How-To: Ethanol Sensor Installation

[twin001]

I really didn't feel like regularly measuring the ethanol content at the pump. I know the e50 tune from ZFG can handle e40 to e60, which is easy to calculate for a single tank. My biggest concern was spiraling to one end of the spectrum due to inconsistent ethanol contents at various pumps after refilling over and over. Installing an ethanol sensor is the best way to accurately monitor the actual ethanol in the tank. If it starts to drift lower than e50 then I'll just add a bit more e85 next fill.

I went with the Innovate MTX-D ethanol gauge with sensor kit. Another option here is the Fuel-It bluetooth sensor kit. I was shopping around for the fittings when I saw Brett at FenFab had created his own ethanol sensor installation kit. His kit came with the hose and fittings already assembled, ethanol sensor, harness, mounting bracket, spacer/bolt, and a few zip ties. I also bought an Autometer 2236 single gauge pod to mount the gauge inside the forward center console. Fuse terminal #37 (upper RH fuse) is a switched fuse spot that I tapped in for the 12v source. Time for the dogs and I to install! (NOTE: Edit post to correct fuse terminal number).




First, disconnect the negative terminal on the battery. Also, remove the strut tower brace for better clearance. Locate the low pressure disconnect on the upper driver-side of the engine bay. The goal is to disconnect this junction and install the sensor in between to measure the ethanol (or lack of gasoline) in the fuel flow.


You will need to lift the fuel line out of the bracket shown



Place some old rags/towels under the disconnect spot to catch any fuel that spills out of the line. Use a Ford fuel removal tool to disconnect the lines. I believe this was a 5/16. A little pulling, pushing, twisting, and cussing will do the trick.


Route the new sensor line back near the firewall, connect to the male side of the OEM fuel line. Make sure your fittings are tight!


The ethanol sensor will be positioned at the upper back part of the engine, near the firewall. You will need to re-route the OEM female fuel line up here to connect to the new ethanol sensor. NOTE: The sensors from Innovate and from FenFab have pretty short tubes. Once the fittings were connected I was unable to get the disconnect tool back in there. I believe Continental has a sensor with longer tubes. The OEM retaining clip does not reinstall either. I noted the routing of the new fuel line with a red line below.



There are a few 10mm bolts you can use to install the mounting bracket. I used this one. Be careful to not drop anything in the engine bay! To get a little more clearance (height on bracket) I reused the OEM washer in conjunction with the FenFab spacer that is provided.


Tighten down bracket and attach harness. I am going to route this through a pass through one day, but for now it's just routed under the cover. I was getting hangry. Reconnect battery terminal, start car, check for leaks. For the gauge, I passed the wiring through the hood release grommet. It was a bit of a bitch, but got it done. The 12v power to the gauge also powers the ethanol sensor, so no need for power to this actual sensor.



Add-A-Circuit on Fuse #37, upper RH most fuse

 

[Doubleajaybrock]

Do you have pix of the gauge installed and working?

 

[twin001]

Yep. Just finished an unexpected 1500mi trip and tested it a few times by putting 1.5 to 2 gal of e85 in the tank, worked great!

I may take it off the lid of the cubby and just mount it to the base of the cubby.

 

[Blown F-150]

Yep. Just finished an unexpected 1500mi trip and tested it a few times by putting 1.5 to 2 gal of e85 in the tank, worked great!

I may take it off the lid of the cubby and just mount it to the base of the cubby.

View attachment 7866

Looks good. I put the gauge for my truck in the glove box. I think I’ll do the same for the ST.


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[twin001]

Looks good. I put the gauge for my truck in the glove box. I think I’ll do the same for the ST.


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might be a better idea. Definitely not a gauge you need to stare at and monitor. The harness is barely long enough to get to the cubby, so you would need to splice in some wires.

 

[Blown F-150]

might be a better idea. Definitely not a gauge you need to stare at and monitor. The harness is barely long enough to get to the cubby, so you would need to splice in some wires.

I honestly can’t remember how tight the wiring was on the truck, but the sensor is in pretty much the exact same spot as you ST (I converted it to a full return system) and it worked out really well.

Like you say, it’s a gauge that you don’t look at often, so no need for it to be in your face.




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[408hatch]

That looks great! I've looked all over their site and can't find it. Could you please provide a link to the FenFab kit? Thanks!

