fixbenz

i have seen a few cases where some people have run ethanol in there car, and not completly using the whole tank ie) fill the car up full with ethanol, then halfway through the tank the car gets filled with gasoline..

so whats the problem you say then?

car does not start

if you have this issue with your car...(seen a few c classes with this problem)
the fix is a flash of the ME, and problem is fixed


this is a new problem that has a bulletin that came out just a week or 2 ago...




im the phantom mercedes tech......i dont say where i work or where i am located....

Canadian_Yeti

With the exception of the 07 c230 and c230 sport. It is an alternative fuel vehicle.

harkgar

are they available now in Canada Yeti? i have not seen any in TO.

there are lots of reports saying ethanol and E85 are a total waste of resources and one of these fancy green ideas concorted up by David Sue Sue Gee, politicians and corn farmers. It takes much more energy to grow and harvest the corn and make alcohol then buy the black stuff from the Middle East and Alberta.

harkgar

Do you suck oil out with a pump to speed up oil changes? I have been told MB had told their garages not to drain oil anymore since a few years back. It is a dirty habit. They are short changing customers.

Canadian_Yeti

Yeah oil is sucked out, it's quite effective.

The 07 c230s and c230 sports are all alternative fuel. Not sure about 06's though.

Canadian_Yeti

They arn't advertised as such though...

fixbenz

i agree mb doesnt advertise the e85 ethanol as much as they should

on the sucking of oil out...yes i admit to doing that...but on amg cars..I DRAIN THE OIL FROM THE PAN. the e55 has 2 plugs and a few others i pull both plugs and put new copper seals on....i turn it up a notch on AMG cars...no offense to non amg owners...but thats what i do...

MBTech21

Actually the car never has to be run on ethanol, the winter blend we have here in Ohio, tricks the car into thinking it is on ethanol.the car increases its factor to around 1.32 or so, cold hits- car floods its self. And BTW, phathom tech- all the flash did was make it worse (at least in this part of the country), you had to do it to reset the control module back to a 1.0 factor, until 01/07 sds software- now you can reset it with that.

Trivia....Although not advertised as such- every benz with a 27X engine is dual fuel, thats what the 2 means..1 is gasoline, 6 is diesel...

fixbenz

well i hadnt personally flash the car for the ethanol gas start problem...another guy at work did it...so it'll be his comeback...not mine if it malfunctions again..

the gasoline problem may be regional...a couple of years ago the southeast had a MAJOR problem from shell gas having too much sulpher..destroying the fuel level sensor indicator in the tank....causing it to register the incorrect amount..a few times it was a programming issue..and the rest were the sending units in the tank.

im not here to fight with another tech or prove im better than anyone....usually the people that boast the most know the least....and ill be honest i dont know everything....if i have questions ill ask...or look it up

fixbenz

depending on the car some ill drain from the oil pan.....kompressor engine i do that..e55 and such that have the 2 oil drain plugs....i drain both...and use new seals...

yes ill admit..i give amg cars better attention....our oil suckers at work here arent very good...so most of the time its oil pan plug....


i honestly dont care for the oil sucking out....you are not getting ALL the used oil out.....

so yes i will agree....its a lousy idea to suck the oil out

MBTech21

I guess i should have said the flash makes it worse..when running on Ohio winter blend gasoline..seeing as we only have like 5 stations in the whole state selling E85, I really don't know how they run on that!!
Wasn't trying to fight, or prove anything, fixbenz, sorry if it came across like that.

sosh

Our fuel is labled 10% Ethanol. I have never experienced any issues other than a very slight decrease in mileage with my E320 or my ML500. The info that I have received from my dealer is that it will present no problem.

fixbenz

sosh im talking about people that run straight e85 in a tank not the 10% additive in regular gas

they fill up the car with e85 and not use the entire tank....ie not going below the half tank or running on to the reserve fuel light.

they dont use all the e85 in the tank, and it screws with the cars programming


and ill be honest...some of the flashing and programming...mercedes doesnt tell us EVERYTHING...that this software flash will fix or remedy

ive read in other forums of people speculating..what these flashes do

lars

The general view seems to be that the energy content of ethanol made from corn is between 1.1 and 1.6 times the total fossil fuel energy expended growing, harvesting and transporting the corn to a refinery and then fermenting it into ethanol. Ethanol production from sugarcane is a lot more efficient but we can't grow sugarcane (yet) in North America.

As sosh said, mileage drops with ethanol blends. A gallon of pure ethanol has only 66% the energy content of a gallon of gasoline. Perhaps of more interest to some, the net carbon emissions from running E10, a 10% ethanol blend, are only 3-4% lower than from running pure gasoline.

Any relatively modern car is safe with E10, a 10% ethanol blend, but not with higher blends unless it's dual-fuel. The cutoff date before which E10 is not a good idea is only important to those who read the vintage section. I don't know what it is, but it's quite a while ago. As we hit mandatory biomass content for gasoline in our various jursidictions, the owners of these old cars should go through their fuel systems upgrading rubber parts.