IA_Civic

Greetings, new to the forum and have a slight emergency. My 16 year old daughter wanted to save a little money so while at the gas station she decided to get the cheapest gas they sell. Well here in Iowa that means E85 which I know this car doesn't like.

Long story short, she drove it home and was worried so she asked if it would run on this gas. I told her no and parked it but have had a few different suggested solutions:
Dealer - bring it in and we'll drain the tank and refill it for you ($600.00 or so)
Another dealer - drain it yourself at least half way and put in fresh 87 or 92 octane in and drive it.
Mechanic I spoke with - Not good - you should have it drained and cleaned by the dealer as they will stand behind the work.

Anyone here have input? I was thinking I'd drain or siphon all of the gas and then put in fresh gas to see it that would solve the problem or not. I would guess the O2 censor would send a warning light if there is a major problem but until I get the gas replaced I won't start the engine.

Any help is much appreciated.

ezone

I've had people opt to do it both ways. Either drain it out and put good gas in it, or
DRIVE UNTIL THE TANK IS EMPTY AND IGNORE THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT.
(If you can drive it to empty in 2 or 3 days, it really isn't going to corrode anything in that short of a time IMO. If you leave it for weeks or fill E85 repeatedly, that will do damage.)
The engine may/will act a little bit lean while the E85 is in it. This is expected.






IF someone wants to spend the money to fix it (Read: Scared to death of the CEL being on):
Drain out as much as you can.
I pop a fuel line off at the engine, run a hose into a gas can, and jumper the pump relay to use the in-tank pump and just let it pump itself empty.
(That may leave maybe a half gallon or so in the tank that can't be pumped out. Don't worry about it, a full tank of good gas will be plenty to dilute it. This is how I do this job.)


Refill with regular gas. 87 Octane.
It will be fine.

If it has a CEL on (with a P0171 lean code), it should go out after about 3 trip cycles with decent fuel in it.
If you only drain half of the tank and leave a bunch of the E85 in this tank , it may still set lean codes. Drive it until the tank is empty and refill with gas again.



We always have E-85 cars on the lot so the fuel doesn't go to waste.
People do this more often as the price of gas goes up.



I'd just drive it if it were mine.
And a stern lecture for the kid.

IA_Civic

Thank you for the response. I'll get as much out as I can and refill. So far no lights so we'll cross our fingers and get on that lecturing!

IA_Civic

Ok - so there is the anti-siphon screen on this one - you don't happen to have a diagram with the location for the fuel line you remove do you? I jacked it up and got below it and found what I think is the fuel pump directly in front of the gas tank on top of a plastic box. I can follow the fuel line up front but if you have some insight I might feel a little more comfortable.

TIA!!

ezone

I'm efficient (lazy). I do things the easiest way I can.

That means I would just drive the car and ignore the CEL when it comes on. I know why it is on, and I know it isn't going to hurt anything if the E85 doesn't stay long.






But since you asked......
It's a single (meaning returnless) pressure line from the pump to the engine compartment. Quick connects at each end of the 2 plastic lines.
No liquid return line.
One vapor line.


If I was to disconnect a fuel line, I would take the line off at the injector rail on the engine.....It's a tight fit, some people can't get their hands on it without pulling the wiper cowl panels out and removing other stuff for access. Then insert a test line nipple and clamp a hose to it. Or remove the plastic line from the firewall and clamp a hose directly to that.

Second choice would be to yank the rear seat cushion up and go thru the pump access panel. (front edge of the seat yanks up, rear edge has one bolt - 10mm socket)

Clamp a hose to the nipple and run it to a can outside the car.


Then I'd hotwire the pump at its relay.



This is all dangerous as heck, so be careful.