E85 test on 2006 Toyota Corolla

[Shilo]

OK. I finally did it on Friday. I put in about a gallon and a half of E85 to a full tank of gasoline.
Here's some info. To whomever is keeping records here(someone said they were), post your questions about what you need/want to know. Here's what I have.

2006 Toyota Corolla(base model, nothing special)
171,000 miles
13.1 gallon tank
4 cylinder, 16 valves
Had the oil/filter changed today. The oil after 5,000 miles has always looked like new oil
Added 1.5 gallons of E85 at $1.69
Has been averaging 34.8 to 35.1 MPG on gas on mixed highway use(50% city, 25% 55mph, 25% interstate)

Only ran it 5 miles so far and no change and no check engine light-)

[tom logan]

we've been through some pretty rough weather. how 'bout another undate shilo.

btw... i think we're neighbors... t

[Shilo]

Tom,

Canton is close to me!!! Cool to have someone so close here as well. I've been looking for other interest in getting a small ethanol plant going. Can't do it myself. I don't think you can send a PM from this site but shoot me an e-mail at dsimm626 at gmail dot com.

UPDATE:
When I don't leave the area I don't fill up as often so thats why nothing new. BUT, I did fill up yesterday. I added 5 gallons of E85 to 6 gallons of gas. My fuel light was on when I filled up. I put the E85 in first. When I started the car it ran real rough for a few seconds. I'm guessing it got a shot of 100% E85.
As I said before, I have to use gas cans to add the E85. So 5 gallons at 1 time is my limit. Next fill up I am going to add 5 gallons of E85 and 5 gallons of gas even if I don't get a full tank and see what happens. I think I've run enough ethanol through the system to clean it out so its time to see what the cars' limit is. I want to know how much E85 before the check engine light comes on and how much before I get continuous rough running. I already know my mileage is down 4-5 mpg.

I also asked the station where I get my E85 where he got it from. First he said they just bring it, then after he saw I was serious he said he thought North Carolina. He is part of the 21 stations that the state of Georgia funded to have E85 pumps, hence why we have only 21 stations in GA and they all are in metro Atlanta. He did state that sales were pretty good for Jan considering gas was cheaper. He said when gas goes back up that the E85 sales will go back up like they were when we had $4.15 gas.

[tom logan]

thx shilo. will email you my phone. lets chat. mucho easier.

your running acct is helpful. i don't have any stations close to me either. we did a job some months ago when gas was 4.30 that took us right past one. 3 of us pumped in a mix. no one had any probs. 2 chevy 15 v-8 pickups and my 250 v-8 van. i pumped what i gues to be a 25-30% mix. 100 miles into it the engine light came on. stayed on. but no noticable running probs. after i filled w/ gas the next time the light went out within 2 miles. my only experience.

[Shilo]

Today I added 5 gallons of gasoline and 5 gallons of E85.

The car ran sluggish for about 5-7 minutes then straightened out. Just like it did previously(see above post).
No check engine light yet either. I'm impressed so far.

[Shilo]

Didn't realize its been awhile since I updated here.

Here's where I'm at. I ran 3 tanks at 50/50. Ran fine. Saturday I put in 6.2 gallons of E85 and 5 gallons of gas. I actually just stuck the E85 nozzle into the tank for the first time. It felt good too!!!!
I dont want to buy my gas here because this station is 10 to 15 cents higher than everyone else. So I put the gas in first then drove down to the E85 station.
I have 40 miles on this mixture and the car is still running great. No hint of any mis-firing or check engine light. I figure I'm getting close to the ECU's limit. I'll keep you posted.

[Shilo]

On Saturday I put in 3.5 gallons of gas and filled up the tank with E85(6.3 gallons). After 100 miles on the tank I put in another gallon of E85. Everything is running fine.
I'm thinking of putting in another gallon of E85 in tonight before work. If the car runs bad or the check engine comes on there will be some room in the tank for gas.

[Erik Weaver]

Yep, that is the way to do it! And I think it wise to leave a little room to add in gasoline should you over-shoot the E85 mark. Which will happen at some point right? Otherwise, you haven't gone far enough! heheh

Thanks for the update and keep us posted on your progress.

[Shilo]

I added 1.5 gallons of E85 to the car and drove it to work tonight and it did just fine. I have a lot of E85 in the tank right now. I'm impressed.

So would a conversion kit improve my mileage any if the car will run just fine on straight E85 without a conversion kit?

[Erik Weaver]

That's an interesting question. I assume it will depend how each conversion kit is designed. That in part depends how much access the designers can obtain to the car's computer code. I would recommend carefully reading the fine print on any you consider, and also, find out if it has been installed on your make and model previously, and with what results, of course.

I am confident the answer *can* be "yes" -- provided access to the computer code is available. Because that would allow full control over the timing, mixtures, etc. All the things needed to make the fuel better approach an ideal fuel.

[Shilo]

This morning I filled up with 2 gallons of gas and 7.1 gallons of E85.

No check engine light. But good golly my mileage took a huge nose dive. I have to run this tank out to get an official mpg reading but I use to be able to get 70 miles before my fuel gauge moved off full and I have 92 on this tank and I'm down to 3/4 of a tank already!!! I bet I am in the 20-25 mpg range where on gas I was at 35 mpg. Once I get a true reading on my mpg I will post here.

I'm still surprised on how well the car is running on so much E85. 70% E85 if I did my math correctly.

[Wild Man]

Don't forget, your cpu thinks you're getting too much oxygen in your fuel mixture. Its trying to compensate with more gas. If you're getting really poor milage, but other wise good performance, check into one of those flex fuel chips. David has the for sale on his ACBAG site but they're pretty pricey. I've seen them around the net for as low as $150. Not much when you consider the lost milage. Have not folllowed up on the claims or performance of chips yet. So I don't know yet which ones are a better choice.

[Shilo]

An update:
Until yesterday I've been running a 70-80% blend of E85. I even went from Atlanta to my sister's house in Indiana and got to run E85 the whole way-)
Yesterday(April 5), I filled up(8 gal) with 100% E85. Drove 30 miles and the check engine light came on. The car is running beautiful. So today I put in some gas and now will have to find someone to reset my light.