Replacing Oil

The average price of this cooler burning fuel is just 17% less than gasoline, but at 12 different stations in the Atlanta Area E85 will be pumped at $1.85 from 11AM-1PM on June 2-3. That’s not much time so get your flex fuel vehicle out there and fill it up!

What is E85?

E85 is basically 85 percent Ethanol (or another alcohol) and %15 gasoline. It burns cooler than gasoline, which is good news for your engine if it’s been modified to burn E85. The fuel has an octane rating or 105 so it burns super clean and emits far less greenhouse gas than regular gasoline. As an additional environmental bonus the process of growing plants used to create ethanol removes CO2 from the atmosphere i.e. photosynthesis

Can my car run on E85?

It might and you don’t even know it yet. If it does there will probably be an E85 label inside the fuel door (Ford), or a yellow gas cap (GM). Here are is a partial list of E85 vehicles from the big three. If you find one from the larger Japanese car makers please let me know in a comment!

How can I convert my car to run on E85?

Converting your car to run on E85 isn’t terribly complex. The basic problem is the carburetor or fuel injectors need to let more fuel into the cylinder. If you put E85 into a car not intended to run on the nearly all alcohol fuel you’re engine light will come on because you’re running too lean a mixture. If you know your carb well, you might be able to simply adjust your carb to run rich.

Most of us with fuel injection systems would benefit from a Flex Tek fuel converter. It allows you to switch the ratio with a single switch. If you can’t get to an E85 pump you can just switch back to gasoline. They aren’t cheap, but if you do a lot of driving it will pay for itself quickly.