Can any car engine run off of Ethanol?

Question

Or do you have to modify your engine?

Answer 1

Two types of Ethanol exist 10% which many fuel suppliers use and then there is what is called E-85.
A car has to be specifically set for E-85. The seals in pumps and fuel lines cant handle the excess alcohol in the system and will ruin many of the components including the injectors. These vehicles are called flex fuel vehicles.

If you are thinking about running E-85 then you are talking another bird and your car unless noted on the door ajm will not live long on E-85...
There is a station in town, I have had several people in here getting in excess of 900 bucks of repair done as they said I didn't KNOW!

Answer 2

Any engine will run using Ethanol. Really all you need is a flamable liquid. So ethamol, methanol, gasoline, kerosene. Etc. They all burn so they can all be used in an engine. There are, however, other concerns. E85 has different solvent properties from normal gasoline. Some of the rubber gaskets and tubes and what not would actually be dissolved over time by ethanol, so those components would need to be changed out for the car to run on ethanol regularly without damage. However if you were in a pinch and only filled up once? You'd probably be fine. The engine would run fine. Modern cars have computers that constantly monitor the mixture and timing etc. The computer would automatically adjust the mix so that it was burning properly. Some older cars might have trouble adjusting to the proper mix, but the engine would still run. Maybe just not as well as normally.

Answer 3

The short answer is yes....and you've probably done it before without even knowing. Most 89 octane gas you see at the pump has a 10% mixture of ethanol. The E85 vehicles you see today are not some major leap in automotive engineering, they simply run a PCM (engine computer) that can adjust air, spark intensity, etc on the fly to compensate for a less combustible fuel such as E85.

I do not recommend running E85 in an older vehicle, the performance will suffer greatly and over time will cause some severe carbon build-up.

I drive an 07 Suburban (E85 compatible) and choose not to run the E85....the drop in gas mileage is substantial. In most vehicles it's a draw between cost savings and actual fuel usage.

Answer 4

no, standard gasoline engines will not run properly on ethanol.

It may run, but it won't run well and it will damage the engine.

Engines are designed for specific fuel based on the properties of the fuel, like the temperature that it burns, the amount of expansion force created when it burns, the fuel to air mixture needed for efficient burning, the temperature/pressure curve that will cause ignition. Its the same reason you can'n mix gas and diesel, you will have poor performance (if it works at all) and damage the engine.

if you want to use Ethanol, either buy a car that is made for it or look into conversion kits although converting may cost more than just trading in for one of the newer vehicles made for to run on either gas or Ethanol.

Answer 5

Depends:
"Things have changed a lot for engines made in the last ten years: most cars now already have a computer chip that controls the fuel injection and timing. Many are already setup to use E-85 fuel (85% Ethanol and 15% gasoline) with no change to the engine whatsoever! "

Check out more information here, including how to do a conversion, etc.:
http://running_on_alcohol.tripod.com/id26.html

Answer 6

The engine has to be designed for it. I am not sure how you would change an existing one, but many new cars are starting to have this option available. More and more places are starting to carry ethanol as well.

Answer 7

Yes, you can run ur car with Ethanol and you also no need to have any kind of changes in ur engine,,, but you cannot use Ethanol directly instead you have to heat treat it so that the viscosity and density of it lessens and blend it with some 20% of diesel by ratio and its ready to use for your car...Its gives good efficiency and power, here in India they have tried this and many are using it...

Answer 8

seach for "flex fuel" engine online and you will find one pretty quickly..but not just any engine can be used with ethanol...if will cause damage

Answer 9

Any standard diesel engine can be converted pretty simply to biodiesel

Answer 10

yes any gasoline engine will run off ethanol. with no modifications