Miracle for fuel economy?

[flat_black]

Acetone actually has lower petrolium 'washing' properties than gas, so presumibly, the acetone won't break up the oil as much as straight gasoline will.

As a side note, I've tested the reactions of acetone with oil, with plastics of every grade I could get my hands on, and I have a final figure on milage. Wow. I didn't know the car would EVER go this long on a tank.

530.4 miles on 13.0 gallons. 40.8mpg, average.

The results with oil is that it's LESS miscable with acetone than with gasoline, and ascetone actually seems to help the surface tension thereof. Gasoline pretty much is readily miscable with acetone.

As for plastics, acetone seems to not affect any aside from highly brittle, cheap plastics (Plastic spoons/forks, thin plastic packaging), which it made a little soft. Every other form seems to not develop any problems.

I really didn't expect the results that I'm getting so far, and am somewhat confused by some of them, but time will tell.

 

[TurfBurn]

My brother is testing this as well right now... he bumped up 3 mpg running 1 oz per 10 gallons on the first try.... he is now at 2 oz per ten gallons and once that is completely will probably go to no acetone to see if his mileage goes back to poorer again...

Also.. keep in mind that at these concentrations acetone will have very little affect on materials... and acetone is similar in it's attacks to Ethanol which is already present in our gasoline by 10%.. so I wouldn't have much of a concern with this stuff at all...

 

[Kooldino]

Hey guys, not to kill the idea, but I work at a truck rental company, spoke to one of my techs who does a lot of side work on cars and he said while yes you will get a cleaner, better burning fuel, he also said the acetone will burn the oil off your cyclinders quicker as they go up and down and you could blow the cyclinders, so use it sparringly.

Well, the oil rings should clean the bore on the downstroke, but I'm sure it doesn't get all of it.

How much does it take to do that?

 

[Kooldino]

Acetone actually has lower petrolium 'washing' properties than gas, so presumibly, the acetone won't break up the oil as much as straight gasoline will.

Maybe you could run a test somehow? Dump the same amount of oil into two jars. In one jar, use 1oz of acetone, and in the other, 1oz of gas. Shake thorougly. Dump the acetone/fuel. See how much oil sticks to the bottom?

As a side note, I've tested the reactions of acetone with oil, with plastics of every grade I could get my hands on, and I have a final figure on milage. Wow. I didn't know the car would EVER go this long on a tank.

530.4 miles on 13.0 gallons. 40.8mpg, average.

WTF.

The results with oil is that it's LESS miscable with acetone than with gasoline, and ascetone actually seems to help the surface tension thereof.

But acetone is supposed to make the surface tension weaker on things...

Gasoline pretty much is readily miscable with acetone.

As for plastics, acetone seems to not affect any aside from highly brittle, cheap plastics (Plastic spoons/forks, thin plastic packaging), which it made a little soft. Every other form seems to not develop any problems.

Word. How long did you leave them soak?

I really didn't expect the results that I'm getting so far, and am somewhat confused by some of them, but time will tell.

Werd

 

[Kooldino]

My brother is testing this as well right now... he bumped up 3 mpg running 1 oz per 10 gallons on the first try.... he is now at 2 oz per ten gallons and once that is completely will probably go to no acetone to see if his mileage goes back to poorer again...

Which brother? What car?

And % wise, how much is 3mpg in his case?

 

[flat_black]

Maybe you could run a test somehow? Dump the same amount of oil into two jars. In one jar, use 1oz of acetone, and in the other, 1oz of gas. Shake thorougly. Dump the acetone/fuel. See how much oil sticks to the bottom?

Already done. But the meathod with which I did it was to use 10W40 fluid pumped through an airbrush, the same quantity both times, and sprayed the edges of the graduated cylinder so it totally stuck to the walls. After that, I poured in 2 ounces of gas in one, 2 ounces of acetone in the other, shook, waited 5 minutes, recorded the results, then at 10, and 20 minutes after that. I wrote it all down to keep it fresh, too.

WTF.

I agree!

But acetone is supposed to make the surface tension weaker on things...

Right. It's some reaction with the acetone and additives in the oil, but I'm testing that right now with straight 40 weight non-synthetic oil, to see if it's that, or if it's a reaction with the hydrocarbon base that's used for oils. It does seem to break up gasoline better, though, and help it aerate.

Word. How long did you leave them soak?

