Does Acetone Increase Fuel Mileage?
This is a follow up to my original post, Can You Double Your Fuel Mileage? Time for an Experiment.
While surfing the Net a few weeks ago, I ran across a video where a guy claimed a 70% increase in his fuel mileage after he added pure acetone to his gas tank. After doing some further research and finding more claims of increases in mileage, I decided to conduct my own experiment. I am now ready to present my findings to the world.
In case you’re wondering why adding acetone to gas will increase fuel mileage, apparently, the acetone causes the gasoline (or diesel) to vaporize better, resulting in more efficient burning of the fuel and less waste.
From my research, I knew it was important to use 100% acetone with no additives and since I didn’t want to buy a gallon, I picked up a 16 ounce bottle of 100% acetone at Walgreens. Everything I’d read indicated that anywhere from one to three ounces of acetone per 10 gallons of gas seemed to work the best and since I have a 15 gallon gas tank (approximate), I decided to go with one ounce per five gallons. For the math challenged among you, that means I added three ounces of acetone to the the tank.
As most of you probably know, acetone is sold at hardware stores as a paint thinner and since my car is — you guessed it — painted, I purchased an automotive funnel with a long stem and a very wide cone so I’d be sure not to drip any acetone on the car. I measured exactly three ounces of acetone and poured it into the funnel. To make sure that the acetone would mix thoroughly with the gas in the tank, I grabbed ahold of the car and gave it a good shake. I’m not sure if this is necessary, but I needed the exercise. Next, I got in the car and reset the trip odometer to zero. So far, so good.
I realized it would take some time for the fuel that was already in the system to work through before my new acetone-enriched gas began to work it’s magic, but after driving 20 miles or so, I reset the computer trip odometer so I could marvel at the amazing increase in mileage I was surely going to see, in realtime. As I mentioned in my first post, my overall fuel mileage with this car had been 18.4 mpg with mostly city driving. After putting about 50 miles more on the car and still not seeing any significant (no) change in what the computer was telling me, I concluded that because of the acetone, the car’s sensors were being fooled and I would have to wait until I refilled the tank and could do the math to see the real results.
Yesterday, after about two weeks, I finally needed to refuel. It took exactly 12.984 gallons to top off the tank. I had driven exactly 239.7 miles using the new super gas/acetone mixture. I excitedly sat down with my calculator, anxiously waiting to see the amazing fuel mileage increase I’d achieved. WTF? 18.4 mpg? That can’t be right, I must have pressed a wrong number. I calculated again… twice. Nope, still 18.4 mpg.
So, can I conclusively say that adding acetone to your fuel — I say fuel because it supposedly works for diesel too — will definitely not increase your mileage? No, because perhaps I would be able to achieve better results by adjusting the percentage of acetone I added to the tank. Do I plan on doing that? ummm…. no.
Posted: June 6th, 2007 under Seriously.
Comments: 10
Comments
Comment from Greg Becerra
Time: June 6, 2007, 7:33 pm
The acetone helps gas vaporize by reducing the surface tension of the gas. If you are using high octane gas (the only reason to use this is if you have a performance engine or maybe if your engine knocks) then that could account for no efficiency increase.
You might also consider that older cars usually have sediment build-up in their gas tanks so the tank could be in effect smaller than you think. I’ve heard stories of a tank losing a few gallons to sediment build-up but that might just be talk. Older gas stations tend to have more foreign matter in their gas.
From what I’ve been able to find, acetone helps within a specific ratio. Too much and you will actually lose performance.
Also you might consider that mileage varies over time based on several environmental conditions. In my case, I have one car that gets on average 22.433 miles/gallon with a standard deviation of 2.519 miles/gallon over a period of 13 gas fill-ups. That is an 11.2% variance. My second car averages 12.022 miles/gallon (no comment) with a standard deviation of 3.188 miles/gallon over a period of 7 gas fill-ups. This is a 26.5% variance.
So based on this data, it becomes statistically possible to have an experiment report a 22.4% increase on my first car, and a 53% increase on my second car without even adding the acetone (the controls of the experiment). You would probably have to have a lot more data before making a conclusion and base it on averages over a long period of time.
