Taz Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Found an article that said 1 ounce of acetone per 10 gallons of fuel, gas or diesel could improve milage up to 30%. I thought BULL S H I T. But then thought $7 and some change might be worth it to try in out. So I bought a small can of acetone and as per instructions I added it to the fuel. I used to get 300 miles to a tank of fuel in my little Nissan. Today I have gone 200 miles and am right on 1/2 tank. I think I'll continue with this experiment. The car does not drive any different. Couldn't tell Ya if it has more power. But does seem to get better milage with freeway and around town driving on this tank. Just thought I'd pass this on in case someone else wanted to try it. Or give me some time and I'll have more intel on how it works. john Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coytee Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 It will be interesting to follow this. I wonder if the additive has any negative effect on any of the plumbing or fittings? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The History Kid Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 I'd be paranoid to try it in my car...1. I don't know a lot about cars and 2. I have a tick about going by the book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coytee Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Just dawned on me that you might "still be up for the day" whereas I just got up for the (new) day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The History Kid Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Just dawned on me that you might "still be up for the day" whereas I just got up for the (new) day. You're crazy, brother! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taz Posted October 17, 2014 Author Share Posted October 17, 2014 Yep, I'm still up. If you were to use this solvent in heavy concentrations it would most likely be harmful. But at one oz. per 10 gallons it is pretty diluted. But still enough to help the fuel to evaporate somewhat more effective then usual. I am keeping a measuring cup in the trunk so I can give what I believe to be the proper amount. Time will tell how extended use of it works out. Be happy to let everyone know how it works out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taz Posted October 17, 2014 Author Share Posted October 17, 2014 (edited) I'd be paranoid to try it in my car...1. I don't know a lot about cars and 2. I have a tick about going by the book. I don't care much for working on cars any more. But there was a time I built a 55 first series from different parts. The Kids and I were coming back from shooting when a Z28 tried to pass on the right. Could not have that. We were doing a little over a hundred when the Z28 bailed out. I was still in third gear. The PU would do about 130 in third and I was glad they quit first. They followed me to a store we were going to and we all had a good laugh. Just an old PU that looked like it was about to break down. There were certainly faster cars on the road. I got stopped one night going home. The cop said I could not leave until I got at least one tail light working cuz he did not want me getting rear ended at 50 mph. I thought about asking if I could go if I kept it over a hundred but decided against it. Besides he was being nice about keeping his headlights on so I could fix a bad ground. Edited October 17, 2014 by Taz 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang guy Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Interesting experiment. Sometimes the old half tank thing can lie. I will be waiting to see how it does when the tank is lower. I'd think Acetone would clean the injectors. It might improve atomization of the fuel. It may also raise the octane. If it increases mileage, it should be one of those factors. A common misconception is that higher octane is more combustible or flammable. The reverse is true. Regular gas is more volatile and prone to preignition, which means the explosion is occurring from pressure and heat before the spark plug fires. If you get preignition, you put higher octane in. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbox Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 (edited) This is interesting. i drove down from Toronto to Florida on $160 in Gas. I drove my toyota down. with this little trick, could be even better on the way back. Gas was quite cheap heading through tennessee. im sure i saw $2.85/gal going through there somewhere. Coyotee, i didnt think i'd ever get to the top of the upper clinch, we just kept going up. 700m above sea level, and the air was thin....lol. Tennessee was a beautiful drive. i'm going to see willland today to pick up my speakers. Edited October 17, 2014 by Turbox Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJkizak Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Interesting. You might be getting the mileage you are supposed to be getting after the injectors/fuel system is cleaned by the acetone. How many miles were on the vehicle? JJK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JL Sargent Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 http://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/acetone.asp 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Matthews Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 I'm not sure if Snopes is adequate to debunk the claim, and I would hope we continue to get updates on this experiment. I recall also reading that if you change the timing of ignition, mileage will improve dramatically. It had something to do with the 80's, when Uncle Sam started requiring ignition timing which reduced emissions. Apparently, there is a trade-off between better mileage and reduced emissions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taz Posted October 17, 2014 Author Share Posted October 17, 2014 (edited) Interesting. You might be getting the mileage you are supposed to be getting after the injectors/fuel system is cleaned by the acetone. How many miles were on the vehicle? JJK The car has 165,491 miles on it. As a teenager I used to track fuel milage, where I filled up, what station, date. I did this for a number of reasons. If I was asked where I had been I knew. The milage under different driving conditions. An example would be when we got over 20 miles to the gallon going to Fan Francisco and less then 10 mpg in Fan Francisco. The article said to try running with Acetone and then go with out and see what happens. I know that I usually get about 28 mpg combination of town and freeway driving. Occasionally 30 and rarely 31 mpg If I get increased mileage by cleaning the injectors, this should continue when I quit using the acetone. I'm not sure if Snopes is adequate to debunk the claim, and I would hope we continue to get updates on this experiment. I recall also reading that if you change the timing of ignition, mileage will improve dramatically. It had something to do with the 80's, when Uncle Sam started requiring ignition timing which reduced emissions. Apparently, there is a trade-off between better mileage and reduced emissions. I have also heard that advancing the timing could increase milage. When tuning a new engine I would get a distributor kit and adjust the timing just below where I got pre-ignition both full throttle and cruising. However to be a true test I need to only change one thing at a time.. This is interesting. i drove down from Toronto to Florida on $160 in Gas. I drove my toyota down. with this little trick, could be even better on the way back. Gas was quite cheap heading through tennessee. im sure i saw $2.85/gal going through there somewhere. Coyotee, i didnt think i'd ever get to the top of the upper clinch, we just kept going up. 700m above sea level, and the air was thin....lol. Tennessee was a beautiful drive. i'm going to see willland today to pick up my speakers. If you try it, remember 1 oz per 10 gallons. Let us know how it turns out. I use a measuring cup and a long funnel so I don't get any on my paint. Man I gotta get to the East coast sometime when the color comes out. On my bucket list. It will be interesting to follow this. I wonder if the additive has any negative effect on any of the plumbing or fittings? The article said at such a diluted mixture in would not harm the plumbing or fittings. Of interest they had a graph that showed that if you increased the mix you would loose milage. 