Acetone as a fuel additive
Being a mechanically inept collegebound student, I'm all about FE without mechanic work.
So awhile back, I came across the topic of adding acetone to regular fuel for increased horespower as well as FE. I'm not sure about long term effects (if there are any), but I was curious whether or not others here are using it as a solution to rising gas prices. I didn't see it on the front page of this forum at least. Here's the best numbers I have. 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee, 4WD, 6 cyl EPA Mileage: 15/21/17 Regular mileage - 13 mpg (mountainous two lane roads - is that city or highway?) Trip: 300 miles 225 miles interstate highway - speeds of 70 - 77 mph 25 miles city 50 miles mountainous/hilly 4 lane highway - speeds 60/65 FE - 22 mpg I don't have the money for a ScanGauge, so I did it the old fashioned way. Not too bad on a long road trip though. Horrible vehicle to take across state, but I just didn't have confidence that the metro we saved from the crusher would make it. lol. Any other data/comments/insight on this is highly welcomed. |
slow down!!!! 70-77 is way to fast. that thing has horrible aero. try slowing to 55. About the asitone some people do use it and might see some fe
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Here are a few reports of a pair of ZJs that were using acetone. Seems like it could be worth a shot
https://peswiki.com/index.php/Directo...eps_and_Blazer How steep are the mountains you are rolling around on and how fast are you taking them? 22 is the norm for a stockish ZJ on the highway, you guys are slightly more aerodynamic then us Wranglers. When was the last time you did a full tune up and fluid change? |
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At the moment this is what I've been seeing with my 4.0 55 MPH - 22-24 MPG 65 MPH - 20-23 MPG 70 MPH - 19-21 MPG 85 MPH - 18 MPG |
The oil was changed in it just a few hundred miles prior to the trip. For a full tune up, I can't say. It's not my car, it's my parents, and my dad usually keeps a check on everything and changes it when needed. My grandpa is a mechanic, and my dad is good with cars (not a trait that has been passed on to me unfortunately).
Actually, I just realized, a smaller portion of that is interstate that I put down. I'll edit that out, but actually 50 miles of that was 4 lane mountainous highway, so the FE is better than I initially thought. On the rolling hills part of the interstate (the bulk of the drive), the hills were nothing too big. I had the car on cruise control for most of the drive, and the tach never changed much. The car didn't downshift for any of the hills either, so I assume it didn't take away much from the FE. As for driving slower.. the trip was 340 miles (300 from where I fueled up and started tracking it). It took 5 hrs 15 minutes as it was. 55 mph on the interstate, and I'd be driven over (which is part of the reason I didnt want to take the Metro. The engine sounds overly taxed at just 60). |
Diffs, tranny and t-case could probably use a change, maybe plugs and the distributor as well.
Usually when climbing, the load ramps up, FE drops to around 12-15 or so, and the Jeep just chugs along fine. |
I might crack open my can of acetone again. May as well use it as it's just going to sit in the garage anyways. I wish there was a practical way to A-B-A experiment with it. Maybe I should get dual tanks in my Metro (jk).
I took my Geo to 84 mph a couple of days ago (hopefully nobody from team "Feast and Famine" is reading this) and my car was at a flat 30mpg at that speed. Of course I EOC'd back down to 45 mph to soften the blow to FE :). |
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I can't get higher than 65 without flooring it. By that time, the engine sounds as though it's ready to blow, so I usually keep it at 55. |
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But here's the rub... if the benefits are small enough that it's difficult to tell the difference between tanks - even multiple tanks - it would seem logical to say that acetone is not cost effective :/ I think a more proper test would include: 1. Baseline - FE before acetone 2. Add acetone to first tank 3. Acetone second tank - record change 4. Acetone third tank - is FE change still there? 5. Acetone 4th tank - FE change still there? 6. Acetone 5th tank - FE change still there? 7. No acetone next tank - FE must change to verify results 8. No acetone next tank - did FE stabilize? The reason for so many tanks? If you're getting gains by cleaning out your fuel system - that's not because of chemical magic, that's just poor maintenance on your part. So those 5 tanks of acetone would hopefully give a trend and might possibly show that it was your internals being cleaned rather than chemistry :P But - weather is an issue (this takes quite a bit of time), especially for those of us that use human powered transportation :P Now for someone that's on the road a lot :D Personally -- that's a lot of testing to prove something that yields small results. I mean, if the results were significantly large, we'd all be doing it :P And an oil company would likely pick it up. Imagine if BP could claim their fuel gets you 20% better FE - imagine the lines at their stations :P |
I have been using/testing acetone for about 3 years now. It does work in some cars and not in others. I don't know why, something to do with engine design and or ECU programing.
FYI, adding a couple of ounces of acetone to a tank of gas won't clean anything. Thats like adding one drop of soap in a big laundry tub. You will need to add at least 1 ounce per gallon of whatever cleaner to do any good. |
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I know that it's a touchy subject, and I can't scientifically test anything, but in my old Honda I've seen a significant increase. I tried removing it a few times, and each time my FE dropped. It seems to make more of a difference in older cars with dirty as **** engines.
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I just wish more people who do try stuff are aware of the folly of drawing conclusions and making authoritative claims without proper methodology. Obviously you are aware of this: "I can't scientifically test anything". Offering up that disclaimer earns my respect. |
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Well, I"ll say I can't prove anything scientifically either, thats why I don't rant and rave about acetone. I have noted a 2 mpg increase after adding acetone many times while running my 20 mile east/west test route. That however is not scientific proof. Just my own conclusions. I feel most of the stuff on gas savers could be construed as non- scientific but some things are still accepted as if they were. |
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