Acetone will increase gas mileage?!?!?

[mudpuddle]

Re: Acetone will increase MPG?!?!

The more I read about this the more I am convinced that the improvements people are seeing come from one of three things:
1) dirty injectors being cleaned by the acetone
2) miscalculations of gas mileage
3) wishful thinking

1. Agreed. Though carbureted engines benefit the most.
2. Possible. Personally I calculate mileage by the tenths of miles and gallons.
3. Possible. I can't dispute the increased throttle response, better idle, and
increased power (seat of the pants feel) that I have experienced.
4. All possible by the decreased surface tension of the gasoline droplets
helping them vaporize more readily and burn more efficiently. No, I'm not
an acetone fanatic and I was skeptical at first but the scientific method
proved me wrong.
5. And this information has been around for decades, there was just no way
of communication like the i-net. Big oil didn't want you to know about it.

 

[kirby]

Re: Acetone will increase MPG?!?!

No increase in mileage, idle, performance. 98 xj with 115,000. I tried 2 oz per 10. 1 oz per 10. Both gave me the same gas mileage I had in the first place.

 

[dmillion]

Re: Acetone will increase MPG?!?!

4. All possible by the decreased surface tension of the gasoline droplets
helping them vaporize more readily and burn more efficiently. No, I'm not
an acetone fanatic and I was skeptical at first but the scientific method
proved me wrong.

Scientific method? What scientific method? All I've seen was a single article, by one person, that included lots of scientific-sounding double-talk, but NO real experiments, that followed the scientific method, to prove that acetone does anything to the surface tension of gasoline. If you actually have a reference to a REAL, scientific study of this, I would be very interested in seeing it.

 

[ChuckD]

Re: Acetone will increase MPG?!?!

Scientific method? What scientific method? All I've seen was a single article, by one person, that included lots of scientific-sounding double-talk, but NO real experiments, that followed the scientific method, to prove that acetone does anything to the surface tension of gasoline. If you actually have a reference to a REAL, scientific study of this, I would be very interested in seeing it.

Hey you just keep your eye on that TV show Myth-Busters. I sent the idea to them, lets let them do all that boring science stuff!

 

[Lucas]

Re: Acetone will increase MPG?!?!

Ive ran acetone in the past five tanks with no noticeable improvement, just hitting the upper end of my best mileage which was good enough for me (12-13mpg). Last weekend something happened and all of the sudden driving up the hills on I-40 I saw a HUGE improvement in MPG. Shot up to 20+ mpg. Weird. Probably a combination of summer gas and something else.
Can I pin it on the acetone? Not really, but I've seen enough improvement to dump a little in at each fillup.

 

[BrettM]

Re: Acetone will increase MPG?!?!

my friend with a 91 K5 blazer, TBI 350 with high miles, is reporting some good results. Much better idle and better power and mileage. He was super skeptical and would have loved for it to not have worked so he could be "right", but he's happy enough with the results that he's gotten over his pride and loves it.

I will be back to my truck in 3 weeks and I will definitley be using some, I will report back.

And for the guys saying "gas and acetone have both been around so long, if it really worked someone would have figured it out before now", how many different house-hold liquids have you tried pouring into your gas-tank in varying quantities?

 

[rstarch345]

Re: Acetone will increase MPG?!?!

1. Agreed. Though carbureted engines benefit the most.
2. Possible. Personally I calculate mileage by the tenths of miles and gallons.
3. Possible. I can't dispute the increased throttle response, better idle, and
increased power (seat of the pants feel) that I have experienced.
4. All possible by the decreased surface tension of the gasoline droplets
helping them vaporize more readily and burn more efficiently. No, I'm not
an acetone fanatic and I was skeptical at first but the scientific method
proved me wrong.
5. And this information has been around for decades, there was just no way
of communication like the i-net. Big oil didn't want you to know about it.

I'm old enough to have been driving in the energy crunch back in the '70s. Acetone was hot back then as well as water injection. Both are still around, both work. Biggest reason they haven't caught on is because neither of them make any one money.

