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Has anyone experience the loss of overdrive, check engine light, and high rpm cruising after fueling up on E85? Maybe this is common known info, but not to me. I was refueling in Grand Rapids, MI at a big E85 station late one night. I usually blend 4 gallons within a 9 gallon typical refuel, but it was cold and windy. Just went ahead and ran a full 9 gallons of E85 into a non flex Ford focus. After 20 miles or so of freeway driving the tranny, sifted out of overdrive. I checked all the usual, but no indication of the contributing problem. The check engine light lit up soon afterward. I surmised the event related to high ethanol fuel? Knowing how logic controllers for equipment can be programmed and enough mechanical knowledge to understand no damage would ensue with continue operation of the vehicle in this state I opted to run the E85 out and refuel with unleaded. After a refuel of 2 and 3 gallon the overdrive came back and after 1/2 tank the check engine light went out, as well. My guess (not much on internet) is the logic of engine controller once calculating the fuel exceeded fuel spec, put the vehicle into limp mode. This mode is a guarantee to auto manufacturer that the owner will visit a auto shop to be scolded and suffer stiff financial penalty for using fuel not approved. Funny the car ran well on this high level blend, even in the super cold weather. Gas mileage was not up to par since losing overdrive, though. I told the story to garage and sales lot owner, whom just attributed the event to ethanol hurting the car. He also said his Cadillac couldn't use ethanol because the car needed premium fuel. The cost of miss fueling once going to garage is stiff. He had experience with such as in gasoline in diesel tank. A big mess to drop the tank and drain all fuel components. I mentioned some garages change out hardware as well since contaminated with ethanol and are unreliable in future. Isn't this all a bunch of bunk. To manipulate or fool a car owner per programming trickery. There is something very un-american going on here. When citizens whom pay the bills can be held hostage to desires of regulators or needs of car manufacturers to throw business to car dealerships. It's like a game of gottcha, you didn't follow directions so suffer sucker. Note, that I've experienced the days of Jimmy Carter ethanol when cars got horrible MPG per emissions control equipment. Regulators and car manufactures did their best back then, as well, to punish car owners whom attempted to modify the OEM equipment for better mileage. Just like all safety or pollution control equipment a big engineering cost to reverse engineer the equipment to fail if owners tinker. Funny, though those car owners that removed pollution control equipment passed the tail pipe emissions test. How? They had a supply source of high ethanol fuel.
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- Limp Mode
- check engine light
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