Acetone Fuel Additive Update

I haven't heard of anyone diluting it. Just add it before you fill the tank and it gets mixed in pretty well.

Any hardware store and for your tank you add 4.5oz like I did.

Awesome! Thanks. So you think I should do this for a few tanks of gas (from what i've read)?

do u guys delute the acetone at all when u add it to the tank? and LT, how much did u add to ur blazer's tank. I know the tank is like 19-20 gallon.

You pour the acetone in first then you fuel up and everything is mixed perfectly in the tank.

In a 20 gallon tank, you add 6 oz.

You pour the acetone in first then you fuel up and everything is mixed perfectly in the tank.

In a 20 gallon tank, you add 6 oz.

I used to buy those fuel injector cleaners, thinking they do improve everything it says it does. I never once noticed a difference. I bought some of that sea foam stuff. I used to use that in my crank case doing an oil change and could tell a bit of difference in how the engine ran. It says it could be used in fuel. And it seems to doing a bit better after that first tank of gas I put it in. I'm ont he second tank, and can tell a difference on the gas mileage.

On my cavalier, when I fill the tank, the needle goes past the Full mark like a few mm's. And I got like 25-25 miles before it moved to the full mark. I filled up the tank, and haven't changed my driving habits, and i'm already up to 50 miles and it's almost to that line. Not sure if the sea faom additive did that, but i'm going to go with that.

I used to buy those fuel injector cleaners, thinking they do improve everything it says it does. I never once noticed a difference. I bought some of that sea foam stuff. I used to use that in my crank case doing an oil change and could tell a bit of difference in how the engine ran. It says it could be used in fuel. And it seems to doing a bit better after that first tank of gas I put it in. I'm ont he second tank, and can tell a difference on the gas mileage.

On my cavalier, when I fill the tank, the needle goes past the Full mark like a few mm's. And I got like 25-25 miles before it moved to the full mark. I filled up the tank, and haven't changed my driving habits, and i'm already up to 50 miles and it's almost to that line. Not sure if the sea faom additive did that, but i'm going to go with that.

You have to calculate the economy using miles driven / gallons used.

Your fuel gauge is not even close to being an accurate way to check mileage.

I don't know exactly how many gallon's i've used. I know my tank is a 16 gallon tank. I can range from 240-260 mpt.

I don't know exactly how many gallon's i've used. I know my tank is a 16 gallon tank. I can range from 240-260 mpt.

You can how many you get out of this one here.

I'll let you know when I fill up again. My last tank...the tank with the sea foam, I filled up today with 200 miles to the tank. And had an eighth of a tank left. I wads driving interstate a few tiems. 75-85 mph

You pour the acetone in first then you fuel up and everything is mixed perfectly in the tank.

In a 20 gallon tank, you add 6 oz.
alright, sounds like a plan. how much does this stuff cost?

alright, sounds like a plan. how much does this stuff cost?

Don't know how much in your area, not too much though.

and u can get this at home depot or lowes?

yes. sorry about bad pic.
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yes. sorry about bad pic.
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what department would it be in? homedepot or lowes don't list this on their website.

paint department. its with the paint thinners

paint department. its with the paint thinners
awsome, thanks man. i'll give it a try. have u experienced any negative effects by using this?

nope, no negative effects, mpg is up. engine seems to run smoother. I haven't noticed the different exhaust smell, but i haven't put my face to the exhaust pipe in a long time.

nope, no negative effects, mpg is up. engine seems to run smoother. I haven't noticed the different exhaust smell, but i haven't put my face to the exhaust pipe in a long time.
alright, thanks. i'll do my own test on my 95 and let u guys know how it goes. anything to get better mpg, lol

Also head to walmart right around the spray paint where i got my engine paint they sell acetone.Dont remember the price off hand but it was big ol container