Since I started the test, about a week and change ago. They're still soaking. =)

Werd

Fo sho. *nods* Scientific method and notepads rule.

- Eddie

 

[TurfBurn]

gasoline does not get on the cylinder walls in any measureable quantity unless you have issues... so I wouldn't be worrying about the acetone getting there... also keep in mind your acetone vapor pressure is EXTREMELY high so it will jump to vapor form long before it condensates in any liquid form that could get it on your walls or in your oil... and in vapor form it is very flammable... so it won't survive the combustion process... so all in all your combustion chamber is safe.. the ONLY part I'd worry about is your fue pump seals etc... but at these concentrations it will likely do nothing the seals in any measurable time period... additionally most of the materials used are ethanol resistant which means they are in a group of polymers that is more resistant to chemical attacks, and very likely completely immune to acetone as well.

 

[TurfBurn]

Which brother? What car?

And % wise, how much is 3mpg in his case?

Younger brother... Eagle Talon 2.0L... 23 mpg to 26 mpg so a 13% increase.. and that was at 1 oz per 10 gallons.. which is less than you guys are running..

I'll do this on my blazer... it currently gets 15 mpg... I'd love to see that go up!

 

[TurfBurn]

Impressive scientific method going on... I"ll lend my blazer to the cause next week and see how much of a change it makes there... I'll start out at 2.5 oz per 10 gallons.

 

[peepsalot]

flat_black, can you tell us what mileage you would normally average before trying acetone? I saw you mention it before but can't remember, it was already very good to begin with.

 

[Spooled]

So far after 2 days of normal driving I can tell a difference in fuel economy AND it's smoother running to boot. I had about 105 miles on 1/4 tank of gass so far, so if it continues like this I will be at about 420 miles for a tank (unitil my low fuel light comes ont at 12 gallons). That's about 35 mpg whitch is great considering I'm driving normally (getting on it every once in a while; downshifting and not coasting). I'm going to take it down to the low-fuel light, then fill it up again. That will tell me exactly how much fuel I've gone through since I started this test.

 

[Kooldino]

I'm running it in my motorcycle now. I have about 45 miles so far, but I probably have another 100 miles to go before I'll have any news.

Note: the bike is carb'd.

 

[Kooldino]

Also, does anyone have a boroscope...or whatever those things are called that let you see your cylinders? It'd be nice to see the carbon depositons on the pistons before and after.

 

[TurfBurn]

Also, does anyone have a boroscope...or whatever those things are called that let you see your cylinders? It'd be nice to see the carbon depositons on the pistons before and after.

It'll get cleaner if anything.. the emissions data alone already tells you that the burn has improved as the HC's dropped...

 

[FlyinMSP]

Cool to see you have very similar results to mine! (thumb) Good thing I took the plunge with acetone (and didn't blow up LOL)

So far after 2 days of normal driving I can tell a difference in fuel economy AND it's smoother running to boot. I had about 105 miles on 1/4 tank of gass so far, so if it continues like this I will be at about 420 miles for a tank (unitil my low fuel light comes ont at 12 gallons). That's about 35 mpg whitch is great considering I'm driving normally (getting on it every once in a while; downshifting and not coasting). I'm going to take it down to the low-fuel light, then fill it up again. That will tell me exactly how much fuel I've gone through since I started this test.

 

[Vampyre]

so far i have gone 230-240 miles and i am inbetween the first and second line after half a tank. and i was on 120 miles at 3/4 of a tank. i am thinking i will make over 400 for a tank as well

 

[wannabe]

i was at walmart this morning buying paint brushes for fiberglassing and walked right past the acetone....ALMOST stopped to buy some. i'll give you guys a couple more weeks first.

 

[Kooldino]

It'll get cleaner if anything.. the emissions data alone already tells you that the burn has improved as the HC's dropped...

Exactly. I just want to see if it makes them noticably cleaner.

 

[flat_black]

Ahem, sorry... Went to lunch, but I would have posted earlier. I got 38mpg before, which is about 4mpg more, now. That's 7.5 - 8% better than I was getting before. I think it's more that there's less room to improve combustion in my case (Polished combustion chamber and piston domes, lightly ported, polished exhaust ports, ported out intake manifold and ports, etcetera, etcetera...)

 

[Spooled]

Oh, I almost forgot! My car normally smells like rotten eggs after getting on the gas. Well ever since I put the acetone in it hasn't smelled at all! It must have something to do with a cleaner burn. Just another plus I guess.