ChuckDaMaxRider

Has anyone tried adding acetone to their fuel tank to increase gas mileage? I found an interesting read about this:
http://www.lubedev.com/smartgas/additive.htm

Ninos_Maxima

iTrader: (5)

i heard about this about a month or two ago.. i think im gonna try it out

BEJAY1

iTrader: (19)

It'll up the octane a bit but I wouldn't count on better milage from it.

ManualMaxima

iTrader: (10)

i heard this as well about a month ago, someone try it

D-Bo

iTrader: (9)

whitegold

iTrader: (1)

Is this true?

aussie983

iTrader: (16)

NO! Acetone will likely even eat into plastic parts in the fuel system.

whitegold

iTrader: (1)

Thats what I thought

dgeesaman

iTrader: (10)

That article is written by a stupid *******. It's got so many misleading and wrong things in it, they deserve a big kick in the *****. And as a man, it's very rare that I can find justification for that.

So if acetone worked, why would the only person suggesting it be this retard?

Caracicatriz

iTrader: (3)

Nail polish remover in your gas? People are doing anything nowadays to save money.

Tim96I30t

iTrader: (2)

This is an old school hot rodder trick when everything was metal even the filler neck. With newer composite gas tanks and plastics this will work but can melt plastics over time and you won't know until it is too late.

whitegold

iTrader: (1)

So it does work? Before it ruins every hose you have?

aussie983

iTrader: (16)

Basically, you wouldnt want to do this on a maxima.

happyricefob

iTrader: (7)

i doubt it'll work

Dexter

pour some acetone into a foam cup and watch what happens...same will happen to the plastic parts in the fuel system over an extended period of time if you try pouring acetone in your gas tank...

GodFather

iTrader: (10)

Good luck f-ing up your engine first. I'm a materials engineering student in mechanical engineering department; and my 7th and 8th sense tells me not to do this.
-Peter-

97maxrob

iTrader: (2)

I don't think you can compare pure 100% pure acetone in a foam cup to 0.2%acetone in a gas tank. The plastic parts in your fuel system aren't made from a foam cup. The worse that will happen if you try this will be that you wasted your money on acetone.

Dexter

0.2% I thought it was 100% nail polish remover acetone you guys were talking about...oh well...

cld12pk2go

iTrader: (5)

I don't want to write a book here; however, my background is in chemical engineering if that means anything to you.

Acetone will not improve milage. It will actually hurt it due to being an oxygenated fuel and having a lower amount of chemical energy to release per unit volume than typical gasoline.

Juicey

Where can I buy acetone I read in Haynes it's good for cleaning up old gaskets before putting the new one on.

cld12pk2go

iTrader: (5)

It is next to the paint thinner at walmart in 1 Qt metal cans.

CapedCadaver

iTrader: (8)

yeah old thread i know. anyhow, 10galx16cupx8oz=1280oz. 3oz of pure acetone into 10 gal of gase is actually just 0.234375%. I did bad math a second ago and had to edit. bad conversion. anyhow, that's where the .2% came from. if you doubt it, take a cup of .2% acetone in gasoline and put it in a plastic cup in a non-flammable environment. let it sit for a while. see what happens to the cup in that low of a concentration... and if it does affect it, how long does it take?

theory is theory. that's what experiments are for.

XeroX

iTrader: (13)

From what i remember the mixture is like a capfull (small capfull out of a average acetone container) per every like 8 gallons of gas or something...im too lazy to check it out, but it was basically a VERY small amount of acetone. I really dont think anything will happen to the plastics in your fuel system from this unless you did it for a really LONG time...or just let your car sit with this mixture in it for a long time...

I think the worse thing that will happen is that it wont do anything...im not a believer in this, but its worth a try...but how could you test to c if it works? hmm....

I think this goes back to the "put moth ***** in your gas tank" that some old rodders have said to me...i think they are crazy...

99grnmaxgxe

iTrader: (11)

Negative, Mythbusters tried this and they LOST gas mileage.

XeroX

iTrader: (13)

Well, the question still open is...does it raise octane....as far as mileage...eh....get a tornado fuel saver FTW!

andrei3333

Do any after market fuel additives / injector cleaners raise MPG as they claim ?
there is your answer -- pi$$ in a bottle

nitink

I have actually tried it. I did some research before adding acetone, and found many injector cleaners (Berryman, STP etc) contain acetone.
I stored 100% acetone in plastic bottle for about 4 weeks and bottle was fine so I though its pretty safe to put acetone in tank.
following are my milage readings on maxima
5oz acetone + 91 oct Chevron Gas = ave 375 miles per tank
No acetone, 91 oct Chevron Gas = ave 360 miles per tank
10oz Berryman + 91 oct Chevron Gas = 445 miles (tried it only once)
On Volvo 850
5 oz acetone + 87 oct Chevron Gas = ave 405 miles per tank
Just 87 oct chevron gas = 370 miles per tank

dgeesaman

iTrader: (10)

Research, eh. Lots of horribly wrong information out there. This thread is looking like another one.