It's $11.95 for a 1 gallon, metal can at Wallyworld. I stress metal cans because Acetone is a bit hydroscopic (attracts water) and if it's in anything but a metal container, will have sucked up some water from the air. Buying it in a can assures 100% quality and keeps it dry when you take it home. Once in the gas tank, it's *miscible* with gasoline, meaning that it permanently bonds with it, so it is no longer reactive with water. Pour in you dose of acetone *fist* then fill the tank to assure it all mixes well. I've played with acetone in the past on carburetted engines and a few makes of fuel injected, small engine cars. I have nothing negative to report, gas mileage may stay the same if your engine's already in great shape. It will improve things if there was anything in there that needed cleaning and I think this is where others see an "improvement". But in either case, if mixed in the right ratios, it seems to help idle quality the most. However, in some engines, it may take a little longer to first start the engine. It seems to induce mild vapor lock whereas regular gas doesn't in an otherwise 100% healthy engine. Keep the ratio light, like 2-3 Oz. per 10 gallons of gas in the tank. Too little doesn't do much, too much doesn't give any benefit at all, and may reduce fuel efficiency as it can in sufficient quantity, retard the ingition rate of the gasoline.

I've got a 16 gallon tank....so 4½ oz.? Or should I not try it.

That sounds about right. You have nothing to loose by trying. Pick up a quart of acetone to figure out if it works for you. At worse, there will be other projects around the house and vehicle that will consume it eventually. Be mindful of spills; use a funnel. This stuff gets anywhere near the clearcoat or paint of your car, oi!

wolfox, the chemistry lecture on acetone has previously been given in this thread.

wolfox, the chemistry lecture on acetone has previously been given in this thread.

Hehe, we Blazer owners tend to over-do things from time to time.

It is our weakness or would you call it strength? ;)

*dig-dig-dig* *Read-a-read* Awww shucks. Sorry, didn't mean to step on toes or go over covered ground again. I should have read the whole thread instead of jumping in. My apologies.

Not a big deal

Update: I have just been transferred to another worksite and don't know what is normal for my truck driving to and from that site. I am on the expressway alot more than I used to be, so I have to do alot more testing before I am convinced, one way or the other. Tentatively, I don't see much difference. I can easily attribute my better mileage (10%) to the more expressway driving I am now doing.

It is possible that the differences people are seeing are due to cleaning of the fuel system by the acetone and it is having an effect because of this. This would account for the differences in results between similar vehicles. If the acetone produced it's effect by affecting the burning of gasoline, it is hard to understand how the same engine in similar trucks would get different results.

If anyone wants to see if it is really the acetone which is helping them by increasing the burning efficiency, stop using the acetone. Within a couple of tanks, your mileage should be back to where it used to be. If it is a cleaning effect, it will not revert back that quickly.

Just finished testing the acetone at 8 oz/tank and saw no effect. Oh well, you can always hope...

Just finished testing the acetone at 8 oz/tank and saw no effect. Oh well, you can always hope...

How big is your tank?

Sure, maybe. But it seems silly that a government wouldn't make it mandatory. Something that saves people money is generally pretty popular, as is protecting the environment.


The unfortunate thing about government/EPA regulations is that before they can be even considered for implementation, they must be extensively tested. As far as I can tell, there has been no extensive government testing of Acetone as a fuel additive, and with our administration's strategy of picking wars with Middle Eastern countries as soon as gas prices go up, there will probably be no large rush for testing or regulation.

This is,
The opinion of a 17-year old who reads too much. :-D

I just read this WHOLE thread.

Good God, I just read this WHOLE thread.

Lord.

I think that qualifies me for a free tank of gas courtesy Automotive Forums. Or maybe just a cookie.

Anyhow, I decided to try it. Just squirted 6 oz into my 20 gal tank after fillup and reset the compooter. We'll see how she does.

My drive to work is only 1 mile, so my mileage tends to be on the low end of the "city-driving" spectrum. I average about 13 - 15mpg. I get MUCH more on long highway trips, usually 22 - 24mpg.

BTW, the Dollar Store had a turkey syringe($2) next to the larger turkey-basters. The syringe had the oz marks for measuring. Tis' the season!!




The unfortunate thing about government/EPA regulations is that before they can be even considered for implementation, they must be extensively tested. As far as I can tell, there has been no extensive government testing of Acetone as a fuel additive, and with our administration's strategy of picking wars with Middle Eastern countries as soon as gas prices go up, there will probably be no large rush for testing or regulation.

This is,
The opinion of a 17-year old who reads too much. :-D

i recently finished my first acetone cycle on my 95 jimmy. i used 6oz for my 20gal tank. i was very surprized to see a DROP in fuel economy. mpg went from 15-16 to 14. anyone else have this happen? i drove the same routes the entire time. did i do something wrong? i am going to drive without the acetone for the next tank and see if mileage improves.

