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E85 & FS Intercooler



GMR, What path did you take for converting your car to ethanol? It seems there are two methods, one is through tuning and the other is with the flex fuel system that has a sensor to adapt for octane rating.
 
Mostly everyone does tuning on these cars for E85 never heard of anyone using the flex fuel system. Bigger injectors, Ethanol, Tune.
 
Sorry, didn't see your post earlier.

I did through tuning, not with flex fuel system with sensor.

I switched to a plastic tank from 01+ (not need but back in 2009 everyone the metal tank wouldn't work), Walbro 255lph fuel pump, 60# injectors and tune. That's it.
 


matt5112 said:
Pcm doesnt support flex fuel.

No pcm gm used with the 3800 does afaik.
Click to expand...

Ah that makes sense.

Another question: I see it's important to use a wideband gauge when tuning to monitor AFR's. Could the wideband sensor completely replace the narrowband sensor? I read this short article explaining the two, and it said that typical narrowbands run between 0-1V, where the wideband runs 0-5V. However, it appears the PCM supports this 0-5V input somewhere. Is this true? What would you do regarding this setup?
 
The simple fact is it costs power to push through an intercooler... If you cant make that power up in the engine somehow then you are spending horsepower on something you do not need. Reminder: Cooler air has less energy in it, and cooler air does not lose volume at a very measurable rate inside of a motor when looking at 40-60C temp drops.
 
It won't because again, the PCM doesn't support it.

You can however use the EGR or the AC pressure switch so you can log the WB with DHP or the non pro HPT.

darkhorizon said:
The simple fact is it costs power to push through an intercooler...
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This is very true.

The pressure drop across the core means your blower will see the engine "boost" of say 10 psi and the pressure drop across the core of say 1.5 psi. So you'll be turning the blower against 11.5 psi of pressure. Increasing the power required to drive the blower.
 
Nchristopherson said:
Ah that makes sense.

Another question: I see it's important to use a wideband gauge when tuning to monitor AFR's. Could the wideband sensor completely replace the narrowband sensor? I read this short article explaining the two, and it said that typical narrowbands run between 0-1V, where the wideband runs 0-5V. However, it appears the PCM supports this 0-5V input somewhere. Is this true? What would you do regarding this setup?
Click to expand...

Running narrowband simulation is stupid in theory (why would you want to), and it the reality is it rarely works with GM PCMs.
 


darkhorizon said:
The simple fact is it costs power to push through an intercooler... If you cant make that power up in the engine somehow then you are spending horsepower on something you do not need. Reminder: Cooler air has less energy in it, and cooler air does not lose volume at a very measurable rate inside of a motor when looking at 40-60C temp drops.
Click to expand...

A intercooler will be an intake restriction and cost power with nothing else changed. However, were talking about an m90 setup here as far as i know. So for us looking to make maximum power for our setups with too small of a power adder and figuring blower outlet temperatures with an m90 pushed way past its efficiency it IS something we need. Were not just looking at air density and energy potential we are looking at keeping it from knocking and chipping pistons. Unless your going to DD a 2.6" pulley on C16 all the time it's a sacrifice that needs to be made.
 
So I have another question regarding the use of E85. I have been reading several articles on the internet, some who say even an E10 blend is bad for your car, and some who say E85 is wonderful for your car, so opposite ends of the spectrum. In reading, it appears that most of those who shun it haven't actually used it, let alone use it properly (Many used as a direct gas replacement in lawn equipment and small motors) causing parts to corrode, and those who advocate it run high octane setups with E85 with no problems. Any bad experiences with E85 conversion here? Anyone have any tips on places to 'harden' against E85 corrosion?
 
e10 haters crack me up.. its like the "smoking kills" stuff every time I hear it. For some reason there is a commercial that comes on my pandora station that says "e10 kills cars, protest your local government".

E85 is not very corrosive at all.. plugs last forever, fuel lines dont do anything... the hydrological properties of it are similar to brake fluid for the most part, as it absorbs water.
 
Taken from an Ethanol website...

Ethanol and Corrosion

In the past, ethanol has been blamed for being corrosive. However all types of petroleum products have corrosive properties and oil companies are required to add corrosion inhibitors not only to ethanol-blended fuels but also to other petroleum products. Corrosion inhibitors are types of fuel additives that are used to inhibit or suppress the corrosive properties of fuel. In turn, this prevents the corrosion or rusting of the fuel tank as well as the other components of the fuel system.

The potential for corrosion due to the use of ethanol blended fuels has been eradicated in Australia for some time as long as the blended is purchased from a reputable source. This is because the ethanol sold in Australia must – by law - contain a corrosion inhibitor additive to overcome previous issues of improper use of lower quality ethanol or at inappropriate blends without the corrosion inhibitor.
Click to expand...

I honestly think the only people that have issues are the ones that keep the stock fuel filter and gripe when it fails.
 


e85 is a good solvent thats for sure.. it will clean anything that does not have strong covelent bonds in your fuel system.
 
Pretty sure I've read that e85 plugs injectors and causes problems only with ****ty fuel pressure. Are you using a fuel pump rewire or an aftermarket pump? Maybe others know more about this but I still don't believe the whole e85 is bad blah blah blah go buy a variable fuel pressure regulator
 
98GrandPrixIraqVet said:
Pretty sure I've read that e85 plugs injectors and causes problems only with ****ty fuel pressure. Are you using a fuel pump rewire or an aftermarket pump? Maybe others know more about this but I still don't believe the whole e85 is bad blah blah blah go buy a variable fuel pressure regulator
Click to expand...

Interesting..

I will be going to an AEM aftermarket fuel pump that appears to be designed for E85 and a fuel filter that offers more flow. I'm also going to do a fuel pressure gauge, but idk about fuel pump rewire. I don't know how big of a wire is going to the fuel pump now, but I just can't see a larger gauge wire adding that much more of a benefit, except a few mV increase. Apparently the current wire is tiny.
 
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