E85 Should you do it? What is it? Positives vs Negatives of Ethanol Fuel

[@lachlanmccluskey6639]

I just bought a white ea Fairmont yesterday for $800 it’s only done 189,000km it was parked for 8 years due to a bad fuel pump but it’s had blankets put over the dash seats and the parcel shelf the paint is mint on it it’s a very clean example of a old ea Fairmont

[@georgeauto]

Nice man ! What’s your plans for it ?

[@lachlanmccluskey6639]

@@georgeauto my hopes is for it to become a first car I’m only 16 doing a school based apprenticeship but I want to clean it up like you did with the ea and eb and get it on club reg so Mum and I can take it for a drive every so often than when I’ve got my Ps and I will get it on normal rego and it will slowly become a cruiser with just to a couple of “tasteful” mods like a eBay cat back mild cam, put it on some king springs tint and I really like the snowflakes on them and eventually manual swap and maybe a 4.0L out of a au or something but i think it’s wishful thinking at this point I’m afraid. And I’ve got I au I can take to wintion and fang it around the track and a ef that needs a rebuild as well which I’ve had since the age of 9 I believe

[@newguyoz]

great vid. I got told by my tuner, straight E85 is great if you are using the car all the time. But as mentioned, due to the condensation/ stale fuel issues, its best not to run straight E85 in something that only gets driven monthly etc. Flex fuel is your answer there. Park it up with 98 in it, then when you're out for a cruise, fill up on E85, run it till its low and then park it back up on 98.

[@georgeauto]

Thanks mate , yes I forgot to mention too just moving the car around and not driving it like starting it quickly and moving it is not ideal

[@TheAutoChannel]

Your "tuner" doesn't know what he's talking about. Condensation occurs naturally, with or without the presence of ethanol, and even in an empty tank. Ethanol also never goes stale, gasoline goes stale.

[@snrautoworx2840]

After owning and daily driving my VY SS for the past 5 Years I have taken it off the road for a ground up rebuild and as it will be a weekend worrior i will be putting it on E85 for the performance you get and coz lets face it, the smell is soo much better then your norm 98 fuel, its got a sweet smell and thats why its gotten the nick name of candy fuel. I LOVE the smell of a car running E85. 😁

[@georgeauto]

Nice move ! I love hearing when people are saving cars , as opposed to wrecking them , and yes you’re not wrong the smell is goooood ! Thanks for your comment

[@snrautoworx2840]

@@georgeauto iv got a couple cars on my channel im rebuilding the SS and iv got a 1984 TG Gemini 😁

[@georgeauto]

@@snrautoworx2840 nice I’ll have a look at your vids for sure

[@renasouza8261]

Everytime I ask for ethanol in the gas station they give me 3 or 4 reasons to buy gas instead. They act just like those internet companies pushing cable on customers still, pushing a worse product because It makes them more money.

[@RichLion]

Love E85 being an available option, even with the $2.50 price per litre. At E60 blended with 98, it's still a very viable option for day to day use without being impractical with the right fuel system modifications. RS3 with a flex sensor and DynoSpectrum software and it's all good. 👌 As soon as the E85 goes in, the power increase is massive.

[@georgeauto]

love it mate ! how much power are you making ?

[@RichLion]

@@georgeauto About 360kw on E85.

[@TheDude50447]

E85 doesnt really go bad. It basically attracts the water out of the air which when it attracts too much separates and goes to the bottom of the tank. And first thing the engine does then is suck in some water. And thats it for the engine. The oil issue is also related to water. Ethanol produces much more water during combustion which goes into the engine oil. This is a really big issue if you regularly go short distances where the engine doesnt warm up. In a hot engine its much less of an issue since the water cant really condense anymore and just goes out the exhaust as should be. Ive also heard that once you get the engine oil hot enough some of the accumulated water can also be cooked off. Not sure if thats true though.

