AJ_92RS

With all this talk of acetone being used to increase MPG, and as reluctant as I was originally, I decided to go ahead and give it a try.

On Sept. 7, 2005 I was at Wal-Mart picking up a few things and saw a 32 oz. container of “Kleen Strip” acetone for $4.97. After 2-3 minutes of contemplating I decided “WTF?” I have an extended warranty for 6 yrs (~5 yrs left) and/or 100K miles (with ~63,000 left) and figured if anything gets messed up who’s gonna know (besides all of you) what I did, right?

The test vehicle is a 2004 Pontiac Vibe w/ a 1.8L 4 cyl. Toyota engine (130 HP, baby!!) and an automatic transmission. It’s basically a standard Vibe (not a GT or AWD) with a lot of toys. Sunroof, pwr windows/locks, cruise control, tilt, etc. It now has ~36K miles on the Odometer.

Just so you all know, I run regular motor oil and have it changed every 6,000 to 7,000 miles. I will soon switch to either synthetic or a synthetic blend since I’ll be changing it myself from now on.

Also, I ALWAYS stop at the same Phillips station in Wilmington, IL. If I’m not near there and need a fill-up, I specifically stop at another Phillips station to at least keep the same brand & formula of gasoline in my tank.

Oh yeah. I always use 87 octane.

I drive 46.1 miles to work and 46.1 miles home from work for a total of 92.2 miles each day I work. The longest stretch of road on my route is ~8 miles. The rest is stop signs, turns, or speed limits of 45 mph or less. Even with all those obstacles, and with my heavy foot, I still manage to get 31-32 mpg average. Pretty good considering 32 mpg is the inflated EPA estimate for highway use.

I’m sure you can tell I’m rather descriptive because I’m very thorough about my MPG. With as much driving as I do (over 1 yr now) I really have nothing better to do with the ~2 hrs I spend in my car per work day. Plus with gas at $3/gallon, you can be sure I’m going to try everything I can to get better gas milage.

Last night (Sept. 10th) on my way home from work I stopped to get gas and got 32 mpg that time. A little higher than normal, but not surprising considering the car only weighs about 2,800 lbs, so a little less wind blowing across the corn fields can help.

I added 10.7 gallons and had 342 miles on the trip odometer.

I reset the trip odometer before I filled the tank and was about ready to add the acetone before (hoping it would mix better), but dumb a** me left the can in the car in +90 degree weather. The damn can was about to explode, literally. So, needless to say I didn’t try to open it.

The whole way home I left the can sitting on the floor with the A/C cranked full blast pointing right at it. Luckily, by the time I got home the swelling went down and it didn’t feel like a balloon getting ready to pop anymore.

When I got home I had put 33.3 miles on the odometer. I went and grabbed my syringe that I use to add oil to gas for my 2 stroke weed wacker (32:1). Low and behold, the syringe holds a max of 2 fluid ounces. So I went ahead and added that much.

This morning I was heading to work and noticed the car seemed a little more spunky. I actually drove 65-70 mph most of the way even though I normally drive 60-65 to try and save gas. But I couldn’t help it. The car just wanted to go. It was a little strange.

On my way home, I again noticed how spunky the car was. It seemed to shift sooner and it was like I didn’t have to press the pedal as far to get going onto the highway (I-55).

Keep in mind, being as meticulous as I am I can tell you I normally get ~150 miles before the gas gauge goes down to 3/4 tank. But on my way home today I got near 100 miles on the trip odometer and noticed the needle hadn’t moved at all. I’m thinking “Oh GREAT!! This crap messed up the float in my tank!!!”

Anxious to see if it had I took a more scenic route home. I shot through Kankakee to add milage to the trip odometer, and to get in a little city driving in.

Another strange thing happened. As I’m sitting at a stop sign patiently waiting for cross traffic to go, I got impatient and goosed the throttle a little. And I mean a little. About 1/4 of the way down.

THE CAR SQUEALED THE TIRES!!!

This car has NEVER done that. I was so skeptical I just had to try it at another Stop sign. Sure as hell, IT DID IT AGAIN!!!

So, anyway, I finally get home with 127.2 miles on the trip odometer and guess what? The needle finally moved!! It moved all the way down to the “F”.

Hey. At least it moved, FINALLY!!!

