Acetone

[Snax]

I remain unconvinced about the benefit of the stuff beyond what you just said.

To me, the effectiveness of acetone is likely to be little better than unscrewing your antenna for long trips. Yeah, you might see a difference, but probably not much if any at all.

[GasSavers_Red]

Well so far I've run through half a tank. Initial observations are
Quiet idle
Improved throttle response
Better cold MPG 19->21
Lower NVH from the engine

Ambient temps have been a steady 75ish all week.

All improvements could be the result of the injectors getting cleaned, though with only 48k on the clock I was hoping that they shouldn't be too cruddy.

[ELF]

I have been testing acetone in my geo for the last month or so. I have also been driving to the same jobsite for 5 weeks so my testing should be somewhat valid. I found no difference in mpg with acetone, no more power, no smoother running, no faster idle. I tried 2oz. 3oz. 4 oz. per 10 gal. no change at all.

I had the same results with my 94 f-150.

But my sable has at least 2mpg better with acetone, plus it runs smoother. I can not explain why but it does work in some cars.

[JanGeo]

Originally Posted by Red

. . . though with only 48k on the clock I was hoping that they shouldn't be too cruddy.

Well how many miles do you think it takes for them to get dirty??? I started using it with less than 10k on a new vehicle and it has helped . . . and when I didn't use it the mileage dropped. I have one theory that it partly dissolves some of the plastic in the fuel system and that ends up being burnt as additional fuel. Just a theory for now. The exhaust does smell different when the engine is cold like I can almost smell the acetone . . . don't stand out there very often and do that however.

You all might try some STP gas treatment a couple of ounces to a tank as I used to do with my 94 Geo Metro 5 door. It seemed to make it run smoother and increase mileage - didn't know about acetone back then to have tried it.

[Snax]

I wonder if the benefit of acetone is related more to the type of oxygen sensors used. In other words, do cars with wideband sensors obtain the benefit while those with the narrow band units don't because of a difference in oxygen levels that fools the wideband toward sensing a rich condition? Obviously if this is the case, then carbureted cars should see little if any benefit.

[Snax]

I've created a poll here.

[JanGeo]

Guy in Florida used it in a generator and it ran a lot longer - carb without FI.

[VetteOwner]

ehh i still would never even try it on either of my vhelcles. since well pure acitone will disolve plastic and "melt" it together. its essentially glue... my dad and i used it to build plastic model kits and one drop created a bond so strong that if you glued a piece wrong you were screwed if you wated more than 2 minutes...it spreads out like gasonline does so it runs down the seams and fuses them together.

i realize that you guys that do use it regularly dillute it a whole lot so its not going to glue anyhting together but im not goign to risk the long term effects on rubber gaskets,plastic fuel pump parts, hoses, etc

[JanGeo]

It only attacts certain plastics and those plastics are not used in fuel systems because the gasoline would also attact those plastics.

[kitcar]

Don't forget that the 10% Alcohol in your gasoline is just as if not more corrosive than Acetone. And you're using 4% at most Acetone in the fuel. Granted there have been long term soak tests in 100% Acetone however that's without mixing the gasoline in with it.

As an aside, many vehicles that are in a family of flex fuel vehicles (engine family, vehicle family) usually have the only difference being the ECU and some sensors that detect the E85. Since the fuel system is the same and we know the effects of Alcohol in a fuel system, adding Acetone to one of these vehicles isn't going to matter a whit to the fuel system components even if it isn't a flex-fuel vehicle.

I suspect that you can test it in tank or two of gas without melting your fuel lines. If it does melt them on contact I suspect you might want to consider a higher quality vehicle.