Acetone in the fuel tank to improve gas mileage?
#1
Acetone in the fuel tank to improve gas mileage?
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
http://www.lubedev.com/smartgas/additive.htm
#9
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?
So if acetone worked, why would the only person suggesting it be this retard?
#11
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.
#12
Originally Posted by Tim96I30t
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.
#17
Originally Posted by 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...
#18
Originally Posted by 97maxrob
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.
![oh really](https://maxima.org/forums/images/smilies/orly.gif)
#19
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.
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.
#22
Originally Posted by Dexter
0.2%
I thought it was 100% nail polish remover acetone you guys were talking about...oh well...
![oh really](https://maxima.org/forums/images/smilies/orly.gif)
theory is theory. that's what experiments are for.
#23
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...
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...
![GrinNo](https://maxima.org/forums/images/smilies/grin_no.gif)
#25
Originally Posted by 99grnmaxgxe
Negative, Mythbusters tried this and they LOST gas mileage.
![GrinNo](https://maxima.org/forums/images/smilies/grin_no.gif)
#27
I have tried it
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
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
#28
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
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
#32
Originally Posted by cld12pk2go
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.
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.
![Tard smash](https://maxima.org/forums/images/smilies/smashfreak.gif)
#34
Originally Posted by 97maxrob
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.
#35
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.
#36
Originally Posted by 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.
![Repost](https://maxima.org/forums/images/smilies/repost.gif)
#37
Originally Posted by 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.
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).
#38
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:
http://www.pureenergysystems.com/new...00069_Acetone/
http://www.lubedev.com/smartgas/faq.htm
http://www.realtechnews.com/posts/2598
http://peswiki.com/index.php/Directo..._Fuel_Additive
http://peswiki.com/index.php/Category:Acetone
Educate yourselves and look at what profesionals use in thier products.and speak from those who have tried it and had problems and I will listen... not just fear and conjecture.
I'm trying to make it as easy for you as I can.
I'm surprised so many people are so nervous about something that is the size of a shot glass in 10 gallons?....
How did any of you skeptics get the nerve to try the EV switch?
I gave many .pdf file links "on post # 19 of this thread" of which I have seen very few downloads?.. this tells me there are many closed minds that do not even want to look?
How can you call yourself educated and worthy of credible comments when you will not consider evidence?
Show me some "evidence" to the negative.... I'm all ears! Bring it on... lets see some facts! I'm not finding any. I need your help.
I'm not even saying it works yet... but I'm willing to try, if your not... thats your choice.
If I don't see a noticable increase in mpg's, it won't be worth the trouble.
The only negative I could find:... just don't run water in your tank with the acetone and your good: and if you have alcohol in your gas, it may lower its effectiveness.
Source: http://priuschat.com/lofiversion/index.php/t16776.html
http://www.pureenergysystems.com/new...00069_Acetone/
http://www.lubedev.com/smartgas/faq.htm
http://www.realtechnews.com/posts/2598
http://peswiki.com/index.php/Directo..._Fuel_Additive
http://peswiki.com/index.php/Category:Acetone
Educate yourselves and look at what profesionals use in thier products.and speak from those who have tried it and had problems and I will listen... not just fear and conjecture.
I'm trying to make it as easy for you as I can.
I'm surprised so many people are so nervous about something that is the size of a shot glass in 10 gallons?....
How did any of you skeptics get the nerve to try the EV switch?
I gave many .pdf file links "on post # 19 of this thread" of which I have seen very few downloads?.. this tells me there are many closed minds that do not even want to look?
How can you call yourself educated and worthy of credible comments when you will not consider evidence?
Show me some "evidence" to the negative.... I'm all ears! Bring it on... lets see some facts! I'm not finding any. I need your help.
I'm not even saying it works yet... but I'm willing to try, if your not... thats your choice.
If I don't see a noticable increase in mpg's, it won't be worth the trouble.
The only negative I could find:... just don't run water in your tank with the acetone and your good: and if you have alcohol in your gas, it may lower its effectiveness.
#40
Huh?? English?? ...and what does this have to do with acetone?
Originally Posted by 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.
I will not run regular in my car.