Has anyone heard of or experienced adding pure acetone to their fuel for better gas mileage.
This bunk has been discussed repeatedly and that’s what it is - pure, unadulterated bunk.
Yes, all of the veterans of this board have heard of it, and we advise extreme caution. The people who recommend acetone for this purpose are not the ones who will have to pay for damage to your fuel system and your catalytic converter after this stuff damages your vehicle.
As long as you are prepared to shoulder the costs of repair following this experiment, then you should proceed. However, if you are looking to save money, this is not the way to do it.
It has been tested and disproven. This is a stupid myth that refuses to go away.
The cost of the acetone is far more than the savings in gas. The only saving in gas is a result of burning the acetone that makes a poor fuel for your car.
It may help clean out some deposits, but that would be rare as all gasolines today have cleaners in them that work better than acetone.Anyone have a link to the debunking discussions? I saw this: http://www.metacafe.com/watch/524517/double_your_gas_mileage_2x/ and I’m really interested. But I’ve been looking and haven’t seen anyone actually debunk it. (I have seen plenty of people say it has been debunked)
Mythbusters did a piece on this in Episode 53. They looked at several such fallacies. According to Wikipedia, the myth was busted and that using “acetone was less fuel efficient.”
Someone came on this board a couple of years ago making all kinds of claims how acetone REALLY, REALLY works and defended it to the hilt.
Since I was about to take an out of state trip to TX I volunteered my Lincoln Mark as a guinea pig.
This car’s normal highway mileage is 27 +/- a smidgin.
So with acetone added as recommended I made the 450 miles one-way trip (all interstate) and got - 27 mpg.
On the return trip (still adding acetone) mileage appeared to increase a small amount, maybe 28, but it was too close too call.
I consider any mileage increase on the return trip a result of climatic conditions, not acetone, as I had a near constant 20-30 mph wind directly behind me the entire return trip.
(Yes, it gets windy here in the plains.)
Consumer Reports published by Consumer Union had a short story on it, indicating it was at best bunk, and Myth Busters also tested it and found it was bunk. I don’t know if either has the information available on line.