E85 Fuel? Driveability

[Stewart Levy]

OK Lets put this out for all the senior techs and the junior ones too!

Client pulls in NO check engine light on. Complaint is no power, Scanner Tech 2 says no codes in car,Datta stream is normal. Has P0300 pending. (by the way this is a GM W body with a 3800 power train) So what do you do Old school was it must be the mass air flow sensor getting ready to go bad and it driving the computer nuts. Well you order the sensor and stick it in and the car and guess what? It didn't help Ok so now we put the fuel pressure gage on and it says 45 psi at idle and 60 psi snap throtle pressure. Well thats ok so Lets pull the plugs and look at them. They have a little gray soot on them and don't look bad the wires are ok they ohm out good so back they go. Now it head scraching time. Drop the converter road test car. Car has power and runs cooler. Never would think the converter would have caused this problem. Take to dealer car 8/80K for the cat. Let you know.

[steven kiser]

oh ya, restricted exhausts are making a come back. as a rule we pop an 02 sensor instead of seperating the exhaust.

[Stewart Levy]

The dealer ran thier test and replaced the converter under 8/80k Wart Reset the car and reprogramed the ECM !
Seems they are having a problem with the cats and the E85. Looks like the show is about to start again!
Good old unleaded 1980 they killed the mechinal fuel pumps and carbs! 2000 they killed the fuel pumps in the tank. and now they kill the converters. Yeh Team!

[steven kiser]

i think it's the alchocol and other additives that are added to the fuel AFTER the car's have been in production for a while. i remember the accelerator pump seals that shrunk in unleaded fuel. there was a huge isse with them especially in chrystler products. i'de buy the bowl gaskets and seals in quantity. i could replace them in about 15 minutes. that didn't include the disaterous 4 bbl with the top and bottom cast aluminum and the middle bakalite plastic. the ears would crack when you loostened them. remember the rubber isolaters that chrystler would put between the carb and intake to deaden the vibration and stop the car from flooding? ahhhhh the good old days.

[Tim Martin]

We are seeing some serious softening and balloning of rubber fuel lines. We tend to blame it in part on this e85 fuel. So far, every job that we have seen like this, the owner says he uses e85 fuel - its not as expensive.

We are going on a trip to the sunny state of Mississippi next week. Wonder how many vehicles will be seen with problems related to e85 fuels.

Sounds like job security to me.