If you had never heard of this (which I hadn't until today.) here is the a link to an article/study done on it.

Acetone In Fuel Said to Increase Mileage

I believe it can work. I plan on trying it with my 97 Dodge Dakota work truck. It has one of the screens in the ceiling that gives temp, MPG, and milage since last reset. Probally get some tomorrow. Would love to hear what anyone else thinks or there results from trying. I'll post what I find next week.

 

ummmm Yea, it's ****............right?

 

What the hell does that mean?

 

I've heard of it before. Usually from the same people who believe a gallon of high test gas in a tank of diesel is good idea too.

I didn't read the article, but here are some thoughts. I treat Acetone just like a Methanol based solvent, which is pretty good at breaking down grease and waxes. I think it create a lubrication issue if you mix it too strong. On the plus side, it will dry the water out of your fuel, maybe that is why it shows some increase in mileage.

 

I know a guy who ran it all the time in his Excursion and swore by it. He claimed he had a 2-3 mpg increase. I tried it for about 3-4 months in a Explorer and didn't notice a difference in mpg. I used the same ratio he did.

 

Fuel saving - a professional engineer's view

This has been discussed many times on another car forum i frequent. Most people over there are using Toulene and Xylene(found in paint thinner) and it can increase octane but does not make marginal mpg gains. The mixes they are using range up to 50% Toulene and 50% 94 Octane gas equaling out to a 104 octane mix.
Acetone can also melt most plastics and rubber.

This was also covered on Mythbusters showing no gain in mileage.

 

I use Toulene or Xylene in my 1963 Pontiac with a 421 HO engine (recommended 100 octane) . It works well at raising the octane, plus it seems to act as a gasoline preservative. I've been doing this for 4 or so years and have not had any of my fuel components complain. I use it at about a 10:1 ratio with 93 octane pump gasoline.

I've had buddies who have also tried acetone and didn't see any benefits.

 

I could see using additives to increase octane for an engine that requires higher than available at the pumps for horsepower gains but increasing fuel mpg no. The only way to increase fuel mpg is to alter how it enters the engine, how you drive, gearing etc.... No gains from fuel additives or mixes.

 

I think someone once showed how Acetone will fool the O2 sensors into thinking the mixture is too rich and the PCM will lean out the mix getting you better MPGs - meanwhile, running the engine lean and causing lean-mix problems (shortened engine life).

Put a rotten egg under the gas pedal - better, more uniform results

 

I have tested this as well, no gains. I read reports of various ratios, and I tried all of them. I had better gains just with certain brands of gasoline (American gas by the way). Asetone does not fool O2 sensors. Like all fuels, it burns with oxygen, depleting the oxygen the same way gasoline does. It might have works on some older gas (maybe), by cooling the combustion chambers and interfering with NOX formation, but most newer models use better controlled ignition, knock sensors, and EGR to do the same thing.

 

Don't forget to put the magnets around the fuel line too.

Mythbusters busted this a few years ago.

 

Complete waste of time and money.