Jonny Energy Number 1 Flex Fuel Conversion Kits
Part of  the Energy Revolution
Corn Ethanol supports the e85 conversion kit flex fuel vehicle industry

            How Jonny Energy's E85 Conversion Kits work

What does stoichiometry mean?
The stoichiometry of a fuel refers to the coefficients in the chemical reaction equation and is expressed
as a ratio of the mass of air to the mass of fuel. For pure octane, the ratio is about 14.7:1, but do you
know anyone who burns pure octane in their car? Gasoline is a mixture of many different compounds,
most of which are usually not octane but various alkenes. Each of these compounds will have a
different stoichiometric ratio and the exact chemical makeup of gasoline can vary quite a lot from one
tankful to the next. The air available can, and does, change as we drive to different altitudes, the
temperature changes, and even from moment to moment due to wind pressure. It could be terribly
complex to compute the exact mixture needed for each tank of fuel, but a modern ECM will use a fuel
trim system to make the mixture more lean (negative trim) or more rich (positive trim) to compensate for
different operating conditions.

Do Flex-Fuel vehicles trim fuel differently?
The stoichiometry of ethanol requires more fuel for the same amount of air than does gasoline. As you
add small amounts of ethanol to the fuel, like with E10, your ECM will make positive trim adjustments to
correct the fuel to air mixture. As higher ethanol concentrations are used, higher levels of additional
positive trim will be needed. Non Flex-Fuel vehicles will generally reach their capacity for positive trim
with a concentration of approximately 50% ethanol. Afactory Flex-Fuel vehicle will have an ECM which
has the necessary capacity for positive trim to correctly trim the fuel for high concentrations of ethanol.

How does your converter work?
Our converter works in concert with your vehicle's fuel trim system. Flex-fuel vehicles have a fuel trim
system with more capacity for positive trim than the positive trim capacity in a non flex-fuel vehicle. By
inserting a digital signal processor and some electronics between the ECM and the injectors, we can
add some positive trim to help the non flex-fuel vehicle reach the amount of positive trim necessary for
correctly using ethanol. This added trim, combined with what the ECM can provide, allows the ECM to
trim the fuel to reach the proper mixture for E85. Our converter has an internal adjustment which allows
it to be tuned to each vehicle and the range of fuels typically being used. We have found that a setting
of about 60% of the converter's positive trim works very well for the vast majority of vehicles and ship
converters set to this level.

I can't always get E85. With the extra trim from the converter,
can I still use regular gas?
Yes! The vehicle's ECM can also generate significant amounts of negative trim to lean the mixture. The
ECM monitors the oxygen sensors and adjusts the trim to achieve the proper mix for the fuel being
used. For example: When a fuel such as E10 is being burned, the total positive trim needed would be
less than what is provided by the converter. The ECM's fuel trim would lean the mixture by generating
negative trim. This, combined with the positive trim added by the converter, results in the correct fuel
mixture. A factory adjusted converter won't add so much positive trim that the ECM would have
difficulty trimming for regular gasoline, so you can easily use petrol when you are unable to
find E85.

Do you tap into or modify the signal from any of the sensors?
Absolutely not! We do not modify, disconnect, alter, or otherwise interfere with any sensor. We also do
not interrupt, sample, intercept, reformulate, or otherwise adulterate the signal from any sensor.
Our converter takes a completely hands-off approach to the sensors, their signals, and the operation of
the ECM. We ONLY modify the injector pulse and leave the sensors completely AS IS. The sensors and
the ability for the ECM to accurately monitor the conditions they are designed to sense form the heart
of a vehicle's emission control system. Any adulteration in the integrity of the sensor signals would
interfere with the ability for the ECM to receive proper inputs and, in essence, would be an engineering
change to the emission control system with which the vehicle originally certified. Even tapping into a
signal could theoretically cause some unexpected interference. By not messing with any of the vehicle's
sensors, we eliminate the risk of disrupting the ability for the ECM to get accurate information with which
to properly run the emission control equipment. The on-board diagnostics that have been required
since 1996 will detect if the emission control equipment is not operating within acceptable parameters.
As long as the ECM has unadulterated signals from its sensors, the emission control equipment will
either be operating correctly or a check-engine condition will occur. For most modern vehicles, the only
thing they lack to be able to use ethanol is a bit of a boost to the amount of positive trim they can
produce. That can easily be done by making a small increase in the injector pulse width. This makes for
a very clean conversion and leaves your vehicle's emission control unaltered.

