Adding Acetone to Gasoline Update: Myth or Miracle and the “Check Engine” light. – vanity -

vanity update | 7.26.2005 | RFace

[rface]

Many months ago, I read a post on FR about adding acetone to gasoline to increase mileage. I tried the method outlined in the posting and paid attention to the naysayers and to those who thought that the idea might work.

Here’s the FR thread that I am referring:
Acetone In Fuel Said to Increase Mileage 15-35%

The original paper:
Pure Energy Systems: Acetone In Fuel Said to Increase Mileage

I immediately noticed that my 1996 Ford Explorer w/ 5.0 L V8 increased from 16 mpg to 19 or 20 mpg. This was a substantial increase, so I have added acetone to my gasoline for some 700 gallons of gasoline --- which equates to around 33 tankfuls of gas or 13,000 miles. I now add 10 ml acetone/gal of gasoline at every fuel stop.

My Ford Explorer has about 175,000 miles on it, and the “Check Engine” light (probably Oxygen sensor) has been on for about 50,000 miles – but it runs good and uses no oil. I have changed the oil regularly and I keep my tires at ~35 lbs of air pressure. It’s a good running Ford and it looks good --- when I get around to cleaning it up.

The Miracle:
I was driving home from work a few days ago and something didn’t look right on my dashboard……something was wrong.

I looked again at the oil pressure gauge. Okay. Temperature? Okay. Voltmeter? Okay. Hmmmmm. The “Check Engine” light is off.

What’s up with that?? Probably the dang bulb finally burned out.

No biggie. The Ford still runs good and I was tired of seeing that “Check Engine” light stare me in the face.

When I got home, I turned the engine off, and then re-turned the key to the accessory switch….and the dash board lit up as it was supposed to …. Including my “Check Engine” light!

Results: Yes, folks. Acetone in your gasoline will increase your mpg and it will make your “Check Engine” light go off.

Lesson Learned: This is just another example of the truth in the philosophy that I occasionally go by: “If you ignore a problem long enough, it will go away.”

[freepy smurf]

I heard that if you put Preparation H on Al Franken he would disappear.

[heckler]

see post 130 and 137 for background.

Third tank 327 miles on 19 gallons.
17.2 mpg.

still 1-2 mpg increase. Worth the cost of the acetone
but a little dissapointing.

This time I put in 4 oz. per 19 gallons.
I've read that some people are getting best
results with 2oz. per 10 gal.

[rface]

I talked with a guy who runs a HD PickUp a week or so ago, and he was telling me that he gets 14 mpg if he pulls his trailer or if he doesn't. (We never talked about acetone etc...) It made me think that some of these trucks were made for pulling, and maybe the way the gear ratios are .... well, there isn't a lot of thought about fuel economy versus towing ability. Perhaps there isn't going to be much of an improvement in these heavy duty towing machines? This is just a thought.

Also - a passive observation I may have seen is that the little engines that are already very fuel efficient seem to get there better improvement at lower acetone mixtures....like 2 oz. per 10 gal, while the bigger engines like a heavier dose. I don't know if this is exactly true, but I thought I'd pass this on to you for whatever its worth.

Thanks for posting your results here.

[rface]

A WORD OF SAFETY AND CAUTION!!!

Here in Missouri, the outside temperature has hit 100 degrees many times this summer. I have carried my acetone in a quart steel can in my Explorer .... but this is a very stupid thing for me to do --- but, alas, my life is filled with stupid things that I have done. Luckily, there has been no consiquences to this bout of stupidity.

I imagine that on those 100+ degree days, the inside of the Explorer get way high....and the boiling point of acetone is 133 degrees. I wondered why my acetone can was empty one day!

Be aware of this point and don't carry your acetone in your super hot car.......

[heckler]

See posts 130 137 142.
4 oz per 19 gallons only got me 16.9 mpg.
Next time I'll go with 8 per 20 to see if it does better.

But since the price of gas has gotten so high I've gotten the wifes 94 Firebird out of moth balls(the barn). It's been sitting for 2 years and has a few mouse tooth induced electrical snafu's to fix.

3.4L V-6. 155,000 miles. 5-speed.
used to get 24-25 mpg. We'll see what she does with the recommended 6 0z per ten gallons.
Stay tuned.

[BallandPowder]

Powder..Patch..Ball FIRE!

Used this on my 89 Toyota. Didn't see much mileage increase but starting was much easier. Use it every fuel run now.

1977 Ford F250 460ci. Runs as if I put high octane in instead of regular. Very smooth at highway speeds and slightly lower rpm. Use every tank...

[rface]

I just started adding 3 oz acetone / 10 gal. gasoline to a little KIA. It normally gets 32-33 mpg or so. The car has about 55K miles on it, and has a standard trans. I'll report results when I get them.....

[rface]

initial KIA results....a lot of AC usage durring this run.....

