Here`s a picture of some damage:



Just kidding. The damages are normally tiny but still expensive, leaking valve seats for example. Ford, Volvo, GM and Saab replaced them with a new model for the E85 engines. The normal valve seat metal get small holes in it and feels like a sand paper with time.

Then we have piston rings, the alcohol clean up the cylinder wall much more than gas and you can expect a bit more wear. The alcohol also blends with the oil and will kill your engine if you´re cheap on the oil changes.
Don´t know if you have red E85 over there but the oil is red when I change oil on customer cars and actually smell pure alcohol, bad sign.

Last and most commom, fuel pumps and injectors. We change them all the time on E85 cars, this is also why it´s hard to find fuel parts that gives you warranty if you use E85. Most will work but shorter life.

I see stock family cars most of the time but still damages you only see on the E85 models. That´s also why I don´t bring a camera to work, pretty boring stuff.
Please remind me (I´ll be around) and I´ll take pics next time I pull a head.

Go E85, it´s great, but give the car a bit more love than if you´re on gas. Then you´ll have zero problems.

 

For one, there is a part on the internal of your ID2000's that will rust. Many other injectors have internals that can rust as well.

No sweat off my back, keep E85 in there over the winter when you're not running it.

You can make a car completely E85 compliant, but you can't change the qualities of the fuel.

Here's a good read on the matter. Keep in mind they are talking about E10 here.

http://www.fuel-testers.com/ethanol_...ecautions.html

 

People can do what they like but will eventually learn the hard way. I have a car here from NY with two horrible flowing injectors that couldn't be fixed due to letting the car sit with E85 for a couple months in NY.

 

so the recommendation is do not let it sit longer then 2-3 weeks without starting it and letting it warm up?

 

just start your car everyday and do frequent oil changes, like every 1500 miles, problem solved

 

Tony, here is the thing with my fuel system setup. When the car is shut off, the fuel pressure drops to zero after a few minutes and if you just leave the car sit for a few weeks at a time before starting it again with e85; wouldnt the e85 have evaporated out of the injectors over that time? Meaning that the injectors aren't sitting there with e85 in them that could potentially damage something. Is this the case or will e85 still be sitting in the injectors while the fuel pressure is at zero? It's not easy draining the fuel from our tanks because there isn't a drain plug. Maybe when the car is sitting for a few weeks to a month with e85 in the tank, just pull the injectors and let the car set and then put them back in every few weeks to start the car. Would this be a viable thing to do or am I right in the the e85 isnt really sitting in the injectors while the car sits because my fuel pressure is at zero and it has possibly evaporated from the injectors?

 

Your regulator may bleed off pressure, but there will still be fuel in the injectors.

If the car is going to sit for a prolonged period i'd recommend pumping the fuel out. I can't imagine it's all that often that it sits for a long time without running so although it's a hassle, it's not something you have to do weekly.

The easiest way to do it is to take the line off the bottom of the fuel pressure regulator. Run a new line from the bottom of the regulator to a jug. Start the car and let it run until it's about out of gas. Instead of the bypassed fuel going back to the tank, it goes in the jug. It'll run out of gas pretty quick that way.

Then just put some pump gas in it, pull about 30% out of the fuel map and start it and let it run for a minute or two. Then you're good to go.

It's really not all that much work and it's definitely less work than fixing things leaving the E85 in can cause.

 

That is exactly what I did and its not hard at all to do. Not sure what guys do with a returnless system however.