Can the Use of Acetone as an Additive really improve your miliage upto 35%?

Can one indeed use Acetone as a Fuel additive to help improve milage and not harm the engine and the fuel system? On the surface, this looks very promising.
What do you think?

www.pureenergysystems.com...

I've tried it and it does seem to improve mileage and definitely makes the engine run smoother. My only concern is a couple of incidents when I could smell strong gas fumes in the car, I'm still not sure what caused that or if it was related.

Can you remember wht kind of difference it made in your milage?

Most people I have spoken to about it say that the cost does not justify the gain and the amount of alcohol in the gas now can take away the gain.

Acetone aka "nail polish remover" is a solvent and will start eating away or swelling your seals and gaskets, which may cost you some considerable repair bucks...so don't put acetone in your tank. If you want to clean your injectors to increase fuel efficiency, use a Techron additive or similiar product.

Tom and Ray at Cartalk say it's bogus too:
www.cartalk.com...

[edit on 4-5-2006 by Regenmacher]

I used to work at a flight school, and people would come in and buy avgas and add it to their gas tanks. They'd mix it in a 10:1 gas/avgas ratio. they said that really made a difference in how the car drove.

The testing that has been done with accetone was at levels of 3 oz to every 10 gallons and have not been reported to do any harm to seals or gaskets.

I take it you didn't bother to read Tom and Ray article who have been answering "Car Talk" questions on air for almost 30 years.


Guess the best way for some is to start pouring acetone in their tank and learn the hard headed way.





[edit on 5-5-2006 by Regenmacher]

I was worried about the damage it could cause to fuel hoses and seals, but several reports I read said that they had tested the fuel components in 100% acetone baths and there was no damage. I tried it in two vehicles, both 6 cyl Dodge Caravans with +/- 160 000 miles. I added 4.5 oz of acetone per tank, so a little under 3 oz to 10 gallons. I got an average increase of about 3 miles per gallon on both vehicles which was about 18% improvement.

What worried me was that after a couple of tanks with acetone added, both vehicles had an incident where I could smell unburned fuel. In both cases I pulled over and couldn't find any leaks, and once the car had aired out it restarted fine and never occured again. I stopped using it after that but the mileage increase remained, so I think the main benefit may have come from cleaning the fuel system. There are plenty of fuel system cleaners on the market that are probably a lot safer to use. The mileage I was getting with acetone was still within the manufacturers claims.

I wouldn't put acetone in my motor,it would make fuel lines and any gaskets deteriorate rapidly,could result in a fuel fire,and extensive damage to valves

well , a while back, I put it in
my 2002 accord-v6

it seemed to have a bit more pep.

but I have no hard data.

however, it didn't have a drastic enuf
improvement to justify continued
use , so I stopped adding it.

I had no fume incidents.

and thx for the clik n cleck article
I haven't heard those guys
in a long time. I think they
are trustworthy.

I dunno if it is a scam
or what . but if asked,
I won't recommend it.

I go to Cheveron because they have the Techron additive. It is worth the extra 3-5 pennies a gallon.

The gains are likely just from the acetone eating up carbon deposits and other impurities in the fuel system.

To accomplish the same, I highly recommend running a tank of E85 through a non-FFV vehicle (DOS Operating System?). You'll lose a few MPG while running it, but after it's gone and shes running on straight petrol again, there is a definite gain in mileage. The high ethanol content does more to clean injectors than any little bottle of cleaner ever will. You'll probably trip an O2 sensor code, so the computer may need resetting if it doesn't do it on its own. And just running one tank every now and then will not harm the aluminum components.

I've heard that mixed with premium it gives you an even better increase then with bronze.

My hubby did alot of research on this and we tried it on our 20+ year old Cadi. We went from 13 MPG to 17 MPG. It saved us a lot on our road trip and was worth the purchase of Acetone. He put in 2 oz per 10 Gal. I don't remember any gas fume problem. We did have a couple of rough starts where the car didn't want to keep running or idle. But I think that was unrelated.

Oldtimer2, APC


As far as Acetone breaking down components along the way to the engine, I believe that at the original link given, the author states some exhaustive testing with an Acetone formulation of 2% up to even 50% with no untoward effects.

Acetone not only helps to clean th4e fuel system, but the Author also states that it affects the SURFACE TENSION of Gasolene to the point that it helsp the fuel air mixture to combust better. There is also speculation that the use of Ethanol as an additive does not help but rather incresses the surface tension, thereby becoming a hinderance in acheiving good milage.

I found another site where some very serious approach to Testing this premiss and other ideas concerning Acetone.

forums.tdiclub.com...

I'd be worried, too! Add acetone -- get into an accident... Do you not suspect some cause and effect relation here?

Wouldn't it just be worth making sure that, when you get a new car, to get one that has a high mpg rating? I mean, we're talking at best 2-4 mpg increases here right?

I put 5 oz of Acetone into 18 gal of gas in a 1992 Lincoln Continental. The car has an on board computer for monitoring milage. Before milage was 27 - 28 on the highway. After milage, 32 - 33 and continuing to increase after changing over to sythetic oil.

I had to suspend the test as the speedometer sensor went out The computer cant determine the milage if it isnt getting speed input

If the expected savings can be as high as 35% dont you think the oil industry is going to try to stop this?

Gasoline is a pretty harsh solvent to begin with, so I probably won't hurt your gaskets. Acetone could help mileage by cleaning your fuel system out a little, but so will ethanol. I guess the key is not to overdo it.

My sage advice is to try it, and if it works, brag to all your buddies how much of genius you are for sticking it to the big oil companies.

If it doesn't work, stop doing it and brag to all your friends about how much of a genius you are for testing and confirming that the believers are a bunch of idiots.