[@alitoroganan2442]

Whats the average ethanol in e85 in United pumps, i hope it's gonna give out atleast 80% as i plan to run e85 instead if water-meth

[@georgeauto]

Most times I have gone my gauge reads About e80 I’ve been told that my gauge is off though

[@2001pulsar]

Mine says 84 to 86 from United, been flex tuned 18 months, no problems. 2016 Golf R.

[@alitoroganan2442]

@@2001pulsar you're lucky, where abouts are you.. Sadly not all pumps out 82-84%

[@ROBBIEP]

bit of a freeflow video with some humor. love it SEND IT!

[@georgeauto]

Thanks bro

[@OZZYxcon_GTSR1000hp]

2025 and it’s 2.19$ here in Newcastle and it’s only available at two service stations one at Mayfield and one out at Maitland

[@theMister07]

Same here in Bowling Green & Franklin KY…

[@she3esh]

I'm pretty happy with LPG, its 110 octane and I can get it for 80c/L in Melbourne plus the oil change interval is 15,000km

[@georgeauto]

That is a great alternative actully I might look into this for the conversion

[@MichaelCzajka]

I didn't know you could get away with less frequent oil changes if you're using LPG. 🙂

[@she3esh]

@@MichaelCzajka it comes perfeclty clean after 15k compared to black when running on petrol. Still bad to push it too far as it loses its viscosity/quality over time

[@jpra64]

I know you have to use compatible pumps injectors and lines but I thought I heard somewhere e85 is hard on plastics? Is it safe to use in plastic fuel tanks?

[@georgeauto]

Im not sure on this one, would have to check might differ for every model of car / tank

[@2001pulsar]

Most cars made after 2012 are e85 safe, but best check with someone who knows your car.

[@jpra64]

I guess an update to this..I'm on e20 mix only thing I really had to change was fuel filter as oem was fiber type that doesnt mix well with ethanol, maybe running higher percent ethanol you can run into issues with certain components but also hearing all that corrosion stuff is made up and those problems happen more with methanol not saying ethanol is safe with certain materials, e20 is great dont really see a need to run more than e30 on lower power levels

[@user-rs1990]

Just take heed that you need to seek expert advice first before you use E85. In one case, I got a blinking 'Check Engine' light and fluctuating revs as I started driving to work. So I had to stop using the car before the situation got worse and called for a costly non-warranty repair!

[@chilicheesejay]

Just got a Chevy HHR Flex Fuel recently and have been on the fence using E85. What would you suggest for someone who just uses the vehicle daily for going to work, and little road trips?

[@georgeauto]

It’s a money thing e85 is better just costs more with oil changes and consumption

[@myusernames1967]

2.50 a litre in Perth mate. Pretty insane i think. Im getting a flex fuel kit in a couple of weeks. 543rwks G6Et.

[@landcruisertoyota3980]

It depends on what you use car for. Also too you must use the e85 additive to protect the internals of fuel lines motor ect. If you don't drive car much the e85 attracts a lot of moisture which can cause issues. From my experience in a street car for general use it's not needed. Burns a lot more and is harder to get. Just my opinion

[@georgeauto]

Yes some details I didn’t add there thank you

[@alitoroganan2442]

Anyone using a stabilizer/conditioner??? Heard of fuel doctor additive?

[@jason41a]

my car takes up to E20 my rule of thumb is if i'm going on a road trip and basically gonna use that fuel up pretty much within a day or two, then i'll fill E20 coz its' cheaper and runs cleaner. but if i'm using it for a daily drive and the fuel is gonna sit there for weeks, then E10 (theoritically half the water build up in the fuel and other corrosive stuff) yea nah yea no one can afford pure benzene/ gasoline/ petrol. not where i live anyhow.

[@EfficientAutoGlass-c8z]

So what alcohol does it absorbs water

[@georgeauto]

Not sure

[@lunch2102]

My car says E85 safe on the inside of the fuel door, does that mean I can run a tank every now and then without it being tuned specifically for it? Can it be mixed with 98? Like what's left in the tank when filling it up and vice versa or does the tank need to be completely emptied first?

