acetone in gas


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Old 08-22-07, 12:50 PM
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acetone in gas

http://www.pureenergysystems.com/news/2005/03/17/6900069_Acetone/
i use it and went from 17 to 25 mpg on my 2004 4.7L engine
 
  #2  
Old 09-08-07, 10:21 PM
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You have quite a few posts under your belt, so I'm not quick to distrust what you are saying here.

I have read about this acetone thing some time ago and was eager to try it in my vehicle, but for whatever reason I never got around to it.

Tell me...what make and model is your vehicle?

Why aren't more people doing this?

Is it really that simple? Or is there more to look out for, other than just incompatability with some plastics.

What about combustion temps.? Anything adverse going on here? I don't want to burn exaust valves or anything like that.

Also I might tend to think that late model cars may not benefit much from this as the injectors probably atomize the gas very effectively and carbuerated vehicles might benefit the most.

Jim
 
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Old 09-09-07, 10:17 AM
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Maybe the milage went up, but acetone costs a lot more than gasoline and is a lot more dangerous to humans - not sure I'd consider this to be worth it.
 
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Old 09-09-07, 11:27 AM
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Acetone is harmful but in a very diffeent way than gasoline. I, as well as thousands of others, have used it to clean ourselves of polyester resins. Gasoline will cause burns when placed on the skin.

as to it doing any good? I keep hearing the couple that claim it is miraculous. I tend to doubt it. Tom and Ray Magliozzi (click and clack btothers, car talk) did an bit on this and found nothing.
==========

The big reasoning the advocates are using is it makes the gas molocules more "active".

this is the quote:

Acetone has an inherent molecular vibration that "stirs up" the fuel molecules, to break the surface tension.
===

As far as expense, you are adding about 3/10% so I doubt it will alter the overall cost of the fuel that much.

The only serious and CONTROLLED studies I saw (which are very few) showed no increase.
 
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Old 09-09-07, 11:57 AM
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mythbusters did it and found it was a myth and nothing more

(episode 53)
 
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Old 09-09-07, 08:05 PM
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Ok, well, I'm hearing it from the best here, so.......no acetone in my tank.

Thanx again guys.

Jim
 
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Old 09-10-07, 12:58 PM
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Smile Myth

If myth busters say's "busted" I believe them !!
 
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Old 09-10-07, 09:15 PM
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Just recently got cable and started watching, I've been pretty impressed with the methodology on that show. They say this is busted, I believe it's busted.
 
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Old 09-14-07, 05:59 PM
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replied

Tell me...what make and model is your vehicle?
2004 Durango 4.7 liters

Why aren't more people doing this?
????????????????

Is it really that simple? Or is there more to look out for, other than just incompatability with some plastics.

bean using it since a couple of months and have not seen any damage but engine runs smoother

What about combustion temps.? Anything adverse going on here? I don't want to burn exaust valves or anything like that

check this link
http://www.pureenergysystems.com/new...00069_Acetone/
 
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Old 09-15-07, 10:07 AM
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Well, I went ahead and did it anyway.
I pulled up to my storage shed, saw the can of acetone, saw a funnel and went hmmmmmmm.

I added what probably amounted to about a splash in about 7 gals. of gas.

Well I drove off and kind of forgot about it untill I needed to "get on it" to get out in traffic.

There was a change in performance. I know this truck very well, it is my baby. I am very sensitive to any changes in performance, even if slight.

This was one change that delighted me.

I have since refilled the tank without adding any acetone and noticed the rollback to the same old performance as before.

The performance change was:

Slightly better acceleration, but even more noticeable was the more even power output acrross the power band at full throttle acceleration.

No more power drop-off at 4K rpm. It didn't quit till about 4500 rpm.

As far as mileage increase? I'm certain any performance increase will result in better mileage.

It is a '94 Ford Explorer 4.0L with 152,000 miles.

Maybe having dirty or worn injectors that are not atomizing the gas well would benefit the most from this.

Jim
 
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Old 09-15-07, 11:00 AM
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well jnmew51, why don;t you be our official non-scientific tester for the application of acetone in a gasoline powered engine.

What you need to do right now is not use any more for a tank of fuel (although you may have already changed too much but we can try)

for at least one tank full of fuel (no acetone) you need to take mileage readings and document how things run etc.

then, measure and add acetone to a tank of gas and check mileage and record driving impressions.

Then after a couple tanks of that way, go back to non-acetone fuel, do the same thing again with a couple tanks of non-acetone fuel.

Write it all up and let us know.
 
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Old 09-15-07, 04:46 PM
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Originally Posted by nap
The only serious and CONTROLLED studies I saw (which are very few) showed no increase.
It may just depend on the type of engine and condition of that engine you're using it in...for instance:

When I was taking flight lessons back in the mid '80's we used to put 100 octane LL (low lead) in our Cessnas.

One day I said to the flight instructor "wow 100 octane! I wonder what would happen if I used that in my car?"
He replied, "nothing"

But if I was running a high compression engine you can bet it would run better with 100 octane as opposed to 89 or 92 octane fuel.

My point is that if you have a fairly new engine with nothing wrong with it (a far cry from my situation) you probably won't benefit from a fuel additive that the engine was not designed to need and this may well be the condition of majority of the vehicles tested.

I will definetly do a more controlled test though, because I think it merits some investigation.

