2017 Sierra SLE 5.3 back from tune

[Nitrousbird]

On 12/15/2018 at 9:42 AM, SS502 said:

That does suck, I can’t use it with my 6.2

Sure you can. Retrofit a flex fuel sensor and a tune. Has been done many times. 

[SS502]

57 minutes ago, Nitrousbird said:

Sure you can. Retrofit a flex fuel sensor and a tune. Has been done many times. 

Yeah, I saw that done on a Yukon. I may look into it but E85 is to my knowledge not easily found here. I looked on the E85 locator map and it shows it is available, it is not. The Exxon, Sam’s club and Gatlin they all carry gasoline with up to 15% ethanol but most have 10% ethanol. So that tracker map is not right. Thanks though for letting me know it’s possible ?

According to what I’ve found, in all of Florida there are only 6 E85 fueling stations. Closest one to me is 165 miles away.

Edited December 23, 2018 by SS502

[CadillacLuke24]

8 hours ago, Nitrousbird said:

Sure you can. Retrofit a flex fuel sensor and a tune. Has been done many times. 

I'd be vary careful of that. Not sure if they have changed things over the years, but in the older days (I.E. late 2000s) E85 in a non-factory capable vehicle is a good way to ruin seals. 

[Nitrousbird]

3 hours ago, CadillacLuke24 said:

I'd be vary careful of that. Not sure if they have changed things over the years, but in the older days (I.E. late 2000s) E85 in a non-factory capable vehicle is a good way to ruin seals. 

This isn't the "older days" and GM uses the same fuel system components now Flex Fuel or not on these trucks.  

[SS502]

3 hours ago, Nitrousbird said:

This isn't the "older days" and GM uses the same fuel system components now Flex Fuel or not on these trucks.  

Yep, it’s just an in-line sensor...even the non-flex vehicles (at least our trucks) have the cannon plug already there, it’s just capped off.

[CadillacLuke24]

Cool, good to know. Thank you for the update!

[EIKON]

On 12/15/2018 at 6:37 AM, paracutin said:

Yes.  If you own an Flex Fuel Vehicle you can run E85.  E85 gives the 5.3L 28hp and 33lb ft of torque.  383hp - 416lb ft vs 355hp - 383lb ft.

Unfortunately, E85 is not available everywhere.  So, for you guys that can't get it, you need mods and a tune just to get the same power from your 5.3.  Kinda sucks for you.  You have to spend hundreds to get the power a guy from the midwest can get by switching fuels.

Unfortunately not only is e-85 not available everywhere, but it also does not contain the same energy per gallon as regular gasoline. Because e-85 has a higher effective octane rating, the factory can take advantage of a more aggressive timing curve and higher overall timing. But, because of the lowwr overall energy volume per gallon, you must use more e-85 fuel to operate the engine. 

 

So e85 is cheaper per gallon however it takes more fuel to operate the engine. 

 

I have e-85 available to me. However unless the engine is turbocharged or supercharged where I need the additional octane for tuning purposes, I run my trucks on normal e-10 gasoline. 

 

The math for me works out. It’s cheaper to run e-10. 

 

When i I tune a truck, I tune it three times essentially. Regular (87 octane), premium (91/93 octane), and e-85. 

 

If the the truck doesn’t have an ethanol sensor then I add one. You’d be surprised how often your e85 is actually e60-65. 

[TRKLGND]

13 hours ago, SMDiesel said:

Unfortunately not only is e-85 not available everywhere, but it also does not contain the same energy per gallon as regular gasoline. Because e-85 has a higher effective octane rating, the factory can take advantage of a more aggressive timing curve and higher overall timing. But, because of the lowwr overall energy volume per gallon, you must use more e-85 fuel to operate the engine. 

 

So e85 is cheaper per gallon however it takes more fuel to operate the engine. 

 

I have e-85 available to me. However unless the engine is turbocharged or supercharged where I need the additional octane for tuning purposes, I run my trucks on normal e-10 gasoline. 

 

The math for me works out. It’s cheaper to run e-10. 

 

When i I tune a truck, I tune it three times essentially. Regular (87 octane), premium (91/93 octane), and e-85. 

 

If the the truck doesn’t have an ethanol sensor then I add one. You’d be surprised how often your e85 is actually e60-65. 

I agree that E85 is not always the best choice due to price.  However, the OP was about power, not price.  Some folks are willing to spend a bit more on fuel to get a few more hp.  

[EIKON]

4 hours ago, paracutin said:

I agree that E85 is not always the best choice due to price.  However, the OP was about power, not price.  Some folks are willing to spend a bit more on fuel to get a few more hp.  

 While I didn’t illustrate it in my previous post, I had meant to point our that if you tune it on e-85 or with an ethanol sensor then you will make even more power. However unless you live in an area that heavily discounts ethanol fuel, it will have a higher cost per mile to run. 

 

I prefer to optimize the tuning for whatever fuel I have available. 

 

If all all you have is low octane fuel, then so be it. Tune it the best that you can for it. If you have mid grade, then tune for that. If you have premium, even better. For those fortunate enough to have e-85 and are willing to take the hit in the wallet to run it, then tune for that and get even more. 

 

Most of of the benefits of a good tune on relatively stock trucks, don’t have to do with peak power numbers. But you can very dramatically impact the feel of the truck, throttle tip in, throttle linear feel, torque application, transmission shift timing/patterns, etc...

[TRKLGND]

I agree with you. However, I would not tune a vehicle that is still under warranty. Not taking the chance of having my power train warranty voided. 

[Hillwood]

What kind of gas mileage with the E85 and tune?

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[Booger T]

10 hours ago, paracutin said:

You’d be surprised how often your e85 is actually e60-65. 

You are correct in that statement, I think that the Feds only require e85 rated fuels to be a minimum of 60%, so there can be a wide gap in the % of ethanol in the gas. Most are not very close to 85%

[TRKLGND]

1 hour ago, Booger T said:

You are correct in that statement, I think that the Feds only require e85 rated fuels to be a minimum of 60%, so there can be a wide gap in the % of ethanol in the gas. Most are not very close to 85%

In Central Illinois, until the temperature drops to below 40 degrees, our E85 is 78% to 85%. Below 40 degrees and it drops to 60%-65% to aid in cold starting.

[thekevin]

Isn’t it a pretty simple and cheap task to change the non ffv to ffv. I thought I had read it was just a sensor and a couple of lines that had to be replaced.


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[EIKON]

3 hours ago, thekevin said:

Isn’t it a pretty simple and cheap task to change the non ffv to ffv. I thought I had read it was just a sensor and a couple of lines that had to be replaced.


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Physically that’s about it. But you have to add the ability in the tune.