FWIW, back in the day, I spent a few years as a engineer at a rubber manufacturing plant. Most automotive seals don't respond very well to acetone.

The concentrations may or may not be high enough to matter, but I for one will not risk my $5K motor for a couple of mpg with something I know that "may" adversely accelerate its destruction.

With that said, I will continue to use things like DK, and items of that nature, as I know that they work and the possibility that they are going to harm my engine is non-existant.

Viton is a popular automotive seal as it stands up to fuels and greases very well.

http://www.coleparmer.com/techinfo/chemcomp.asp

Choose "Viton" and select "Acetone", and then press submit.

 

Good info Super. Thanks...

 

Tell us how you realy feal superrangerman2002.

You got some good points.

 

there may be something to this however.... i figured that a single test of this probably wouldn't be enough to harm the seals in the fuel system... so... i added a little less than the amount listed in the article... and filled the tank.... so far i have 46 miles on the tank, and it is still reading above full.... now this IS different... usually by 40 miles or so the guage is reading at least 1/8 below full, sometimes a little more than that...! I don't notice any difference in power... but i have noticed that i barely, and i mean barely have to step on the throtle to mantain 50 mph down the road... and the motor seems to be much smoother and quieter at that speed than it was.... i realize that these last two statements are just opinions, but i pay pretty close attetion to this truck, and i'm telling you it does feel different.... no unusual noises, just less of it... one thing for sure.... the difference in the fuel guage is NOT opinion. i don't know if i'll continue with this or not after this... but i'll let you know what kind of milage i get on this tank... i have been getting between 14 and 15 on every tank for the past 6 months... so i'll have a good baseline to compare this tank to....

 

one other thing.... that's a good post superangerman... but i have some questions.... what are the specifics on that rating... are they talking about exposing viton to 100% acetone...? and for how long at what temp and pressure...? I am sure that their findings are correct... but... their methods and posted warnings are more than a little vague... and if you'll pardon me for saying so... that warning statement on that page sounds suspiciously like a "cover your ***" type of posting.... the only other thing to mention here is the percentage of acetone in the fuel. one gallon has 128 ounces, i added less than 6 ounces of acetone to 29 gallons of fuel... that is .0016136% of the volume of the liquid in my fuel tank..! (29 gallons = 3,712 onces - 6 ounces divided by 3,712 ounces = 0.0016163) that is just under 2/1000ths of 1%....! does the phrase "tear drop in the ocean" sound familiar....? Someone please check my math and make sure that's right, but i think it is. Now... i don't KNOW that this won't have an adverse effect on any seals in the fuel system, viton or not... but i find it hard to believe that this small amount of ANYTHING could significantly alter the service life of any high pressure fuel seal... just my opinion...

 

Johnny8 I have the exact same experience and opinion that you do. It's surpising how much less throttle is required to maintain speed now. BARELY crack it open and keep going. And yes the amount of acetone is so small that I am not worried. I think this is a mod I am going to keep, especially if I find the fuel economy is better.

 

kwik,

i gotta admit... i was against this at first.. but i looked at the percentages and figured that small amount can't possibly harm the seals... and i read your post on what you noticed with your cars so i rolled the dice... i think we may be onto something here..! anyway... i don't think the information in that website is meant for our particular use of acetone.. i think that is more of a basic type of industrial notebook that compares those materials and fluids... and it sounds like it has a high level of safety factors built in... again to "cya"..! like i said... almost NO THROTLE required to maintain 50 mph... i lifted the pedal and it barely came up a half an inch or so...!

 

I gotta tell ya, this is getting very interesting! Please keep us posted on your average M.P.G. results.
I am not very good at math but if Johnny8's math is correct, that percentage is pretty insignificant, especially if you run a fuel treatment. I would think that the treatment, (in my case Stanadyne), would more than ballance out that small amount of Acetone.

 

Equally hard to believe that such a tiny quantity of acetone could make power or mileage skyrocket... you can't have it both ways!

Duncan

 

Personally, I'm more concerned about the effects of acetone on water in the system than seals. I'm not sure, but I think I've read in my owner's manual that Ford/Navistar strongly discourage the addition of anything that will cause water to go through the fuel system into the injectors, as even the smallest amount of water can have extremely negative effects. I think that even the amount of acetone you guys are adding is going to reduce or even negate function of the water separator. Kwik & Johnny8, do you have any specific concerns about water, or am I confused/misinformed?

 

i agree with this opinion, but you are not really making any more power, you are simply allowing better vaporization of the fuel in the cylinder, which improves combustion effeciency and gives you a boost in mileage.... supposedly... a little testing will confirm or deny... i am only reporting what i have observed so far... and my observations are only in the preliminary stages.... the scientific principle dictates that extensive observations and testing are required to prove or disprove a hypothesis... so a testing i will go...! however, do not think that a 20% improvement is impossible by merely altering the chemical composistion of the fuel in your tank... mix nitros oxide with methyl achohol and you can get a blown top fuel dragster to make 1500 hp...! all we are trying to do is get 2-4 more mpg... but if you add that small increase in mileage up over time it is significant... the only thing that really irritates me is that if this is true... the oil companies could put this in the gas and diesel of EVERY VEHICLE..! how much money would that save the people in this country alone...!?! that's all profit money that goes straight into their pockets..!

 

Go forth brave pioneers and Godspeed. I have to admit that I'm very interested in seeing your results...

 

thanks for the support ff...! i'll definately post whatever i find out... good or bad...!

 

I will too.

 

I just added a couple ounces of Acetone to a tank (42 gal) that always contains also a few ounces Diesel Kleen and there did seem to be a difference. In particular, the most noticable change occurred when I deliberately tried to "smoke" an obnoxious individual behind me the other day and was completely unable to do so. I would like to add one last comment and then I would say that this discussion may have played itself out; I reiterate that the ratio of acetone and all other additives that I use in my PSD are really minute due to caution, ignorance and that fact that all stuff costs money. I would love to run Bio if it was available but it costs over a dollar/gal. more than Petrol. If any of you analyze different samples of diesel you will find that it is a mucky-muck of all kinds of stuff. For example, At the Shell Trading Pipeline Terminal here in Houston, they are primarily the business of creating fuels out of off-spec cargoes purchased for a discount and adding jet fuels and cutter stocks etc to it until acheiving the proper API gravity and cetane levels. We appear to be fortunate to own an engine that is pretty flexible as to what is will burn. I've spoken to the Bio crowd at length and they routinely blend Bio and Petrol as well as straight Veg. Oil. Thanks again for a really nice forum.