How To: E85 Conversion

[uhlig]

Over in the DSM community many of us have been running E85 for over a year now and experiencing phenomenal results. People are seeing results of 450AWHP on single 16G setups, results only dreamt of using 93 pump gas.

I've seen a common worry among many of the 10:1 TT drivers is knock/detonation. Running E85 is the cheapest and safest way to keep away knock short of running C16. It has been proven more effective than Meth injection over on the DSM forums. Did I mention that E85 is 105-107 octane and 1.93 per gallon?

E85 is less dense than standard gasoline and since injectors are measured by volume it requires more volume to keep your engine running at a healthy airfuel ratio. This translated to easy to use numbers means that running E85 you will need 15-20% MORE fuel to maintain the correct air/fuel ratio and EGTs.

There is much talk of E85 and how it disintegrates rubber fuel lines. This while in theory is true, E85 does contain enough lubrication to run on COMPLETELY factory fuel lines. Ethanol is a better solvent than gasoline and does clean out many deposits so changing your fuel filter after converting to E85 is highly recommended.

You can also run more agressive timing while using E85, I have not personally advanced timing on the 10:1 6G72 so I can't comment on this. It's possible to gain power from this, but, at what risk I don't know. This will also require more advanced engine management software so I'm not going to get in to this in this post. On the 8.5:1 with proper management this would be much more beneficial.

So, what is needed for the conversion from your stock N/A fuel system.

Fuel pump: A hotwired TT pump is sufficient to get your started but a hotwired Supra/300ZX TT/ Walbro 255 would be ideal. For higher horsepower applications a Bosch044 or dual 255's can be used. KenneBell boost-a-pump can also be used in conjunction with these pumps.

Injectors: Skip buying the VR4 injectors and move onto to something a little larger- these are a direct bolt in. For the 10:1 I recommend buying two different injectors.
A: DSM 450cc injectors, these will flow enough to run 15PSI safely on the 10:1 engine using E85 with 9B turbos, and possibly 13Gs. These can be bought for around 100 dollars for 6, which is money well spent. Injector compensation should only be about -6% across the board using these (assuming you do not have any boost leaks), so, these are a good choice to get started with.

B: Evo 560cc injectors, these are also a direct bolt in and supply a good bit more fuel. I would recommend these injectors for anyone running a 10:1 with turbos larger than 9bs. These can be had for under 200 dollars for all 6. Injector compensation should be about -35% across the board using E85. Used in conjunction with a MAFT these are relatively easy to tune with.


Wideband O2 I HIGHLY suggest buying a wideband O2 sensor whenever you are changing out injectors, otherwise you are tuning blindly and much more likely to do catastrophic damage to your engine. A tune is very important when dealing with the 10:1 since the compression is not nearly as forgiving as a it's lower compression counterpart.

Fuel Control
You have quite a few choices in terms of fuel management. Pick whichever one you like the most. I personally like the SAFC2 since it's easy to tune on the fly. Emanage is a good setup as well. A MAFT can be used but it's a bit primitive, although I have not used the new model.

This is everything you need to get yourself started enjoying the benefits of E85!

Note: Those who live in cold enviorments, E85 may cause rough starts and hesistation until the car is warmed up. So, let your car warm up. If you do not want to deal with this you can run a blend of E85/Pump if you really wanted to.

If anyone has anything they would like to add on feel free!

Have fun. (I'm a bit short on time right now but I will add anything I forgot to write a little later.)

[green-lantern]

Thanks for the write up. I have been wanting to do this for a while and since I have most of the stuff already it should be pretty quick and easy. The only bad thing is the availability of the fuel. I have a hard time finding it around here.

thanks again! I will add this to the TT conversion link thread.

[GOTRICE]

the added timing is thanks to the E85's increased octane rating. Without checking i think its in the vicinity of 104.

[green-lantern]

Originally Posted by uhlig

(I'm a bit short on time right now but I will add anything I forgot to write a little later.)

Any more info on this?

[fwdttstealth]

Anyone have 450cc injectors to sell for $100 ha let me know if so??

[uhlig]

Originally Posted by green-lantern

Any more info on this?

I've got plenty of information on it, anything in particular you wanted to know?

As for tuning, aim for 14.5-15.5 @ idle- which isn't always possible but try- my car idles 12:1 when cold, then 14.5-15.5 after a long idle, and stop light idle it's lean @ 17-18:1.

At WOT aim for 11:1 on the 10:1 engine, it's plenty safe and lean enough to get some good power out of it.

Be cautious during the winter since E85 does have cold starting issues on lower compression cars during very cold temps. To fight that, E85 manufacturers make a winter blend which is actually E75, although the cold weather will help fend of any knock issues you'd face unless you are really tuning it on the ragged edge (aka, very agressive), just a little information for those in cold weather.\

FWDstealthTT- check DSMtalk.com.

[Gushers248]

I plan on going to e-85 for the summer for the following reasons.

Pros: more boost, cheaper gas
Cons:bad gas mileage
but in the end I think it'll be more efficient for my driving.

I already have a Walbro 341 hp (not hotwired) and I'm putting in a an8 ss braided line to my fuel filter. All I would need to run with e85 would be injectors now correct? (Assuming that you need 30% more e85 when compared to 93 octane; not for detonation but fuel) The stock computer should be able to keep the injectors going at the same rate because they are plug and play and the fuel pump will be able to keep up the pressure in the lines.

[sweet91]

Originally Posted by Gushers248

I plan on going to e-85 for the summer for the following reasons.

Pros: more boost, cheaper gas
Cons:bad gas mileage
but in the end I think it'll be more efficient for my driving.

I already have a Walbro 341 hp (not hotwired) and I'm putting in a an8 ss braided line to my fuel filter. All I would need to run with e85 would be injectors now correct? (Assuming that you need 30% more e85 when compared to 93 octane; not for detonation but fuel) The stock computer should be able to keep the injectors going at the same rate because they are plug and play and the fuel pump will be able to keep up the pressure in the lines.

Anytime you go bigger on injectors you will need to have some type of fuel control if you want it done right. And I would hot wire your fuel pump.

[VR4-GASM]

Originally Posted by Gushers248

I plan on going to e-85 for the summer for the following reasons.

Pros: more boost, cheaper gas
Cons:bad gas mileage
but in the end I think it'll be more efficient for my driving.

I already have a Walbro 341 hp (not hotwired) and I'm putting in a an8 ss braided line to my fuel filter. All I would need to run with e85 would be injectors now correct? (Assuming that you need 30% more e85 when compared to 93 octane; not for detonation but fuel) The stock computer should be able to keep the injectors going at the same rate because they are plug and play and the fuel pump will be able to keep up the pressure in the lines.

For 9b's, pick up a set of DSM 450's and hotwire your fuel pump. Also, get some sort of AFC. All said and done, these parts could be bought for under $250 (used).

[Gushers248]

If my pump outflows the need for that much line pressure without a hotwire, why hotwire it? My understanding was that because e85 needs 30% more fuel to burn correctly. and 360 x 1.30 is 468 and 450cc is 4% off which a 4% difference isn't a bad tune stock with the ecu right? or is that not how you tune?