How does fuel trim work?
Carburetors – Lets first take a quick trip down memory lane and recall some of the problems with the
good old carburetor. If you always drove with the same fuel and never changed altitude, it was possible
to adjust a carburetor so that the fuel to air mixture was very close to ideal. Unfortunately we often burn
fuel from different vendors, we drive up and down mountains, and even the temperature, wind, and
barometric pressure will affect the fuel to air mixture. Carburetors can be adjusted, but there is no
practical method of making any on-the-fly adjustments as conditions change. Consequently, when we
had a tuneup, rather than making it ideal for one condition, the mechanic would have to set it to run
pretty well for a variety of conditions. Generally that meant a carbureted engine would be running a little
rich most of the time.
Fuel Injection – The big advantage of fuel injection is that fuel injectors are controlled by an electronic
signal. Changing conditions could be monitored with sensors. Logic could be added to monitor the
sensors and continually adjust the fuel mixture as needed. The ECM (Electronic Control Module) does
this job. Sometimes a manufacturer will use other terms for the logic center and often we will call it “the
computer”, but an ECM by any other name still keeps the fuel trimmed. The important part is that it
monitors sensors to determine what the conditions are, has logic to make decisions based upon the
sensor readings, and can control the injectors. Its job is to both keep the fuel to air mixture where it
needs to be and to deliver the amount of power commanded.

What do the oxygen sensors do?
Oxygen sensors allow the ECM to monitor the oxygen content of the exhaust. To improve fuel economy
and reduce pollutants from incomplete combustion, it is necessary to get the fuel to air mixture just
right. The primary oxygen sensors are located between the exhaust manifold and the catalytic
converter. If you have a split exhaust system and/or the ECM monitors the fuel trim for each
side of the engine as many do, then there will be a primary oxygen sensor for each side. The primary
oxygen sensors allow the ECM to know if the combustion is occurring with the correct mixture. If there is
too little oxygen in the exhaust, this indicates that there was too much fuel for the available air. Too
much oxygen, likewise, indicates that there was a deficit of fuel.
The secondary oxygen sensors will be located after the catalytic converter. These sensors provide
information about the oxygen content after the exhaust has passed through the catalyst. By doing so,
the ECM can monitor the health and operation of the catalyst and the catalytic converter. This input is
not used for fuel trim but is very important to the vehicle's diagnostic system. If the ECM detects a
problem with catalyst system, it will produce a check-engine condition.
You can see a lot of talk on the web about maintaining the proper stoichiometric ratios. In theory, if you
had good enough sensors to monitor the fuel chemistry, intake air properties, the engine temperature,
etc. then you could compute out exactly what do to with the fuel. In reality, while this is true, the fact is
that fuel chemistry can vary quite a bit, the combustion air can suddenly shift characteristics, the
oxygen content of the air can change, and even the sensors are not calibrated that precisely. Why?
Because it wouldn't be cost effective. Sensors that precise would be several hundred times more
expensive and no one could afford the vehicle. Maintenance would also be an issue as the sensors
would have to be re-calibrated frequently.
A much more practical approach is to start by making a good guess at what the fuel to air
mixture needs to be, then monitor the result and make adjustments to correct the guess. The
ECM then enters a mode called closed loop, where it repeats this process to continually refine
the trim and to respond to changing conditions. By taking this approach, the sensors that
monitor the process inputs need not be perfectly accurate and precisely calibrated in an absolute
sense, they only need to be able to report relative changes with good precision.
Because the oxygen sensors examine the actual results of the combustion, they provide the best
indication of whether the correct fuel to air mixture has actually been achieved.

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to have the support of
Castle Rock Renewable Fuels.

We urge you to learn about
ethanol, the
ethanol process,the facility at
Castle Rock in Necedah,
Wisconsin,
and their contributions which
benefit our environment.

Thank you, Castle Rock for your
patronage to
us and for your service in the
green industries.

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