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We know that E-85 is of the Devil (Ethanol is for drinkin’, not for fuelin’…), but that brings up an interesting question.
I have taken on a 2012 Ford Fusion SEL v6 AWD, and it has the flex-fuel motor. I’m pretty sure the PO had used E-85 in it, as his combined gas mileage was 18.2, while mine with the first tank of gas was 27.6.
Given that I’ll be running proper petrol in it and not running E-85… what would be a good way of getting rid of any of the rest of it? I’d imagine it’d take care of itself over a tank or two, but would any of the buffering additives (Gumout Regane, Seafoam, Marvel’s, etc) help get it out quicker and possibly buffer against any potential damage done?
-Hinoki
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Being that it is flex fuel there isn’t going to be any damage. That is, except some E-85, for reasons unknown to me, plugs up injectors. This isn’t a common problem but does occur.
This isn’t something that is difficult to diagnose, it is very apparent to the eye. So, I’d suggest pulling an injector and looking at the business end. If it is clean then put it back and happy motoring.
Thank you, Sir. I’ll check on the injector but judging from how smooth she’s running right now, I suspect it’ll be nice and squeaky clean.
-Hinoki
These vehicles can sense the ethanol level in the fuel. The computer will make the necessary adjustments. I wouldn’t worry about it.
[quote=”Hinoki” post=115386]Thank you, Sir. I’ll check on the injector but judging from how smooth she’s running right now, I suspect it’ll be nice and squeaky clean.
-Hinoki[/quote]
Probably an unnecessary precaution since your vehicle is running so smooth.
I’ve seen pictures of injectors pulled from affected cars and they are a mess. The danger is a injector in one cylinder clogging and causing that cylinder to go lean. Then you have detonation and a trashed cylinder.
I started hearing about this several years ago so maybe the problem has been rectified by the brewers of E-85.
As pointed out the vehicle knows what fuel is in it and it makes adjustments accordingly. Hence the term, “flex fuel”. That said, Gumout and the other products can help with the phase separation that sometimes happens with Ethanol but it won’t get rid of it. For that you’ll just have to run it through a couple of tanks as you suggested.
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