Lesson learned on pump e85

[RW57]

Went to our usual store to buy fuel for race car did not take checker it had always been e85 never any problems . We buy 15 gallons like always pour 10 in car then decide to check it big mistake . It is about e50 what the heck is going on check it about a dozen times still the same smell of it smells like gas get in truck drive about 30 miles to where we bought it check it at pump still the same go inside tell manager it ain't right he does the right thing offers to pay for any damage I tell him I just want my money back he says ok I show him checker he can see what it is my hat is off him for what he did. Any way my issue is now no fuel think about draining cell putting stealth carb back on putting in pump gas luckily I find another store that I did not know sold it check it its e85 on the button 1st lesson I will always have checker before buying e85 we are now thinking about buying e85 race fuel this was my biggest fear about buying at pump .Luckily we caught it before any damage was done motor still sounded strong and felt great on My little test strip where I can run it but it cost us a chance to run tonite as we were going to race 2 nites this weekend.

[brad hibbard]

I have always told our E-85 customers to check every drop they put in their fuel cell

I have never seen 50% but still does not surprise me

70% is common in the spring and 90% is common in late summer neither of which run very good at all

great post as a reminder to those that run E-85 fuel

Brad

[RW57]

I really think the delivery guy was not paying attention and put gas in e 85 tank.I doubt it came from refinery that way .On the pumps it has a disclaimer that states BP does not refine this product and states they are not responsible for this product.Luckily I caught it Brad if you see this what kind of performance / damage could have been done.The motor is a 4 v/r 425 lift rule motor smog heads 600 Holley.Also Brad what kind of fuel pump do you recommend for this type motor on e 85 .Thanks
.

[brad hibbard]

you didn't cause any damage other than maybe some carbon deposits----when the mixture is more gas than ethanol you will be on the rich side----however the gas that they use to make the mixture is of very low octane, its actually the ethanol that boosts the motor octane number so in theory it would be possible to have been in a detonation situation but the fact that you were pouring in additional fuel should have eliminated that posability----I know it would have been fine on a 9 to1 crate engine and you mentioned smog heads so I will assume you are relatively low compression----can't see where it should have hurt anything

only fuel pump for me is CV2508 on gas or E-85

Brad

[RW57]

Thanks Brad the difference it made on the motor going to e 85 was amazing it was good on gas now it is really good

[nguyenvinh2]

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[Spbulldog]

I have always told our E-85 customers to check every drop they put in their fuel cellI have never seen 50% but still does not surprise me70% is common in the spring and 90% is common in late summer neither of which run very good at allgreat post as a reminder to those that run E-85 fuelBrad

. E85 is rarely actually e85. It jumps around so much because of water. Ethanol is hydroscopic,it will absorb 100% of its weight in water weather it's moisture in the air,rain seeping into storage tanks or condensation that forms in the tank and you'll never know it unless you test it because it won't seperate like gas and water do

[Spbulldog]

And if u read what the U.S. dep of energy states for e85 to be labeled e85 it states it can be a blend of anywhere between 51% to 83% ethanol and still carry the label e85. That's a wide range!

[brad hibbard]

our pumps in this area do not state the parameters you have listed (at least where you can easily see them)
it is common in summer months to see mixtures well over 90%----so that would land them on the wrong side of advertised mixtures.

absolutely agree with the water concentration comment and evaporation rate also needs to be considered

Brad