First in no way am I condoning this . I am wondering how good or bad an idea this is. I talked to my mother this morning and she said that Greg Alen on WMT radio out of Cedar Rapids, IA said that mixing 3 oz. of acetone to 10 gal. of gas would increase mileage 15% - 30%.

Has anybody heard of this? Any knowledgeable people on the subject? Seems to me it would do more harm than good, such as eat gaskets and wash oil off the cylinder walls. Am I wrong?

I'm calling BS on this (backed up by a BS in Chemistry).  3oz. of Acetone would in no way increase MPG by the claims they are making.  I'd love to be proved wrong, though.

Here ya go: www.vroc.org/forums/index.php?t=msg&th=13844&start=0&S=83f3c26f268db316d8028b011188a6bc

Hope your not adverse to reading.

Mike

We use Acetone to clean Plastic buildup off our Molds. There are very few Plastics that Acetone will not destroy.

Quoted: First in no way am I condoning this . I am wondering how good or bad an idea this is. I talked to my mother this morning and she said that Greg Alen on WMT radio out of Cedar Rapids, IA said that mixing 3 oz. of acetone to 10 gal. of gas would increase mileage 15% - 30%. Has anybody heard of this? Any knowledgeable people on the subject? Seems to me it would do more harm than good, such as eat gaskets and wash oil off the cylinder walls. Am I wrong?

I think it would eat up seals and gaskets over time.

Sounds like a stupid idea.

Quoted: First in no way am I condoning this . I am wondering how good or bad an idea this is. I talked to my mother this morning and she said that Greg Alen on WMT radio out of Cedar Rapids, IA said that mixing 3 oz. of acetone to 10 gal. of gas would increase mileage 15% - 30%.

It's going to be a KABOOM from backfires or your mechanic will say, "you're losing compression and it'll cost at least $2000 to fix it".

Quoted: Here ya go: www.vroc.org/forums/index.php?t=msg&th=13844&start=0&S=83f3c26f268db316d8028b011188a6bc Hope your not adverse to reading. Mike

So it seems that there really is something to it. Anyboby else?

Quoted: Quoted: Here ya go: www.vroc.org/forums/index.php?t=msg&th=13844&start=0&S=83f3c26f268db316d8028b011188a6bc Hope your not adverse to reading. Mike So it seems that there really is something to it. Anyboby else?

Get looser tinfoil.

The automobile manufacturers are required by law to meet Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. They incur fines for failure to meet these requirements. Do you honestly think they would not jump on something this simple to boost their CAFE figures?

ETA: From 1996 to 2003, automakers paid over $618 MILLION in CAFE fines. That is $618 million of lost profit.

tag, would like the condensed version.  


Still aint gonna do it though no matter what the internet tells me is okay.

It's BS.  The implication of 3 oz of acetone in 10 gallons of gasoline is that the energy content of the acetone is enormous in order to produce 10% fuel savings in such a low concentration.  The only other explanation is that it serves as a catalyst improving the fuel-air reaction; I'm skeptical about this, too.

If you leave the cap off a can of acetone, it is so volatile it'll evaporate in 5.3 seconds. Wouldn't it evaporate out of the gas in the tank?



____________________________________

I never took chemistry- but I probably would have flunked it if I had.

Quoted: If you leave the cap off a can of acetone, it is so volatile it'll evaporate in 5.3 seconds. Wouldn't it evaporate out of the gas in the tank?

damn you!

i am so bored and lowes is down the street .. i am off to see if that is correct..

< im assuming you can buy that there..  >

Hogwash.  There is no way adding a tiny percentage of acetone will make any difference.  

Yes, it works.  My Jeep CJ went from 12 to 16 Mi/Gal and my Honda Accord went from 28 to 31 Mi/Gal.  These results come from many repeats using a very regular and boring commuter route.

It breaks down dispersion forces in hydrocarbons allowing for more of the air/fuel mix to be atomized.

Acetone is a common ingredient in many gas formulations.

