Should I keep running e85

Why bother asking if your mind is already made up?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(qbee42 @ Apr 15 2007, 08:56 AM) [snapback]423616[/snapback]</div>

And when he does experience system failures, he will blame it on Toyota and file a law suit.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(IsrAmeriPrius @ Apr 15 2007, 12:19 PM) [snapback]423626[/snapback]</div>

WRONGO, 1stAmeriPrius. I'm not sue-happy nor do I blame others for my actions and the consequences of my actions (if any, real or imagined). I have made my choices based in information I have. I will definitely keep you all informed, but it IS afterall a car and a mechanical one at that. It does have a defined lifetime. How many of you on here are planning to keep your vehicles for eight or more years? I plan to keep mine for that long, repairs and all, and I DO assure you it will require repairs--all vehicles do. Simply put, I do not believe I'm hastening the frequency of any repairs by using available fuels that run just fine in the vehicle. I've noted in the past that some of you believe strongly in fuel additives as well as in modifying/tinkering with your cars. That's your right. If it 'voids the warranty', you've made a conscious decision that you're willing to void the warranty.

 

My wise old father always told me there were cerrtain people you would not want to buy a used car from ...

 

Me.

I know it's unfashionable, but if you buy right and maintain it, you spend less money overall.

And a car is nothing but an expense. It's wise to minimize that expense. In other words, be smart.

It's those who vote with their emotions and think they have to have new every 3-5 years that are in trouble.

They're also ruining the environment....consider the mentality that thinks it's de rigeur to buy a newly built house every 5 years. The builders oblige that mentality, and the result is the cheap housing development glut that we have today, complete with all the environmental impact that creates--ruined wetlands, longer drives, neighborhoods that REQUIRE that you drive a car for every little thing, etc.

When you buy a Prius to save money and lower emissions just because you chose to move farther out into a new development that was not at all designed to be eco-friendly, instead of buying in an older, closer neighborhood with local shops you can walk to and a bus line that will take you to work, don't be so smug about it. The Big Picture is bad.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Macomb @ Apr 15 2007, 11:15 AM) [snapback]423605[/snapback]</div>

This is modern myth...it only stimulates alternative fuel markets when it stops the huge consumption of foreign oil. In America, almost as much oil is used to produce E85 since we use corn. It might be beneficial once we convert to cane or cellulosic, but not until then!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Macomb @ Apr 15 2007, 05:09 AM) [snapback]423336[/snapback]</div>

No problems as of today does not mean you're safe tomorrow.
Toyota does not give you any guarantee using E85 fuel.
There used to be a lot of fire accidents among vehicles using ethanol fuel in Japan.
Ethanol makes parts corroded unless the vehicle is certified to use it, then you'll see fuel leak here and there.

Ken@Japan

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Macomb @ Apr 15 2007, 11:36 AM) [snapback]423631[/snapback]</div>

I plan on having my Prius 10 years or until the LiI/plug in is available. I don't plan on having to replace the bladder as a normally expected repair.

Be sure you check out Galaxee's thread on the bladder. You may end up replacing the entire tank/bladder plus some additional lines. Parts and labor will add up as well as the time you're without a car.

That isn't a normal repair that would be needed in the normal life of the car.

The question is, when it happens, are you going to pay out of pocket and have it done or sell the car to some unsuspecting buyer without telling them what you did?

 

14 2007, 10:47 AM' Is it not true the "alcohol in the ethanol has a tendency to dry out many of the gaskets, seals and lines when used? If this is factual, then the mod's required to bring the vehicle into an operational mode could be a real hurt, in more ways than one. The approach to insulate the house and use florescent light bulbs would seem more viable concept.

JCA, all I did was pose a couple of questions on this subject, and was over joyed to receive so many replies. My thanks, and I am sure many others will be thanking, all you responders for the insight in the use of this type of fuel and avoid the heart aches of rotting lines and gaskets. This site is the greatest!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Apr 15 2007, 01:46 PM) [snapback]423658[/snapback]</div>

I see this as absolutely no different from the tire pressure issue. But those who would mess with the tire pressures for their own ends are happy to tell others to butt out, they know what they're doing and take responsibility for it--even when questioned about whether their practices put others on the road in danger.

I say, leave the poor guy alone. He wants to mess with his car. He doesn't need "evidence/science/data" to do that any more than the tire pressure types do.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Apr 15 2007, 11:13 AM) [snapback]423667[/snapback]</div>

I will assune I am the original OP. If it is me that should have come back with a responce, I thought I did. I apologize. The responce is somewhere among all this, I will have to relocate it.

 

Just so you can't say you weren't warned, as if you haven't been already - E85 will destroy any number of components in the fuel and emissions system. Period.

Of course, it's your call. You can try Kerosene or Paint Thinner too if you want.

If you do want to run an alcohol though, Butanol would be a much better choice.

 

My concern is not for the OP, wherever he went, or the person who took up his position and is convinced he can run his Prius on E85. If you want to do a science experiment with your own car, go for it. Although if I were the unsuspecting person who bought your Prius off you and ended up spending thousands on repairs as a consequence of your science experiment, I'd get the meanest lawyer I could find to go after you.
However, many prospective and new buyers come to this website for information and advice. And because the Prius has a non-conventional propulsion system, it is easy to see how someone might be convinced that it could run on ethanol. I have also seen at least one other thread on PC recently where someone claimed he was running his Prius on E85. I hate to think that some innocent but not well-informed Prius owner might destroy his car because he read it was OK to use E85 on PriusChat.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(sithlord_master @ Apr 14 2007, 10:32 AM) [snapback]423272[/snapback]</div>

Where in the 2007 OM do you find that E85 is fine?

To quote from page 319 of the 2007 Owner's Manual,

"Toyota allows the use of oxygenate blended gasoline where the oxygenate content is up to 10% ethanol or up to 15% MTBE." It says nothing about E85.

Dave M.