I accidentally filled my car with E85 last night now my check engine lights on will this resolve it self?

Question

my car is an 01 kia and it is not a flex fueled vehicle i just filled up last night adding about 10 gals. to the tank which was previously filled with straight unleaded gasoline any one with any answers to this i would greatly appreciate it

Answer 1

You may need to run some kind of "snake oil" meaning fuel cleaner through the system but I doubt it. The check engine light could be caused by the oxygen sensors or catlytic converter and the vehicle not being set up for this type of fuel. If you want make sure you add unleaded as soon as you can to help thin out the mix and get you back to regular running range. I would suggest finding a way to read the code set by your vehicle and it would give you a better idea. you can get a cheap computer from Wal-mart to check the code.

Answer 2

Sorry, but you probably need to have it towed to the shop, and tank drained and the lines cleared of E85. Hopefully that will solve the problem. To quote from the E85 manufacturer:

However, in general a vehicle must be tuned to use ethanol; its requirements for fuel-air mixture and spark timing, in particular, are significantly different from those for gasoline. The vehicles I mentioned above have sensors in their fuel lines to tell their engine computers what mixture of ethanol and gasoline is in their tanks, so the computer can tune the system to run properly on that mixture. If you try to put E85 in a vehicle not designed for it, it will run extremely lean, if it runs at all; I have heard of hotrodders "re-jetting" their carbureted 60's and 70's muscle-car engines to run on E85, but that means the cars can't run on gasoline without undoing the modifications! In addition, ethanol is somewhat more corrosive than gasoline, and it may damage the fuel system of a vehicle not designed for it, though I think all vehicles sold in the U.S. can run up to 10% ethanol (E10, or gasohol) without problems. So check your owner's manual, and don't put E85 in the tank unless the manual says the vehicle is designed for it; on the other hand, you may already have this capability and not know it!

Answer 3

It should itself. For an engine to run on E85 it requires changes to the fuel system. The ethanol in E85 is corrosive and can degrade synthetic materials (plastics) in the fuel system.

The worst damage you might expect is damage to your fuel pump or fuel injectors. I would doubt you will have any corrosion issues as you won't have it in long enough to do any significant damage.

The check engine light is most likely due to the engine computer reading the higher amount of oxygen in the fuel.

According to the link below, you most likely didn't do any serious damage to your engine and the check engine condition should clear itself.

I wouldn't run your vehicle on E85 all the time though.

Answer 4

As long as your car is running ok, I would say just wait to see if the light goes off. When diesel is added to a unleaded tank, the car will sputter and not accelerate very well. The car basically becomes undriveable. If your car is running decently, wait it out, but if the light won't go off, then go to auto zone to have it shut off. Once the gas is burned it shouldn't be much of a problem.

Answer 5

Go to Wikipedia .org There is good information on E85 and what you can expect from your vehicle. It looks to me like overall you would be smart to remove it from the tank.

Answer 6

put real gas in as u burn the e 85. it shouldent kill it but go to advance or autozone to get light shut off. they do it for free, dealer will rip you for 25 to 50 bucks.

Answer 7

I would get it to the shop ASAP! You may have to replace, fuel tank, fuel pump, fuel lines etc.......

Answer 8

LOL. Might as well put diesel in there