One more question (for today that is). Again doing some research on MPG improvement, I came across some information that recomended adding a few ounces of Acetone to gasoline (about 3oz/10 gal or so). I also read about the warnings that acetone can destabilize rubber and plastic - like O-rings, seals and uhm, plastic gas tanks!

On the mpg side, it apparently acts to break surface tension of the hydrocarbon molecues, allowing more of them to be exposed to combustion (better vaporization in the chamber), and thus, better fuel economy. the article stated anywhere from 15 to 35% improvement.

Just wondering if anyone has either tried it, or, has more 'scientific' data on the idea.

 

"Search" is your friend.
https://www.f150online.com/forums/sh...hlight=Acetone

and many more.

 

hooey-balooey

but downhill with a tailwind will help!

 

Here is something I can relate to you and just got thru doing it.
In looking for a reason for an intermittant miss, I put gas antifreeze in to possibly take care of any water that may be in the gas.
Before that gas was fully used up more gas was added as wall as Lucas fuel injector cleaner.
While this mix was in the tank, I got the worst fuel mileage I ever saw until the tank was run down and Citgo gas was used to fill the tank.
Moral of the story is that while these aditives are there the performance and mileage just goes to hell.
Why, the ox sensors sees the effects on combustion which makes for a lean condition and makes the fuel injection richer to compensate.
The only way to get better mileage is to increase the BTU content of the gas without doing any mods to the engine.
I don't think you will ever find that Acetone will improve on BTU content.
Be awhere that different brands of gas have different additive packages put in.
Since you don't know what they are, you could be adding in over the limits of whats already there and make the mix undesireable for any number of reasons.
Playing home chemist is a wild shot that may not turn out well.
My useing off the shelf auto additives is the same thing but for a purpose and not full time use. Turns out not to have helped the original reason for trying them but did show how bad the mileage became while they were in the tank.

 

i read the same thing about the whole acetone thing and i actually tried it on my 97 f150 4.6L v8 and i actually got terrible gas mileage while using the acetone. just sharing my experience on it

 

i have tried adding a mouth ball to a full tank on my 97 chevy cav. it increased my milage to about 32mpg

 

WHAT

 

Mouth? do you mean, Moth?

I'm thinking we should all just add a cup of home made chicken soup. Seems to help everything else

 

This topic was discussed in depth on many other boards. I don't feel like searching for an hour and posting links. Bottom line is, it doesn't work. I even tried it myself and got worse milage.

 

my drive to work every day is 149miles.. i burn up alot of fuell i use the aceton and get about 1mpg greater.. its all in the mix.. to much u get worse mpg to little u see none, i found that 1.5 -2 oz of aceton for every 10 gallons is the optimal mix. this al varies with fuel quality. the only thing aceton really does is disolves water and keeps it out of the fuel system. and increases gasolines volitile state.. which enables a more efficient clean burn so there is less emissions released and less wasted gas.

 

that is what the article was stating. Acetone is used as a surfactant, much like soap in water - it breakes surface tension and molecule to molecule bonding so that more molecuels are available to combustion. However the article was stating a 15-35% increase in mpg, hence my interest.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

Think.... If there was a simple, easy way to increase mpg's without seriously polluting the environment or ruining your vehicle, don't you think that the EPA would MANDATE it? Or that BP would add it to EVERY ounce of their gasoline? What an awsome selling point.... 35% increase in fuel mileage...

 

They tested that "moth ball" idea on Mythbusters on Discovery channel. They were trying all these "home remedies" for better performance and better mileage. Tossing moth ***** in the gas was one of them. They pulled the v-8 out of an old Caddy, hooked it up to a clear gas tank, and ran it with regular gas to get a control. Then they added in a handful of mothballs, and within a couple minutes the motor sped up on its own and had a significant increase in throttle response. In the end they deemed it as "plausible", but didn't recommend it because of the possibility of long-term effects that didn't show themselves in the immediate test.

For water in the gas just toss in an ounce/gallon of suspected contaminated fuel of regular isopropyl(rubbing alcohol) from walgreens or wherever, run you about $.60. Snowmobilers have been doing it for decades when snow and condensation get into the fuel. The alcohol surrounds the water molecules and when it burns the water vaporizes out the exhaust. Adds a little pep also. Sledders typically don't monitor(or care) about mileage so I don't know of any effect it might have on that, but sleds already get better mileage than most trucks. My 380cc two-smoke will get about 21 on trails, 15 in powder, and easily hit 65. All working with only 35hp and torque in the teens.

 

How do people get water in their $40,000 truck's fuel tank? All this bullcrap about changing the oil every 200 miles, you'd think they'd be careful and not put water in the gas tank!

 

They add "rubbing alcohol."

Isopropyl rubbing alcohol contains about 25% water if i remember correctly.