5.0 + E85 Fuel

[Chilidog]

I know the CAI topic always gets beat to death, but does anybody who runs e85 on these newer 5.0s think it adds to performance without a tune?

Reason I ask, the same airbox has been universal for the last few years but the motor has obviously advanced. I put the whipple CAI on my last tuned ecoboost truck knowing full well it didn’t do a darn thing other than add to the “cool” factor of my rig. You could hear the turbos singing on that massive 213 cubic inch motor lol.

I am a fan of the paper filter at heart, but is there anything out there that justifies a CAI without a tune if all you run is e85?

I ran a couple tanks of 93 because the manual said so at my oil change interval and even after half a tank to adjust it still felt like somebody threw a handful of sand in the motor.

Yes, in my opinion the all around better performance if definitely noticeable without a tune. It's nice!

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[ZX250]

WOW.

Unplugged the battery after dropping the air filter and the “growl” is unreal. The truck is super fast and the exhaust growl is crazy.

 

[jridout325]

WOW.

Unplugged the battery after dropping the air filter and the “growl” is unreal. The truck is super fast and the exhaust growl is crazy.

What CAI did you end up going with?

 

[ZX250]

Just a drop in K&N filter.

Does a flex fuel tune get rid of the clunky “what are we doing here, hot rodding or just cruising” issue?

 

[diambo4life]

Get a tune....imo the trans tune alone really wakes up/enhances the performance of the truck. Getting rid of the CD is another big++.

 

[JExpedition07]

E-85 tunes seem to go balls to the walls, this guy got 4.8 seconds 0-60 with those massive tires on a stock E-85 tuned 5.0. That’s crazy. That would be a 4.5 second 0-60 run on stock wheels.

 

[JExpedition07]

Tried E-85 today, absolutely steam rolled my buddies girlfriends Edge ST with the 2.7 EcoBoost, we did 3 runs. I pulled on him hard all the way to the limiter every time. It wasn’t even close. Seems like an animal on the corn juice. First tank I’ve ever ran of it, haven’t let the 5.0 stretch its legs in a while. She loves screaming up at 7 grand . I wonder how bad I would have gapped them with the 5-Star E-85 tune now

 

[robry]

Tried E-85 today, absolutely steam rolled my buddies girlfriends Edge ST with the 2.7 EcoBoost, we did 3 runs. I pulled on him hard all the way to the limiter every time. It wasn’t even close. Seems like an animal on the corn juice. First tank I’ve ever ran of it, haven’t let the 5.0 stretch its legs in a while. She loves screaming up at 7 grand . I wonder how bad I would have gapped them with the 5-Star E-85 tune now

+30~whp or so over the stock tune with e85 on the 5 star tune, I love how strong it feels after 3500. No ecoobost feeling but the pull all the way to 7000 is really nice

 

[Samson16]

Unfortunately, ethanol turns to water way to fast, hence the pump and pull plan I have.

I think I would run 93 for the highway mpg while towing and e85 for daily so I could wipe the smirk off those snooty PB drivers like me ?

 

[diambo4life]

FYI...my probably 900HP Whipple truck does 17MPG on the highway with E85. 11-12MPG in the city.

 

[Samson16]

FYI...my probably 900HP Whipple truck does 17MPG on the highway with E85. 11-12MPG in the city.

900hp wow! Is that through a stock 10r80 and a 9.75” rear end?

 

[diambo4life]

Drivetrain is stock. Actually the 3.31 8.8 rear. I will put it on the dyno one of these days and see what it actually makes.

 

[JBMCEQY]

I saw this posted on the f150forum and found it interesting.
https://motoiq.com/e85-can-mess-up-your-engine/

The tl;dr of this is: if you mostly take shorter trips, it doesn't seem wise to run e85. Because with shorter trips, the oil doesn't get hot enough to boil off moisture which leads to internal rusting and extremely bad sludge (worse than what would result from running regular gas and never changing the oil). The article is regarding a teardown of a Subaru EJ257 engine, but I imagine that similar things could happen in the 5.0.

I'm one who mostly takes shorter trips, so I will likely be switching back to regular gas on my next fill-up, unfortunately. I do try to go for a longer drive once a week, and maybe that's enough to prevent the horrible sludge, but I'd rather not risk it.

 

[KingDavid]

I saw this posted on the f150forum and found it interesting.
https://motoiq.com/e85-can-mess-up-your-engine/

The tl;dr of this is: if you mostly take shorter trips, it doesn't seem wise to run e85. Because with shorter trips, the oil doesn't get hot enough to boil off moisture which leads to internal rusting and extremely bad sludge (worse than what would result from running regular gas and never changing the oil). The article is regarding a teardown of a Subaru EJ257 engine, but I imagine that similar things could happen in the 5.0.

I'm one who mostly takes shorter trips, so I will likely be switching back to regular gas on my next fill-up, unfortunately. I do try to go for a longer drive once a week, and maybe that's enough to prevent the horrible sludge, but I'd rather not risk it.

Just install an oil separator if that's your concern. My canister catches plenty of fuel. I mostly use e85. It's a very, very, very easy and simple install and insurance for your engine. Some may argue that is isn't needed, but I've seen what my can catches and it's quite a bit of fuel/water/oil. Instead of blowing back into the engine, it's caught in my canister that I dump periodically.

 

[diambo4life]

I saw this posted on the f150forum and found it interesting.
https://motoiq.com/e85-can-mess-up-your-engine/

The tl;dr of this is: if you mostly take shorter trips, it doesn't seem wise to run e85. Because with shorter trips, the oil doesn't get hot enough to boil off moisture which leads to internal rusting and extremely bad sludge (worse than what would result from running regular gas and never changing the oil). The article is regarding a teardown of a Subaru EJ257 engine, but I imagine that similar things could happen in the 5.0.

I'm one who mostly takes shorter trips, so I will likely be switching back to regular gas on my next fill-up, unfortunately. I do try to go for a longer drive once a week, and maybe that's enough to prevent the horrible sludge, but I'd rather not risk it.

Your concerns are understandable but there is a very easy fix for this issue. Run a catch can and increase your oil change intervals ESPECIALLY in the colder months. As someone who has torn apart numerous engines running E85, I can tell you they are the cleanest internally! I never recommend anyone running more than 3000 miles for oil changes if exclusively running E85. If you don't want to do this, just run regular gas.

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