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MG MGB GT V8 Factory Originals Technical - Alternative fuel...

Hi there,

At the present we have a beautiful spring with slightly cold -7C weather. But we have lots of sunshine and the mind start to wander, dreaming of V8 burble.
The swedish govenment has a recent love affair with altenative fuels for combustion engines and in traditioneal maner lowers the tax for them.
I would like to benefit.
Does anyone on this board know of any changes needed in setting up the Rover V8 with an Edelbrock 500 when running a mixture of 85% petrol and 15% alcohol?

Cheers
Erik
Erik

Are you sure you have the mixture stated correctly? Here in the (mid-western) States, there's a fuel mixture called E85, where gasoline is 15% and ethanol is 85% of the mixture. See the purchsing guide on this web site:
http://www.e85fuel.com/e85101/flexfuelvehicles.php

From what little bit I know, you need an electronic fuel injected engine with specific sensors to detect the alcohol/gasoline mixture.

In years past, there were a few stations selling 10% ethanol mixtures, and as far as I know, there were no compatability issues.

Wayne
Wayne Pearson

Erik, as Wayne stated, alcholol mixtures of about 10 to 15% have been available in the US for some time. I've run my car on it for several tanks full and not experienced any problems. No noticable difference in performance. Alcohol can be corrosive to some materials and may cause some gaskets or rubber products in the fuel system to degrade, but usually only in much higher concentrations than 15%. It does have a pretty low vapor point, so in colder climates carb icing might be a problem. I doubt if you'll have to make any changes in tune to use this type fuel.
Bill Young

Wayne,

APPCO here still does the 10% ethanol mix. I don't buy it.

Eric,

Alcohol is quite corrosive. I had a friend that ran it in his drag car. He had to flush the system after each race. It will require special seats (& seals?) in the carb. Plus, much bigger jets since it requires a richer air/fuel ratio. The jets, idle circuit, accelerator pump, power valve all have to be tweaked to run more than 10-20% alcohol.May also have problems with plastic & rubber parts in the fuel system.

You can run a much higher compression ratio, too. :)
Carl Floyd

I understand that Saab have a model that runs on 85% ethanol, designed especially for the Swedish market. Maybe you could find out what differences there are between this model & the same car that's aimed at world markets. Barrie E
Barrie Egerton


I'm 99.999% certain the question is really about "E85" (which is 85% ethanol and only 15% gasoline. E85 is starting to get heavily advertised here in the states.)

If so, you can get a few answers here: http://www.e85fuel.com/e85101/faqs/conversion.php

Here's a quote:
"The differences in fuel injector size, air-fuel ratio, PCM calibrations, material composition of the fuel lines, pumps and tanks are just a few of the components that contribute to making an E85 conversion extremely complex. Additionally, the production of vehicles by auto manufacturers that are capable of operating on unleaded gasoline or E85 (flexible fuel vehicles) at little or no additional cost over the gasoline only model, provide little incentive for a conversion company to undertake the very expensive and time consuming task of aftermarket certification."

Rant starts here:

Based on my experience building and racing a car with a somewhat similar fuel (M85, which is 85% methanol, 15% gasoline,) the above is a big understatement.

I'm all for more environmentally friendly cars... but IMHO E85 and M85 are both pretty dumb fuels.

You'll never get a carburetor to meter well in hot weather with alcohol, and the engine probably won't start well in cold weather.

Carbureted or fuel-injected, cold weather starts will be especially hard on the engine because you need a LOT of alcohol in the mix, and at start-up it tends to wash down cylinder walls, seep past piston rings, contaminate crankcase oil...

Companies like Chrysler who offer E85 compatable models generally only honor their warranties if you use their specially-approved crankcase oil.

Ever experience a leaky injector? It's a bigger problem for E85.

Unless your government subsidizes the heck out of E85, you'll find it's expensive at the pump. Even if the price per gallon looks good, you have to keep in mind that the fuel mileage (miles per gallon) of a converted engine will typically be about 70% of the same engine's fuel mileage with straight gasoline. E85 proponents sometimes quote a number like 85%... but from what I've read they can only get that close by jacking compression ratio WAY up. How high a compression ratio can our favorite little aluminum V8 take before it blows head gaskets?
Curtis

I run my 2000 Ford Ranger on E85 as much as possible, on straight gas it get 17.5 mpg, on E85 it gets 14.5 mpg, that is 82%, it also has a little more power on E85.

To answer the original question, on 15% ethanol you shouldn't notice any differences Erik.
The Wiz

During the winters here in Colorado all fuel is 10-15 percent alcohol. They call it oxegenated fuel to fight smog. The biggest difference is a drop in MPG. If that is all they are using it should not be a big deal. E-85 is quite different.
R J Brown

Sorry folks
I got the numbers mixed up just like Wayne stated. E 85 it is..

Cheers
Erik
Erik

Hi and thank you all,

I have read the links that you sent me and realised that the savings are slim and the risks are high. I am sticking to petrol.

Barry @ Darling Harbour, The SAAB you are refering to has bigger injectors... It may also have a different software in the computer??


Cheers
Erik
Erik

This thread was discussed between 24/03/2006 and 28/03/2006

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