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Running this sort of fuel requires a re-tune, so unless your going to only run it every day or you have a couple of quick change maps, then avoid it.

The slower burn of the ethanol means it usually increases the exhaust temps a tad and that gives a slight increase in spool for those of us with turbo's.

The down side is that ethanol introduces issues with corrosion, being an alchohol it is water soluable. At 5% this may not be a huge issue having said that.

Zahos... tough luck then man.. your car sounds like its healthy the way it is.

How did you check your timing? I think mine runs more advance than that at idle, and i'm not sure if my car is really tuned correctly. I checked my timing once using a consult cable.

I using a timing light, with the pickup going around the wires that go to coil #1. I found the pickup on the ignitor module didn't work for me.

Unplug the AAC valve

bring revs down to 650 rpm (The rpm display on my SAFC is a good guide)

and then turn the CAS ever so slightly left or right to advance / retard timing. I usually put it on 16 or 17 deg, as it runs a little smoother there.

Plug everything back in, and adjust revs up to 800 rpm for idle.

Cubes, refer to my previous post regarding engines, post 66. Id suggest that some engines will respond kindly to E-fuel, some wont respond at all to it..... just like a wife. Some will go d*wn & some wont! :)

(sorry, best analogy I could think of)

BW

Whats wrong with ethanol?

yes, I have read the entire post (I can't be stuffed with the links)

yes, it can be bad to your fuel system. If you happen to own a landrover, their oem fuel pumps have plastic in them... it dissolves, bye bye.

big deal 'not reccomended' by the manufacturer. MODIFYING CARS IS NOT RECCOMENDED by the manufacturer. Even if its better.

big deal retune the ecu. its NOT petrol. Its ethanol (blended). Ever wonder why funny cars fun alcohol based fuels (before top fuelers, that is)?

and politics? petrol companies want ethanol out. So they can sell their fossil fuels instead.

I liked the quote about physics, but perhaps a working knowledge of chemistry is also needed. Yes, it upsets the Oxygen balance (and a host of other things). as has been said, get a retune. Ethanol is different. Superior, in my opinion, but it would take too long to justify

The only reason I wouldn't use it is availability. I do alot of counrty miles, and can't afford to be stranded in a small town.

If I could, I would run 100% ethanol. for a start it is an incredible fuel. And secondly, environmentally sustainable.

hands up who likes $50 US a barrel (and singapore refinery prices).

Enough from me. I could go on all day. I strongly approve of ethanol and of bio diesel.

Oh - and a note to all the other people who have strong feelings. don't turn this into a flame war.

But the whole point (or so the government claims) of Ethanol blends being sold at our pumps is to reduce cost of fuel to the consomer.

If most cars need to re-tune their ECU, doesn't it become worthless b/c of the cost involved, or pointless b/c some ECU's cannot be re-tuned?

I'm not discussing weather it is a better fuel or not, even if a manufacturer releases a vehicle that is designed to run on 100% ethanol. My point is running it in your car, in it's current state of tune, b/c when it comes down to it, the majority of consumers will want to do just that.

But the whole point (or so the government claims) of Ethanol blends being sold at our pumps is to reduce cost of fuel to the consomer.

If most cars need to re-tune their ECU, doesn't it become worthless b/c of the cost involved, or pointless b/c some ECU's cannot be re-tuned?

I'm not discussing weather it is a better fuel or not, even if a manufacturer releases a vehicle that is designed to run on 100% ethanol. My point is running it in your car, in it's current state of tune, b/c when it comes down to it, the majority of consumers will want to do just that.

Well if thats the case then any skyline running the standard ECU will be fine. The have both low octane and high octane ignition MAP's once the parameters are set for the amount of knock seen it will automatically revert back to a low octane MAP. Nissan, subaru, mitsubishi and holden all use this proceedure so that cars can be run on any fuel anywhere in any condtions, although some manufacturers do it better than others.

Hmmm maybe thats why manufactures tune on the super safe side!!!!

From the sounds of things you just got a bad batch of fuel and I bet if you got it from soewhere else it would be fine.

if you read further up (and if u can't be stuffed i don't blame you) I also filled my other car (96 Accord) from the same pump within 30 mins of filling up my car.

The Accord experienced no issues at all.

You dont know what happened in that time at the servo. They could have changed tanks over after complaints you just dont know. If your blaming the ethanol blend of fuel I would be more enclined to test it again maybe from a different servo. As I said above ethanol is more likly to cause an ongoing problem aka dislodged particles blocking injectors ect and that is the risk with ethanol. The fact that after changing fuel and all symtopms went away would suggest to me that it was just shitty fuel.

But the whole point (or so the government claims) of Ethanol blends being sold at our pumps is to reduce cost of fuel to the consomer.

If most cars need to re-tune their ECU, doesn't it become worthless b/c of the cost involved, or pointless b/c some ECU's cannot be re-tuned?

I'm not discussing weather it is a better fuel or not, even if a manufacturer releases a vehicle that is designed to run on 100% ethanol. My point is running it in your car, in it's current state of tune, b/c when it comes down to it, the majority of consumers will want to do just that.

I doubt you could come to any other conlusion than 'its raining today, so it must be always raining all over the world'

you have decided from your extensive experience that ethanol blends are bad. all you have established is that you car cannot run the blend in its current state of tune.

speaking of which, I don't recall you actually mentioning what car you used it in (this is just me being curious)

so now that leaded petrol isn't sold, there is no alternative, right? how long did it take to phase it out? And how long have cars been 'unleaded only'? 86, I think. thats a LONG time is car terms

There only needs to be new car support anyway. Older cars can be converted (replace fuel pump, hoses and seals. and a re-tune) quite simply.

next you will be saying LPG is bad because you need to get a conversion kit for it, AND a retune on top of that.

Just because its different, doesn't mean its bad.

thats a pretty stupid analogy.

I never said ethanol was bad, i just said i had problems with it in my car...

R33 RB25DET

Going from leaded to unleaded is irrelevant to this discussion.

What has LPG got to do with this either.

I didn't say it was bad, read my posts before you put words in my mouth.

Please don't contribute to this discussion with stupid comments, I can't be bothered replying to them (but I guess there is no other way on an internet forum)

Zahos,your quite an aggressive person arent you.Your lack of knowledge is coming through with each subsequent post,so stop now,please.

I and my friends have had cars running 100% alchohol since the mid 80's,it is a far superior fuel for performance cars,end of story.If you were to fill your car with 100 octane Optimax and get your Power FC tuned on a dyno,there is no question you will see a power gain.

You havent mentioned whether you actually have an aftermarket ECU,if you dont,I doubt you will see any benefits from this fuel.

The biggest advantage will be to those running high boost (1.5bar and over) with an aftermarket ECU,not stock cars with an exhaust and pod running 1 bar with standard ECU.

The benefits of Ethanol have been documented in the current issue of HPI magazine,so have the downside to those who dont do a retune,so calm down and listen to others,you might just learn something.

Please take this the right way,I just felt you were getting defensive over a product that is obviously not suited or of no benefit to YOUR car,but will be to others ,like me.

Cheers

I don't think people are realising that alchohol and petrol are two different things.

Nissan doesn't recommend it for a good reason, it negatively effects your fuel system.

Sure it might work fine for a week, but what about in a year when your fuel lines are brittle, valves swolen and metal components corroded?

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