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Where have you guys bought it from?
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>>The quantity of acetone required is so tiny that I couldn't see it posing a threat to the fuel system in any way.
Also I think the engine is slightly smoother with the acetone.
So the quantity cannot be enough to do anything?
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>>The quantity of acetone required is so tiny that I couldn't see it posing a threat to the fuel system in any way. Also I think the engine is slightly smoother with the acetone. So the quantity cannot be enough to do anything?
The idea isn't to boost cetane or increase the flamability of the fuel etc etc, apparently it works by just freeing up the surface tension of the fuel so that injection and consequently the atomisation thereof is more thorough, thus giving a better burn. So it only takes a tiny amount to do this. I have also heard of a caeseium based (I think) cataltytic diesel treatment which works along broadly similar lines, and this was added in miniscule amounts to achieve the result.
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"Where have you guys bought it from?"
A boatyard, but anywhere that handles fibreglass resin will have it. Chemists usually keep it, but expect to pay rather more. The bulk price is no more than pump petrol. If buying 'unofficially', take your own container, preferably tin or glass, as neat acetone affects a wide range of plastics.
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Where have you guys bought it from?
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I bought mine in the decorating section of a French supermarket for 2 Euro/Liter. Apparently in the UK it is not widely sold in this way because the nanny-state thinks we will buy it to sniff !
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"Also I think the engine is slightly smoother with the acetone"
Agree entirely. Better combustion, presumably.
I get a general 6-8% improvement in consumption with car (Mazda 1.8 petrol) and bike (Suzuki 500 twin, also petrol), using 2-3ml/litre*. Low speed running on the bike, in particular, is better, with a little more grunt all round.
*In the car, this may be lower in practice, as I tend to add it afterwards, and I suspect there is a fair bit of evaporation in the filler tube. Should admix it first, really.
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I continue to use a similar amount in the Astra. Seems to produce a proportionally better result on a long run rather than for a tank of short journeys. I was delighted to get 45 mpg coming back from Milan, 2 up, some weight, bike on the roof.
Haven´t tried it in the Barchetta yet, but it´s not getting much use at the mo´anyway.
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I've taken the plunge: Went out and bought a couple of litres today. I will report on my mileage after a couple of weeks.
V
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Vin - where did you buy yours from?
--
Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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Yes, I have looked in the 'girly' sections of several shops, and all the nail varnish remover seems to say ACETONE FREE on it.
Online places seem expensive as they charge £8 for delivery!
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I typed "acetone southampton" (sans quotes) into google and it came up with a pharmaceutical supplier as its first result. £8.17 for two litres.
Alternatively, try "fibreglass" as a business type at yell.com. From posts in this thread, they may well be able to supply it.
V
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If someone can give me an informed post as to using this in an HDi engine I'm prepared to give it a go...
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Thanks I have ordered some now, £12 for 5 litres delivered. Should last a lifetime!
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Aaargh. £12 for 5 litres delivered? Where from? If my trial works, I'll be after more of it, and that sounds fair.
My wife doesn't know anything about this, but she's part of the trial in her Mondeo. I'll report on her mileage as well, as I think that'll be more relevant (though I have no plans to alter my driving in any way, it might happen).
V
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It works. We are continuing to use it in the Astra and the Barchetta. On a run, 12 % better mpg. Around town little or no difference.
As for long term engine damage, who knows?
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"As for long term engine damage, who knows?"
I don't, but it seems very unlikely that anything that improves combustion efficiency will give an engine a harder time.
For those who are still shopping for it, it is well worth tracking down a fibreglass user or supplier. Acetone in bulk is no dearer than pump petrol.
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I'm going to give this a go...in my newly acquired Africa Twin ;o)
Too risky to test in the HDi, I think, with pumps £700 a go.
If I notice any difference, I'll report back.
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Me, too, I got my can full of acetone a week ago.
Its a diesel BMW engine, it starts even quicker when cold, and seems smoother and quieter (less diesel-like_.
I haven't noticed the mpg change though, but to be honest I never kept accurate records anyway. I may have also noticed the exhaust smells when I'm stood still, I never noticed it before, but it could be coincidence.
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OK what is the science? Also I would be worried about high pressure injection pumps, acetone must reduce the lubricity of diesel.
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Not in the miniscule quantities suggested for use.
It is supposed to act as an adjunctive dispersant. There are lots of sites that claim to explain it, including the wikipedia online encyclopedia.
