Hello,

My wife put e85 ethanol gas in her 2005 Mazda 6 by mistake...Now the car is running roughly...Has this ever happened to anyone? If so, what did you do? Did it cause damage?

I know I need to drain the e85 and replace with regular gas, but I am wondering if this is something I can do myself? The dealer is going to charge around $350.00 just to drain the e85. If I drain it out myself and get the majority of the e85 out and then top it off with a full tank of regular gas...will that solve the problem?

I am just wondering even if the dealer does the work, is the damage already done?

Any information or common experience will be very helpful.

Thank you.

 

all cars can run e85 safely and they will run choppier. It doesn't burn as well so you get less mp/g and less horsepower but there is no dammage.

 

Thank you. I have done some research and have heard that e85 will eat through rubber seals, hoses, etc...in the engine. If this is true, then I wonder how long it will take before it starts eating away at my engine? I am hoping this will be an easy fix, but everyone I talk to seems to have a different opinion.

Thanks again.

 

all gas does that over time especially sitting in the lines, thats why you replace that stuff after 40,000 miles or so (or sooner on a car that has been sitting in one place for many years). e85 is 85% ethanol mixed with 15% 87 octane gasoline. Ethanol is made from corn which has no erosional qualities over that or normal gas.

 

oh and ethanol is an alcohol with I think 1 carbon-carbon double bond and 4 carbon hydrogen single bonds but I forgot I could be wrong. I know it is an alcohol because of the "ol" at the end and the prefix "eth" means 2 so there are 2 carbon atoms but I forgot the bonding properties of an alcohol but I am guessing carbon-carbon double since carbon-carbin single would be an alkine. actually I think carbon-carbon double is and alchene so an alcohol must be carbon-carbon tripple with 2 carbon-hydrogn singles. Either way it is non-errosive and sounds like amyth brought up because e85 is the new thing arising from gas prices and the war on terror in the middle east.

Now weather or not you understood the chemestry I merely stated it to show that I understand the subject matte rto some degree and you shouldn't worry about it.

 

Thanks 87turboII...I am just going to drain the e85 myself and refill with 15 gallons of regular...no harm no foul...there is no way I am going to pay the Mazda dealer $350.00 to do that for me...personally, I think they are trying to rip me off and will never do business with them again.