After a year or so of mixing additives by hand for a couple or more vehicles for every gas fill gets old for most people, so the trend dies off and few people do it. Until the next time.

And for those scientific naysayers. Hey, this is field testing. The scientific stuff happend back in the '70s. You don't like the way the field tests are run, then run for president. It's not your buck that's being spent or saved.

 

[Purple]

Re: Acetone will increase MPG?!?!

DId anyone ever think of making "acetone" type of bumper stickers? If you do, please let me know.

 

[Gerr]

Re: Acetone will increase MPG?!?!

Ive been running acetone in 3 vehicles
1:94 ford escort base milage was 24mpg and had a bit of a ruff idle
2:79 K-5 Blazer (carberated 305 hp, 35 inch bfg's, 6 inch lift, 6.11 gears) base was 6mpg with hard starting and bad idle
3:93 xj (stock) base 17mpg

I found in all 3 after the first 2 tanks Idle and throttle response improved as well as less detonation on hard hills. In the escort and Xj there was no noticable mpg increase but in the blazer it improved drasticly to 8mpg. I also have noticed except when hot (damn chevy problems)it starts much easyer now. Im continuing to use the acetone but have upped the concentrations from 1 to 5 to 2 to 5 and have noticed no more of a benefit. I also have decided to get my next bottle of acetone from a paint store since they have a better quality and pure acetone available. Most stuff from the hardware stores is a mixture of some sort.

 

[rockwerks]

Re: Acetone will increase MPG?!?!

Ive been running acetone in 3 vehicles
1:94 ford escort base milage was 24mpg and had a bit of a ruff idle
2:79 K-5 Blazer (carberated 305 hp, 35 inch bfg's, 6 inch lift, 6.11 gears) base was 6mpg with hard starting and bad idle
3:93 xj (stock) base 17mpg

I found in all 3 after the first 2 tanks Idle and throttle response improved as well as less detonation on hard hills. In the escort and Xj there was no noticable mpg increase but in the blazer it improved drasticly to 8mpg. I also have noticed except when hot (damn chevy problems)it starts much easyer now. Im continuing to use the acetone but have upped the concentrations from 1 to 5 to 2 to 5 and have noticed no more of a benefit. I also have decided to get my next bottle of acetone from a paint store since they have a better quality and pure acetone available. Most stuff from the hardware stores is a mixture of some sort.

both lowes and homedepot carry 100% pure acetone for 12.00 a gallon here in AZ

 

[dmillion]

Re: Acetone will increase MPG?!?!

Biggest reason they haven't caught on is because neither of them make any one money.

Now this is the first explanation that actually makes some sense to me!

 

[LOSTXJ]

Re: Acetone will increase MPG?!?!

I tried this out in a 98' accord v6 and a 95 1/2 ton 4x Z71 w/tbi 350. The accord saw no change in idle smoothness, power or milage. This was over several tanks and I track milage very closely. The truck went from an average of 13.1 mpg to 14.1 mpg. The idle in the truck improved, power remained the same. I have not tried it in the cherokee yet, because I use it for wheelin only and havent been anywhere. I was a naysayer to start with but can't refute the results. I will continue to mix it in the truck (5 ounces for a 25 gallon tank) until gas returns to below 2.00 a gallon.

 

[5150xj]

Re: Acetone will increase MPG?!?!

OK its been 4 weeks since the last post. Anybody still doing this and keeping track of their mileage? Anybody have any bad side effects yet? Inquiring minds want to know!

Tim D

 

[bajacalal]

Re: Acetone will increase MPG?!?!

