E85 people is this type of sludge a concern?

[nextelbuddy]

So the guy in this video has a Subaru engine. Not sure if it's it's more Subaru specific or if any engine can be susceptible to it

I've been running e85 for about 4 years with my turbo setup. No pump gas and I often wonder if there's any lingering issues internally that I just can't see.

I also wonder if Blackstone oil analysis would confirm anything from this video. I get consistent oil analysis from Blackstone and they've always said everything looks good besides some elevated iron levels in my latest sample.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPcVBc4-5Mk

[EthanolTurbo]

So the reason that motor blew was because Mike's daughter was coldstarting it, driving it 1.4 miles, then cold starting it again and driving 1.4 miles again and it never got up to temp. I have never seen these issues on an engine that's been treated right.

In my experience, E85 doesn't cause any issues other than needing more frequent oil changes and I've seen some gunk on my E46 M3 injectors. Some tuners recommend running a tank of pump gas once or twice a month to keep the fuel system lubricated and clean any gunk from the ethanol. The ethanol and gasoline seem to work together to keep the fuel system cleaner than usual.

I have 100k+ miles on E85 without any major issues but YMMV. That motor wasn't making as much power as your turbo S54 but was abused heavily by doing so many cold starts.

[bigjae46]

I think cleanliness is a strength of ethanol - it is alcohol. The issue with ethanol is...it's alcohol...so it will be much harsher on seals and gaskets like internal seals on a fuel pump. Ethanol can cause brittle fractures in carbon steel, not sure about aluminum. I think stainless greatly reduces the risk. So any welds and/or anything that sees a lot of vibration is at risk for a brittle fracture.