As you may know, I have been running E85 in my car for the past couple of months. I am not sure if the ethanol, my conversion, or something else is causing problems, but I am experiencing some.

1. The first problem happened about a month after I began running E85. The Check Engine Light (CEL) would come on and go off every few days. This has continued to occur.

2. Secondly, my engine is acting a bit funny. If I am in P or N and I rev my engine up, it hits 4,500 RPM and drops back to 4,000. It bounces back and forth between 4,000 and 4,500. I'm not sure if this has to do with the same issue as my CEL. It's not really an issue, because I don't sit there in P and rev my engine. I did some testing, and I can get way past 4,500 RMP when I'm driving (killed my MPG tho )

3. Third, and worst problem so far: "Brake System" light came on today on my way home. At first the brakes were acting funny (before the light came on). By funny, I mean stopping more abruptly than usual. Once the light came on, I experienced a few changes: -No regenerative braking (I had do shift to S to slow down and regen) -It took a little longer for the iFE guage to make out, but when I did coast I had only 0-2 bars of regen (made it nice and easy to coast though). I came home and went to take the car for a test drive to further investigate the symptoms, but everything is OK now, and the light went off. I know that if I take it into the dealer, they won't do anything if I don't have any symptoms.

If anyone has any suggestions for me, I would greatly appreciate them. I am getting a scanguage tomorrow, which hopefully will help me find out what is causing the CEL. My next tank will probably be regular gas, and I will remove the E85 conversions to see what goes on. Any thoughts appreciated.

 

That doesn't sound too good. I was just reading today about E85 (in the Honda ownerlink), and what it said was this:

"Fuels that exceed the EPA's approved oxygenate percentages for conventional and reformulated gasolines must be clearly labeled on the pump. One example of such a fuel is 'E85', which contains 85% ethanol. Do not use such fuels in your vehicle. These fuels will cause performance problems, and may damage your vehicle's engine, fuel system, and emission control system..."

You've probably heard that before, but what I can't figure out is why your brake system would be acting funny.
I hope your car will be okay. Good luck.

Added info: I found a wikipedia article regarding using E85 in conventional engines. Maybe something in the article might be helpful.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E85_in_standard_engines

 

April Fools, I think. As a proponent of E85, I don't think you'd be admitting these things on this particular day (Pacific Time).

 

Hmm...yeah, he wasn't complaining before, huh?
If it's just a case of April Fool's joking, then I'm glad.

 

if you are still under factory warranty, TAKE IT IN! Recalling my transmission issue I had a month or so ago, the car started acting normal when I dropped it off, but they were still able to diagnose the problem. Remember, these things are computers, and they probably store any tracking of lights coming on, etc. I would take out the conversion for E85 first though. They might go right for that as the issue, without any further testing.

I don't see how the E85 would affect the braking system, but I'm not tech so what do I know!

 

well...this is not an April 1-st joke:

about an hour ago during normal acceleration my car broke down.
IMA, Check engine and red battery light came alive. engine is not idling well anymore, if i was stopind behind red light, engnine did not "autostop".

Tomorrow i`ll visit my dealer..this is probably going to be first Hybrid failure in Estonia

 

Sorry, but this is no April fools joke. I know I am not supposed to be running E85 in it, which is why I haven't taken it to the dealer yet. If worst comes to worst, I will take out the conversion kit, fill it with gas, and take it in. I'm getting a scanguage today, which will hopefully help me diagnose the problems.
Any other suggestions are appreciated.
Sorry to hear about your HCHII Indrek

 

Bummer. Hope it all works out well for you both.

 

Indrek; What year is your HCH-2 ? H

 

Apparently the conversion kit isn't converting very well.

Running E85 in a standard engine will burn it up, according to Ed Wallace the car expert.