Jim
 
  #13  
Old 09-17-07, 04:50 PM
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Hi

There is one big drawback to using acetone in your fuel, and that is that it will eat up your rubber fuel lines over time. It may take a couple of months for your fuel lines to go bad but it will happen, and when it does it will be when you least expect it.
 
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Old 09-17-07, 05:50 PM
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If they recommend 1 oz with 10 gallons of gas, the acetone would only make up .08% of the fuel solution. I have a hard time imagining that if the acetone mixture is that dilute it could possibly harm rubber fuel lines. But I suppose the potential exists and I had not thought of that possibility. Seems like the guy and web site that is recommending this would have tested rubber gas lines in his paragraph on engine / carbureator parts when he mentions that "there are no known harmful effects".

I think I'll try this for 1 tank just out of curiosity. One thing he mentioned on his web site is that alcohol seems to neutralize the effect. So I'll have to avoid the 10% ethanol blend.
 
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Old 09-17-07, 07:29 PM
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Well one simple way to settle that argument is to take a piece of rubber fuel line and drop into a jar with some acetone and see how long it takes to attack the rubber.

Then make a mixture of gasoline to acetone, maybe 10:1 mix and see how long it takes to attack the acetone.

Get my drift?

If my memory serves correctly anyway, denatured alcohol has small amounts of acetone and/or MEK and/or toluene etc. and I know MEK will eat up rubber, but I know denatured alcohol will never attack rubber.

Anyway I thought with the advent of fuel injection most fuel lines are steel.

Jim
 
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Old 09-22-07, 05:07 PM
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I think I would get bored with soaking parts in an .08% solution after a year or two. The author of the idea recommends: "1 ounce per 10 gallons- no more than 3 oz per 10 gallons"... nowhere near what you are suggesting (10:1). I have no doubt that rubber would be affected by a 10:1 mixture. At any rate, I'm not too worried about that.

So I tried one tank, adding 6 oz to my 22 gallon tank.

My last tank of gas (all highway miles) got 17.8 MPG. I drive a 2002 Ford F-150 with a V-6, 5 speed manual transmission.

The tank with acetone got 18.8 MPG over the same stretch of road, exact same driving conditions and speed. Interestingly that was using 10% ethanol fuel. An increase of 1 MPG in my 22 gallon tank produced a savings of a little over 1 gallon of gasoline... or about $3.

So with my first tank I experienced an increase in my MPG of 5.5%.

This guy might be on to something. What if everyone in the USA could save 1 gallon of gas every time they fuel up? I'm going to keep experimenting with this just for the heck of it.
 
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Old 09-25-07, 04:47 PM
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405 miles with 16 gallon of gas

hi Guys
I drove from Shelton Connecticut to
Richmond VA
stop at flying J and gas up
note VA has a manditory 10% ethanol fuel added to all gas
so
i did 405 miles and fill up with 16 gallon on reg gas
Durango 2004 4.7 liters with 75 k miles on engine
 
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Old 09-26-07, 06:31 AM
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>One day I said to the flight instructor "wow 100 octane! I wonder what would happen if I used that in my car?"
>He replied, "nothing"

>But if I was running a high compression engine you can bet it would run better with 100 octane as opposed to 89 or 92 octane fuel.

You wouldn't be running an engine on the street with enough compression to take advantage of 100 octane.
Even 15:1 only needs 92-93 octane, compared to 87 octane and about 9:1.
 
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Old 09-26-07, 07:49 PM
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Originally Posted by Pendragon
You wouldn't be running an engine on the street with enough compression to take advantage of 100 octane.
Even 15:1 only needs 92-93 octane, compared to 87 octane and about 9:1.
I kind of realize that now, but back then I was a little less knowlegable.

I always assumed if your engine in your car is running OK, it won't run any better with higher octane.

1 qestion though...some high end autos, like some mercedes I think, tell you to only use premium (89 octane or better) in their cars. I don't understand why you would have to do that if the gasoline is of good quality?
Or is it that premium grades of gas just have less junk in them? Refined better?

Jim
 
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Old 09-27-07, 05:12 AM
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Octane (just in case you or someone reading doesn't know), is a measure of a fuels resistance to detonation by compression.

That is to say, in the simplest terms, that 93 octane will take more compression before it self-detonates than 87 octane, which is why most performance cars take something better than 87 octane. My bike took 92 octane (14.5:1 compression), and you could definitely tell if you tried to use lower octane fuel. Since the tank only held about 4.5 gallons, cost wasn't so much an issue.

Your average family sedan is probably lucky to be doing 10:1 (or even 9), so the 87-89 stuff is fine. Now if it has a turbo or supercharger, then you'll need the extra octane for when that kicks in.
 
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Old 09-27-07, 05:27 AM
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No premium grades of gas are not better refined, although some of them have additional additives beyond just the anti-knock compounds. Obviously one of two things with the Mercededs, et al: (1) the engine design is such that more anti-knock compound is required for optimum performance, or (2) It's a Mercedes marketing ploy desgined to make the Mercedes owner think that ONLY the BEST goes into THEIR Mercedes.
 
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Old 09-27-07, 06:35 AM
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Originally Posted by the_tow_guy
(2) It's a Mercedes marketing ploy desgined to make the Mercedes owner think that ONLY the BEST goes into THEIR Mercedes.
I think #2 is probably closest to the truth.
(some call me cynical, but I'm usually right)

I had a 2 stroke bike when I was younger and I planed about .020" off the head. The increase in compression was dramatic and I could only run the highest octane fuel I could get my hands on.

Jim
 
 

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