Increasing gas milage: pure acetone additive

:blink:

https://www.metacafe.com/watch/524517/double_your_gas_mileage_2x/

clicky

See the attached video above:

I have a friend who is married and has two teenage drivers. They all drive their own vehicles, and as you can imagine, pay a lot for fuel. Does anyone out there have any experience with using "pure acetone" that supposedly increases the vaporization of the fuel, resulting in significant increase in miles per gallon for their gas/diesel powered vehicles. Adding this stuff supposedly helps to decrease the pollution coming from your engine.

Here are my are questions:

Does adding acetone actually do what is claimed ?

Are there "unintended consequences" from "long term" use of it ? I am talking [SIZE=18pt]years[/SIZE] here. Damage to rubber gaskets, white metal items, etc... that negate using it I want opinions from people who actually have used the stuff, not the "google experts" I have been down that route and know that there are a lot of whack jobs out there looking for recognition and or attention, and who spread false information.

Thanks in advance for all those who take the effort to reply.

Rhody

Yeah, it's too good to be true. I don't believe it at all! Even the claims about cleaning out his trunk sound like a stretch to me.

Acetone is pretty wicked stuff. It may help to vaporize gasoline, short term. But I think it will tend to 'flash off' (evaporate) pretty soon after being added to a gas tank. Can't be very good for the evaporative emissions system.

My two cents

This can be nasty stuff.

Acetone - MSDS

I've read (at quite a few places} that this works to help an older car pass the emissions test. Throw a quart or so in a half tank of gas . I wouldn't keep using it after the test tho, it might start eating away at any rubber or gaskets thru out fuel system or injectors/carbs

P.S.just remembered,,,, the stuff I read about was bought from a paint supply house to thin paint I think. Cant remember the exact chemical but it wasn't mineral oil. It came in gallon jugs for around 2 bucks

It came in gallon jugs for around 2 bucks

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It couldn't have been acetone then. Last week when I bought a gal at Lowes it cost $13...

Jestal will set the record strait. Is he around?

-BD

Internet rumor that pops it's head up now and again...and been discussed at least once this board already.

Yeah, I wouldn't try it. Acetone will dissolve just about anything, including plastic parts, gaskets and hoses. Don't get it near your paint either.

We use Acetone and other solvents in my lab. While its is not the worst out these it will disolve (slowly or quickly depenting on the material) pretty much any organic based material: this includes rubber. in a vented tank, it will also evaporate at a rapid rate. i imagine that if you put a cup in your full gas tank it would be all but gon the next day.

I know of cheap guyz who run Acetone in bikes to keep them from pinging. Kind of a poor man's anti-knock. I never did though.. Oh, this was back on Yamaha 490 2 strokers..

I had a major discussion of injector cleaners one time on another forum. Some injector cleaners have high percentages of acetone. During my research on that I found that acetone was found to enhance mileage by several major companies but they also found that it did damage to o-rings and other fuel system components. Just because something is a solvent doesn't automatically mean it is bad. Gasoline itself is one wicked solvent but there are additives in the gas that are much worse. Ducati had a major recall on quick disconnect fittings because the additives broke down buna-n o-rings which were supposed to be super tough. They had to go to vicon (maybe viton, not sure of the spelling). Just goes to show ya not to just dump anything in the tank that sounds good.

I think I remember jestal mentioning that you don't want to add too much gasoline additive (of any sort) due to the fact that the fuel pump windings are exposed to the gasoline (for cooling purposes) and any solvent that could erode/dissolve the varnishes used to insulate the motor windings, could pretty quickly rendor your fuel pump inoperatable. I would think acetone even more aggressive in this pursuit.

You should already be experiencing 40 to 50 miles/per/gallon (depending on city or highway usage) so why even take the chance.

I have been using Acetone in my cars and bikes for about 3 years.

No more than 3 oz per ten gallons, any more than that and fuel economy will go down.

