Convert your Volvo Redblock to use Bio-Ethanol E85
Since i decided that i don't want to pay more and more Euro's to the oil-lobby, i searched for alternative fuels.
During my research i found, that ethanol will be a alternative fuel for me. The reason for this was because my old
Volvo can run ethanol without doing expensive rebuilds on the engine hardware.
The second reason why i prefer ethanol is, that ethanol has a much better environmental audit then
other alternative fuels like e.g. Autogas, which is a fall-out product by the gasoline production
and therefore also a fossil fuel. Ethanol is based on crop, it is so to say carbon-dioxide-neutral
because the carbon-dioxide the car is emitting is just as much as the crop has taken from the
athmosphere during growing.
Let's have a look to the converting procedure. It's not really complicated if you have some experiences with car repairs.
How to convert a N/A Volvo B230F/FB/FD/G/B234F to use Bio-Ethanol E85?
First of all you need to find the following parts:
- a set of full injectors from a B230FT/GT turbo engine, Bosch Nr.: 0280 150 804
- a resistor pack from a B230FT/GT engine, 5.6Ohm - 6.5Ohm, Bosch Nr.: 0280 159 014
- a 2.5bar fuel pressure regulator from a 89' B230F, Bosch-Nr.: 0 280 160 292
I've made a few pictures from the resistor conversion on my own car.
The resistor conversion must be done to avoid damage to the ECU because the new,
injectors are 2Ohm types. Without the conversion it's likely possible to damage the ECU, because the power
consumption of the new injectors would be to high!
As an alternative (without the resistor conversion) you can have a look if you can find the following high impedance injectors:
- Volvo 0280 150 785 - 321cc/min
After you've swapped all the parts you are just fine to run E85. I've also figured out,
that new spark plugs from NGK (BPR6ES) will help, to lower the consumption of E85.
How to convert a Volvo Turbo B230FT/GT to use Bio-Ethanol E85?
There are two ways to convert a turbo engine to use Bio-Ethanol E85:
Version1: Injectors with e.g. 440cc/min (Bosch 0280 150 558) - a range of 360-450cc/min is possible
or
Version2: Use a ECU from a B230FB 0280 000 935 or a turbo ECU 0280 000 937/962 ECU
with a Eprom from a 0280 000 935 ECU.
To clarify this: Don't use Version2 if your car is not a stock car!
If you have a modified turbo, it's a good choice to go the way with bigger injectors because the risk that the mixture leans out is to high.
I have tested the N/A chip for myself, for me it works up to 12psi of boost! If you are not certain that your mod works for you, please use Version1 to convert your turbo.
Turbo Tuning & E85:
The following hardware-combination allows you for sure to drive any mixture between 100% gasoline and 100% E85 without any changes and it also raises up the fuel-cut threshold from the LH2.4:
- Fuel pressure regulator 2.5bar from a 89' Volvo B230F, Bosch-Nr.: 0 280 160 292
- 3" Air Mass Meter from a 91-94' Volvo 960, Bosch-Nr.: 0 280 213 012
- Fuel injectors Siemens DEKA 1, also known as Siemens 55's, 587cc/min@3bar, pencil spray-pattern
If you need a 935 eprom or if you have any questions, don't hesitate to send me a private message
at
Turbobricks (in english) or
Volvo-Forum (auf Deutsch) (nickname Stoni) or mail to meier31 at nord-com.net
If the injector recommendations are not matching your needs, you can have a look at my
documents site.
There you can find injector flow ratings and vehicle lists from Bosch. Be aware that the flow ratings are Heptan-Flows and therefore they must be converted (heptan-flow/0.737) to get the right value for E85/gasoline.
There is one other way to get more fuel into the engine, just raise the fuel pressure.
Please read this article to get a idea off the major problem by this manner:
http://www.max-boost.co.uk/max-boost/fuelling_20LET.htm#MoreFuel
Here is a list which makes it easy to calculate the level of fuel pressure to get a certain flowrate:
Based on the article: http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=92594
Bernoulli's law: p = .5 * rho * velocity^2
Increase the pressure with factor x, the velocity increases with x^0.5.
Velocity * area = volume flow.
Doubling the pressure will give 2^0.5 = 1.41 times as much fuel. Theoretically.
Raise pressure factor % more flow
3bar -> 3.50bar 1.17 1.081
3bar -> 3.75bar 1.25 1.118
3bar -> 4.00bar 1.33 1.153
3bar -> 4.25bar 1.42 1.191
3bar -> 4.50bar 1.50 1.224
3bar -> 4.75bar 1.58 1.256
3bar -> 5.00bar 1.67 1.292
Now, which flow has a b230ft injector with gasoline or E85 at 4.25bar?
A look in the list tells me, that the b230ft injector 0280 150 804 has a heptan flow from 234cc/min@3bar.
We convert the heptan flow to gasoline: 234cc/min /0.737 = 317cc/min with gasoline.
Now we take the multiplier from above (the multiplier from 4.25bar is 1.191): 317* 1.191 = 377.5cc/min@4.25bar
That's not pretty difficult to calculate, isn't it?
BTW: I think you B230 guys will be nuts about that tiny thing, it's a modified Bosch regulator which fits
into the original place, let's have a look: adj. FPR
- you can buy this FPR here, price is 99 Euro.
The modifcations above are good enough to use E85, but there are a lot of modifications which can be done to
increase the fuel efficiency/performance of the engine. One of the main mods would be, to increase the
comp ratio (even when you have a turbo engine) to get as much out of E85 as 106 Octane you can give.
But be aware that you will get a problem when driving on gas - you must find your own limit!
I recommend to add 5-10% extra gasoline when the temperature is falling under +15 degrees Celsius to compensate cold-start issues.
So, i've told you all what you need to start, but if you have a little bit more time you should read this article:
Converting your Volvo to use E85 - from Fredrik Persson / Recommended Reading!
There are many interesting sites in the www regarding ethanol, here is a list of these sites:
English sites:
Ethanol.org
National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition
Planet E85 Forum
Converting gasoline engines to run with alcohol
How e85 ethanol flex fuel works
Google Search: Converting to E85
Google Search: Converting to Ethanol
German sites:
Ethanol fuer Europa
Ethanol statt Benzin
Biokraftstoffseiten
Biokraftstoffe
Ethanol tanken
Oil! Tankstellen
Nachwachsende Rohstoffe
Seekport Deutschland: suche Bio-Ethanol E85