just changing the computer

[halpos4]

Originally Posted by pkrog

Is there any problem running E85 in the Prius?

I cannot find any referance to this in the owners manual.

Paul

Hi there,
One thing i 've noticed about the PC site is that there seems to be an anti-E85 thing goin on,well at least from some contributors!
I'm a Taxi Driver from Dublin,Ireland and i,ve been running my 2006 Prius on E85 for 25,000mls of the 110,000mls i've covered,i purchased a bi-fuel manager from a company in Idaho,www.fuelflexinternational.com,there's also a company on e-bay,Ethanolsolutions that sell them[a little cheaper]
I'd advise going to the Fuelflex site for all the E85 MYTHS & FACTS and make your own decision,i did a lot of research [an awful lot] before i made my decision.
There's a section on warranty that might be of use.
I wish people would do a bit more research before offering their 2c worth.

PS,
I'm off my soapbox now!!

[David Beale]

You can get on or off your soapbox all you like. Toyota states quite clearly in the owners manual that you are NOT to use fuel with more than 15% ethyl alcohol in it.

Disobey their recommendations at your own peril. As the previous poster stated, you will put the entire fuel system in danger. The Motorweek episode showed what GM change in THEIR E85 vehicles, and it's a lot. Just about everything the fuel touches, NOT just adding an E85 sensor/computer compensator.

E85, or ANY alcohol enriched substance you put in your fuel system WILL eventually cause enough corrosion to bring your car to a hault! This is what the E85 engineers from GM tell us. Sorry, but I'll believe even a GM engineer before I listen to -any- "owner" with reports of "it works".

Good to know you went at least 25,000 mi before it happens. Let us know when you've been running E85 for 100,000 mi.

DO note that the car in Ireland DOES NOT have the fuel tank bladder!

[halpos4]

Originally Posted by David Beale

You can get on or off your soapbox all you like. Toyota states quite clearly in the owners manual that you are NOT to use fuel with more than 15% ethyl alcohol in it.

Disobey their recommendations at your own peril. As the previous poster stated, you will put the entire fuel system in danger. The Motorweek episode showed what GM change in THEIR E85 vehicles, and it's a lot. Just about everything the fuel touches, NOT just adding an E85 sensor/computer compensator.

E85, or ANY alcohol enriched substance you put in your fuel system WILL eventually cause enough corrosion to bring your car to a hault! This is what the E85 engineers from GM tell us. Sorry, but I'll believe even a GM engineer before I listen to -any- "owner" with reports of "it works".

Good to know you went at least 25,000 mi before it happens. Let us know when you've been running E85 for 100,000 mi.

DO note that the car in Ireland DOES NOT have the fuel tank bladder!

I've been reading threads on PC in relation to owners who have had their gas mileage drop, and it seems to be the addition of ethanol in regular unleaded[in some states at least]Engineers don't develop parts that will"just do"they go over and beyond that.
I completely accept that motor manufacturers will say this but to say the Prius WILL NOT run on E85 is wrong and i did say it was a decision that the owner must make if they feel inclined,

Soapbox,10/4 over and out!!

[hill]

E85 is NOT want you wanta put in your transportation. Is there ANYone that doesn't know that e85 was a skam invented by the agro/auto/power industry? Sell more grain (while folks starve world wide) ... use more power than necessary to manufacture a type of auto fuel (so the fossle fuel folks sell more product) and worst thing: Auto companies can lie about their mileage. How? Because (example only) EPA requires mpg ratings, and GM's have piss poor ones.
Ratings do not factor in alcohol. So if you want to sell a Suburban that only gets 12mpg ~ if you mix it 50/50 with alcohol, guess what GM gets to advertise? "This e85 vehicle gets 24mpg. Why? because the 12mpg now only counts the gas. It went 12 miles on a HALF gallon of gasoline (never mind the other half iotw). But the fleet vehicles that get rated for E85, the manufacturers also don't tell you that your mpg will drop (15%-20%) using grain fuel.

That's just the beginning of stupid. Conservativly, it takes the equivalent of 4 barrels of energy to simply convert the grain into fuel. Once you factor in your lost mpg and the greater expense of manufacturing a vehicle that can handle the extra corrosiveness of the fuel system ... you tell ME where the net gain is. Never mind all the extra CO2 that was belched out, even before your grain fuel gets burned into CO2.

[dwreed3rd]

Originally Posted by halpos4

Hi there,
One thing i 've noticed about the PC site is that there seems to be an anti-E85 thing goin on,well at least from some contributors!
I'm a Taxi Driver from Dublin,Ireland and i,ve been running my 2006 Prius on E85 for 25,000mls of the 110,000mls i've covered,i purchased a bi-fuel manager from a company in Idaho,www.fuelflexinternational.com,there's also a company on e-bay,Ethanolsolutions that sell them[a little cheaper]
I'd advise going to the Fuelflex site for all the E85 MYTHS & FACTS and make your own decision,i did a lot of research [an awful lot] before i made my decision.
There's a section on warranty that might be of use.
I wish people would do a bit more research before offering their 2c worth.

PS,
I'm off my soapbox now!!

As the optomist professed, when he fell off of the roof of a 20 story building, on the way by 15th floor, "So far so good!".

[bwilson4web]

Originally Posted by halpos4

. . .
I'm a Taxi Driver from Dublin,Ireland and i,ve been running my 2006 Prius on E85 for 25,000mls of the 110,000mls i've covered, . . .

How about some photos of the installation?
How does the cost per distance work out, E85 vs. the alternatives?
Any other modifications?
Have you done any engine oil testing before and after?

The best way to answer skeptics is with facts and data ... a methodical approach that gives engineering data, as much as is available, to show this is something more than "I bolted these on and feel better."

Bob Wilson

[Shawn Clark]

Originally Posted by halpos4

I've been reading threads on PC in relation to owners who have had their gas mileage drop, and it seems to be the addition of ethanol in regular unleaded[in some states at least]Engineers don't develop parts that will"just do"they go over and beyond that.

When we (engineers designing equipment) select materials for a service, we do so with an understanding/set of assumptions about the exposures the system will have. Ethanol has considerably different chemical properties and a different impact on various elastomers and material. Over designing for one service can still be underdesigning for another. I've seen process equipment/piping turn into a sprinkler system as the result of subtle changes in material selection (different grades of titanium, hastelloy, 304, 316, and other stainless steels, different grades of carbon steel, brass, and especially putting in the wrong gasket or liner material.) In a number of these cases materials that were suitable for a given concentration and/or temperature or water content were unsuitable for another.

If Toyota says don't run E85 in the vehicle then it likely means that not all of the materials selected are compatible with enriched ethanol service. It might not be a problem, but unless I had a full list of wetted components, the expected operating/idle temperatures, their materials of construction, and had examined it carefully I wouldn't be willing to sign off on saying it would be trouble free. It might be okay for an occasional errant fill up. It might work for a month or a year or more, but you don't really know if it will work for the life of the vehicle.