Did you change gasoline brands or octane?

Did you change gasoline brands or octane?
no i have not. i go to the same gas station everytime and use 87 octane.
i also reset the computer each time.

This would coincide with reformulated fuels that arrive in mid November. Acetone has its efects nullified when the gasoline is cut with alcohol. Alcohol and reformulated (read oxygenated fuel) that hit the market around this time of year do not see any benefit at all from acetone infusion. I put my can up on the shelf to be used in other projects for the duration of the Winter months. *sigh* When gasoline changes back to its warm weather formulation (Read: It's 100% gasoline again) you'll note an increase in fuel economy right off the bat which can be further augmented with the acetone. Also, if you are a short trip driver (under 15 miles) in Winter temperatures, you will see a dramatic drop as a cold engine has it's ECM signal longer fuel injector timings as the engine warms up, further dropping gas economy. Personally, I would like to see the monkey that mandated MTBE during the Winter hung - even the best tuned engine will see about a 3% or so drop in fuel economy because of it. :P

This would coincide with reformulated fuels that arrive in mid November. Acetone has its efects nullified when the gasoline is cut with alcohol. Alcohol and reformulated (read oxygenated fuel) that hit the market around this time of year do not see any benefit at all from acetone infusion. I put my can up on the shelf to be used in other projects for the duration of the Winter months. *sigh* When gasoline changes back to its warm weather formulation (Read: It's 100% gasoline again) you'll note an increase in fuel economy right off the bat which can be further augmented with the acetone. Also, if you are a short trip driver (under 15 miles) in Winter temperatures, you will see a dramatic drop as a cold engine has it's ECM signal longer fuel injector timings as the engine warms up, further dropping gas economy. Personally, I would like to see the monkey that mandated MTBE during the Winter hung - even the best tuned engine will see about a 3% or so drop in fuel economy because of it. :P
thats all i needed to know. thanks alot. good advise.

no i have not. i go to the same gas station everytime and use 87 octane.
i also reset the computer each time.

also the overall temperatures have dropped lately.

also the overall temperatures have dropped lately.
i started my cycle when temps were still in the 60's. even then i had a slight decline in mpg. i guess as the temps fell, mpg fell even with acetone

Hey wolfox,

do gas companies reformulate fuels in the South?

I'm in southern Kentucky ...


This would coincide with reformulated fuels that arrive in mid November. Acetone has its efects nullified when the gasoline is cut with alcohol. Alcohol and reformulated (read oxygenated fuel) that hit the market around this time of year do not see any benefit at all from acetone infusion. I put my can up on the shelf to be used in other projects for the duration of the Winter months. *sigh* When gasoline changes back to its warm weather formulation (Read: It's 100% gasoline again) you'll note an increase in fuel economy right off the bat which can be further augmented with the acetone. Also, if you are a short trip driver (under 15 miles) in Winter temperatures, you will see a dramatic drop as a cold engine has it's ECM signal longer fuel injector timings as the engine warms up, further dropping gas economy. Personally, I would like to see the monkey that mandated MTBE during the Winter hung - even the best tuned engine will see about a 3% or so drop in fuel economy because of it. :P

I cannot speak for the entire south. But my little patch of it down here believes it is being "Geen" and environmentally friendly by cutting vehicle fuels with MTBE and alcohol. Ask a reasonably sharp Californian whom has been following data on MTBE how their open water supplies are doing. ;)

I cannot speak for the entire south. But my little patch of it down here believes it is being "Geen" and environmentally friendly by cutting vehicle fuels with MTBE and alcohol. Ask a reasonably sharp Californian whom has been following data on MTBE how their open water supplies are doing. ;)


One such Californian, notably myself, has in fact been following data on MTBE, and also on how its use has been limited or banned in several areas of the state, most notably near Lake Tahoe, because, in short, while it does reduce smog, it also seriously messes up aquatic ecosystems by finding its way into lakes, streams, and rivers. So, just like so many other EPA projects, this is one of those shortsighted initiatives that is being cancelled out, millions of taxpayer dollars later, due to the discovery that it is doing more harm than good. Unfortunately, though, the government is still going to be cutting gasoline with ethanol because they cannot find anything wrong with it yet (besides making us buy more gas).:banghead:

It goes deeper than that. Areas around gas stations that rely on wells to supply fresh water, and areas that are travelled heavily; again relying on ground water drawn from wells are starting to see elevated levels of MTBE. This stuff gets in *everything*. It only takes a very minute amount of it to be detected. (Humans can be sensitive to MTBE in water in concentrations as low as 20 PPB - that's right 20 Parts per BILLION - 5 PPB is not detectible and has been shown to cause significant harm to test animals over a given period of time.) And people wonder why 1 out of 2 males or 1 out of 3 females *will* contract cancer of some form during their lifetime. I am not saying THIS is the reason why, but it's shaping up to be a significant factor that should be considered.

Let's keep this topic on track guys.

Just don't want it fading to an environmental thread.

Hey wolfox,

what is it about alcohol that nulifies the effects of acetone?





This would coincide with reformulated fuels that arrive in mid November. Acetone has its efects nullified when the gasoline is cut with alcohol. Alcohol and reformulated (read oxygenated fuel) that hit the market around this time of year do not see any benefit at all from acetone infusion. I put my can up on the shelf to be used in other projects for the duration of the Winter months. *sigh* When gasoline changes back to its warm weather formulation (Read: It's 100% gasoline again) you'll note an increase in fuel economy right off the bat which can be further augmented with the acetone. Also, if you are a short trip driver (under 15 miles) in Winter temperatures, you will see a dramatic drop as a cold engine has it's ECM signal longer fuel injector timings as the engine warms up, further dropping gas economy. Personally, I would like to see the monkey that mandated MTBE during the Winter hung - even the best tuned engine will see about a 3% or so drop in fuel economy because of it. :P

I doubt anyone knows. Alcohol does react chemcally with acetone under some conditions (forming an acetal). Also, alcohol and water combine with acetone chemically in a similar way as above forming a hemiacetal (and there is always some water present).

Also, alcohol (and water) binds dynamically and reversibly with acetone through hydrogen bonding, which is what you will probably find in gasoline solution under conditions that don't permit chemical reaction. Alcohol (and to an even greater extent, water) likes acetone much more than it likes hydrocarbons.

All the above possibilities will radically change the physical properties of acetone in gasoline. Only the first chemical reactions will change the chemical properties of acetone.

So, if the effect of acetone is a physical effect, as is proposed (changing the surface tension all by itself - which I find hard to believe without some data, since the surface tension of acetone is very similar to that of gasoline), then either process will potentially cause a problem. Also, alcohol alone will change the physical properties of gasoline which may nullify any effect the acetone will have. Alcohol will have a much stronger effect on gasoline (perhaps in the wrong direction) than acetone will. Acetone is much more like gasoline in physical properties than is alcohol.

The more I think about it, the more I think that the effect of acetone on gasoline may be a result of the affinity acetone has for water. Water may have a really large effect on the physical properties (surface tension) of gasoline in very small quantities. Perhaps the acetone attracts the water and deletes the effect the small amount of water has on the gas. This would also be significantly more effective in some vehicles than others. :shrug:

Water has such a high surface tension that this could be a possible explanation for all this. The presence of alcohol may have a similar effect as water, and be in such large quantities in gas that the acetone used by you is in much too small a concentration to attract all the alcohol - as well as the alcohol having a higher affinity for gas than does water.

Hey wolfox,

what is it about alcohol that nulifies the effects of acetone?

Acetone achieves what it does (A marginal 3-10% increase in fuel economy) by "exciting" gasoline. It makes its molecules more apt to just literally break apart into discrete molecules of vapor to allow further, cleaner and more productive combustion. It does this by lowering the surface tension of gasoline. Acetone only has to be present in *minute* quantities for this to happen.

Alcohol *increases* the surface tension of gasoline like fuels. This makes it not so freely capable of burning as efficiently. Alcohols are present in gasoline formulations in winter in amounts of 10% or more. The very scant 2-3 Oz. acetone to every 10 gallons of gasoline at this time will not be enough to counter-act the effect of these higher concentrations of alcohols. (Ethanol Alcohol to be specific)

If I see "x% Ethanol By Volume" on a gasp pump label - I go to the next gas station, looking for someone that sells what's advertised on the side of the pump.... Gasoline. :D

Oh, and to the folks that still think Acetone is harmful, read up a little more on the subject. 1) It's molecularly closer to gasoline than any other fuel "additive". 2) It "catalyzes" fuel into an ideal fuel medium, similar to propane's behavior and how it would burn if it were running in our engines. (Propane is already a vapor when introduced in a combustion chamber. Low surface tension Gasoline will vaporize, rather than be atomized when a small amount of it's constituency is mixed with acetone) 3) It does not impinge on gasoline's lubricity. 4) *Alcohol* does *more* harm that acetone in our fuel systems and engines than anything else.