I use it to start hard to start engines. I have put it in 2 year old gas in a quad of ours and it ran fine. The gas had no other additive added such as stabil gas treatment.

My wifes Miata gets about 42 mpg with Acetone 35 with out. My dodge truck 4x4, no change in mileage, but has an easier time pulling a load, and my zero to 60 times decreased. Don't remember the exact times though.

I use it in my Yamaha wr426f/ RM250/ YZ250F/ and TTR250 and it gives them more power also. ( on the RM I use 1 oz per 10 gallons in the fuel oil mixture)

As for the rotting hoses, fuel pump breaking, it isn't happening.

I have checked the o rings on my BMW, which still uses the old rubber formula, (back wards thinking dorks) and I haven't seen any dissolving of the rubber.

I had to replace the rubber intake tubes on the BMW, it was rotting from the outside not the inside where the Acetone/ Gas mixture touched.

If the fuel you have in your area has alcohol in it, it will not do anything for the gas or economy.

Any thing that uses the old organic rubber formula, like the old cars, Chinese crap, BMW crap etc. My experience in a small solution of about 3 oz or less will do no more harm than the ozone that we breath. Any one here ever figure out the PPM of 3 oz per 10 gallons. Kind of a small amount.

As for the FJR I have not put any in it, this bike just keeps running great. I should test it though just for the hell of it.

The BMW, Miata, and truck Are all made to run on 91, with the Acetone I use 85/87 in these vehicles and it is worth the money.

Just talking from experience, not the peanut galley.

BobG said:

Just talking from experience, not the peanut galley.

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Just a comment from a spectator in the peanut gallery with a chemistry degree, Ducati doesn't make recalls for no reason, and BMW also changed out fuel fittings because of o-ring deterioration. You can't tell what an o-ring is made of by looking at it. Any o-ring that touched oil or gas has been at least neoprene for years by just about all vehicle manufacturers.

Anyone trying to convince you to put acetone in your fuel tank must be an acetone salesman or owns stock in an acetone refinery....or they just have a mean streak and revel at the idea of your fuel system components turning to goo. You really do not want nor need to put acetone in your fuel.

The idea that acetone increases fuel economy is BS. Given that the majority of the vehicles on the road these days have closed loop fuel control systems with oxygen sensors you can pretty well bet the farm that you are driving along at a stochiometric air/fuel ratio (14.7:1) most all the time...at least 99.9 % of it and 100% of the time you are concerned about fuel economy. Adding acetone or anything else is not going to change this so it is not going to change the fuel economy.

The premis that acetone changes the atomization of the fuel of the vaporization or the "molecular break up" is rediculous. Consider the conditions inside the combustion chamber before you think that several ounces of acetone in a tankfull of fuel is going to change the atomization of the fuel. If the fuel wasn't being "atomized" inside the chamber already the catalytic converter would be glowing bright red going down the road getting rid of all that "un-atomized" fuel.

Comparing real world fuel economy with and without acetone is worse than useless...it is misleading. It is almost impossible to duplicate back-to-back fuel economy comparisons without making ANY changes due to wind/road/traffic/etc. That is why dedicated fuel economy comparisons are done on the dyno by comparing BSFC and on the chassis rolls per the FTP (Federal Test Procedure) as used for the fuel economy labeling. Acetone shows no improvement at all in fuel economy in that type of testing. Which is also why you do not see any acetone proponents quoting BSFC (Brake Specific Fuel Consumption) numbers....they don't exist that support their case. Instead they quote real world fuel economy comparisons which seem "more realistic" to the uninitiated but are actually quite useless.

Acetone will definitely attack many of the elastomers used in fuel systems. Whether it will be strong enough in small doses to hurt fuel pumps or o-rings in the near future is debateable but keep in mind you are doing your own testing. Acetone is not something that is desired in fuel systems.