Comment from Hammer
Time: June 6, 2007, 9:09 pm
I acknowledged that with further experimentation and adjusting the ratios that I might actually achieve some fuel savings, but considering the fact that the first test produced zero increase, I don’t think it’s worth the time.
I also realize that mileage can vary from week to week depending on the distances driven and whether more miles are in town or on the highway, however, the car I tested is used for virtually the same types of trips week after week and as far as I’m concerned, the test was relatively fair.
Some people swear by the stuff, so who knows. All I can do is report my results, which I found disappointing.
Comment from Bucky
Time: June 7, 2007, 9:50 am
Submit this to the Mythbusters. Maybe they will do a show out of it.
Comment from Sornie
Time: June 14, 2007, 10:39 am
I have to say that things like this are always some sort of scam. If they actually worked, I can surely say that the entire population would already be using tricks like this.
Comment from Matt
Time: June 17, 2007, 12:09 pm
I will offer no support for whether or not adding acetone will actually increase MPG’s. However, you say “after driving 20 miles or so, I reset the computer trip odometer” then later you do a calculation without accounting for that and you certainly can not say what exactly you reset the odometer. Furthermore you continue: “So, can I conclusively say that adding acetone to your fuel — I say fuel because it supposedly works for diesel too — will definitely not increase your mileage?” I truly hope everyone sees you have no creditability. Additionally, what scientific methodology are you using that results are conclusive after a single trail.
Comment from Hammer
Time: June 17, 2007, 12:40 pm
Matt, I never claimed my test was scientific, did I? I simply offered the results I experienced. Everyone is welcome to conduct their own tests.
As for the odometer, I said I reset the computer based odometer, not the one on the speedometer. I set the main odometer when I refueled the car and did not reset it until I refueled. Some cars also have onboard computers, as mine does, and that’s the one I reset part way through the test. It’s not as accurate as the main odometer and is not the one I used to base my mileage calculations. I simply used the onboard computer odometer to give me a quick visual idea of what kind of mileage I was getting.
Comment from Tom
Time: December 14, 2007, 11:54 pm
I have been using acetone in my 03 powerstroke diesel for over a year and 35,000 miles. I have consistently gained 5 mpg. Your experiment was useless. First of all, add the acetone, then fill your tank so that a proper mix is done. Not all engines respond immediately. Acetone acts as a cleaning agent. An engine must be in good condition to get immediate results. You stated you do alot of city driving. No wonder you did’nt see results immediately. I predict dirty injectors and high carbon build-up. Let the acetone clean out your engine and injectors. This may take a few tanks, your mileage will begin to increase and your emmisions will get cleaner. Give it time.
Comment from Pete Antisen
Time: March 27, 2008, 2:15 pm
I too tried to add acetone in my tank with no apparent increase in milage. I did it for a month. I have a fairly new vehicle with only about 15,000 miles. At first it seemed like there was some increase but i attributed to better driving habits trying to get better mileage…kept the Air off more, stpped the engine when i was parked…etc…I beleive on older vehicles there many be a slight increase in mileage be cause the acetone is cleaning up the fuel system and injectors…but on a fairly new vehicle all systems are probably in optimal condition already…so hence, no improvement …this
Comment from Pete Antisen
Time: March 27, 2008, 2:17 pm
I too tried to add acetone in my tank with no apparent increase in milage. I did it for a month. I have a fairly new vehicle with only about 15,000 miles. At first it seemed like there was some increase but i attributed to better driving habits trying to get better mileage…kept the Air off more, stpped the engine when i was parked…etc…I beleive on older vehicles there many be a slight increase in mileage be cause the acetone is cleaning up the fuel system and injectors…but on a fairly new vehicle all systems are probably in optimal condition already…so hence, no improvement …this is only my opinion and not scientific experiment
Comment from Jim Moudy
Time: April 24, 2008, 7:31 pm
OK, I wanted to try it for myself. I traveled about 140 miles each way, same day, same weather, almost identical traffic, trip was almost exactly due north with a breeze from the west, and fueled with the exact same brand of fuel. Results: Trip A, 146.0 miles / 6.69 gallons used / 21.82 MPG Trip B: 136.8 miles / 5.21 gallons used / 26.26 MPG. Only difference was trip B has 6 oz of Acetone in the tank. No noticeable change in performance. (1998 Toyota Avalon with 355,000 miles — engine has ~70,000 miles).
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