e85 in 2001 Sport Tracs?

[Conan TheLibrarian]

Out of curiosity, I tried to find out whether the Sport Tracs can run on e85 (85% ethanol, 15% gasoline). 2001 Explorer Sports were listed (though no reference to STs) on one government page while a separate document I found dated 2003 listed Sport Tracs 4.0l, but failed to specify which years. So, two questions:



Does anyone know for sure that e85 can run in the 2001 STs? (I suspect it can be.)



And, has anyone tried e85 in the 2001 ST AND what did you think about it?

 

[Todd Z]

There is a sticker under you hood that will say Flex fuel, IF not then NO... ALSO the eighth digit on the Vin number is different if it can.



I am going to say NO....

people have tried it and said no difference at all in performance but mpg did go down a little....



Do a search with E85 in the search section of this site and you will find a ton of more info..

Todd Z

 

[Fudged Undies]

Nope, not on '02's either. Began with the 03's and even then I'm not sure if it was all of them.

 

[Todd Z]

It definitely was not all 03's, mine is not E85, though i have run it, It did not do any good at all.....

Todd Z

 

[Tony Favaloro]

hmm well I looked on the government website and it has the Explorer and the Explorer Sport as FFV and as regular just gas vehicles and the ST as only just gas. this is just for 2001

 

[Tony Favaloro]

abit more research according to this wiki all that flex fuel vehicles do is detect the fuel mixture then "the ECU tunes the timing of spark plugs and fuel injectors so that the fuel will burn cleanly in the vehicle's internal combustion engine." so it seams to my that someone could make a chip like the XCal2 that can change those with a switch on the dash for going from Gasoline to E85



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flexible-fuel_vehicle

 

[Paul H]

i dont remember when or who told me but, i was in the chat room one night and some one told me that they ran e85 and it brought his mpg down from 16 to like 12 ans from 300+ miles a tank to like 240 a tank full. and for the 2001 st you would have to do a complete overhaul of your fuel system like new gas tank, fuel lines, fuel filter and injectors so i say its no better to run e85. it will cost more in the long run to switch

paul

 

[D Knx]

Only the '04 & '05 ST model years are FFV.



D-

 

[Mike Montes]

Hello all



I own an 01 and reserached this a few years ago. I read in my manual that FFV sport tracs used E85 ethanol fuel. I thought that meant my truck was able to use Ethanol. I looked it up and found that the FFV was an option in 2001 but was not standard. My truck was not one that came with that option. If you read your owners manual, you can download a copy from the ford website, you will see that it tells you the specific letter that must be on your VIN. My St did not have the proper letter. also, there is supposed to be a FFV sticker in the engine compartement, just in front of the radiator, that tells you your FFV. My uncle bought a 2005 ST and his did come FFV. the sticker is in the engine compartment and on the gas door there is another sticker that says ethanol ok. If you dont have these things on your ST then I would recomment you dont try E85. I dont know what effects it would have on the truck but I dont want to try it to find out. good luck



Mike

 

[Clinton Bean]

Can someone reply back with the special letters to look for in the VIN?

 

[Clinton Bean]

One site says to look for "FT" in characters 2-3 and "K" in character 8 in your VIN number.