Can I put my home made ethanol (moonshine) n my gas tank?
I recently constructed a still to make ethanol or moonshine out of things like apples and pairs and other fruits. I have a 1986 Dodge ram, a 1983 Dodge ram, a 1994 Ford Taurus. I was wondering what would happen if I just put the ethanol I make from my still in the gas tank without any modifications to my three engines. I understand fuel mileage will go down but what type of engine issues would it cause and WHY would it cause them? I plan on keeping some gas in both vehicles but I am going to be very heavy on alcohol from this point on. There will reach a point were all I have is ethanolto put in my tank and there willbe no gas and it wil be 100 proof. What will it do at that proof and would any unusual smells come from the car? I need educated answers from people who KNOW what they are talking about and have done this before.
So I an only have 20 percent of the content in my engine ethanol? Does the gasoline in my tank notcut down on the amount of ethanol damage? I am trying to save a good amount of money on fuel here.. Whats the most ethanol I can put in w/o damage?
Tagged with: 1994 ford taurus • alcohol • amount of money • apples • dodge • dodge ram • ethanol • ford • ford taurus • fruits • fuel mileage • gas tank • gasoline • mileage • pairs • proof
Filed under: Ford Taurus 1986-1991
It is not advisable to run ethanol in a vehicle not designed for it.
ethanol is corrosive and will attack variuos parts of hte fuel system.
It will also clean all the crap out of your tank and send it thru the fuel filter.
also before using it as a fuel you need to seperate the water from it
Here is a link to some information about using homemade ethanol as fuel
http://running_on_alcohol.tripod.com/index.html
wont run/15% is whole story/maybe 20 but more than that the computers wont run it/maybe bend a valve from back fire from unburned fuel
You could if your vehicle was E85 capable from the factory. None of these vehicles are flex fuel capable and you will risk some expensive damage.
There are several subtle differences between a E85 vehicle and a non-E85 vehicle.
First off, ethanol is corrosive. If you don’t have corrosion resistant fuel lines you are going to have problems. Gasoline only vehicles do not have corrosion resistant fuel lines. You would need to replace the fuel lines in your vehicle.
Ethanol can damage the plastic parts in your fuel system. These parts could be in your fuel pump, fuel lines, fuel injectors, etc.
Ethanol will dissolve any rubber seals in your fuel system. There are rubber "O" rings in nearly every fuel fitting that can be dissolved. Your fuel system can spring fuel leaks at these connections. Worst case it can be an extreme fire hazard. Especially since straight ethanol like you intend on using will burn without a flame. Haven’t you ever seen an Indy car catch fire? A fire could be well established before you even figure out that something is burning. These rubber "O" rings would need to be replaced with an ethanol resistant nylon.
Your computer is not tuned for ethanol. Your engine will run like crap and suck lots of fuel.
An E85 vehicle will have a sensor in the tank that measures the ethanol content in the fuel. The engine will automatically adjust to the correct ethanol content to run its best. Your vehicles have no sensor like this. There is no adjustment for ethanol content. Engine performance can be erratic between tanks of fuel depending on ethanol content.
It requires about 25% more ethanol than gasoline to run your engine. You would need to replace your fuel injectors with larger injectors made for E85. If you don’t your engine will run lean and you risk burned valves and pistons.
Ethanol has a higher oxygen content than gasoline. Your oxygen sensor will read out of limits. It will cause a check engine light. Your engine will switch to a limp home mode. It will run, but will run like crap.
Over normal driving conditions your fuel system and fuel tank will develop a coat of sludge from the gasoline. This sludge can form on only a year. Ethanol will act like a super cleaning solvent to your fuel system and wash this sludge away. There is a good chance that this will be enough sludge to block your fuel filter. You also risk clogging your fuel injectors. After the first tank you will at a minimum need to replace the fuel filter.
Bottom line is that you could get away with one tank, maybe. Any more than that is a big risk.
should for the most part. The only problem would be that the ethanol will cause the rubber gaskets and injectors to leak this it the same problem any car would have unless built with stainless steel fuel line and other parts durable enough. but hey if the car stops you have something to drive so it’s all good
It causes problems because you can never get 100% ethanol, it always has some water in it. And when you say "100 proof" that actually means 50% ethanol, 50% water. Water and engines do not mix well. You can probably do a 50/50 blend of ethanol and gasoline. Alcohol will eat rubber, so if your engine has rubber parts that the fuel passes thru, or rubber gaskets, they will degrade and gum up the engine. You might need a conversion kit for your vehicle. Also make sure to get an alcoholometer to test the purity of the ethanol you make.