326 miles / 9.3 gals gasoline = 35 mpg

not as good as I'd hoped, but perhaps another example of how little engines, that are very fuel efficient, do not benefit as much from acetone additive as larger engines...

I'll try another tankful and see what happens.....I am using 9 ml acetone/gal. of gasoline

[Old Student]

"As to the check engine light, if you want your vehicle to run right and get the best mileage you should probably get that sort of thing checked out."

One of the things that can cause a check-engine light (not by any means the only one, unfortunately) is having the gas cap left loose on the car. Most fuel-injected cars use a pressureized fuel system, these days.

As for the acetone thing, with gas prices being what they are, I'm going to try it.

[cherry]

both our little vehicles had the check engine light go on and stay on until hubby put some additive in the gas....then it would go off for a while...

however, we got concerned and took one car in....apparently nothing wrong with the O2 sensor on that car at that time...

my car now, was a differant story......

we ended up breaking down just east of Big Timber Montana and had to be towed 75 miles and spent a lovely night on the outskirts of Billings.....several hundred dollars later, after timing belt was replace, plus water pump plus some spark plugs....we were off....

but not so fast....we made 3 other stops along the way for several hundred more miles .....

we eventually HAD to get the dang O2 sensor thingamajig replaced.....

when we got home, we rushed to get out other car's senor replaced as well as that timing belt, which, come to find out, needs to be replaced every 70,000 miles.....who knew.....

Moral of the story:....REPLACE THAT STINKING OXYGEN SENSOR BECAUSE SOMEHOW SOMEWAY, IT WILL CAUSE MORE TROUBLE IN THE LONG RUN......

[Old Student]

"Is there something similar, to cheat on the differential (for a while, that is), make it work a little tighter? Appreciate."

A couple of bananas, mashed up, and put in the differential will do it, according to my dad, who used to work for his dad, who had a used car lot. The mechanic who finally has to fix it will be looking for your a$$ after he opens it up, though. I'd wanna leave town after selling it, was I you.

[Labyrinthos]

I fixed the pinging noise coming from my engine by turning the radio up.

[Old Student]

"Sounds like it. It happened to my Escape too. I took it to the shop and $28 later I had a new EGR valve and no check engine light."

ya got off light, I tell ya. My wife had a 93 Buick Century, 3.1L engine. $600 for parts and labor for the new "digital" EGR valve. Still didn't get rid of the light. I finally fixed it when I noticed a burned spot on the wireing to the EGR valve, cut the wire to either side of the burn, and put in a crimp-splice to join ends. Broken wire would connect sometimes, sometimes not... Stupid tech didn't bother to check the wiring. They wouldn't fix it because they couldn't find it. I stopped having work done at that dealership because they also did a state safety inspection while it was in, and a week later, the muffler fell off; entire front face was rusted out completely. It would have cost me $300 to replace the EGR valve, but I didn't have time to do it, so let my wife take it to the dealer we bought it from (used) and the expensive warranty didn't cover emission control systems.

[John Robertson]

Thanks. I'll probably just limp along, till I'm forced into the repair.

[Old Student]

"Thanks. I'll probably just limp along, till I'm forced into the repair."

You might want to reconsider that. Check into a good wrecking yard, or EBay. Much cheaper to do the repair BEFORE the differential shatters...

[John Robertson]

My Volvo repairman is at the ready, with a clean used differential, ready to install, at $400. MUCH more than I care to spend. But much LESS than the repair would cost with new parts at an unknown garage (actually a multiple of 4x the car's value). That being the case, and since it's only a zip code car (you know, I rarely drive it out of my zip code?), and having AAA with increased towing circumference...I'm driving till I'm dying.

Thanks for the advice, though.

[Old Student]

"That being the case, and since it's only a zip code car (you know, I rarely drive it out of my zip code?), and having AAA with increased towing circumference...I'm driving till I'm dying."

Ok, and good luck, but don't forget Murphy's Law. It will break at the worst possible time, and AAA will take forever to get there. Been there, done that, used the t-shirt for a greaserag.... ;)

[Spitzensparkin1]

"Is it true that the coolant tank should be filled regularly with Gatorade?"

Only in summer months, in winter it prefers warm cocoa.

[pageonetoo]

The "Check engine" light does not necesarily mean something is wrong. the onboard computers are often designed to remind you to go to your dealer, and spend some big bucks for a worthless "fix"...

I have the codes for my volvo wagon, after taking it for service. I talked with the mechanic, and he told me to watch the instruments, not the IDIOT lights...

[frgoff]

I don't know the specific chemistry, but you can significantly raise vapor pressure by mixing liquids.

Water mixed with alcohol evaporates much more quickly than just straight water.

Since it is the gas fumes that burn, not the liquid, anything that helps more gasoline get into the vapor state in the carbeurator would improve engine efficiency.

However, acetone is quite good at dissolving rubber and plastic, so I would be too nevous about running it through fuel lines myself.