acetone to improve fuel economy
 

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Chevy's came with a 3.8 in 95? In what vehicle? They were offered in 97 Lumina's both the APV and the car. But I can't think of one other in 95. I drove a 96 for over 100,000 miles before my daughter got it. It is a 3.1 always got 28 on the highway at 70+ with no additives.

If it was tested in a better controlled experiment with less variables I would be less doubting, but there are just too many factors while driving normal to conclude it once and for all.

Either way, it wont hurt. If anything it'll help clean out any residue and crud in the system...

Glad it worked for you.

MINIC6

Wow man, whomever cared for that 96 lumina was a genius to give you so much "plug-in" efficiency that you always got 28mpg on the highway at 70+ in that thing! Can you put me in touch with whomever that was?
I'm dead serious. That's 3mpg more than I am getting at those speeds, please help.
~your 70 miles away neighbor, Will

It was my wifes car all highway miles and tires were at 40lbs. I don't think its all that great my mother in laws 94 park avenue gets just under 30 on the highway with a 3.8. I think with me driving the lumina and a little bit of tinkering it could get over 30. Problem with this car is that it was at the start of performance versus FE so it has a poor choice of final drive.

I think it is great!! I have the same car(basicly) and I'm not getting that! My tires are at a higher PSI even! What can I do to get better highspeed mileage Minic6?

Check basics, tune up plugs? hows the air filter, pcv, pull the throttle body to check for coking. One common problem is vacum leaks. My car had several, what put me onto them was you only had defrost. Vacuum line to the vacuum ball had become brittle and cracked. Also some of the lines for the fuel rail and the egr. How is your exhaust flow plugged convertors can reallly mess up FE before you begin to loose power. Check trans. for over filled condition. This causes excess drag and can damage the trans.

One thing you didn't mention is what engine do you have. 3.1, DOHC or if a 97 or newer 3.8

I have new:
-air filter
-pcv
-new vacuum lines
-new throttle body gasket and clear of coke
-trans has synthetic, new filter and is perfectly filled

The exhaust flow sounds awesome, and the car has never been out of tune(as far as I know) or ran bad so I don't know if the cat is okay or not. It only has 77,000 miles on it tho. And there is an o2 sensor after the cat that is suposed to tell the computer if the cat is fuctioning perfectly or not...

I have the 3.1L

minic6,

Nevermind, I forgot that you are using pure gasoline and I, living downriver from you, am not. So there is your mileage advantage. We are not all equal!

Which is why I think its extremely important to disclose where we live in this forum.

Not very nice to be so abrupt with someone honestly trying to help.

I will support minic6's contention that the 3.1 V6 with automatic/overdrive can produce great mileage at 70-75 MPH. With whatever gasoline is available at any time and any place.

I owned a completely stock 1994 Pontiac Gran Prix that got 32-33 MPG with cruise set at 75 MPH. We drove in many states Illinois to California and mileage was very consistent. We owned the car 1996-2000, probably should still own it.

I could not and did not drive those speeds in the mountains of Colorado but the car did get 31-32 MPG in mountainous terrain with no cruise.

What do you suppose GM did to the cars in that short interim to make worse fuel mileage capability?

CO,

I appreciate all the suggestions!
And I'm dumbfounded that my text could have been interpreted in any negative way. I did not wish for that. Tho, I do think gasoline formulation makes more difference than you two think.

So I'll let you two know the results of the backpressure test and the tuneup.

Maybe GM didn't do anything to make worse fuel mileage capability? Not sure why you may be thinking they did?

Lets sort this out. I did not take offence at anything written. In the years I've worked in the industry I have seen vast differences from car to car. Some get fantastic mileage, on others it doesn't. Apples and apples and they aren't the same or sometimes even close. I have no explantion for this, but there it is. Maybe it is the quality of fuel in our case I don't know. I happen to run either a name brand or a cheapy doesn't seem to make a difference in my Geo. Premium for some cars help FE mine, it's a waste of money.
I hope you find something tangable to grab on to our old Lumina is now owned by our daughter and comes no were close to the mileage it use to get with us? Wonder why? LOL On a trip to Colorado Springs there was a huge difference on milege as to who was driving!

Hey I for some reason thought you lived in Ingham county where they do have purer fuel, but you don't. It's not fuel afterall, you have same as me.
So for sure, I'm going to check into an early plug and wire replacement and see what that does. Also check into exhaust backpressure like you said. I'll let you know, thanks again!

Yep the awesome final drive and gobs of low end torque with that 3.8 is for sure going to get you that higher mileage! No fair! Wish I had that great final drive gear! I'm running 2850rpm at 75mph!
You have a great cruiser bowtieguy. Hope to join you in acetone testing next month!

How much should i put in on my tank? i think its a 19 gallon.

hockey4mnhs,

Maybe try 5oz's since this is your first tank with it. See if your engine likes the higher doses first? Next tank try 3.5oz, then down a quarter ounce every fill until you think you've found your sweet spot?

For my other Chevy, it liked 2.75oz iirc...
~Will

The most common ratio seems to be 3 oz per 10 gal of fuel, but it seems to vary from vehicle to vehicle. I just added 3 oz of acetone, 1 oz of toulene, 1 oz of xylene, 1 oz of GP7, and 1 oz of MPZ to my current fill up. I have a 14 gal tank, so I just kinda winged it with the amount of acetone and figured I'd start low. Do you really have a 19 gal tank in that Honda? Man, that is nice if you do. I hate small tanks...14 gal ain't enough for me. If I had my way I'd have at least a 20 gal tank, so gas stops would be much fewer and farther away.

I tried it with the Saturn doing my 22 mi test loop with a before and after test, and the scangauge showed no difference. It may have something to do with your local gas formulation vs mine.

I just actually started my testing w/ the current tank of gas that I have in the car, and the mixture I'm using comes from Louis LaPointe's suggestions.
I did try straight acetone in a 90 Caddy Fleetwood I had, and saw no gains from it. But that car fought everything I tried to do to it, so I figured I'd get a fresh start with my Cavalier and try a fresh mixture of "jungle juice," as I call the chemical concoction I'm using. :)

Thanks. I should have some info by the end of the week, and I'm planning to give this experiment some time.

Just got 35 mpg from my last tank. I increased my acetone input to 4 oz for the latest fill up, and am running 1 oz each of the GP7/toulene/xylene/mpz.

I just started reading this thread and I have a 1990 buick reatta with the 3.8 engine and can get close to 30mpg without acetone. On a trip to Nashville one time I computed the mileage without the long traffic jam (it has a built in code reader) and came up with close to 35mpg. Personally I think that most of the mileage gains/losses are from tuning and some are from driving habits.

-Dan