Ethanol Conversion Anybody?

E

EtoileBrilliant

Member
I know this is pie in the sky but has anyone seen any references to a CX-9 being chipped for Ethanol conversion. I know that it would invalidate the warranty but there are sizeable tax breaks in the form of reduced annual levy and free city parking for biofuel cars where I live.

Also can anyone tell me the difference between the "Sparking Black" and "Brilliant Black", which is easier to keep clean?

Lastly, where are the ambient blue bulbs located in the GT (dash, foot wells, doors, etc). Do the Sport and Tourer have no bulbs in these positions or just white bulbs?

Thanks
 
The car should have no problems running a high ethanol blend (some countries which mazda export into have legislative requirements that cars must be able to run on ethanol fuel blends).

I'm not right up there on the requirements of ethanol, but if it is simillar to methanol, your fuel system will likely need a substantial upgrade (bigger injectors, bigger fuel rail, probably bigger pump)

Handling a BLEND should be quite fine out of the box.... in australia i'm pretty sure mazda warrent cars on a 5% or maybe even 10% ethanol blend (and your tax breaks might be valid even if you just go part the way to alternative fuel by doing this)...
but pure alcohol is going to be a different kettle of fish, far beyond a simple ecu trickery.
 
There are no special Standard Pump Gas Ethanol considerations on any car. It simply raises the Octane level per volume.
 
Brian MP5T said:
There are no special Standard Pump Gas Ethanol considerations on any car. It simply raises the Octane level per volume.
Click to expand...
I read his post as saying "convert to ethanol" as in, run the thing on 100% alcohol...

if thats the case, there I would imagine there would be fueling considerations (there are fueling considerations adding even marginal amounts of additive to fuel, theres also fueling considerations for higher octane fuel, but USUALLY these do not fall outside of the capability of the fuel system you already have....)...

Again, only talking from a perspective of methanol race fuel, which requires roughly 4x the fuel by volume than running it on pump gas.....which is why methanol race cars have such fat injectors...

Ethanol might be a totally different kettle of fish....but i thought i'd put it out there.
 
EtoileBrilliant said:
Also can anyone tell me the difference between the "Sparking Black" and "Brilliant Black", which is easier to keep clean?
Click to expand...

The Color you want is Black Cherry Mica - I can Bet on it :D

Ill give you the Pic also...

attachment.php
 
LordWorm said:
I read his post as saying "convert to ethanol" as in, run the thing on 100% alcohol...

if thats the case, there I would imagine there would be fueling considerations (there are fueling considerations adding even marginal amounts of additive to fuel, theres also fueling considerations for higher octane fuel, but USUALLY these do not fall outside of the capability of the fuel system you already have....)...

Again, only talking from a perspective of methanol race fuel, which requires roughly 4x the fuel by volume than running it on pump gas.....which is why methanol race cars have such fat injectors...

Ethanol might be a totally different kettle of fish....but i thought i'd put it out there.
Click to expand...
Agreed, however, the idea is so dumb that I figured he wasn't trying to make an alcohol fueled car, rather just pump Ethnol Blend.

If he is trying to run on 100% then yes, The O2, Fuel Delivery ECU... Blah Blah.

Yer looking at over $4000 just to do it then you are ****** because you will not be able to run on Gas if you happen to drive away from Alcohol Petrol Stations. Plus your fuel tank will have to hold 4 - 5 times more volume depending on the ambient temperature, just to maintain the same range..

(drunk)
 
Brian MP5T said:
Agreed, however, the idea is so dumb that I figured he wasn't trying to make an alcohol fueled car, rather just pump Ethnol Blend.

If he is trying to run on 100% then yes, The O2, Fuel Delivery ECU... Blah Blah.

Yer looking at over $4000 just to do it then you are ****** because you will not be able to run on Gas if you happen to drive away from Alcohol Petrol Stations. Plus your fuel tank will have to hold 4 - 5 times more volume depending on the ambient temperature, just to maintain the same range..

(drunk)
Click to expand...
true...though i'm pretty sure in some countries they run some pretty wild blends...

Alcohol is really for racing, and drinking only :)
 
Hmmm....

I took it that he was asking if the CX-9 would run on the E85 ethanol/gas that is available at an increasing number of stations these days. Most stations sell gasoline with 10% ethanol and most vehicles run just fine on that. However, the E85 (85% ethanol) is a different story. A number of the bigger GM engines will run on either gas or E85, but that is because their fuel systems are set up to recognize the E85 and adjust the fuel volume accordingly. Apparently it takes about 10% more fuel (your gas mileage will drop by 10% as well).

However, I don't believe the CX-9 will run E85. I asked the dealer and he had no clue what I was talking about. I called Mazda and they said they didn't think so. Since most manufacturers that produce vehicles that run on E85 are making a BIG deal about it, I'm pretty sure the CX-9 doesn't.
 
Guys,

Sorry for delay but I was away for weekend. Sorry for lack of clarity but I should have been more specific By Ethanol, I meant E85 which I believe up to 85% ethanol. are designed to run on any mixture of gasoline or ethanol with up to 85% ethanol by volume. The primary differences from non-flexi-fuel systems is the elimination of bare magnesium, aluminum, and rubber parts in the fuel system, the use of fuel pumps capable of operating with electrically conductive (ethanol) instead of non-conducting dielectric (gasoline) fuel, specially-coated wear-resistant engine parts, and fuel injection control systems having a wider range of pulse widths (for injecting approximately 60% more fuel). - I copy from Wikipedia.

So I guess I've answered my own question inadvertently, its more than a simple reprogramming of the chip.

Thanks anyway
 
Dalton said:
The Color you want is Black Cherry Mica - I can Bet on it :D

Ill give you the Pic also...

attachment.php
Click to expand...

Dalton,

Great picture of a great car. I have to admit I saw Black Cherry in the dealer and I was wowed. It made me put aside any doubts that I had for a red based colour.
 
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