[@georgeauto]

My guess is (don’t sue me if I’m wrong) your car is fitted with a factory flex fuel sensor , this should read the ethanol content and adjust accordingly ? VE commodore ?

[@lunch2102]

@@georgeauto fg xr6t

[@georgeauto]

@@lunch2102 I’d be careful what that , do you know what mods it has ? Is it running a sensor ? Are you sure it’s e85 safe and not e10 ?

[@lunch2102]

@@georgeauto 🤔 I'll have to look when I get home, zero mods

[@lunch2102]

@@georgeauto na, yeah you're right, it's e10

[@Treayy]

Youre very easy to watch, Great video!

[@georgeauto]

I appreciate that! Thanks bro

[@bobfrog7]

Love the content man ✊

[@georgeauto]

Thanks Nathan

[@Davesunga10]

Is it safe to use E85 for daily driving? Or only on the track or strip? Planning to go E30 or E85 on my WRX 22

[@georgeauto]

Yeah some Cars came out with a flex fuel sensor ,

[@RogueCowTurd]

e85 is perfectly fine for dailying so long as you have the money for the extra stops at United

[@quintrapnell3605]

when the car is tuned for E85 you get back some of the mileage you lost but you have to make sure the ethanol level doesn't drop. This is problematic because the fuel blend is based on weather, climate, and you have to drive it or it goes bad.

[@georgeauto]

yes great point! fortuantly I have a flex fuel sensor in mine so if it drops the car will warn me also

[@j0shi3]

My normal petrol goes off in 3 months in a sealed jerry can anyway. My two stroke dirt bike will hardly run on 3 month old fuel.

[@georgeauto]

ok I didn't know that, something to look into

[@MichaelCzajka]

Put E10 (10% ethanol) in our car and got sludge all the way through the engine (even on the plastic dipstick): Seems that the ethanol oxidises and then polymerises. Oil analysis picked up increased fuel dilution as well (up to 5 %). As soon as the E10 was stopped the fuel dilution problem decreased back to normal levels (1-2%)... although it has yet to drop back to 0 %. Presumably, the rings got stuck and let fuel leak into the oil? The sludge is amazingly tenacious and flushing the engine didn't seem to help much. N.B. Fuel dilution compromises lubrication... so wear can be expected to increase. You can reduce the wear by bonding a lubricant to the metal parts in your engine. BTW: There's a ~6 % drop in fuel efficiency with E10 (less energy-dense): If E85 gives you a ~30-40 % drop in fuel efficiency how does it make sense economically? The more frequent oil changes required with E85 are another undesirable cost... especially if you drive a lot. :-(

[@MichaelCzajka]

BTW: That was an excellent summary of ethanol. 🙂

[@georgeauto]

ok wow thats crazy I put some in missus car the other day I hope that doesn't happen to hers

[@georgeauto]

thanks mate

[@RogueCowTurd]

i swear united got a taste of the covid price increase, realised they have a complete monopoly on pump E and decided "na fuck ya, pay us dog, where else are you going to go? you gonna order a drum at like $6 a Litre instead?"

[@cubzzz7176]

Is that the united servo in springfield ? 😂

[@georgeauto]

I don’t think so no

[@lappin6482]

Those bloody long lunch breaks are killing the environment 👏😂😂😂👌

[@georgeauto]

Haha yes those guys are killing it for us

[@crispyone2564]

You don’t “send it” to keep moisture out of the tank. You keep it full. The more empty space in your tank is more space for moist air to get in which is absorbed by the e85. You should know this if your gonna make a video about it

[@crispyone2564]

Damn you guys have 98 octane at the pump??? I figured you meant 98 ron but I saw the pump and it said octane. Nice

[@ZedTee77]

Hey mate, it is 98 RON at the pump here, RON is the research octane number, it will relate to somewhere around the 91 to 93 aki or mon or whichever scale America uses

[@lman22]

Solid Georgie!