I think something very important has been overlooked:
OCTANE DOES NOT AFFECT FUEL MILEAGE!!!!!!

Lets go over that again:
OCTANE DOES NOT AFFECT FUEL MILEAGE!!!!!!

Octane is based on the tuning of the engine. It serves no other purpose - it has no more energy per gallon, and it certainly doesn't provide more energy per dollar. Think of fuel being a rubber band that needs to be stretched out and then lit on fire. If it snaps before burning then you are getting detonation (knock, ping). A higher octane fuel can be stretched further before it snaps. Some engines compress the fuel more (stretch the rubber band) than others because of their design and tuning. Only a change in tuning will affect this. If your engine doesn't stretch a higher octane fuel to its limits, it's wasted money. It will not change the number of rubber bands being used and save gas.

Running too low of octane will usually only cause pinging when running the engine very hard, or if your fuel system isn't running at 100%. If you flog your car, run 91 octane. If you don't run your engine very hard (which is what you must do if you want to improve fuel economy) then octane becomes less important.

If you have an engine tuned for octane that isn't available, then you are a candidate for an octane booster. In that rare situation, consider toluene instead, although it will always be more expensive than simply buying the higher octane fuel in the first place. Or just don't run full boost or full throttle until you get the higher octane fuel in there again.

As for those mileage numbers, I see a normal variation from tank-to-tank mileage on standard fuel. (Not to mention that 'miles per tank' is not a good way to measure fuel economy.) I've been tracking my fuel economy for a couple of years, and I see +/- 3mpg from one tank to the next. So unless the change is going to effect more than 3mpg change, it will be near impossible to prove the change by using normal gas pumps and normal driving. It would take several consecutive tanks of gas and perfectly consistent driving to establish any meaningful trends.

FWIW, my fuel economy logs show that 89 octane is enough to keep me from tripping the knock sensor in daily driving, and I average 25mpg. The biggest effect by far on fuel economy is how hard I accelerate (usually improves by 2-3mpg if I always take it easy off the line) and avoiding higher cruise speeds on the highway (cruising at 80mph is usually 2-3mpg worse than 70mph or 65mph)

Dave

99grnmaxgxe

iTrader: (11)

SilverMax04 vouches with Dave.

maximized98

iTrader: (16)

yes!!!!! another old thread that has been bumped. Gotta love it LOL

NmexMAX

iTrader: (22)

In for the old thread.

I use Toluene to promote octane.

cld12pk2go

iTrader: (5)

Almost a year later and the laws of physics/thermodynamics still have not changed to invalidate what I previously posted...

NmexMAX

iTrader: (22)

Ok... Moving on

gunny11218

lol hahah thats funny but im not sure why..

L0R1DA

Please listen to dgeesaman boys and girls, OCTANE DOES NOT AFFECT GAS MILEAGE! If you are not boosted or running high compression engine internals, you shouldnt even be running 93, 89 will be ideal for performance/mileage.

NmexMAX

iTrader: (22)

. . . .

cam_honestiam

iTrader: (2)

Are you guys serious? OCTANE will absolutely affect gas mileage! You should clarify, perhaps, by stating that excessive octane will not get you better mileage, but the blanket statement in CAPS above is entirely false and unsound.

Think about Dave's explanation...if you have premature combustion, the piston may misfire and your engine may ping...umm... do we all agree here?

So, how does the crank, well, crank? Oh yeah, the pistons...so a lack or coordination between firing pistons or more volatility in the combustion due to low octane means less-than-optimum piston firing, which results in less-than-optimum turning of the crank which results in less-than-optimum gas mileage.

Dave even explains that his test results indicate octane of 89 to avoid tripping the knock sensor...so, a lay person would assume that he is inferring that less than 89 (or less octane) causes knocks...which means the engine is not running efficiently...which means that gas mileage is suffering.

I don't know about you, but Dave's argument does not support his theory (no offense Dave, just pointing out what you said not who you are).

AdamK

iTrader: (1)

Sorry for resurrecting this thread, but back to the acetone topic, well I was skeptical at first but I've done a lot of reading on the topic and its worth a shot. A user on the PriusChat (no I don't have a Prius) summed it up rather well:

Source: http://priuschat.com/lofiversion/index.php/t16776.html

eyeball

If I run high test my mileage is better than if I run mid grade gas in the tank.
I will not run regular in my car.

aussie983

iTrader: (16)

Huh?? English?? ...and what does this have to do with acetone?