I have a 96 Dakota Club Cab with the 318 engine, A/T, 4WD,
3.55 axle.
The 100,000 mile extended Chrysler warranty will expire in
5,000 miles.
My winter mileage is 16 mpg and summer mileage is 18 mpg or
better.
The tires are Dunlop Radial Rover 30"x9.50"x15". I
generally drive with
a cab-height aluminum topper over the box.
I am wondering if it is worth converting the truck to
'flexible fuel' after the warranty dies so that I could use
E-85 (up to 85% ethanol) in it.
Here in the St. Paul - Mpls. area of Minnesota the currently
available
E-85 has a maximum of 70% ethanol and a minimum of 30%
gasoline.
The per-gallon price is around 30 cents cheaper than 87
octane gas.
Apparently unique to the 96 model year Dakota's was the one
piece fuel sending unit (housing, pump, filter, level)
inside the tank. This whole unit was just replaced at the
95,000 mile 'go-through-the-entire-truck and
fix-whatever-is-covered-by-the-warranty' exercise. The fuel
level sending unit was faulty and the Dodge dealer also
found evidence that the fuel pump may have repeatedly
overheated. I am hoping that with a new fuel sending unit
and new gaskets and seals, the issue of ethanol
deterioration will not be a concern, at least in the fuel
tank area.
That may be the easy part of the conversion. I expect that
gaskets and seals in the fuel delivery and metering system
up in the engine will also need to be replaced. As far as
the MPI fuel injectors and emission sensors and PCM & OBDII
computer stuff is concerned, that's what is worrying me.
Does anyone have encouraging words about proceeding?
Thanks in advance ! Dennis Anderson
'whatelse@qwest.net'
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