I bought a voyager iii 2001 from a lovely young couple (23 yrs old) that didn't change the oil and put ethanol in it. They ensured me I I can use E85, and a week later i figured out that the 2.4i model isn't flex fuel, my VIN sais fuel-type = gasolene, the tank sticker sais "unleaded only" and I can't find an ethanol kit in the motor, the injectors are basic stock ones.

The people I bought the car from had it as a gift from their dad... I bought it cheap, 150k miles, 250k km, broken tail light, for 950 euros. I sent them some mails and they replied "don't worry, it definitely is adapted for ethanol, it's built for it, it had a kit fitted, we've been using ethanol only for 5 months". I had filled it with ethanol and it misses sparks and struggles to start up, lacks power and struggles at low revs, but i can still climb 8% hills in second gear. I'm going to change the transmission and motor oil and filters.

What would you do if you were me?

 

Hi there, just basicaly wanted to say Hi, cos I've never heard anything about this Ethanol thingy, only that there putting a small, very small percentage in our fuel, or were. So can you give us any info on this Ethanol addition and the kit.

 

Ethanol is pure alcohol mostly made from surplus corn and wheat. It attracts water a bit and is less energy dense than gasolene, and it can leave alcohol residues in the motor, which can reduce the lifetime of components by a few percent, but it's very similar to gasolene in every other way. Where I live, E85 (85% acolohol, 15% gasolene) it's 50% the price of gasolene. The kit costs about 200 dollars fitted, it's just some sensors which tell if there is alcohol or gasolene and changes the injection rate by 10-20%. doing 10,000KM costs 1000 euros for gasolene and 550 euros for E85, but it may shorten the life of the motor by 10 thousand miles. Chrysler had FLEXFUEL option on many of it's 3.3L dodge caravans fro 2000, probably later ones too. Todays cars are better designed for ethanol and it probably doesn't make much difference for motor wear for them. the injectors are more chemically resistant. Alcohol can cause a bit of acidity in the motor and the oil.

 

Thanks, amazing what you learn. 50% cheaper too, wouldn't happen in Britain.

 

Oh ya it seems to vary regionally. There are so many potatoes in france and rioting farmers that they probably have a lot of E85 available. filled the tank for 30 quid the other day. My car needs an ethanol control box apparently, i'd like it if someone from this forum can advise me!

 

Not sure about E85, but used to run my CRD on B100

B100 would clean out your whole fuel system, which could lead to blocked fuel filters.

Over time, it could also affect rubber seals. With B100, you needed to fit viton seals. These were ok with the biodiesel.

Might be worth searching for Ethanol friendly rubber seals.