[@demonghibli89]

Bro my head is confused

[@georgeauto]

Haha why

[@brutalnxo607]

😂😂😂 this guy is so funny lol

[@georgeauto]

as in me or ?

[@brutalnxo607]

@@georgeauto yes you now do you want to pluck my bum hairs ?

[@georgeauto]

@@brutalnxo607 only if i get to keep them in a jar under my pillow

[@brutalnxo607]

@@georgeauto 😂😂

[@LukeJones-yt5bj]

price is still locked at $2.19

[@georgeauto]

I know how annoying, every time I pull up to the pump I hope to see it down but … no

[@theMister07]

@@georgeauto E85 is $1.979/gal at Casey’s Franklin Kentucky

[@bigdavedownunder]

mine smells like cotton candy

[@georgeauto]

yes love it ! thanks for your comment

[@bigblockpop]

Every fuel goes off in 3 months even 98 octane

[@georgeauto]

oh ok, ive run cars with super old unleaded and they ok, performance stuff though i guess is different as knock sensitivity is a factor

[@TheAutoChannel]

All negative comments about ethanol fuel are incorrect. They are either lies, exaggerations, or myths. They were mostly invented by the petroleum oil industry. Ethanol doesn't harm engines, it cleans engines. It doesn't suck water out of the air, but it will absorb water that naturally forms because of condensation. Gasoline can't do this so people have to resort to using engine additives that can cost as much as 2 or 3 gallons of gasoline. All liquids are corrosive, especially water. However, ethanol is less corrosive and compatible with more types of rubber, plastic, and metal than gasoline and aromatics. BTU values (energy content) are irrelevant when discussing internal combustion engines. Ethanol use does not affect the price of food. If you are disseminating negative information about ethanol you are WRONG! I don't care who you are, where you went to school, or who you know; there are no negatives to using ethanol fuel.

[@georgeauto]

thanks for your great comment, however disagree..... accessability is one negative. Hopefully this drives some traffic to your page nice one

[@TheAutoChannel]

@@georgeauto I appreciate your reply, but availability is not a negative to the fuel, it's a negative aspect of government regulation. Also, the production of ethanol is not a negative, as making alcohol is one of the simplest things to do. For example, one of the negatives about petroleum oil is that control over access to petroleum instigates wars. All major wars over the past 107 years were caused by access to oil. There have never been any wars fought over ethanol...yet. Wars are serious negatives for many reasons. The other thing is that petroleum oil and refining plants are not found everywhere. In the entire land mass of Australia, there is very little oil, and apparently, there are only a couple of operating refineries. Shipping is lengthy, costly, and dangerous. Refining requires expensive facilities and there are very few in the world (you can't set up an oil refinery in the typical backyard or basement). And, if there can be workforce-related problems with ethanol production, there's no reason to think that workforce issues are any easier with petroleum oil fuel production and transportation. Ethanol, on the other hand, can be made anywhere, by anyone, from a wide variety of raw materials. You can set up a distillery in a typical backyard or basement. In Australia, the best crop source would not be sugar cane or corn, it would be agave. Australia has the climate for it and huge tracts of land available to grow it - and it doesn't require nearly as much water. Another abundant crop source for ethanol in Australia would be ocean algae (seaweed, etc.), which doesn't require any water or fertilizer at all. This is even more true for New Zealand. One of the aspects that make agave and algae so great for ethanol production is that the ethanol yield from these materials is far higher than from sugar or corn (algae can provide about 30,000 gallons from one acre of seaweed per year - corn is about 300-400 gallons per acre per year). The other aspect of corn use that you didn't touch on is that the same kernels of corn used for ethanol are used to make other items, most notably animal feed. Meat from these animals is used to feed humans. You said it yourself that you don't know much about what it takes to make ethanol, and so you should avail yourself of the opportunity to learn. Another negative that you suggest is the issue of "energy content." The entire BTU issue is false, a scam. Here are three reports I've published about this: The Irrelevance Of BTU Rating - Big Oil's Gimmick To Hoodwink The Public www.theautochannel.com/news/2015/10/19/144405-irrelevance-btu-rating.html The Irrelevance Of BTU Rating - Revisited www.theautochannel.com/news/2018/07/14/603714-irrelevance-btu-rating-revisited.html The Reason Why Some Ethanol-Gasoline Blends Outperform E0 in All Engines www.theautochannel.com/news/2023/08/17/1306206-reason-why-some-ethanol-gasoline-blends-outperform-e0-all-engines.html Incidentally, I will happily and freely share my knowledge and experience with you so that your KZbin channel and Internet presence can benefit from the information and gain greater traffic. We can do this by phone, email, or you can read my 600-page book "THE ETHANOL PAPERS" online without any cost whatsoever: www.TheEthanolPapers.com .