 

[Doubleajaybrock]

Yep. Just finished an unexpected 1500mi trip and tested it a few times by putting 1.5 to 2 gal of e85 in the tank, worked great!

I may take it off the lid of the cubby and just mount it to the base of the cubby.

View attachment 7866

looks good. Was wondering where you would mount it.

 

[twin001]

That looks great! I've looked all over their site and can't find it. Could you please provide a link to the FenFab kit? Thanks!

You need to send Brett an email or FB message, not on the website yet

 

[Clears]

Great write up!

 

[DetroitST]

Great write up, I just got my kit from Fuel It. A couple questions. Looks like you have two sensors in the first picture? My SE1003 looks like your bottom one (two red caps). This is a problem since there's no way to install it without the coupler that your top sensor has. What is that called? I tried looking up female to female fuel fitting and came up with nothing. Would love to get this thing installed...

Second, tangent, sorry if this hi-jacks... I was looking around and came across this webpage https://help.summitracing.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4879/~/what-size-fuel-line-do-i-need? and saw 3/8" lines are only rated to 450hp. Is this a concern for those with over 500whp? Could I be starving the in tank pump? When would running larger fuel lines be needed, if anyone knows. Thanks!

 

[TMac]

The answer from that website doesn't really give any real information as to how they ascertained that number. The flow through a pipe depends on the internal diameter of the pipe and the velocity of the fluid. Just for grins, we'll assume your 500hp figure. That would require approximately 50 lbs air per minute. To combust that effectively, let's assume a 12.5 A/F ratio. So we'd need a supply of 4 lbs of fuel per minute. Assuming a .375 internal diameter (I assume 3/8" is outer size, and don't know the internal diameter). In any case, that would require a pump capable of moving that fuel 2 ft/second which would generate about 4.14 lbs/minute of fuel. There are some other calculations we could use to determine the flowrate based on pressure at both ends of the pipe, but I have no idea what pressure the in-tank pump works at, nor the pressure differential supplied by the direct injection pump inlet, so there's no way of knowing what the flow rate might be- and neither does Summit Racing. We've seen people upgrade the DI pump and injectors, but I haven't heard of anyone doing the in-tank pump, so you're probably safe until you exhaust the current DI fuel system.

 

[DetroitST]

Cool that all hold true for ethanol? I'm not using gasoline. I've only heard of one person upgrading their in tank pump but I was not told if they ran upgraded lines.

Now where do I get that adapter?

 

[TMac]

For ethanol, you have to interpolate the required fuel flow from gasoline to ethanol. IIRC pure ethanol is 9:1 A/F ratio. I mean if you're that concerned, get a stopwatch, a gallon bucket, and connect a fuel hose to the fuel line. Start the stopwatch, trigger the fuel pump, and measure how much time it takes to fill the gallon bucket. Then look up the specific gravity of the fuel you're using, turn that into lbs/minute- interpolate between the ethanol and gasoline content to get an A/F ratio, convert to lbs/minute required, etc, etc, etc. Or, if that's too difficult, just listen to whatever ZFG tells you to do!

 

[DetroitST]

See attached photo. I need the circled in yellow adapter without threads, just another female connector, or if that doesn't exist, then also the braided line as well with the female end on the other side.

 

[twin001]

See attached photo. I need the circled in yellow adapter without threads, just another female connector, or if that doesn't exist, then also the braided line as well with the female end on the other side. View attachment 10411

This was part of the sensor install kit from FenFab, not sure the size or what the p/n is. I looked into piecing a kit together, but it would have been more of a hassle and wouldn't have been any less expensive. The FenFab kit is perfect.

You might want to look at Fore Innovations to see if they have the adapter. This is where UNBROKEN sourced his parts and where I initially looked.

 

[DetroitST]

Thanks, but I couldn't find it. Man I wish I knew what it was called.

 

[DetroitST]

I called FenFab, their vm states they don't have the manpower to take calls.

I've been trying to look up 3/8" or -6AN female to female quick connect adapter. Everything I have found has threads on the other side which would mean I'd need to assemble a bit of fuel line like you got. I really don't want to be responsible for crimping or whatever is involved in making a fuel line. Sounds like a quick way to a fire lol.

 

[DetroitST]

This is what I need. Nostrum has them, guess I'll wait for one to be shipped.

 

[Nbk4t5e]

This is what I need. Nostrum has them, guess I'll wait for one to be shipped.

Brett at FenFab will answer text messages.


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