So here’s the plan. I work both tomorrow and Tuesday for sure, and I normally have to fill the car every 3 work days. I’m going to keep monitoring my results and should have some short term results by Wednesday.

Needless to say I’m anxious to get positive results, but I don’t want my enthusiasm to cloud my results. So, day by day, I’m going to post here (as long as I get time) to let everyone know how it’s going.

So far, so good. Let’s keep our finger crossed and hope for the best.

I plan to continue this as long as the results get better and remain high. Even if there’s a slight dip here and there I’m going to keep at it hoping it will at least reach a plateau of slightly higher MPG. Heck, even at 2 more MPG it would be worth it to me.

Leader_One

thats good news, I plan on doing this next time I get to walmart.

ktacam

increased corrosion on the lines and fittings, premature pump impeller wear/failure, quicker fouling plugs, interested in the results. I know FFV vehicles that run E85 have ss lines and increased components and if you run E85 in non FFV vehicles you encounter problems as stated. I know you are not running E85 but I wonder if similar effects will occur.

Note - Acetone has increased alcohol as E85 which is the problem. Also FFV vehicles are not running rubber lines anywhere.

4MULA88

AJ, You are always trying new things out first. Can't wait to hear the results.

3.8TransAM

As far as being corrosive. Added compounds from running acetone in the fuel at amounts of 2 ounce per 10 gallons is about next to nil.

Throw some o-rings and fuel lines in acetone and let it sit. No real change after being in it for a day or so. I had enough laying around I tested that out as did a few others here.

The added chemicals arent any worse and in fact are far less than the 10% alchohol we are forced to have in gasoline depending on where u live :-)

I wanted to try the same in my Saturn but since I am currently unemployed I have no more regular mileage to go bye.

I'm still planning on trying it out as well. Just waiting for a reason to go by Farn and Fleet and snag a 5 gallon acetone container :-)

Keep us posted AJ and remember the benefit does wear off after awhile and u can use slighlyt less acetone and keep the improvement.

later
Jeremy

AJ_92RS

Well, all I can say is I hate it when things don't go quite as planned.

I was running a little late to work this morning and had to drive a little faster than I normally do just to get there on time. Most of the time was 70-75 mph, with high points at 80 mph.

Although I have to say I'm still rather suprised at the results so far. For one, keep in mind I already had 33.3 miles on the trip odometer before I even added the acetone. And going through Kankakee was really out of my way and put quite a few city miles on the car that it doesn't normally see. Stupid me.

However, I'm now at 219.7 miles on the trip odometer and I still have 5/8 of a tank. Normally 250 miles and 1/2 of a tank are the matching numbers, but the way things are going I don't see a problem with surpassing that. And the car is still peppy. I don’t notice it as much now, but that may be because the “newness” wore off.

Here's the kicker.

I have to work tomorrow, but that's my last day until the 26th of Sept.

My wife is pregnant right now and the 16th is her "due date". She has to have a caesarean section, but that's another subject.

So, needless to say, I'll be home with her for a little more than a week taking care of her, our 6 yr old son and our new baby girl.

Most of my driving will be back and forth from the hospital and I'm sure the grocery store. I’ll keep tabs of the results after I fill up tomorrow night, as well as the following weeks, and I will continue to use the acetone. But I’ll probably cut it back to 1.5 fl. oz./10 gallons. I don’t see the need to use anymore than that.

Be ready to read the results tomorrow night.

Leader_One

I picked up some acetone tonight but forgot to get something to get the acetone into the truck. I will wait until my tank is almost empty so I can get a good diea of what it does. I will now be filling up at the same speedway all the time to keep the gas the same.

AJ_92RS

It's good that you're going to do it. You're engine alone will help more people on this site relate to the results they may or may not see.

Being a 4 cyl engine made by Toyota, the results I get may be completely different than what you or anyone else with a much larger V8 will get.

Do myself, and everyone else a favor though, just to keep the results easier to see...

Start your own thread once you do begin the experiment. That way people can keep the numbers seperated easier in their mind.

Know what I mean?

Leader_One

yep I definitely will. I will fill up the full 30 gallons once I find something the get the acetone in with.

AJ_92RS

OK. The results are in. <----- Notice the smile!!!!!!!

Today I drove to work and home using my normal route, and not driving any faster than I "normally" do.