[@georgeauto]

@TheAutoChannel one negative thing about e85 is it’s availability I use it I feel it , it’s not fun having to make sure you drive to the same servo everytime , word it how you want but if you switch your car to e85 you feel the inconvenience kick in, also if your don’t drive the car much the fuel goes off engine chick chick booom … it’s more expensive most of the time too …. How about the fact that the engine uses a lot more of it to get a similar result ?

[@TheAutoChannel]

@@georgeauto Your argument is like saying that the negative thing about your favorite ice cream is that you can't find it at every ice cream shop. It's a facetious, wink-wink argument. Instead, you should say that one of the benefits of your favorite ice cream is that even when you can't find your favorite, you can still get by with another flavor. Having a vehicle that uses E85 still allows you to get home again because you can use E0, E5, E10, etc., etc. It's not like the issue of having an electric car and not being able to find a re-charging facility in the middle of a rural countryside or desert. The other problems you mention are a problem with your government, not the fuel. Ethanol should be cheaper than gasoline - you mention it yourself that the wholesale price of ethanol is lower than gasoline. There's two answers to that: Vote your government out, and only use the fuel that's less expensive...if you have a flex fuel vehicle you can use what ever is available and cheapest. Regarding the "energy content" issue, I already provided you with the answer to that in the links I posted. Ethanol-gasoline blends should be cheaper than ethanol-free gasoline, and they usually are to the point that if you get 15% less MPG, you save 20% or 25% in cost, giving you a net gain. Aside from the net gain, if you tried using blends around E30 to E50, you may find that your MPG is equal or better than E0 and you still save money on each gallon of E85. In markets where you can't buy E30 to E50 blends, you "splash blend" it yourself by pumping E85 and then move to the next pump for E10 or E0. If you want to try successfully arguing these points with me, you can, but you have to do it based on knowledge and awareness of what I've published. Just repeating the same negatives doesn't make them true.

[@georgeauto]

@TheAutoChannel I feel like you need to make your own video on it mate seems like you have the time and passion for it more then myself

[@alitoroganan2442]

Anyone using a stabilizer/conditioner??? Heard of fuel doctor additive?

[@georgeauto]

not me

[@alitoroganan2442]

@@georgeauto do you drive your car everyday, how many kms if you do drive it out one way

[@georgeauto]

@@alitoroganan2442 I was until Like 3 months ago , I’ve gone from Canberra to Melbourne in it no worries on 85 , about 700 Ks

[@alitoroganan2442]

@@georgeauto I mean do you use it every day? They all say no quick drives on e85 and the water on the oil needs to burn off.. So wondering if using the car 2-3 times a week is fine, 23mins to work one way is that enough to get my engine oil to be hot

[@georgeauto]

@@alitoroganan2442 was every day yes for a long time, usually give it a small hit and empty catch can regularly