My neighbor is an engineer for a supercharger mfg for Mercedes.  I have a Ph.D. is organic chemistry.  We both agree that gas formularies can have a significant effect on mileage.


Edit:  Gasoline is a very complex mixture of organic molecules that whose composition varies alot from region to region.  Some of this is due to variations in the composition of the distillate, and due to the different additives that are added to gas and vary from region to region.  Other variables than can affect the effect of acetone in gas are the type of engine, type of carburetor or fuel injection, the level of tune in the engine and the driving style.

I am not the only nerd who has been fiddling with various gas additives including aromatic amines (smelly), branched chain ethers and epoxides, long chain fatty acids, detergents, micelles, .... the list goes on and on.

In the final analysis, a well tuned engine introduces a completely atomized air/ fuel mix into the combustion chamber which is, in turn, completely burned.  Fuel condensing into droplets is often not burned and goes out the tail pipe as waste.

Acetone can help in this as it also helps water in the gas to be burnt up as well.

My brother keeps accurate logs on the mileage he gets in his truck.  I heard of this and decided to give it a BLIND test.  He didn't know I was adding acetone to his tank....

Not one bit of improvement in one month of driving (4 tanks of gasoline).  

Then I tried it in my dad's car.  He too keeps records on mileage but I didn't tell him what I was doing. Nothing after 2 tanks.  I have run out of acetone and will not buy any more.

Quoted: My brother keeps accurate logs on the mileage he gets in his truck.  I heard of this and decided to give it a BLIND test.  He didn't know I was adding acetone to his tank.... Not one bit of improvement in one month of driving (4 tanks of gasoline).   Then I tried it in my dad's car.  He too keeps records on mileage but I didn't tell him what I was doing. Nothing after 2 tanks.  I have run out of acetone and will not buy any more.

The Tanks O' Truth

Quoted: Hogwash.  There is no way adding a tiny percentage of acetone will make any difference.

There are plenty of examples where adding a fraction of a percent of a solute can greatly alter the properties of a solution.

For example, 1 drop of dishwashing detergent added to 5 gallons of water can have drastic effects.  A waterbug wouldn't be able to float, it would move much faster through hoses and would have altered osmotic pressure, melting and boiling points beyond what is predicted by colligative calculations.

In simple terms, a little can go a very long way under the appropriate circumstances.  If your gas doesn't have sufficient additives to promote adequate aspiration, 0.002M (such as 3 oz of acetone in 10 gal of gas) of a polar organic solvent such as acetone would do the job.

This whole thread is actually based on a little microcosm of an entire technology and industry.

Quoted: Quoted: If you leave the cap off a can of acetone, it is so volatile it'll evaporate in 5.3 seconds. Wouldn't it evaporate out of the gas in the tank? damn you! i am so bored and lowes is down the street .. i am off to see if that is correct.. < im assuming you can buy that there..  >

it's bullshit.  no way does the stuff evaporate even REMOTELY that fast.  if so, it'd be unusable

Quoted: Quoted: My brother keeps accurate logs on the mileage he gets in his truck.  I heard of this and decided to give it a BLIND test.  He didn't know I was adding acetone to his tank.... Not one bit of improvement in one month of driving (4 tanks of gasoline).   Then I tried it in my dad's car.  He too keeps records on mileage but I didn't tell him what I was doing. Nothing after 2 tanks.  I have run out of acetone and will not buy any more. The Tanks O' Truth

Wish I had thought of that.

Here's another thread on this...

ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=382504



Also see----------------pesn.com/2005/03/17/6900069_Acetone/ for more info...

I talked with a few co-workers about this. Most didn't know anything about it or had only heard something about but that was all. However, one knows small track stock car racers who use it to gain more power. The only bad effect he knew of was if too much was used (i.e. the mix was too high) it would burn a hole in the pistons. According to him 3 oz. in the average car might be pushing that envelope but more power and possibly mileage could be achieved.

It reduces the surface tension of the gasoline for better atomization.