E85Forum.com

Speedwagon · Joined: 17 Jul 2008 Posts: 5 Location: Denver, CO

I have an '87 Ranger with the 2.3L engine. Over the winter, I plan to give the engine a complete overhaul, and got to thinking about converting over to E85 fuel, instead of any regular gasoline.

The truck is used primarly for rock crawling on the trails, so alot of low speed, low RPM engine use, with high temps because there isn't much airflow.

What all am I looking at if I convert to E85. I know I can increase compression, and I need to increase the fuel flow. How will all this effect the way this truck performs? And for an '87 MY, is there anything that I need to look at changing out?

edit: I'll add that I had seriously thought about dropping $1,000 into the engine over the winter, to get a big power boost from this little 4 banger. Specifically, I'd like alot more torque out of it in low RPMs.

hotrod · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 872 Location: Colorado

The E85 will make it easy to pull the engine down to low rpm without lugging. E85 will accept load that will cause problems in a gasoline engine. You will get improved mid and low range torque which will make it much more pleasant to
to drive under difficult conditions.

The engine will also run a bit cooler. In cold weather you will want to run a nice warm thermostat. You will also need to consider cold start issues if you will be staying overnight in the mountains in the spring and fall.

Other than that no big deal except for the lower miles you will get on a tank of fuel, so be sure you have some spare Jerry cans.

I think you will like it, great fuel for that sort of thing.

Larry

Speedwagon · Joined: 17 Jul 2008 Posts: 5 Location: Denver, CO

Sounds good. Are the lines and whatnot used in the mid-late 80s ethanol compliant? I'm guessing they are, but I don't know exactly when ethanol showed up in 10% form, and when Ford decided to make everything compliant.

I guess if I haven't had any problems to date, they probably are, correct?

hotrod · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 872 Location: Colorado

Denver was the first city to mandate ethanol content in the fuel to fight pollution, in 1988.

http://www.hpj.com/archives/2006/jan06/jan2/Denvermayendethanolprogram.cfm

As a result of that you can generally be sure that cars manufactured 1988 and later are good to go with ethanol compatible fuel lines etc.

Gasahol first appeared in the early mid 1970's as a fuel extender during and after the OPEC oil embargo, so that is when they began to run into problems with ethanol compatibility. Cars manufactured in 1979-1988 may or may not be fully tolerant. If the rubber fuel lines look like they have seen better days, might just as well replace them with new high quality fuel line from some supplier like NAPA that you know is compatible with ethanol.

The rubber diaphram in some on the block fuel pumps were problems so if your engine uses that style, a new/rebuilt pump might be good insurance.

ON the older vehicles it is pretty much a guessing game. Many of the components you would need to worry about are relatively cheap and if they fail out in the back country it can be a long walk so personally I would cover my bases and be sure the key components are ethanol safe.

Larry

YagamiLight · Posted: Thu May 05, 2011 12:47 am Post subject:

Converting your trail truck to e85 fuel is a good idea. Not so many downside in this. But it requires a lot of work.
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Manni · Joined: 16 May 2011 Posts: 1

Does it work?

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