Keep in mind, and I know I'm saying it again, but the car had 33.3 miles on it BEFORE any acetone was added. And, I couldn't keep my foot off the throttle the first day, and the second day I was late to work and drove excessively fast compared to a "normal" day.

I just filled up at my local Phillips station with 317.7 miles on the trip odometer. I filled up with 87 octane, and topped off the tank as much as possible, as I usually do because I hate filling up more than necessary.

Anyway, 9.314 gallons.

317.7 divided by 9.314 gallons =
34.109942022761434399828215589435 mpg



That's a "Copy/Paste" straight from the calculator on my computer.

Pretty damn good if you ask me, considering the best I have ever done is 34.3 mpg on my way to Kentucky, non-stop, for 6-1/2 hrs.

The best other than that was 33.1 mpg. As you can see I've damn near met by best ever and I wasn't even babying the throttle at all.

I guess I need to take another trip to see my parents soon.

As I said, I'll continue using the acetone regardless of what I use the car for or where I drive it to/from. I just added 1.5 fl. oz. to the 9.3 gallons which is a little lower ratio than 2 fl. oz. to 10.7 gallons I used before.

Keep your fingers crossed. So far so good.

SOX 19

AJ, 1.5 ounces to 9.3 gallons is a higher ratio than 2 ounces to 10.7 gallons.

Leader_One

i read somewhere that it was one ounce to 10 gallons on gas and if you added too much then it would hurt mileage. in my tests ill be doing 1 oz to 1 gallon.

AJ_92RS

Yoy need to check your math.

**AJ Puts on his teacher's hat**

There are 128 fl. oz. in a gallon.

10.7 gallons = 1369.6 fl. oz.
9.3 gallons = 1190.4 fl. oz.

2 / 1369.6 = .00146 fl. oz. of acetone per fl. oz. of gasoline, or .018688 fl. oz. per gallon of gasoline, or 1.8688 fl. oz. per 10 gallons of gasoline, if that's easier to understand.

1.5 / 1190.4 = .00126 fl. oz. of acetone per fl. oz. of gasoline, .016128 fl. oz. per gallon of gasoline, or 1.6128 fl. oz. per 10 gallons of gasoline.

That's .0002 fl. oz. more per fl. oz. of gasoline (.0256 fl. oz. per one gallon of gasoline, .256 fl. oz. per 10 gallons of gasoline) in the 10.7:2 ratio than the 9.3:1.5 ratio.

**AJ takes off his teacher's hat because it's restricting flow to his head**

Leader_One,

I've read in numerous places the ratio is 1-2 fl. oz. per 10 gallons. Since my car already had gasoline in it when I first filled the tank I added a "little extra" just to start it off.

As Jeremy suggested (which I'd also planned), I'll slowly be decreasing the amount (aka ratio) as I go to see what benefits I lose or gain.

The only thing is, it's difficult enough to add only 2 fl. oz. to the tank. Adding only 1 will be a bit of a PITA.

Just to make it a little easier on myself, last night I injected the 1.5 fl. oz. into a CLEAN empty Mountain Dew bottle and took that to the gas station with me. That way I could add it to the tank before I added the gasoline and get a better mixture than before.

Also, I sure hope you meant to say 1 fl. oz. to 10 gallons, not 1 gallon.

AJ_92RS

Damn you, Sox 19!!!

Now you're making me think too much.

If you really want to get technical, I really added 2 fl. oz. to only 9.7 gallons of gasoline added to my tank that day.

Why?

Because I had driven home 33.3 miles away from the gas station. That's a smidget more than 1 gallon of gasoline I used to get home.

9.7 gallons = 1241.6 fl. oz.

2 / 1241.6 = .0016 fl. oz of acetone per fl. oz. of gasoline, .2048 fl. oz. per one gallon of gasoline, or 2.048 fl. oz. per 10 gallons of gasoline.

That's .00034 fl. oz. per fl. oz. more than the 1.5 fl. oz. added to the 9.3 gallons of gasoline.

I would love to get more technical than that, but I can only base my research on how many gallons of gasoline I add. I can't trust that GM really used a 13.2 gallon tank in my car like the owner's manual says.
After all, even the window sticker, as well as the owner's manual says my stock stereo is XM ready. It isn't. None of them were. It was an overlooked typo.

AJ_92RS

Filled up again today.

282.3 miles / 8.575 gallons = 32.92 mpg

Once again, higher than my average 31-32 mpg, and that was a lot more city driving than I usually drive.

