E30 Ethanol for years! Help! Haha

So I just bought a high mile (285,000) 2006 DC Tundra V8.

Talking to the guy I bought it from today he mentions how he works with ethanol business folks. Okay, cool. That’s your career choice. Do you.

Then in passing he says, “yeah E30 is so great, that’s all I’ve been running in all my cars for years! It’s proven to not do any harm and it’s so great!”

Wait, ALL of your vehicles!?

I just bought one from you.

So... I don’t know if “for years” means 5 or 15, but this guy owned my Tundra since new, put almost 285,000 miles on it, and ran E30 presumably the whole time!!

How screwed is my fuel system? What would you do!?

 

I'd part it out. It's for sure totaled.

 

I’m wondering if I can look over anything in the fuel delivery system that could be corroded or if it’ll all be internal and no way of knowing. How hard would it be to tell if any key parts are corroded? We take our vehicles to pretty remote places and of course there’s always risk but I’d rather know than not.

What parts are at risk and which aren’t ha.
This old guy took it to the dealer for everything and anything and everything else is well maintained. I have a mountain of maintenance records like I’ve never seen. Just found this out today.

 

Haha thanks, I’ll sell it to you for $5 . . .


. . . and deliver.

 

I would talk to the last owner get some real numbers .

Go through your invoices look at any fuel system parts being replaced .

About all you can do.

 

E30 isn't common, so who knows about the source or additive packages. Increasing ethanol without proper additives to help counteract lower lubricity and poor stability would be one risk. In general it's going to mean extra wear and scuffing likey to pump and injectors. Relatively speaking I don't think they are running that high of pressure (vs modern systems) so they probably have some robustness to give up. The other big thing is seal materials, some materials are fine but others swell and breakdown with higher ethanol concentration. Again I am not sure what they used, would need to ask a Toyota engineer. If there isn't anything obviously wrong probably just monitor for leaks or performance changes.

 

Honestly I think ethanol is only an issue in more modern vehicles. You would have had issues by now if you were going to have them.

Unfortunately I think this guys drinks the shit too.

 

o good lord........

Think about it. 285,000 miles burning E30. PO doesn't report any issues.......
Where is the PO's source for E30? To my knowledge, E30 isn't commercially available in USA.
Why do you think the fuel system is bodged? 1st hand experience? Internet claims? Your buddy says so?

You have choices.
1.Drive it and burn the fuel that is available to you.
2. Junk and replace the fuel system.
3. Sell it.

As an anecdote......I began burning E10 in my first car, '63 Buick, in 1976. Never a fuel system issue. Been burning E10 since 1976 in many different motors, at this time 45 years and counting, I have yet to experience a problem in the fuel system. The motors ranged from finicky 2 stroke weed eater motors to mid-size motorcycle engines to an engine made in 2019 including long storage lawn engines. No issue with fuel.

Don't be daft.

 

Move on over to www.tundras.com with that nice 1st gen.

 

I have too many Toyotas! Haha

 

Correct. You don't buy it, you blend it yourself. There are multiple smartphone apps that tell you how much gasoline to blend with E85 to reach your target blend. They're pretty slick. I found this thread since I'm contemplating trying E30 in my TRD supercharged 2000 Taco, now that I've added the 7th injector kit from URD, and their overdrive pulley. I'm already running E30 in my '23 GR Corolla with a tuning module and a bunch of boost. So far, so good. I realize this is a very different animal. So while I'm not jumping to do this, I'm definitely searching out info on the subject.

 

Last post in this thread was a bit over 3 years ago........