[ras55976]

any body ever convert to e85 i have a polaris ultra i was thinking about doing this for a summer project any tips and things that i will have to do to make it run like it was on pump gas?

 

[bj.hardy]

i do not think that is a good idea, most of the time you try and get the higher octane gas to get away from the ethanol....

 

[erick]

It can be done. You just have to jet the engine so it will get 30% more fuel at every throttle position and RPM.
You would also need to check that it will not damage any of the carburetor or fuel pump components.
It will have slightly more power but the cost of the extra ethanol will not offset the the power gained.
There may come a time when we have to run it but until then I would stay away from it.

 

[sledneck1978]

My wife's tahoe will run on it but we never have. Yes, it's cheaper but I've heard your gas mileage is much worse so at the end of the day it's 6 in one, half dozen in the other...that being said, I'd prefer the better fuel. Maybe try it with something else that's not as important as your sled.

 

[powersledder]

Ethanol is very corrosive, you need to make sure you replace all your fuel lines(and in tank lines) with ones meant to use ethanol, you will also need an ethanol safe fuel pump and check all of your seals every couple hundred miles.

I've played with ethanol a little as part of SAE clean snow challenge, and from what I've seen ethenol is more work than it's worth.

 

[ras55976]

thats what it sounds like it just sound like some thing fun to do but it seems like a big hassle now i know why i still with gas

 

[Polaris_Parts_MN]

agreed, I seen the sled the clean snowmobile challenge team at my school did for the 2007 sae competition, seems like too much work and makes the sled less reliable

 

[picman]

It can be done. You just have to jet the engine so it will get 30% more fuel at every throttle position and RPM.
You would also need to check that it will not damage any of the carburetor or fuel pump components.
It will have [highlight=yellow]slightly more power[/highlight=yellow] but the cost of the extra ethanol will not offset the the power gained.
There may come a time when we have to run it but until then I would stay away from it.

Where did that info come from? Everything I have seen says LESS power. My mothers Pontiac van gets 9 mpg LESS using e85.

 

[erick]

Ethanol is a oxygen bearing fuel so part of it's makup is oxygen molecules. This along with the extra fuel will provide more power.
I never said it will get better fuel mileage only that it will have more power on a lot more fuel.
The BTU's in ethanol are lower than the BTU's in gasoline so gasoline has more heat energy than ethanol that is were the better fuel mileage comes from.
Right now ethanol is not more efficient than gasoline, if the price of gasoline goes up and ethanol stays the same it may be.
We may all be using it some day but that day is not here yet.

 

[picman]

Sorry that I only jumped on part of your comment. After taking a second look at your comments....

Hopefully, it will be a long while before we reach the point of burning primarily ethanol. I should be about in my grave by the time that happens.

Young guys like you should invest in the ethanol plants. They probably will be the next "big oil" what with $1 a gallon tax breaks.

 

[tison1200]

I can see it working great in a Boosted Mountain sled

 

[Ultra680]

I can see it working good as a cleaning agent...

 

[baldur]

The real problem with E85 is that it sucks for cold climates. It's hard to ignite when cold because alcohol doesn't evaporate at the same rate as petrol does.
However once the engine is warmed up it has proven to be a good fuel on turbocharged 4 strokes, I don't see why 2 strokes shouldn't like it. It's common to run racing 2 strokes on methanol.

 

[bigwedgies]

i always thought it was UNCOMMON, to run any 2 stroke on methanol, and i siad i thought not this is fact, the methanol basically cleans the oil coating from the fuel mixture from engine components.
this was my understanding.

 

[baldur]

You do need to use an oil that is compatible with alcohol, and because you will be burning more fuel you will also need more oil so it won't get washed out.

 

[RMK-KING]

I can see it working great in a Boosted Mountain sled

It works good but you get crappy fuel mileage,not that you get good fuel mileage to begin with on a boosted sled.

 

[Tripledog]

I agree with the others. I have a buddy with LS1 383 stroker firebird, he converted to run e85 and can run higher compression, but that's really the only perk. Plus it's not available at every gas station so if you had to fill it with regular gas your jetting would now have to be changed.

 

[sledhead01]

any body ever convert to e85 i have a polaris ultra i was thinking about doing this for a summer project any tips and things that i will have to do to make it run like it was on pump gas?

Yes it is very easily accomplished, you can wire in an engine management system and really thats all it takes.

http://www.mtukrc.org/snowmobile.htm

link to a college event that does this

 

[powersledder]

any body ever convert to e85 i have a polaris ultra i was thinking about doing this for a summer project any tips and things that i will have to do to make it run like it was on pump gas?

Yes it is very easily accomplished, you can wire in an engine management system and really thats all it takes.

http://www.mtukrc.org/snowmobile.htm

link to a college event that does this

I take it you aren't on the Clean Snow team.....

 

[sledhead01]

any body ever convert to e85 i have a polaris ultra i was thinking about doing this for a summer project any tips and things that i will have to do to make it run like it was on pump gas?

Yes it is very easily accomplished, you can wire in an engine management system and really thats all it takes.

http://www.mtukrc.org/snowmobile.htm

link to a college event that does this

I take it you aren't on the Clean Snow team.....

actually I am. I gave him a link to read for himself. look at the UMD and NDSU designs.