That was Thursday to Watseka and back home (~30 miles), then my wife's doctor's office, then Toys'R'Us, Target, K's Merchandise, and back home.

Then to Riverside Hospital Friday at 5:00 am to have my daughter removed from my wife's belly. Back home at 3:30pm to pick up my son from the bus stop. Took him back to the hospital to see his mom and new baby sister. Then to a friend’s house so they could watch our son for the night... blah, blah, blah.

You get the idea. I'd say ~50% of my driving since the last fill-up was city.

This time I added 1 fl. oz. to the 8.575 gallons which works out to 1.166 fl. oz. to 10 gallons of gasoline (I'll save you all the intricate math details this time )

So far I’m pleased. When I’m back into my work routine and am able to drive like I used to we’ll get more consistent, comparative results.

spartyon

So you are looking at a 1, maybe 2, mpg increase right? Thinking about that and the price of a gallon of gas, here it just went down to $2.69, plus the 4-5 dollar price tag on the acetone what are you really saving? Maybe 5-10 cents on a tank of gas? I will have to do the math considering 32 oz costs 5 dollars, then 1-2 oz per 10 gallons and then factor the price of gas alone and then consider the mpg savings but for now I will just estimate.

AJ_92RS

2 mpg gain for certain. Maybe more if I could keep my foot out of it.

Besides, that may be "only" 2 mpg more, but with a 10 gallon measurement, that's a 6.25% gain.

And since you haven't done the math, I will.

I drive (as mentioned) 92.2 miles/day. I work an average of 5 days a week. That's 461 miles per week, 1996.13 per month.

1996.13 divided by 32 mpg = 62.38 gallons of gas a month that I use.

62.38 at $2.79/gallon (near me) = $174.04 / month, and that's if I don't drive anywhere except to work.

Take 1996.13 and divide it by 34 mpg (which I'm sure I'll get more soon) that's 58.71 gallons.

62.38 - 58.71 = 3.67 gallons less I'll use. 3.67 x $2.79 = $10.24 per mo. saved in gas.

Based on a 1 fl. oz per 10 gallon of gas mix (which is what I'll be aiming for from now on), that's 5.8 fl. oz of acetone I'll use per month.

A 32 fl. oz. / 5.8 fl. oz. = ~ 5.5 months, or if you wish, 5 months based on a 10% loss from spillage, evaporation, etc.

So... that's ~$1 / month it's costing me to use the acetone.

That's still $9.23 /mo I'm saving. $9.23 x 12 months = $110.76 / yr. of free money. Why wouldn't I do it?

Again, as I said before....

spartyon

No, as you are right I haven't done the math so, you are correct. I will double check that when I get some free time but it just doesn't "seem" like that much in savings. Your math looks correct but in the real world with all of the variables you can give or take a dollar or two, more than likely take because of stop and go traffic, a lead foot, or just idling more than often.

AJ_92RS

That's because it is.

Quote:

but in the real world

You're saying my world isn't real? Whoa!! After all this time I thought my wife really loved me!!!

Quote:

with all of the variables you can give or take a dollar or two, more than likely take because of stop and go traffic, a lead foot, or just idling more than often.

You have to take this for what it's worth. It's MY car, MY route to and from work, MY led foot, etc. I don't really give an owl's hoot what you do with the information. I'm just presenting it to everyone for something to read and learn from.

If you want to put this into relevant context for a third generation f-body site the results are more impressive. Take that 2 mpg and figure it using 26 mpg, which I got with my ‘92 RS. Now you’re talking a 7.7 % increase, 1.45% more. Figure that the same way figuring me still driving it to work and I’d be at $170 saved per year (figuring 4.48 months on one 32 fl. oz. can of acetone). That’s assuming a 2mpg increase. Perhaps it would be lower, perhaps higher. Who knows until someone tries (besides me and Leader_One).

So basically, it sounds like the lower MPG you’re getting without using the acetone, the higher percentage gain will be seen. That rule-of-thumb seems to hold true for a lot of things. Like getting a 150 HP V8 to 300 HP is easier than getting a 300 HP engine to 600 HP.

BTW, how's it going Leader_One? Any results yet? I guess I'll have to bother you on your own thread.

AJ_92RS

OK. I filled up again tonight.