1 oz appeared to be the sweet spot more or less. Interesting experiment. Sometimes the old half tank thing can lie. I will be waiting to see how it does when the tank is lower. I'd think Acetone would clean the injectors. It might improve atomization of the fuel. It may also raise the octane. If it increases mileage, it should be one of those factors. A common misconception is that higher octane is more combustible or flammable. The reverse is true. Regular gas is more volatile and prone to preignition, which means the explosion is occurring from pressure and heat before the spark plug fires. If you get preignition, you put higher octane in. The article said it increased the atomization of the fuel. Stated that was why it increased the mileage. Yea I know about the 1/2 tank deal. Want to run it down to where it will take 10 gallons if I can. It has a 12 gallon tank .I need to get a book to keep a more permanent record if I'm going to do this right. I'd be paranoid to try it in my car...1. I don't know a lot about cars and 2. I have a tick about going by the book. Sometimes the books do not give the best answer. Case in point; My cousin knows diddly squat about cars and while at my house his Hydraulic clutch gave out. I told him no problem we would fix it for him. He went to the parts store and came back with clutch and pressure plate. He said that's what his book said to do. I told him he did not need any of that, just the slave cylinder for the throw out bearing. I tried to convince him that he did not need any of that $#!t. He could not be convinced and wanted his truck fixed so he could leave. [by this time I wanted him to leave also.] Changed out clutch and pressure plate and didn't fix problem. Changed slave cylinder and problem solved. Just like my son and I told him. Edited October 17, 2014 by Taz 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Richard Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 I seriously doubt 1 oz. of acetone in 10 gallons of gas will have any positive effect on mileage or any aspect of engine performance. 4 ounces of toluene will raise the octane rating by a couple of points, and that may make a difference by allowing more timing advance to be used. With modern computer controlled vehicles that have a knock sensor, this will happen automatically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taz Posted October 17, 2014 Author Share Posted October 17, 2014 I seriously doubt 1 oz. of acetone in 10 gallons of gas will have any positive effect on mileage or any aspect of engine performance. 4 ounces of toluene will raise the octane rating by a couple of points, and that may make a difference by allowing more timing advance to be used. With modern computer controlled vehicles that have a knock sensor, this will happen automatically. Not much cost to try it out. Only $7 and change plus the price of a glass measuring cup. Already had the funnel. If it don't work, it don't work. If it does work I'll be very pleased. Either way I can let people on the forum know. I don't think it raises the octane level. but find it interesting that toluene will raise the octane level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mighty Favog Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 (edited) Way back when I bought my first new car, a 1994 Eagle Talon ES (2.0l non-turbo), 4-speed auto. From the minute I brought it home I started "changing things" on it that improved it but didn't void the warranty (thank you SEMA and the Magnusson Moss Warranty Act). I gave it about 5k miles to break in and then started testing. All I did to it was put in a cat-back Borla exhaust, fill the tires 6 lbs. over recommendation, put in a K&N air filter, full-synthetic oil, a slightly larger oil filter, bored out the stock exhaust manifold to match the gasket and used Sunoco 94 gas only. And left the ECO/PWR switch on ECO (all PWR does is delay the shift points). Kept the timing at the stock 5deg BTDC. (BTW- the thing sounded AWSOME for what it had in it) The window sticker said this car should average 27mpg on the highway. But after all this stuff was done and going 65mph on the highway with the cruise control on, it now got 40mpg. YES 40!! And it did this every time I took it out for 9-years. Years later I sold the car to a friend that needed one and at the same time I was ready for something else. He drove it at an average 90+mph on the highway consistently while the mpg only went down to about 37mpg. Still 10 over what the sticker said. Edited October 17, 2014 by Mighty Favog 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minermark Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Great experiment, keep in mind Acetone is a solvent that loves to soften up rubber/plastic, all rubber/plastic except silicone, gas lines could soften, diaphram in a stock fuel pump could weaken. And hell, you might even have a plastic gas tank like most cars/trucks these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mighty Favog Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Years ago I was watching Charlie's Angels where they had a car that would run great for someone but not at all the next time someone got in it. At the end on the show they asked Charlie why the car did that. He said it was pure Acetone in the tank. Said it would run great.....for about 5 minutes. Then the engine would run so hot it would lock up. (insert opinion here if you want) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Great experiment, keep in mind Acetone is a solvent that loves to soften up rubber/plastic, all rubber/plastic except silicone, gas lines could soften, diaphram in a stock fuel pump could weaken. And hell, you might even have a plastic gas tank like most cars/trucks these days. That would be my worry as well along with dribbling it down the side of the vehicle and melting the paint. I remember an urban legend going around maybe in the 80's. It was putting moth balls in the tank for increased mileage. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJkizak Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Advancing the timing will definitely increase the gas mileage but also increase the pollution. I did that on and older Buick V6 and the mileage went from 26 to 32 on the highway. Only problem is with the new cars you have to reprogram the computer. JJK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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