Blending Ethanol With Reg Gas

wentbig · January 10, 2010

02 2500HD 6L boosted to 11 psi Can I blend 10% ethanol in my trucks tank to raise octane?

Will the alcohol hurt the injection system?

I can buy E85 cheep and pump it right into my truck.

jro909 · January 10, 2010

that is a dumb idea, why in the world would you want more octane? unless your tuned for it, it does nothing for gains....they make a thing called octane booster

Badass69 · January 10, 2010

that is a dumb idea, why in the world would you want more octane? unless your tuned for it, it does nothing for gains....they make a thing called octane booster

Maybe you missed the part where he says he is currently running 11 lbs of boost........ I am assuming a safety blanket for detonation maybe........Octane booster is useless as it is sold in such small amounts and quite expensive. 7 points means 87 goes to 87.7, if you are lucky. It's all volume and ratio.....a 10 ounce bottle of something that is 105 or 110 octance accounts for little in a 20 gallon volume of fuel.

However to the OP, are you experiencing detonation issues currently with whatever you are running? Adding ethanol is nothing odd as that is all the truck load out stations do to the fuel you buy at the pump. If you can get E85 you can blend it yourself anyways. The thing is though that ethanol has a fair bit less energy per unit volume than gasoline. This means you have to richen your tune so you don't detonate running it...... even though the true octane for ethanol is about 116 and about 111 for E85. Unless you want to really start messing with your current tune I would just buy some higher octane, no lead gas and blend that. There is no reason why you couldn't tune your truck to run E85 however, as long as your fuel system is set up for it. Ethanol is quite corrosive and attacks regular metals and some plastics. Some things to think about.

Ryan00TJ · January 10, 2010

that is a dumb idea, why in the world would you want more octane? unless your tuned for it, it does nothing for gains....they make a thing called octane booster

Maybe you missed the part where he says he is currently running 11 lbs of boost........ I am assuming a safety blanket for detonation maybe........Octane booster is useless as it is sold in such small amounts and quite expensive. 7 points means 87 goes to 87.7, if you are lucky. It's all volume and ratio.....a 10 ounce bottle of something that is 105 or 110 octance accounts for little in a 20 gallon volume of fuel.

However to the OP, are you experiencing detonation issues currently with whatever you are running? Adding ethanol is nothing odd as that is all the truck load out stations do to the fuel you buy at the pump. If you can get E85 you can blend it yourself anyways. The thing is though that ethanol has a fair bit less energy per unit volume than gasoline. This means you have to richen your tune so you don't detonate running it...... even though the true octane for ethanol is about 116 and about 111 for E85. Unless you want to really start messing with your current tune I would just buy some higher octane, no lead gas and blend that. There is no reason why you couldn't tune your truck to run E85 however, as long as your fuel system is set up for it. Ethanol is quite corrosive and attacks regular metals and some plastics. Some things to think about.

I fully agree.... Also remember that vehicles set to run on E85 require much larger psi fuel injectors than standard. Just blend some aviation fuel if you are worried about detonation.

mattgob86 · January 10, 2010

that is a dumb idea, why in the world would you want more octane? unless your tuned for it, it does nothing for gains....they make a thing called octane booster

Maybe you missed the part where he says he is currently running 11 lbs of boost........ I am assuming a safety blanket for detonation maybe........Octane booster is useless as it is sold in such small amounts and quite expensive. 7 points means 87 goes to 87.7, if you are lucky. It's all volume and ratio.....a 10 ounce bottle of something that is 105 or 110 octance accounts for little in a 20 gallon volume of fuel.

However to the OP, are you experiencing detonation issues currently with whatever you are running? Adding ethanol is nothing odd as that is all the truck load out stations do to the fuel you buy at the pump. If you can get E85 you can blend it yourself anyways. The thing is though that ethanol has a fair bit less energy per unit volume than gasoline. This means you have to richen your tune so you don't detonate running it...... even though the true octane for ethanol is about 116 and about 111 for E85. Unless you want to really start messing with your current tune I would just buy some higher octane, no lead gas and blend that. There is no reason why you couldn't tune your truck to run E85 however, as long as your fuel system is set up for it. Ethanol is quite corrosive and attacks regular metals and some plastics. Some things to think about.

I fully agree.... Also remember that vehicles set to run on E85 require much larger psi fuel injectors than standard. Just blend some aviation fuel if you are worried about detonation.

Aviation Fuel FTW

thearborbarber · January 11, 2010

Aviation fuel is hard on O2 sensors. If he is running 11 pounds of boost and hasn't melted dime sized holes in the pistons he has larger injectors as part of the blower kit. Mixing ethanol is a cheap way to boost octane but it needs to be done in slow increments and with a wideband O2 to measure WOT AFR.

mattgob86 · January 11, 2010

Well i thought it was just a joke about the aviation fuel so i just went with it.

thearborbarber · January 11, 2010

Well i thought it was just a joke about the aviation fuel so i just went with it.

I hear you.

To the OP. I would just run top tier premium fuel and be done with it. To run blends over 10-15% you will need to switch your fuel ines over to stainless due to the corrosive nature of ethanol.

Toadz · January 14, 2010

that is a dumb idea, why in the world would you want more octane? unless your tuned for it, it does nothing for gains....they make a thing called octane booster

Octane boosters do nothing but lighten your wallet. Seeing that he's boosted I can think of many reasons why he'd want more octane.

Aviation fuel is hard on O2 sensors. If he is running 11 pounds of boost and hasn't melted dime sized holes in the pistons he has larger injectors as part of the blower kit. Mixing ethanol is a cheap way to boost octane but it needs to be done in slow increments and with a wideband O2 to measure WOT AFR.

Aviation fuel would not be a good choice as they are usually highly oxygenated and sometimes leaded (or at least used to be). Tuning for ethanol would be an awesome way to get more power safely as long as your fuel system is set up for it.

To the OP. I would just run top tier premium fuel and be done with it. To run blends over 10-15% you will need to switch your fuel ines over to stainless due to the corrosive nature of ethanol.

I believe the lines will hold up to the ethanol but it's the o-rings and other plastic/rubber pieces within the fuel system that will eventually crack and deteriorate.