Alcohol reduces fuel economy and burning efficiency, is hydroscopic (Attracts water) in nature, and is *acidic* on fuel lines, both rubber and metallic and loves to eat the materials seals are made of in various fuel injection systems. Just ask the folks in South America how their highly concentrated alcohol volume in fuel is working for them - and what their local government is doing to try to raise alcohol in the total content of fuel. Then ask the *millions* of people that have no choice as to what fuel they can purchase how their cars are doing. *Millions* of broken, choked up, corroded and eaten from the inside-out vehicles are littering the place. ;)

My god that was a good post.......

Thanks man. I have to post something once in a while to make sure that I am still alive. :lol:

DAAAAAMN. I love this place. So informative.

To clarify a few things:

Acetone achieves what it does (A marginal 3-10% increase in fuel economy) by "exciting" gasoline. It makes its molecules more apt to just literally break apart into discrete molecules of vapor to allow further, cleaner and more productive combustion. It does this by lowering the surface tension of gasoline. Acetone only has to be present in *minute* quantities for this to happen.

Where is there evidence of this effect? I have looked and I have not seen any measurement of gasoline's surface tension before and after adding acetone. Since acetone has a very similar surface tension to that of gasoline, I would not believe this without data. Please provide a link to this information.

1) It's molecularly closer to gasoline than any other fuel "additive".

MTBE is much closer to gasoline in both molecular weight and polarity than is acetone.

2) It "catalyzes" fuel into an ideal fuel medium, similar to propane's behavior and how it would burn if it were running in our engines. (Propane is already a vapor when introduced in a combustion chamber. Low surface tension Gasoline will vaporize, rather than be atomized when a small amount of it's constituency is mixed with acetone)

This is mostly supposition based on the hypothetical effect that acetone has on the surface tension of gasoline. Please provide a link to this data.

Also, there is nothing catalytic about this effect, real or imaginary. Catalysts have nothing to do with physical properties.

The decreasing of surface tension by acetone does not explain why the effect of acetone decreases at higher levels of acetone. Compounds that truly decrease surface tension (surfactants) do not have such a narrow range of concentrations in which they have their effect. A small concentration of a surfactant has a large and measurable effect on surface tension. Double that concentration and the effect of the surfactant is greater. Double that and the effect is still greater. Acetone does not effect gasoline in that way.

I still believe that my explanation in my previous post has greater chance of being close to the truth than any explanation that relies on only acetone as a surfactant.

From that post:
"...the effect of acetone on gasoline may be a result of the affinity acetone has for water. Water may have a really large effect on the physical properties (surface tension) of gasoline in very small quantities. Perhaps the acetone attracts the water and deletes the effect the small amount of water has on the gas. This would also be significantly more effective in some vehicles than others. :shrug:"

Here, the effect of acetone is on scavenging the water (decreasing its activity) from the gasoline - where the water has the negative effect on the surface tension of the gas. Pure speculation, but it fits the facts better than the explanation with acetone as the surfactant.

To clarify a few things:



Where is there evidence of this effect? I have looked and I have not seen any measurement of gasoline's surface tension before and after adding acetone. Since acetone has a very similar surface tension to that of gasoline, I would not believe this without data. Please provide a link to this information.

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

http://peswiki.com/index.php/Directory:Acetone_as_a_Fuel_Additive#Laws_of_Therm odynamics


http://www.industrialnewsupdate.com/news/oil-energy/archives/oil_energy_prices/index.php

Everything else is either repeating these main sites, or people like us debating whether or not it does what is claimed. ;) I am hard pressed to find anything with the scent of anything official on it, but I can relate from my own experience - it simply works. I stop putting it in the tank and fuel up on pure 87 unleaded, milage drops off to something more "normal"....normal for my truck still being damn good.


