A number of truckers had been telling me that adding 1 oz of acetone per gallon diesel notably increases fuel mileage, and that this also worked in their cars. They also felt is added a small amount of power.
Sounded like snake oil, but I read of it, tried it in a Ford Ranger and Ford Aspire econo box, and fuel economy in both went up over 15%, plus a notable increase in the smoothness of little Aspire. The "theory" behind acetone is not that it adds burning power, but rather that it acts in the manner that soap does in water - it reduces the tensile strength of the gasoline, therefore allowing it to atomize more completely.
Talk is cheap, but I have been using acetone in my daily drivers (about 1,200 miles a week city and highway driving) for a few months and the fuel mileage increase if very real. It is the difference between using a full tank and coming back with a bit less than a quarter of a tank of fuel for both vehicles.
The stuff will eat paint, but I carry it a gas can somewhat already mixed with gasoline. Going beyond 1 ounce per gallon has no advantage.
I have no problem messing with old Fords, but do have concern of the acetone eating components of my 928 fuel and induction systems. Any thoughts?

 

First I've heard of this. Not sure what affects it may have on the fuel system lines and seals.

 

http://peswiki.com/index.php/Directo..._Fuel_Additive

 

Take a (small....) sniff of Techron fuel system additive, and let me know if you also think it smells a lot like common paint thinner/mineral spirits. Acetone would need to be driven fairly soon after addition to get full advantage. On it's own, it has a low vapor pressure and might end up in the carbon cannister rather than the tailpipe.

A few 'older' cars had known problems with MTBE when it was first intruduced as a pollutant/additive to California gasolines in the early 90's. Complaints about old hoses suddenly rotting through. I suspect that, if your system will survave gas with MTBE or ethanol, toluene or paint thiiner injector cleaners, acetone might not be so bad.

 

Techron has Toluene in it, IIRC, as well as alot of detergent.

 

No one is truly explaining how it works. That is the only thing that worries me.

 

Dave:

It helps line-up the gas molecules so they can go faster through the fuel lines.

 

No, it helps them boil at a lower temperature so you can get vapor-locked sooner. (Early CIS cars take notice-- If you have the original fuel pumps, DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!)

 

I thought that I could just get the magnets and get those advantages for a one time low introductory price of $10!!!!

I guess that was too good to be true.

I would worry about the effect on the fuel pump of diesels, but I guess it is so dilute it shouldn't matter much.

Oh well.

 

Apparently it works by breaking down the surface tension of gasoline. And, apparently ethanol in the fuel mitigates the effect of the acetone because it increases surface tension. The link above makes a vague reference to creating ketones in the combustion chamber but doesn't go into detail as to whether that's a good or bad thing. Unfortunately my fuel of choice uses ethanol rather than MTBE as the emissions additive.

 

Dr Bob, they claim acetone evaporates slower on the FAQ page:

The following specs are based on MSDS physical data:

What data do you have on this?

 

Creates ketones??

and here I thought acetone WAS a ketone!

 

Well, yeah, that's what the article said... I'm no chemist, just pointing out that they mention potential issues with some fuels. I'm not going to switch to an MTBE-content fuel just to try this.... but may give it a shot with the fuel I do use, just for kicks.

 

FWIW
Acetone as a stand alone flammable has a lower flash point than gasoline.
As an example; pour a capful of acetone and a capful of gasoline -any pump octane- on a flat piece of metal and time which of the two disappears/evaporates faster -and approximately how much faster.
You will note there is NO CONTEST!
The winner by a long shot is Acetone, period. While acetone loses this test to MEK -methyl-ethyl-ketone by about the same margin toulene seems to vary faster/slower at times which may be a result of packaged product age.
All three of these "cleaner products are carcinogens,particularly hazardous to eyes, lungs, kidney's and liver. If used without goggles -best use a shield- one drop of most ketones can, and on occassion does, cause irreparable eye damage. Additionally, like other cleaners, carb/parts cleaners this stuff will eventually breakdown the fatty tissue under your skin. When new people would start work in my shop we would do a skin pinch test on the back of the hand and repeat every four months... with everyone noticing a case of rapid skin ageing to unprotected skin they were all soon wearing butyl rubber gloves, RELIGIOUSLY!
These products are flameable to the point of becoming explosives.
You don't want this stuff laying around the garage, near kids, women of childbearing age, and you definitely don't want a container of this stuff mixed with gas or otherwise in the car.
This is a topic of value/economy, right?
How much does one pay for a pint of acetone, toulene, or, MEK?
Those of you who have 'blended' a tank for a mileage run, did you the math for short/long term savings/economy?
Does this 'blend' stay stabile.
Are there detonation issues at given RPM's?
For my part I'm not getting into the go pedal as much when challanged and if I can lose about forty pounds I think my mileage will improve significantly per tank without adding more nasty chemicals to the pot.
Your cars, your lives, your choice...

 

Thanks John!!

I was going to break out my NIOSH book to point out the same things but John beat me to it!