Ultimate fuel additive?

Oooops.

I goofed with my calculation. It was actually 395.5 miles out of the last tank not 400.2. A few years back I had my speedometer/odometer tested by the AAA club and the odometer was off 3 miles for every 100 miles, or .03 per mile. My odometer read 385 at that fill up, so recalculating for my goof, the mpg was 30.39 on that tank.

 

Well guys, as of last night I am running the acetone in my Navigator. I reset my mileage computer which was averaging 12.4 miles per gallon. I am running 3oz per ten gallons. The Navigator is supposed to run 91 octane. I usually run 87 unless I am towing. If I am running 87 and accelerate up a steep grade from a stop,which is near my home, I usually hear a bit of detonation. Obviously I don't do this all the time, but it does happen. Now last night after filling with 87 and acetone, I heard no detonation up the hill. I'm going to try it for a month and see the difference. If I'm towing I'll put the 91 in ,otherwise I'll continue to run the 87. Keep ya posted.

Darrell.

 

maybe I should try this on my Sedan de Ville. god knows it needs all the snake oil it can take to lower it's gas guzzling thirst.

 

mystery oil? why?

 

Oh, don't worry, folks, I'll be putting acetone in the next tank or the one after that on my daily driver. I've got... 30,000 miles of baseline data? Or I may just use the same time last year. I can chop and dissect this any way you can imagine! All from the sceptical viewpoint...

P.S.-Did anyone notice this guy kept saying you need a ScanGuage to get accurate data? The thing's just an OBDII monitor. There are dozens out there. But never so much as "You need a ScanGuage or similar OBDII monitor". Fishy...

 

Hmmm, we's saying you need to read the ECU to get an "accurate"milage?... it sounds like what's really happening is the acetone screws up one of the sensors or something which confuses the ECU....

 

Has anyone tried an emission test with this stuff on board? I am curious whether it would help or hurt obtaining a passing score.

 

I would not be putting Acetone which is a super solvent, think nail polish remover, in my fuel system.

 

This is nothing new gents.
This is not a "discovery" Oil companies and motor manufactures have been around the block. They are no fools, nor are they trying to rob you of fuel mileage.

This is no "ultimate fuel additive". - It does serve a function when mixed with fuel, it helps the fuel to vaporize with incoming air and creates a more stable flame front and more complete fuel burn. Tolulene serves the same purpose.

It will also destroy your injection and fuel system. Not really worth the minor % in possible gain.

If you want better fuel (which is the root of the mileage increase), get a 5 gal minidrum of 100+ octane race gas and add some to your tank on fillup. You will get all of the above without the added bonus of a destroyed fuel system.

Eric

 

How so?

 

I recall a paper on this from the SAE, its been a long time since I have seen it. Ill try to find it. I would hate to throw out things and not be able to back it up with some data.

If I recall the issue is not in the acetone "eating" any fuel system components, it is that it emulsifies with water. and there is some small % of water in your fuel. This can destroy the injectors etc by plugging them up over time.

Anyway, a small % race fuel will accomplish the same effect without risk. But its your car, knock yourself out.

Eric

 

Oh I am. That's why I'm trying it on my Integra. The car has over 222,000 miles on it. So if the engine goes I'm not gonna cry over it.

You guys will be getting an update on the milage later today, as I have to fill up.

Anyone wanna speculate on what the milage will be?

Place your bets now. Will it be better, the same, or worse?

Stay tuned.

 

The Magic Elixir - see also the J. C. Whitney catalog

Color me skeptical - but I did use some in my 9N Ford tractor to clean out the fuel lines and Carb to get ready for winter. Hurt nothing - ran the same as the previous year.

Cheers
Warren

 

I am not sure acetone is much of a "secret" - it is only that the composition of the various fuel additives tried over the years is not on the top of everyones "knowledge base".
I used it in my '50 Ford when I worked at Monsanto, where it was used by the gallon. I would add a small bottle now and then to my gas tank - figuring it would help keep the Carb clean. It didn't hurt anything, but I can't prove it cleaned anything either. There was no obvious change in performance. I suppose an insignificant fraction less gas was used since acetone diluted the gasoline, and was burned instead of the gas.
As a note - I can't help but think that this thread should have been be saved until April!