I have been doing this consistently at least a month now. I notice no harmful results, gas mileage seems a slight few mpg better (but any more mpg is better)but it doesn't seem to hurt so why not. I recommend using Lucas upper cylinder lubricant since the acetone since I read acetone breaks breaks fuel lubricity. Plus the lubricant also helps mileage and cylinder cleanliness. Here is what I do every week or 10 days:

1.) I pour 2 oz of acetone for every 10 gal gas into dry graduated cylinder.
2.) I pour the acetone into a dry plastic bottle and then pour an equal amount of lubricant.
3.) I mix in gasoline from a jerry can into the plastic bottle. I do this to avoid damage to the system from contact with straight acetone. Also the lube and acetone won't mix until gasoline is introduced. I then pour the mix into the tank.
4.) I pour in an extra 16 oz of gasoline to wash it all down.
5.) I do this after having bought gas and before leaving the house again so I will be driving around curves and the sloshing will mix it all up.

 

[MGrobe]

Re: Acetone will increase MPG?!?!

A buddy of mine was trying this on his Ram with a 360. He did get a mild improvement using acetone, but not earth shattering. Most recently he has tried a Lucas treatment in place of the acetone. He has got better mileage using the Lucas treatment and I believe he told me it was cheaper than the acetone. I'll keep in touch with him and report back if he gets negative results.

 

[bajacalal]

Re: Acetone will increase MPG?!?!

A buddy of mine was trying this on his Ram with a 360. He did get a mild improvement using acetone, but not earth shattering. Most recently he has tried a Lucas treatment in place of the acetone. He has got better mileage using the Lucas treatment and I believe he told me it was cheaper than the acetone. I'll keep in touch with him and report back if he gets negative results.

Basically the same for me, nothing earth shattering but hey, every gallon saved is a couple bucks, less pollution and less dollars going to foriegn oil right? The jeep also idles smoother. People say this is the cleaning effect of the chemical but it was not as good when I stopped using acetone 1 week. BTW the acetone is not expensive unless you can get the Lucas cheap. The acetone goes a long way and is a couple bucks for a can at any big box store and a buck more at any hardware. The Lucas is $8 for the same amount but also goes a long way.

 

[acrid]

Re: Acetone will increase MPG?!?!

just an FYI.... i'm up here in pdx or... the news just had a segment a couple weeks ago about adding acetone, so, i think they would have a hard time airing anything they could be legally liable for, i.e., damage to everyone's vehicles from misrepresenting the effects of an additive. But, hell, what do i know....? that's what lawyers are for.

p.s. i still haven't tried it, cuz i'm a lazy american who likes to burn money... but i will give er a shot soon... just changed plugs, wires, and cap. so there's another test bed, I can check for deposits, as i know the last set ran clean.

 

[DDawg16]

Re: Acetone will increase MPG?!?!

This same subject has been kicked around for a long time.
In a nutshell...it takes a pretty good concentration of Acetone to do damage...so damage is not the issue.

Does it improve mileage? Under exactly the same conditions, NO. In reality, what is happening is that you are becoming aware of your driving habits and most likely that is what is improving your MPG. Several guys on the Off-Road bbs tried it....at first, they thought they were getting great results...but when they started driving like they always do...MPG was back to where it was before.

As much as we would all like a magic solution to better MPG....acetone is not it.

 

[meaded]

Re: Acetone will increase MPG?!?!

94 Jeep cherooke 4.0

No noticable or measurable performance gain in mileage or seat of pants performance. Too good to be true

 

[BrettM]

Re: Acetone will increase MPG?!?!

This same subject has been kicked around for a long time.
In a nutshell...it takes a pretty good concentration of Acetone to do damage...so damage is not the issue.

Does it improve mileage? Under exactly the same conditions, NO. In reality, what is happening is that you are becoming aware of your driving habits and most likely that is what is improving your MPG. Several guys on the Off-Road bbs tried it....at first, they thought they were getting great results...but when they started driving like they always do...MPG was back to where it was before.

As much as we would all like a magic solution to better MPG....acetone is not it.

I noticed a clear improvement in smoothness of idle (I have poly motor mounts). I have always been very conscious of my driving habits, and drive like a friggin grandma with my 35s on to try and eek out all the mileage I can. When I started adding acetone I purposefully started driving more aggresively, and I've still noticed an improvement in mileage.