Does adding acetone to your gas improved mileage?

I came here looking to see if this topic had already been addressed.

There is great discussion around the web these days regarding the addition of acetone to gasoline. Allegedly, it improves the "combustibility" of the fuel, causing it to burn more completely, yielding better performance in fuel economy numbers.

I, being somewhat of a conspiracy theorist, have to believe that, if this were true, no fuel producer would certainly confess to it. After all, poorer fuel economy = more fill ups = more cash at the bottom line of those companies. But one would think that, if it WAS a legitimate theory, car manufacturers would endorse it, assuming no ill side effects such as the break down of seals, hoses, or other crucial components. Also, how does it effect emissions? Here in NJ, we have to have our cars inspected by the state every 2 years -- and part of that inspection is verification of emissions output.

I see this topic has been discussed quite heavily on the boards already...and I think it merits a more "scientific" testing than I can do by simply trying it. Frankly, I'm hesitant to try an unknown substance in my car until I've seen better evidence that (A) it works and (B) it isn't going to do any major and/or long term damage.

This could easily tested with two cars (or two engines). Arm one with regular fuel, no additives, and the other with fuel and 100% acetone (3 oz per 10 gal). Subject them to identical driving patterns, which could include a mix of highway, city, high speed, low speed, hilly, flat, driving. See which one performs better in the end.

As to how to test for long term effects, I'm not sure about that one...but perhaps the mythbusters team can determine, just from the chemical compound of both standalone acetone, as well as acetone + gasoline, can determine it's impact on common automotive components and the materials they're made of?

Hope to see this on MB soon!

I want to see this myth tested as well.

also... here's a link to teh website I got the info from:

http://peswiki.com/index.php/Directory:Acetone_as_a_Fuel_Additive

This site has "testimonials" and graphs and all kinds of information on the subject. I tried it in my car with absolutely no results whatsoever leaving me with the theory that all it does is work like a fuel system cleaner. FYI: my car is a 1999 Suzuki Esteem and has over 120,000 miles (currently around 127k), it's the original engine that was originally warranted for only 36,000. I also use Prolong additives to keep everything running smoothly... which means that my engine is very clean as far as the fuel and oil systems are concerned. This is why my theory is that acetone only works to de-crud the system which can provide improved gas milage.

I have heard of the acetone myth myself. I have read that it works by decreasing the surface tension of the gasoline which causes it to vaporize in a more even manner. The site i have found is

http://www.pureenergysystems.com/news/2005/03/17/6900069_Acetone/

this site is very informative and gives the amount to add.

an extremely simple way to test this myth is to take two cars, both the exact same, and empty their tanks and then put in ten gallons in each. have acetone added to one car and the other be pure gasoline. then using the same rules as the truck bed up or down myth simply drive until someone runs out of gas. its only ten gallons so it shouldnt take three hundred miles. then build two rigs in the shop to test how it affects the gasoline injection. build the fuel system, the tanks and the pumps, and check to see which system has the better vapor, the acetone or the gasoline. also, you could soak different engine parts that would be hit by the mixture in gasoline and acetone-gasoline mixtures. see how they are affected. i would suggest using suv's for this myth since they would probably be the ones that would be most affected by this myth. I drive a 2000 blazer that gets about thirteen miles to the gallon! i would really like to see this tested on Mythbusters before i try this on my car since i would be unable to replace it if it messed up my car.

LOL drhawn!!!!!!!

[quote]I came here looking to see if this topic had already been addressed.[/quote]

And what did you FIND???

Actually, I would think that if this were true one of the gas companies would have jumped on the bandwagon already. I mean, can you imagine the way Conoco, for example, could corner the market on gas sales if they could actually PROVE that their gasoline gives you more miles per gallon!?! They'd make an absolute FORTUNE!!! Even though the other gas companies would probably start doing the same pretty soon.

As for those websites with the graphs and all... Everything that I've seen leads back to the same source--one guy who has a website filled with a bunch of pseudo-scientific sounding gobbledy-gook.

I don't believe it for a minute.

um.. how much is the acetone saving? AND how much is the acetone?

im not sure if acetone in the gas tank does anything, but in know its great for getting superglued fingers unstuck!

source: personal experience....lol

-kp

p.s. also great for nailpolish removal once fingers are unstuck

Doesn't acetone also corrode the seals also? At least that was what I thought ( too lazy to look it up).

I would like to see this myth tested as well. It would be great if they could also vary the amounts of acetone used. The recomended amount is 1-4 oz per gallon of gasoline. My friends and I have been debating quite heavily on the subject.

[quote]Doesn't acetone also corrode the seals also? At least that was what I thought ( too lazy to look it up).[/quote]

The easy answer, yes. But it is the concentration that matters. If you take fuel hose (typically neoprene) and place it into a high concentration of acetone, it will swell up and become spongey. However, if you dillute it (just as it is in gasoline) there is way to detect any change (using simple tests - visual and touch).

This was just my own experiments... which I guess don't hold much ground - but I found that using a concentration 3X higher than normal (12 oz. per 10 gallons) shows no noticable deterioration. But I can not speak for long term results. All I did was mix the chemcial into fuel, observe. Then I capped and blew compressed air to get some sort of pressure test - I did not see any changes nor did my parter in a blind test (he did see a difference in the non dillute test).

As always, take this kind of evidence with a grain of salt :P

As for fuel economy gains... I can't say for sure. Adaptive ECU really sucks because it tends to undo your modifications to favor what it was programmed to do :P

--
Acetone is pretty cheap :P especially when you are using very little by comparison.

MythBusters Please test this, as I would like to see this proved or not.

We need this one tested. References above plus this one.

http://www.realtechnews.com/posts/2598

If it works, might take a few bux off at the pump, making a happier USA.

Mythbusters,

Please, please test this. I'm willing to offer my 2001 Ford, which gets craptacular gas milage if you pay off my loan as a tester. Then you can blow it up. I've been dreaming about blowing that thing up for a while.

I also have a 90 Mazda Miata that's not's blow up worthy.

If you do test this myth, I think it would be best to test different types of cars. For example, a truck, a compact car, a sedan, and a SUV.

this might work, but i would say the big concern might be more rapid seal breakdown. If you put acetone on rubber watch what happens, it dries it out almost instantly. Now i dont know how the mixture would react but if its anything like acetone is alone then your seals seem that they would get dry, then wet, dry then wet, causing rapid breakdown and dryrotting.. thats not something that would make it cost effective even if there was a difference in milage gained...

Yes, please test this. I came to this forum for the specific purpose of suggesting that this be tested. The myth is that it will work in a standard gasoline-powered vehicle, but I'd expect that if it really works, better gains could be had from modifying the engine computer to make better use of it.

As for the issue of the rubber seals, you have to remember that we are already putting ethanol or other alcohols in our fuel (it varies from state to state), and newer cars are required to handle up to 10% ethanol and certain levels of other alcohols, so I doubt it's just typical rubber.

Yep, I have to say that this is a PERFECT "myth" for our favorite skeptics to CONFIRM. I joined this forum JUST to recommend this topic and I am very happy to see there is so much interest already.

And keep in mind, they say that this varies from car to car, motor to motor, etc. So to get an accurate test, you would have to get I'd say 3 pairs of (preferably) new cars. Test 2 trucks, 2 muscle cars, and 2 regular guy sedans.

Please guys, answer this once and for all. I'm very interested in this topic. And I'm sure we all would be interested to hear about other supposed ways to improve mileage.

(Oh, and beware of the conspiracy theorists that will no doubt claim that your negative results will show that you are in big-oil's pocket. LOL)