MTBE is much closer to gasoline in both molecular weight and polarity than is acetone.

And is extremely toxic when stored, handled, or consumed in the combustion process. It changes very little in the combustion process and well....gets in everything. Not good. Acetone quickly volatizes from soil, water, open air, you name it. It doesn't lurk around.

This is mostly supposition based on the hypothetical effect that acetone has on the surface tension of gasoline. Please provide a link to this data.

Look above at the links, thanks. :D

Also, there is nothing catalytic about this effect, real or imaginary. Catalysts have nothing to do with physical properties.

I know this, hence why the word catalyzes was in quotes. I boiled down the terms for the layman. Forgive me for the fatal error of being none-too precice but trying to keep things easy to digest.


The decreasing of surface tension by acetone does not explain why the effect of acetone decreases at higher levels of acetone. Compounds that truly decrease surface tension (surfactants) do not have such a narrow range of concentrations in which they have their effect. A small concentration of a surfactant has a large and measurable effect on surface tension. Double that concentration and the effect of the surfactant is greater. Double that and the effect is still greater. Acetone does not effect gasoline in that way.


Acetone contains less energy by volume than gasoline. As it's percentages increase in the total volume of gasoline, it begins to inhibit more than it helps. It's like taking a glass of red table wine a day for general health. Drink the bottle at one sitting however.... You get the idea.


I still believe that my explanation in my previous post has greater chance of being close to the truth than any explanation that relies on only acetone as a surfactant.


As I hold my opinion in my statements before as being the reason...erm, your point? Opinions are like a**holes, everyone's got them, and everyone else's stinks. I am cool to stick what I hold as educated opinion if you can do the same and we can still be good pals in the end. Cool? :) Or better yet, explore if it is indeed the byproduct of hydrogen bonding or if it is merely acting as a surficating agent. Maybe if we had a little more clarification as to your point of view? You sound piercingly brilliant on the subject - not at all a gouge, but my whiskers are tickling, they tell me I am speaking with someone with experience/education behind their words. Unfortunately, my laboratory is my truck - *shrug* and it works applied at a rate of 2-3 Oz./10 gallons of gas. Increasing does not gain any more benefit as you stated above, and I agree. But if I stop "dosing" I get an immediate hit in MPG on the order of 7% or so. I cannot get any more specific than that I am afraid. I am curious to know as to how it works too.



From that post:
"...the effect of acetone on gasoline may be a result of the affinity acetone has for water. Water may have a really large effect on the physical properties (surface tension) of gasoline in very small quantities. Perhaps the acetone attracts the water and deletes the effect the small amount of water has on the gas. This would also be significantly more effective in some vehicles than others. :shrug:"

Here, the effect of acetone is on scavenging the water (decreasing its activity) from the gasoline - where the water has the negative effect on the surface tension of the gas. Pure speculation, but it fits the facts better than the explanation with acetone as the surfactant.


And what if you have no water laying in the tank, or detectable in the fuel, suspended or otherwise? But I can tell you this much, with more alcohol mixed in the fuel during these cooler months which DOES attract and retain water in the winter months, well then - you re 100% correct and I agree. :) This is starting to sound more and more anecdotal to me now adays, but I still am hard pressed to argue how it does NOT work. Again, I take the acetone away and gas mileage drops off a tad, right on the next, full tank of pure gas. Re-introduce acetone at the rates mentioned above and she rolls at least 5-7% longer on the gallon of gas. :dunno:

Those links you provided have no evidence that acetone affects the surface tension of gasoline. I have read them and there is nothing there except speculation.

A quote from page 1 of the peswiki article you provided:
"A growing number of people are reporting their results, as tabulated here. Most have noted modest increased mileage (e.g. 2-10%), more power, more stable idle, faster start-up, cleaner emmissions. Part of that improvement is likely to be from the cleaning of the engine that the acetone accomplishes." Not exactly a supporting article for your argument.

The toxicity of MTBE has nothing to do with what you said, so I was correcting your statement about the similarity of acetone to gasoline, not advocating the use of MTBE

There is always water in a tank. You cannot avoid it. It is only a question of how much. Water has such a strong effect, that ppm quantities of it may have a significant effect on the gas.

Also, my opinion is worth alot more than most being educated and employed as a chemist for the majority of my adult life. Opinions are only like assholes if you don't take into account the source of the opinion.

