Has anyone actually damaged their engines using ethanol? I was talking to the guy at shell just before and he said all optimax is being replaced for v-power with a 5% blend and then there is v-power extreme or something which is 100 octane but also has a 5% blend. Seems like ethanol blends are the way things are heading. When my engine is ready, would it be best to tune it for regular unleaded? What exactly is involved to make the engine ethanol friendly? I remember someone mentioning it but can't find it in search.
i might be wrong but i think someone posted up before a link to the shell website and on there it had that the 98 octane v-power was ethanol free and it was only going to be the 100 octane v-power extreme that had the 5% ethanol in it but like i said i could be wrong
it has something to do with the injectors being static or something.. and we cant use ethanol coz it corrodes or something like that?? too tired..but its along those lines
V power is ethanol free, V power racing is 5% ethanol. You need to get the late model 95+ injectors which are ok with ethanol fuels. Also means you will need to make some modifications to make the 95+ injectors fit. You can buy 95+ Nissan fuel rails and get your lower plenum machined to accept this or you can buy the new 300 degree fuel rails which fit the 95+ injectors on the earlier design plenum.
I already bought Border 850cc injectors and the border billet fuel rail but how do I know if they are 95+ ? I assume they are because without the fuel rail you need to get the modded fuel rail to suit.
95+ is used in reference to the later model Nissan and Nismo Injectors which are pintle-less injectors. Im not sure if the Border injectors are safe to use with ethanol or not.
What about Sard 650's, are they OK? Is it the impendance that makes them incompatible, would it help if I disconnect the power supply after use?
It's not just the injectors, it's the whole setup (for pre 95 cars). The injectors have a + charge running thru them all the time, and are earthed to open when the ecu wants them too. It's this postive charge that causes the alchahols in the the ethanol blended fuels to react with the injectors causing them to corrode. Wayne, if you were willing to rigg up a switch to you ingnition in order to kill the power supply to the injectors when ever the car was off you'd be fine to run ethanol blended fuels. It is going to become much more prominent as the years go by, so it wouldn't be a bad investment to allow pre95 cars to run ethanol blends.
Excellent idea. I know of someone who has fitted a ZID and 'immobilised' the injector +'ive circuit. Kills two birds with one stone...
I have my battery relocated to the rear hatch with an isolation switch (red key type), so when I turn the key and cut the power, should this stop the electrolysis from happening?
The best article I have seen covering this subject can be found here. When Nissan modified the wiring harness to de-energise the injectors when the ignition is off in 95+ models, the power remains to the ECU so there is something in the ECU that requires constant 12 volts, self learn maybe? It appears just cutting power to the injectors on previous models may make a certain feature void. Take note also that Nissan changed the injectors (1993) before the wiring harness was modified so I would assume the main issue with ethanol fuels is not in the injectors but more related to the constant 12 volts when shutdown.
