Acetone - good and bad

[ma4t]

So I finally decided to try Acetone in my tank. 2 oz per 10 gallons. I was discussing it with a neighbor who works for an auto part manufacturer. He was a bit skeptical. He said that regular use can eat your fuel hoses, but once or twice a year can clean out your system.

This is my first time to try Acetone, so I have no experience. Has anybody noticed any damage from using it? Does my neighbor know what he's talking about? Is he just talking out his butt?

Please let me know what you've experienced. And thanks for being gentle on the newbie.

M

[SVOboy]

I didn't notice any damage, but it's always possible...*shrug*

I also experienced a drop in gas mileage, but I think that's just because the acetone didn't do anything.

[repete86]

Having run acetone constantly for 25k miles, I think that it's pretty safe.

[zpiloto]

This has been covered more than a few times. Here some stuff to look at from a acetone search from the site.

[baddog671]

Alot of brand name fuel injector cleaners use acetone, although I'm sure of the concentration of it. I doubt it would hurt anything since they use it in their stuff.

Plus its only a few onces to many gallons, I would think the gasoline itself would be more "harmful" to components over time than the acetone.

[ma4t]

Originally Posted by baddog671

Plus its only a few onces to many gallons, I would think the gasoline itself would be more "harmful" to components over time than the acetone.

The recommendation I read was 2 oz. per 10 gallons. That sure doesn't sound like much.

Before I tried it, I was getting 25.353 mpg. I'll see if anything changes. We did a few errands around town today, so I don't expect what I was getting on the freeway.

M

[ma4t]

Originally Posted by zpiloto

This has been covered more than a few times. Here some stuff to look at from a acetone search from the site.

That link just gives me the error message:
Sorry - no matches. Please try some different terms.
I will search the older threads, though.

M

[Matt Timion]

Originally Posted by ma4t

That link just gives me the error message:
Sorry - no matches. Please try some different terms.
I will search the older threads, though.

M

Try this one:

Acetone

[ma4t]

Originally Posted by Matt Timion

Try this one:

Acetone

Thanks, Matt.

I didn't realize this was such a touchy issue for some people. I did find a link to something scientific. They took out the road conditions, weather, etc., and did a test in a controlled environment.
http://www.kettering.edu/visitors/st...p?storynum=406 Probably old news for the old-timers here.

I have a jug of Acetone in my garage now, and nothing to use it on. Well, I do have some annoying neighbors. On second thought, that would be against the law.

M

[Matt Timion]

Originally Posted by ma4t

Thanks, Matt.

I didn't realize this was such a touchy issue for some people. I did find a link to something scientific. They took out the road conditions, weather, etc., and did a test in a controlled environment.
http://www.kettering.edu/visitors/st...p?storynum=406 Probably old news for the old-timers here.

I have a jug of Acetone in my garage now, and nothing to use it on. Well, I do have some annoying neighbors. On second thought, that would be against the law.

M

Acetone was one of the catalysts (*rimshot*) for this site, actually. About 2 years ago it was all the buzz. Acetone was the miracle cure, and $2/gallon gas prices was the sickness.

Unfortunately, controlled testing showed no statistically significant improvement.

Normal driving is really a bad way to test anything, due to the extreme variability in driving conditions, weather, number and duration of trips, etc. Your MPG can vary from tank to tank based on nothing more than the weather. The proponents of acetone never did controlled testing. Those opposed to it did testing in a more controlled manner, but it still wasn't 100% controlled.

One issue that seemed to always reappear was that acetone would clean the injectors. This would give better mileage, so the claims that acetone was the magic pill were taken seriously.

Then there was the fuel injection vs. carburetor issue. Seems that a properly tuned carburetor is as rare as a pink unicorn. people notice much higher gains in fuel economy with carbonated vehicles because by nature there is a lot more room for improvement.

Anyway, I'm rambling.

This site was originally set up to be a place for people to test the claims of fuel economy: the gadgets, the pills, the magnets, etc. And that's how gassavers operated for a while. Then the site grew into more of a community and that's how it is today. I would be more than happy to test any one's claim on my own vehicle (as would many members here) but it gets rather tiresome after a while, especially when there are no real "new" claims, and the same gadgets just keep coming back with new names.