I have no doubt you get a positive effect from adding acetone to your tank. I have alot of doubt about how it acts the way it acts and the explanations I have read. They are long on salesmanship and short on science.

I have no doubt you get a positive effect from adding acetone to your tank. I have alot of doubt about how it acts the way it acts and the explanations I have read. They are long on salesmanship and short on science.

Emphasis mine, of course. And again, agreed wholeheartedly. So what's the scoop, and does anyone else out there have clues? Like Brian, I am butting heads against *available* information with no hard, scintilating line of truth to add other than experience and the frankly; pseudo-science babble of folks trying to wrap their brains around it. I too am on a quest for truth. {/yoda} Mmmmm yes, yes. :D

True dat

Emphasis mine, of course. And again, agreed wholeheartedly. So what's the scoop, and does anyone else out there have clues? Like Brian, I am butting heads against *available* information with no hard, scintilating line of truth to add other than experience and the frankly; pseudo-science babble of folks trying to wrap their brains around it. I too am on a quest for truth. {/yoda} Mmmmm yes, yes. :D

Your thinking is not flawed. Regardless of what other people say, you have the results in real world testing conditions.

Anyone can say anything about how your proposal is flawed in one way or another, but in the end, you have the results and that is all that matters.

Understanding the process is the key to applying it. Testing it engine by engine is no way to apply a useful tool. If you understand something, you can predict its effect and make it much more useful and more quickly.

Understanding the process is the key to applying it. Testing it engine by engine is no way to apply a useful tool. If you understand something, you can predict its effect and make it much more useful and more quickly.

There is enough education here to make their own decision and it worked so therfore his application is correct and he is seeing better results. Just beacuse he doesn't have a book full of the chemistry of what his engine did to do that doesn't mean his results are not valid.

Nothing is for sure in this world, but you can make decent decisions based on decent information and there is enough information on this subject to make the decision for yourself or anyone.

With his testing and the information he has, he has proven that it does indeed work and that is all that matters.

Do we have complete testing that 91 octane fuel used in an engine tuned for 87 octane will not cause carbon built up in the engine due to a slower burn? Could be right? (This is just an example, I don't want to go into off-topic discussion.)

Nothing is concrete and nit-picking over small details will not remove the fact that he adds the acetone, his mileage increases, he doesn't use acetone, his mileage decreases.

It is that simple.

No one said his results were not valid. Back off.

No, that is not all that matters. The discussion he and I had was between us. He and I agree in principle and that is all that matters.

i have done one cycle of acetone use. during that time, i believe that the gas station that i use switched their gas to the winter formula and i lost the 1-2mpg increase that i got with the summer gas formula and the 3oz/10 gallon dose of acetone. went from 16-17mpg to 14. outside temp also dropped from 60 degrees when i started the cycle to 30-40 degrees when i finished it.

Again, this coincides with A) Lower ambient temps which until an engine is full-hot, will not be running at peak efficiency. Short trip drivers are the hardest hit. B) The typically higher concentrations of alcohols in winter formulations in many areas not only contain less energy content in of themselves, but negates any benefit from acetone. So I would say you were par for the course there.

Try finding a local station that does not sell fuel with alcohol in it. I found my little "goldmine" station the other day and willing to try acetone experiments in cold weather months. It may not be the best gasoline on the planet, but at least it's not cut with alcohol or MTBE. It's a little mom-n-pop country store with a pair of Phillips pumps out by the curb in front of the store. No alcohol stickers, no warnings about MTBE, nothing. When I stopped in to talk with the grey haird lady behind the counter, she said, "Lords yes, that's just plain gasoline out there." She also makes it a point to have the tanks, regardless of business, topped off every two weeks. It's a small station, so does not see much traffic. I hope they change their pump filters often enough....

i have done one cycle of acetone use. during that time, i believe that the gas station that i use switched their gas to the winter formula and i lost the 1-2mpg increase that i got with the summer gas formula and the 3oz/10 gallon dose of acetone. went from 16-17mpg to 14. outside temp also dropped from 60 degrees when i started the cycle to 30-40 degrees when i finished it.

thanks for the info. we don't really have any mom-n-pop gas stations around here. are there any "chain" gas stations that don't add MTBE or alcohol to their gas? otherwise, I'm pretty much out of luck.