After Bush's State of the Union addres this month, wherein he called for the use of E85 (85% Ethanol) to reduce our dependence on foriegn oil, I emailed Nissan N.A. asking about using E85 as fuel for our engines. Specifically, I was asking about whether or not parts of the engine/fuel system would need modification apart from the ECU. There are companies out there who make tuning boxes for many automotive makes/models, i.e. the Brazillian company, Flextune: www.flextune.com
These boxes manipulate the fuel injection systems of non-flex-fuel vehicles to account for the specific properties of Ethanol, producing a clean and efficient burn on every stroke. For those of you who are wondering if I'm smoking crack, see: http://www.ethanol.org/talkingpoints.html for more information on ethanol and what it means for the future of US transportation.
At any rate, I'm sure at least a few of you have been wondering about our Frontiers, and without further ado, here is the response I got from Nissan:
"...the Frontier cannot run on E85 (Ethanol) fuel at all at this time. Only the 2005 Titan FFV can consume this type of fuel. There were special fuel tanks, pumps, and hoses that were installed at the time of manufacturing, that can withstand this more corrosive fuel for the 2005 Titan FFV. Modifications cannot be made to the vehicle to accommodate an alternative fuel, due to the vehicles internal parts being designed specifically for the vehicle and installed at the time of manufacturing. At this time Nissan North America, Inc. has not released any official information regarding a tuning box for these motors, or if or when Nissan will produce a 4-cylinder diesel version of the Frontier."
The good news is that it appears as though it's only going to take a new fuel pump, tank, and fuel lines to be flex-fuel ready. Then, it's just a matter of finding a tuner to remap the ECU. I don't know how expensive the fuel pump will be, bu the tank and lines shouldn't be prohibitive at all.
If you've found a source for Ethanol ECU remapping, or for the parts mentioned above, please post it here. After running biodiesel for years in my Golf without issue, I'm ready to kiss another warranty goodbye in the name of reducing foriegn oil dependency.
![]()
![]()
Random
These boxes manipulate the fuel injection systems of non-flex-fuel vehicles to account for the specific properties of Ethanol, producing a clean and efficient burn on every stroke. For those of you who are wondering if I'm smoking crack, see: http://www.ethanol.org/talkingpoints.html for more information on ethanol and what it means for the future of US transportation.
At any rate, I'm sure at least a few of you have been wondering about our Frontiers, and without further ado, here is the response I got from Nissan:
"...the Frontier cannot run on E85 (Ethanol) fuel at all at this time. Only the 2005 Titan FFV can consume this type of fuel. There were special fuel tanks, pumps, and hoses that were installed at the time of manufacturing, that can withstand this more corrosive fuel for the 2005 Titan FFV. Modifications cannot be made to the vehicle to accommodate an alternative fuel, due to the vehicles internal parts being designed specifically for the vehicle and installed at the time of manufacturing. At this time Nissan North America, Inc. has not released any official information regarding a tuning box for these motors, or if or when Nissan will produce a 4-cylinder diesel version of the Frontier."
The good news is that it appears as though it's only going to take a new fuel pump, tank, and fuel lines to be flex-fuel ready. Then, it's just a matter of finding a tuner to remap the ECU. I don't know how expensive the fuel pump will be, bu the tank and lines shouldn't be prohibitive at all.
If you've found a source for Ethanol ECU remapping, or for the parts mentioned above, please post it here. After running biodiesel for years in my Golf without issue, I'm ready to kiss another warranty goodbye in the name of reducing foriegn oil dependency.
Random