Either the ~1 fl. oz./ 10 gallons wasn't enough of a mixture to do as much good, or I did way too much city driving lately. I'd think it was the later of the two, but we'll see.

264.5 miles / 8.576 gallons = 30.84 mpg.

This is still higher than it would have been without the use of acetone, I can promise that, but still not as impressive as the last fill up.

Tomorrow night is when I return to work (i.e. my "routine"), so we'll see how it goes.

Just so you all know. I did check my tire pressure tonight and it was a tad low. All four tires were right at 30 psi warm. I filled them back to 32 psi (manufactures recommendation) so maybe that will have some effect.

3.8TransAM

Got a question for u AJ.

What plastics have ou put acetone in and has held up to it?

HAve the acetone and my Squaturn averages 30mpg putzing it around town and gf house and back with a few highway jaunts thrown in.

Just looking for an easy way to split the can inot 1.5 or 2 ounce doses....

later
Jeremy

AJ_92RS

Nothing other than the can it came in.

I put it into a small, 16.9 fl. oz. bottle of Mountain Dew to get it from my house to the gas station. But that's a time span of ~ 30 minutes at the most.

I'll play with that later. I've got the perfect spot in my locked, dirt floor garage as well as a couple of empty bottles of MD and Nestle water bottles.

Leader_One

I just take my stuff with me. While im at the gas station I bust out the can of acetone, a beaker, and a funnel and get to work. I do it late at night so i dont get to many stares from people thinking im crazy. I also think my mileage has gotten even worse with more acetone and if thats the case im dumping the acetone.

AJ_92RS

Filled up again last night.

12 Gallons exactly, 380.3 miles = 31.69 mpg

Not good anymore.

I upped the dose back to 2 fl. oz. per 10 gallons, or in this case 12 gallons. We'll see if it helps.

AJ_92RS

Been a while, eh?

After adding nearly 2 fl. oz per 10 gallons again my milage went to 34.43 again. I'm tempted to add a little more just to see if there is anymore of an increase to be seen, but I'll let you know more on that later.

Since then I've filled up 4 times, all without adding acetone. My MPG returned to what it was at before I started to use it.

1. 30.50 MPG

2. 31.58 MPG <---- Not sure why the spike? Maybe I drove a little faster the other two times?

3. 30.59 MPG

4. This morning I added ~2.5 fl. oz. to 11.79 gallons. We'll see if it goes back up again.

SOX 19

Ok, I have been doing some serious thinking about this! Whats to say the tire pressure is the same every time you do this. Tire pressure fluctuates with air temperature. Also, when you started doing this you may have had a new air filter, or cleaner one, and by now, its gotten dirty and isn't improving on your mileage, but reducing it. Just some things that I thought of on this subject.

AJ_92RS

My speed isn't the same every time I do this.

The wind direction and wind speed isn't the same every time I do this.

The temp isn't the same outside every time I do this.

My clothes aren't the same every time I do this.

The sun isn't shining every time I do this.

My wife's mood is different every day I do this.

Gas prices aren't the same every time I do this.

One thing I did do was change to a K&N filter. I did that on Oct. 6th IIRC.

It didn't help or hurt as far as I could tell.

Keep in mind I'm not a scientist. I couldn't care less what the "accurate" information is. I'm not going to check my air pressure every time I drive the car. I'm not going to monitor a barometer. I'm not going to go 60 mph every day and end up being 5 minutes late to work one day.

And I'm not doing this so someone can come on here and show their true pessimism. Read the results and judge for yourself. Stop trying to hijack my thread. Start your own discussion in another thread about my results, please. Then you post any and all doubts you have. But let’s face it, so far I’ve had positive results using the acetone.

One more thing. I’m not sure if I posted this, or maybe you just overlooked it, but I have been driving to work with this car for over a year. I know that my average (key word) has been 31.5 MPG. Don’t base the results of using the acetone on one month’s time. I’ll be doing this for quite a while, and posting it here out of the goodness of my heart.

On another note, to all the people that think acetone rots rubber, or whatever else it may do to your fuel system should do some research on what’s in a lot of fuel additives such as fuel injector cleaners, octane boosters, fuel antifreezes, etc. I’ve found a few that have ~ 40% acetone per 8 fl. oz. bottle. Plus the labels say to use at every fill up. “Good for up to 20 gallon tanks.” Do the math. That’s a little less than 2 fl. oz. per 10 gallons of gas.