The usual problem with adding fuel treatments, injector cleaner or acetone is when someone pours the stuff into an empty tank at home and then drives to the gas station to fill up. Even a few miles of the stuff circulating thru the electric fuel pump relatively un-diluted can cause damage...sometimes quite quickly. If it is diluted into a full tank the effect might be minimal but best avoided on a continuous basis.

sprint_st said:

BobG said:

Just talking from experience, not the peanut galley.

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Just a comment from a spectator in the peanut gallery with a chemistry degree, Ducati doesn't make recalls for no reason, and BMW also changed out fuel fittings because of o-ring deterioration. You can't tell what an o-ring is made of by looking at it. Any o-ring that touched oil or gas has been at least neoprene for years by just about all vehicle manufacturers.

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True. Viton most likely.... Everyone got tired of any material less than this failing a long ago.

To BobG,

Thanks for the info about the benefits and lack of bad side effects of using pure acetone to increase mileage.

I am an engineer by trade, and tend to be a bit cautious about trying things that could be the cause of a major engine repair.

I will let my friend fill me in on how 3 oz per 10 gallons really works in everyday driving. He will be my :beta: tester.

I also have a creative, think outside the box, throw the goddam box away side as well.

For all you folks who ride long distances and who use aux fuel cells to extend you mileage before having to stop for gas, would this be an alternative to adding fuel cell, giving you the biggest band for the buck in mileage so to speak ? And, if you had a fuel cell, might give you that little edge in a long distance event for bragging rights about being the first to cross the finish line because of the increased mileage each tankful would bring with the acetone added ?

rhody said:

For all you folks who ride long distances and who use aux fuel cells to extend you mileage before having to stop for gas, would this be an alternative to adding fuel cell, giving you the biggest band for the buck in mileage so to speak ? And, if you had a fuel cell, might give you that little edge in a long distance event for bragging rights about being the first to cross the finish line because of the increased mileage each tankful would bring with the acetone added ?

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No way Jose!

Besides not putting that crap in my tank or cell to turn my seals into goo....I can't imagine bragging rights for an alleged few miles is some thing LD people would worry about. I'd rather but magic beans in there and hope a beanstalk grows so I could ferment it into biodiesel or something. Maybe a shot of Binaca and roll of Mentos will make the acetone even better!

I'm with Jestal on this one.

Internet and urban rumor gone awry. ......but, I cheer your friend on. Hope it works out for him.

BobG said:

If the fuel you have in your area has alcohol in it, it will not do anything for the gas or economy.

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Sure it will. It will reduce it compared to regular gasoline because the O2 sensor will change the mixture ratio and compensate by richening it. MPG will drop between 5 and 10% depending on whether it's ethanol or methanol.

So all here have tested the Acetone them selves.

As for lab testing, vs real world testing, "I trust my own test". I would have to study the labs data to determine if they created a "failed scenario".

I do know, that with the specific gasoline formula I use here, the acetone does show improvement in the vehicles I have.

I would guess the lab tested all the different gas formulas made for sale on the market to come to a conclusion about the acetone in fuel. ( I really doubt it)

I guess they tested, all vehicles, all engines, with all the different summer and winter gas formulas.

As for Closed loop systems, all work different. My BMW only uses the O2 sensor between about 45 mph and 65 mph, while on light load. So at 85 mph the bike doesn't use the sensor.

I don't know how the Miata system works. I do know that it dropped back to 35 mpg after we stopped using the acetone, after 3 tanks of fuel.

I also only by fuel from one source, and these stations don't share their fuel source with the other stations like most do.

So all here know how all the different systems work.

I don't think so.

After 3 years of use in my bikes and cars, a .00046875% solution max, has not melted, turned to goo, blown up, or shown any damage to them.

Also I don't sell acetone, I buy mine at Wally world.

As for using acetone across country would be a waste of time. Mostly because of the different gas formulas used.

Telling me this doesn't work based on a Labs finding is bull shit.

I personally know in my case it does.

Never mind!