1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Running E85

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by WE0H, Feb 24, 2012.

  1. WE0H

    WE0H Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 25, 2010
    3,247
    527
    0
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    E85 burns cleaner than gasoline. How much cleaner and will it keep the EGR on a Prius motor cleaner is a mystery. As far as intake cleaning, it could only clean after the injectors in the manifold. Anywhere upstream of that is dry. Where does the EGR inject it's mess? I have not dug around under the hood of my Prius to know exactly what is where :(

    Mike
     
  2. anubis44

    anubis44 New Member

    Joined:
    Jun 15, 2014
    2
    1
    0
    Location:
    Ottawa
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Mike, I have a Gen II Prius (2008) and I'm hoping to run it on E85, too. Can you tell me which converter you have been using? Also, if anybody else knows of a way to connect my laptop to the Gen II Prius computer to simply change a setting which will allow me to use E85 without an add-in converter, please let me know!
     
  3. WE0H

    WE0H Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 25, 2010
    3,247
    527
    0
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    I run a White Lightning converter. Change2E85 converters will work too. There is a 3rd converter that I can't think of now. I have several converters of various brands. As far as changing the factory ECU programming, good luck there, unless you are seriously good at automotive software. The converter works perfect. You will need a Scangauge II or some device that will show you the long term fuel trim as you need to set the mixture in the converter so the ECU isn't trying to correct the fuel trims so much that it throws a code.

    Mike
     
  4. anubis44

    anubis44 New Member

    Joined:
    Jun 15, 2014
    2
    1
    0
    Location:
    Ottawa
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Thank you very much!

    I'm a bit of a programmer myself, and I know a couple of real programmers, so I'll try to see about programming the ECU. The only thing is, I would need a device/cable that would interface between the ECU and a laptop computer. I see a couple of cables on the web that will connect a laptop to the ECU; does anyone have any specific recommendations for which cable/software is best for a Prius? Mike or anybody else?

    In any event, whether I have to buy the White Lightning or I manage to re-programme the ECU, I will be running E85, even though it costs the same as 87 octane here in Ottawa, Canada, simply because I want to participate in driving the transition to E85 and alternative fuels in general. I don't care if the E85 gives me worse mileage, I'm already driving a Prius for crying out loud. What I care about is playing my small part in getting us to stop sucking on the dino gas/oil petroleum teat. We really should be reserving petroleum for surgical plastics and other much more important uses, not burning it out the tailpipes of our cars.
     
    #144 anubis44, Jun 5, 2015
    Last edited: Jun 7, 2015
    WE0H likes this.
  5. Nakamoto

    Nakamoto Junior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 30, 2013
    69
    5
    0
    Location:
    Melbourne
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Has anyone look at this?

    E85 Ethanol Conversion Kit | eFlexFuel

    It is pretty much a OEM flexifuel conversion kit

    It uses parts that you'll find in standard flexifuel vehicle - this is the only kit in the market that ships with OEM ethanol sensor

    "It recognizes ethanol content of the fuel mixture automatically and modifies the fuel injector signals accordingly. In this way, the air-fuel ratio is always optimal and fuel consumption, and emissions are minimized. When refueling, mixture recognition is done automatically if it has changed."
     
  6. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

    Joined:
    Oct 28, 2010
    7,669
    6,485
    0
    Location:
    Redneck Riviera (Gulf South)
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Many people did here in the US back in the days when gas was over $2 a gallon (which is why this thread is as old as it is.)

    I don't know what they're charging for the system that you're thinking about, but I would think carefully about installing one in a Prius.
    Some of these 'systems' are nothing more than an electronic piece of black tape for your check engine light.
     
  7. Pega5u5

    Pega5u5 New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 9, 2017
    3
    1
    0
    Location:
    CA
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius c
    Model:
    Three Touring
    Heres a video of my prius C running on E85
     
  8. heltonsc

    heltonsc Junior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 4, 2019
    42
    22
    0
    Location:
    brazil
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    I am from Brazil, here we used e25 a long time without any problem in prius, only the consumption would be something like 47 mpg
     
    bisco likes this.
  9. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,571
    48,862
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    thats quite amazing
     
  10. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 22, 2017
    6,103
    4,032
    1
    Location:
    Wilkes Land
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    Whats the time duration of “long time” ? Couple years?
     
  11. heltonsc

    heltonsc Junior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 4, 2019
    42
    22
    0
    Location:
    brazil
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    Our Toyota Prius would be exactly the same sold in Europe without any modification. Imported from Japan. This year Toyota started to manufacture the Flex fuel hybrid corolla that can run on 100% ethanol.
    The differences for a gasoline engine (corolla) are larger injectors, ECU reprogramming, ethanol resistant fuel pump and some modifications to the engine internal parts.

    Here in Brazil we have a large supply of sugarcane ethanol and practically all cars made here are flex fuel.

     
    #151 heltonsc, Nov 10, 2019
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 10, 2019
  12. heltonsc

    heltonsc Junior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 4, 2019
    42
    22
    0
    Location:
    brazil
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    Since 2001 the E25 is the only gasoline sold in Brazil.
    all gasoline must be 25% ethanol