Test - Acetone to increase MPG

[ensteele]

Does the acetone do anything bad to the hoses or o-rings?

[Suby Fan]

Originally Posted by ensteele

Does the acetone do anything bad to the hoses or o-rings?

No nothing more then normal ware and tare do.. if you don't add to much

[Budfreak]

Originally Posted by ensteele

Does the acetone do anything bad to the hoses or o-rings?

It's dilluted enough at only 3 ozs. to 10 gallons to be totally safe. I always like to tell people to pour 3 ozs. of liquid into a 10 gallon gas can and see if you think it's enough to harm anything.

[dcarrb]

Guys, get a grip. If dumping a common solvent into the fuel of any engine (in any quantity) truly boosted its efficiency, don't you think there would exist objective scientific documentation of such a miracle? How long has gasoline been used as a motor fuel? In all those years people have tried every manner of additive, gadget and gizmo in a futile attempt to improve economy by some cheap and simple means, and the fact remains that driving style and maintenance habits have much more bearing on MPG than anything you may pour into your tank. It's human nature to long for such a thing, a quick fix, just as we all wish to gobble-down magic fat-burner pills rather than simply manage our diet and get off the couch.

This excerpt from Wikipedia sums it up well (emphasis mine):

"Small quantities of acetone added to fuel may improve economy and engine performance, though this is only anecdotal and refuted by most automotive engineers."

You know, there must be a reason for that. Give it some thought.

dcb

[kuoh]

Any Mythbusters viewers here besides me? They just did an episode on various fuel mileage improvement myths, including acetone and the magic magnets. Results? You guessed it, no change or worse MPG with the supposed miracle gas cures. I'm not saying that they're scientific or even industry experts, but their testing methodology seems logical and reproduceable for anyone who wants to validate or refute the claims.

KuoH

[Trevor]

Originally Posted by kuoh

Any Mythbusters viewers here besides me? They just did an episode on various fuel mileage improvement myths, including acetone and the magic magnets. Results? You guessed it, no change or worse MPG with the supposed miracle gas cures. I'm not saying that they're scientific or even industry experts, but their testing methodology seems logical and reproduceable for anyone who wants to validate or refute the claims.

KuoH

That figures !

[NikFu S.]

At any rate, science fiction or not, I dumped 5 ounces into a full tank early today.

I recorded mileage for my previous tank, 18.27mpg all city.
That's gonna be hard to beat.

Should be able to scientifically refute it myself in about two weeks. (:

[Trevor]

Originally Posted by NikFu S.

At any rate, science fiction or not, I dumped 5 ounces into a full tank early today.

I recorded mileage for my previous tank, 18.27mpg all city.
That's gonna be hard to beat.

Should be able to scientifically refute it myself in about two weeks. (:

Will look forward to it as I am sure we will have an honest assesment. *<)

[Budfreak]

Originally Posted by kuoh

Any Mythbusters viewers here besides me? They just did an episode on various fuel mileage improvement myths, including acetone and the magic magnets. Results? You guessed it, no change or worse MPG with the supposed miracle gas cures. I'm not saying that they're scientific or even industry experts, but their testing methodology seems logical and reproduceable for anyone who wants to validate or refute the claims.

KuoH

I saw it and they didn't try any different amounts. They were using to much in my opinion. They only did 1 part per 5000 which is the very high end of the acceptable area. If they tried 1 part per 3500 to 4000, they might see different results. Plus, We don't know what they were using for gas. It could have been some cheapo crap all diluted with alcohol.(I believe they are in Cali. with all the garbage gas anyway) I say it deserves more looking into than they did because no matter what they say, I know it works good for me.

[dcarrb]

Originally Posted by kuoh

I'm not saying that they're scientific or even industry experts, but their testing methodology seems logical and reproduceable for anyone who wants to validate or refute the claims.

KuoH

Yeah, I watched, too. I suspect their methods are probably a bit more stringent than depicted on screen; behind-the-scenes stuff concerning research and experiment set-ups that we don't see. I'd like to see them spend more time delving into practical matters such as this and less time on exploding pants and quicksand. At any rate, it doesn't take a scientific or industry expert to know these fuel "saving" potions and gizmos are totally bogus.

(And on the subject of Mythbusters: Man, that Carrie chick is hot. I'd watch this show just to see the fine ladies at work.)

dcb

[intelisevil]

Originally Posted by dcarrb

(And on the subject of Mythbusters: Man, that Carrie chick is hot. I'd watch this show just to see the fine ladies at work.)

dcb

Season Pass on TIVO!

Dan

[NeedForSpeed]

Well,

What about improvement in emissions testing? If that works, I'm interested. And if the emissions do change for the better, could that reason for that translate into slightly improved economy or performance?

Originally Posted by dcarrb

Guys, get a grip. If dumping a common solvent into the fuel of any engine (in any quantity) truly boosted its efficiency, don't you think there would exist objective scientific documentation of such a miracle? How long has gasoline been used as a motor fuel? In all those years people have tried every manner of additive, gadget and gizmo in a futile attempt to improve economy by some cheap and simple means, and the fact remains that driving style and maintenance habits have much more bearing on MPG than anything you may pour into your tank. It's human nature to long for such a thing, a quick fix, just as we all wish to gobble-down magic fat-burner pills rather than simply manage our diet and get off the couch.

This excerpt from Wikipedia sums it up well (emphasis mine):

"Small quantities of acetone added to fuel may improve economy and engine performance, though this is only anecdotal and refuted by most automotive engineers."

You know, there must be a reason for that. Give it some thought.

dcb

[dcarrb]

Originally Posted by NeedForSpeed

Well,

What about improvement in emissions testing? If that works, I'm interested. And if the emissions do change for the better, could that reason for that translate into slightly improved economy or performance?

I'm no scientist, but it defies logic that a quarter-cup of nail polish remover in a tankful of gasoline could lower a car's noxious emissions. Now it wouldn't surprise me to know that the presence of acetone might make for some goofy emissions testing results, but that's a different matter. Either way, you won't realize one iota of performance or economy improvement.

If a car won't pass an emissions test, it's probably running very inefficiently, anyhoo. Acetone will miraculously fix a poorly-tuned car? Don't we wish?

dcb

[intelisevil]

If it can dissolve nail polish, it has to be dissolving a lot of the crud in our fuel systems also. This can't be a bad thing as long as the crud doesn't clog the injectors . . . This cleaning could contribute to better MPG and power.

Dan

[NikFu S.]

Originally Posted by intelisevil

If it can dissolve nail polish, it has to be dissolving a lot of the crud in our fuel systems also. This can't be a bad thing as long as the crud doesn't clog the injectors . . . This cleaning could contribute to better MPG and power.

Dan

I was thinking about that this morning, and what I thought was, the people doing this test and handing in the results were using cheap or poor quality fuel, have mismanaged their tune-ups and general have little knowledge of what's going on under their own hood.
I imagine an older vehicle in poorly running condition might yeild a noticeable improvement in switching to "the best gas in your area" as the directions require, and some solvent action. Someone trying to keep an eye on their fuel gauge might be more cautious during this testing phase as well so I believe the results are real, but the method more orthodox than plainly revealed.

On that note I noticed my engine ran much smoother and my belt stopped the light squealing today over the first 25 miles.