Does anyone run on E85?

[oachs83]

After trying three compression testers it is a fact that I have 225-230 psi but for some reason I am not pinging on 93 octane. In my town there is no one that sells above 93. I just want to try a gallon of higher octane to see what happens. I was thinking that E85 is around 100 isn't it? Is it at all safe to try that or is it a whole different animal?

[Honda 250r 001]

Originally posted by oachs83
After trying three compression testers it is a fact that I have 225-230 psi but for some reason I am not pinging on 93 octane. In my town there is no one that sells above 93. I just want to try a gallon of higher octane to see what happens. I was thinking that E85 is around 100 isn't it? Is it at all safe to try that or is it a whole different animal?

im pretty sure that would be crazy to try. someone else will surely chime in that knows more, but i would not try it unless you have extra cash to spend on a new bore, piston and rings.

[oachs83]

Yeah I know it will eat rubber and what not but I know the octane level is high. Just not sure if it burns completly different? I have a friend that runs only E85 on a 350 warrior but that is a 4 stroke engine.

[Swiper77]

It is possible you must have an alcohol carb you can not get enough air and fuel through a gas carb. I remember seeing a thread at mac dizzy's I believe. It is not cheap but it can be done with excellent results other than it taking alot more fuel .

[oachs83]

OK not worth it then. I have four cylinder heads from stock to wild. I am not sure which one I put on there I think it was milled though. I do have a untouched stock one that I should put on and see how it runs. My problem is I don't want to spend money on a top end kit two more times just for a head swap. Is there a place that sells just head gaskets for a .80 overbore (265cc) Thanks.

Or can the head gasket be reused? It is a metal head gasket from cometic. I know any head gasket with paper on it can't but can the all metal ones be reused? I have about 2 hours maximum on this gasket.

[jhtrx250r]

E85 is a bad idea, it runs super HOT!, and it also will not mix with most 2-stroke oils correctly.
In oregon all our gas is 10% ethonal out of the pump and it sucks!
I have to buy AV gas or marine 93, to get away from it.

[oachs83]

That is the first I heard it burns hot but I don't know all that much about E85. I always thought it burned cooler and cleaner.

[Swiper77]

Due to E85's alcohol content it runs COOLER . And I would never recommend AV gas except aviation engines the lubrication properties are horrible and I bet it has as much problem with the mixing with oil as the E85 does. A good bean oil like Maxima 927 will work fine. There are alot of information online about not running AV gas in any land based engines.



Originally posted by jhtrx250r
E85 is a bad idea, it runs super HOT!, and it also will not mix with most 2-stroke oils correctly.
In oregon all our gas is 10% ethonal out of the pump and it sucks!
I have to buy AV gas or marine 93, to get away from it.

[IcutMetl]

I did some reading about this a while back too; if you do a little searching, it should bring up quite a bit.

Pros I found: ran COOLER (85% alcohol), cleaner (if that does it for you), resistance to detonation allowing higher compression, and about half the price of 110 race fuel. Believe it rates out around 105 octane.

Cons: it will suck 30%+/- more fuel, and isn't very common in some areas.

For me, E85 isn't common around my area- not nearly as easy to get to as race fuel, so if I were to convert and jet my carb accordingly, I would have to be certain that the fuel would be easy to come by. From what I've read and gathered, the "it will rust your crank and eat your seals" arguments aren't fully backed or true. I gathered that E85 doesn't have the same eat your engine properties of methanol, etc. Of course, it's understandable why people would be reluctant to try it, especially with as much money as some put into their engines. No where did I read that you had to run a bigger or special alcohol carb- of course, jetting will be increased. I'm almost positive that I read about someone out there who runs the E85 on his Banshee with great results, and that's about the most finicky machine out there that I know of. There's got to be a lot of misconception and bunk information out there about using E85 in atv's/bikes, but good info is out there. Would I do it? Hell yea, why not? It's cheap high-po fuel, and if it lets me grab more compression, fantastic. But currently there's not much of it around my area and I don't feel like playing the carb jetting game any more than I have to for multiple fuels.

[Swiper77]

The articles I have read said it was hard to get enough air and fuel with thw standard pwk carb therefore the stepped up to an alcky carb to get more airflow, allowing the bigger jets to run the fuel at optimum potential. I guess if someone wanted to try with a 38 or 39mm carb it would probably work it might just not reach the top performance available also the article referred to changing timing to help with the burn it takes longer to burn therefore I think you would want to advance the spark," I may be wrong on that if so please correct me.

[woodsracer144]

talk with theguys at C&D racing. i was gonna do it but i messed up my cases before i got it it. they said i need a dil-a-jet or a power ket system... they use it on their drag stuff and get more HP then 110