Ethanol cold start recipe anyone?

Hi!

I realize that the page authors from New Zealand may not have the hands on experience on cold starts with Ethanol (E100 or E85), but maybe some of you other guys wants to share your tips'n'tricks?

How do you approach to get proper cold starts on ethanol? E100 and 10degC is a nightmare. Fires instantly with a shower of gasoline through the ITB's, and idles perfect from cold, its just the starting who is the problem.

We don't have E85 at the pump, however I do have significant experience on E85 and our local winter temps drop below zero so I think I've got a reasonable amount of experience there too. As a VIP I'd suggest going through the Flex Fuel Tuning course if you haven't already as there's a lot of info that would help you.

The first point is to be realistic with your aims. You'll never achieve pump gas cold start quality on E85 down near 0 C. There is also a point where you simply won't get the engine to start at all on E85 although that probably isn't a fixed temp for every engine. I can get adequate cold starting in our FA20 down to about 2 deg C on E85 as a guide.

My rough approach is to make a significant increase to the cranking enrichment as that seems to be the primary factor. Beyond this you'll also need to increase the warmup enrichment but not as significantly. I'd try doubling your crank enrichment on the very low ECT zones and then adding 25-50% fuel in the warmup zones. You'll know when the cranking enrichment is in the ball park because the engine will fire initially but may then die. From here you should be able to get good results by manipulating the warmup compensation.

Thank you Andre!

Didn't realize you had such low temps down there, thought it was summer all year round!

I'll definitely look into the course, working my way through the fundamentals tuning at the moment.

This particular car runs KMS, and it like a Commodore 64 to work with :p

But that commodore will do the trick just fine:)

from the back of my mind: try setting firing tooth btdc a little earlier on e85 (prob 2-3).

e85 and Cold start stays difficult sometimes.

is it for competition you’re using KMS?

Hi!

Yeah I know, once they're set up, they are good reliable computers.

It's in my friends rallycross car, Volvo 2.4L 16v. E100. So competing in the Norwegianchampionship, yes.

I'll do some test with him again, before next season.

They are very good computers for competition use. Widely used here in the netherlands. Not because of their (in)capability but their simplicity that aids quick troubleshooting. Maybe you can post your program so i can try to take a look at it tomorrow?