Cheers
Warren

 

Okay kids, the results for the first tank are in.

Before I filled up at the station, the milage reading on the trip odometer was 375.5 miles. Does everyone have their decoder rings? Set them to correct for the error on my speedo (.03 per mile) gives us a corrected milage of 386.765 miles out of the tank. Now the last fill up was at a Costco using 87 grade gas. This time I filled up at a Unical76 station again using 87. The amount of gasoline used came to 12.236 gallons. Using our decoder rings again , dividing the milage by the gallons gives us 31.608 mpg.

So compairing this to the gas milage I have been keeping track of on my car for the last 4 years, I saw zero gain, and zero loss. It was the same I have been getting all along. This was driving normal around town, and 65mph on the freeway using the cruse control. I drove a little over 120 miles in town, and the rest on the freeway.

By the results of the first tank this is not looking good for the claims stated on the site posted. But before we cry BS, we are going to use up the rest of the can and see what the next few tanks will yield. The website does say to give it at least 5 tanks, and I think I can get 8 out of that can. I don't think I'll see anything different. But my injectors may get cleaned out real good.

So stay tuned next fill-up for another exciting episode of "acetone".

 

I don't see anything to sort out. The way I see things currently, you're no more than a troll spreading misinformation on an internet messageboard. Perhaps you've targeted this community because you have a grudge against Ferrari owners, or perhaps you want to see how far you can string along these folks.

 

Ernie,

I also started the experiment today. filled up with 12.97 gal of 87 (tank nearly dry). added 3oz of acetone per 10 gal of gas and a bottle of Chevron Techron fuel additive.

my mileage before fill up was 271.7

stay tuned...

 

Aaron,

Was it really necessary to flame the guy? Gary may be misinformed, but give the guy a break. We have a couple of people here who are currently either confirming the claims or debunking them. I read the website Gary mentioned and though I'm as sceptical as they come, parts of it made sense and actually sounded plausable. Gary didn't run out and say "Hey, everyone, you HAVE to do this, it's the greatest thing since sliced bread." Seems to me he asked a question -- Is this for real?

Rather than wasting your time beating up on Gary, why not wait and see what the results say. So far, from Ernie's report, it's done nothing one way or the other for him. Let's see what his continued testing and others have to say. In the meantime, lighten up, Bro.

Regards,
Steve

p.s. Since the only Ferrari's you own don't require any gas, I don't think you're the one who should be showing any indignation on our behalf. If we need to, we can take care of ourselves.

 

1) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Acetone is often the primary (or only) component in nail polish remover. Acetone is also used as a superglue remover. Small quantities of acetone can be added to fuel to improve economy and engine performance though this is only anecdotal and refuted by most automotive engineers.

2) Shell Chemicals
Product overview
Product - Acetone

3) Dan's Data letters #151 A Must read!

http://www.dansdata.com/danletters151.htm

4) From the Autoweek Forum
Home » Forum Home » SHEETMETAL STUFF » Tech Talk and Vehicle Problems
Topic: Using Acetone to increase fuel mileage.

effes
Posts: 255
Re: Using Acetone to increase fuel mileage.
Posted: Sep 29, 2005 10:06 PM

Reply
Oh G**, not this one again...
Every few years this "Acetone" thing crops up, with really poor results.
One consequence that's been picked up in warranty tracking is fuel pump noise/filter failure.
In the vast majority of units out there, there are plastic components inside fuel pump housings (the moving fuel is actually cooling the mech), and acetone "scores" and "softens" those parts. The unit seldom fails, but noise levels do get pretty high.
The other issue is that many units use inside the tank mounted filters w/plastic housings.... need I say more?

Every time gas $$ go up, this surfaces - last time was around 9/11... *sigh*

"Nuff said"
Cheers
Warren