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OK what is the science? Also I would be worried about high pressure injection pumps, acetone must reduce the lubricity of diesel.
Acetone is a very 'strong' solvent and I expect would dissolve or soften those materials that diesel wouldn't touch such as seals and natural and synthetic rubbers etc.
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"starts even quicker when cold"
Same on my bike, which also needs less choke. Car is injected, so no choke, but warms up faster. Small but noticeable differences, especially if you forget to add it!
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How much would i need in a 60ltr tank?
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Ordered some last night. For the 23 litre tank in the bike (Say 22 to be safe) I'm assuming 10 - 15ml will be enough?
I'm tempted to brim the HDI and put 50ml in...
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FWIW, I work on 1:400, or 2.5ml/litre, so you're looking at about 55ml for your bike. This sounds terribly precise, but having got used to the quantities, I now know roughly how much to slosh in - I don't think it's at all critical, and if your lower quantities work, then it will last longer, although I wouldn't expect less than 0.1% to have much effect...
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I have a 120ml bottle in my boot. When I fill up, that goes in before the petrol. If I put 50L in, it's about right. If I put 70L, it's possibly a bit under.
Results still being worked out.
V
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500ml arrived this morning.
What do our resident scientists think of using this combined with Millers Diesel Power Plus, for the added lubricity? Also, MDPP does seem to make a genuine difference to my MPG.
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For Acetone to be effective (i.e assist more fuel to be burnt in the engine as the article suggests) a significant quantity of unburnt fuel (HC) would have to be present in exhaust gases. This isn't the case due to stringent emission standanrds and modern engine design using closed loop control to optimise fueling. Any advantage in adding acetone will be marginal or non existent.
Only under cold start conditions does a significant amount of un-burnt fuel enter the exhaust. When the engine is hot practically all fuel is evaporated and combusted
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So, reading between the lines, a waste of time in a modern common rail diesel engine but in a carb'd bike, worth a shot.
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"assist more fuel to be burnt in the engine"
Not so. It's assisting the combustion of the same amount of fuel, hence improving the energy conversion and allowing you to use a slightly lower throttle setting. In effect, it's allowing less fuel to be burned, hence the improvement in economy.
If you think the advantage is non-existent, then don't try it, but it seems to work for most on here.
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Works beautifully for us in the Astra - +10% so far.
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Right, I'm convinced! Found a fibreglass suppliers in Southport who can sell me 25 litres for £25, or 2 litres for £4..
Then I'm going to give it a whirl in my VW 1.9 TDi.....
What can go wrong?!
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I'm now the proud possessor of 2.5 litres of acetone (£4 from a local supplier) and I've decanted 125ml into a glass bottle. So I'm just about ready!
Does anyone have any last minute advise before I add the acetone to 50 litres of Shell's finest tomorrow?
My car is a 1997 VW Passat TDi 110 with 181,000 miles on the clock.
I gave vegetable oil a whirl a while back so I'm not frightened to experiment!!
Cheers all.
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"last minute advice"
Only that it's very volatile, so maybe better to put it in first, so that it gets mixed quickly, rather than evaporating in the filler pipe. Probably doesn't make a big difference, but worth a thought.
Keep us posted!
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Hmmmm - first tankful just used up with a trip from Southport to Fife and back. Result - 51.2mpg, which isn't startling by any stretch of the imagination. Having said that, my average over the last three tankfuls has been just over 49mpg so maybe it is a light improvement.
Weirdly, during Q3/Q4 2005 I was regularly getting 54-57mpg - maybe it's that aerial ball I put on in the new year that's bringing my numbers down....
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Any updates?........
Interim progress report. I do a very consistent 108 miles a day up and down the M11 in a diesel Citroen ZX. If this is all I do, the consumption is always between 49.5 and 51 - totally predicatably.
So, starting this week I added approx. 1:400 ratio of acetone to a full tank and this evening after 434 miles I re-filled it. The result:-
55.46 mpg. That is a 10% reduction in consumption. OK, one tankful isn't very scientific but I'm impressed enough to keep experimenting. In defence against those who say I will have modified my driving style I tried very hard not to - not too difficult when the drive is exactly the same every day - and my journey time this week has been exactly the same as always to within a minute or two.
Does it work? Against my expectations I think yes, it probably does!!!
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Glad to hear - some things will only convince when they happen to you!
I'm certain that it improves combustion, but the variable seems to be how that translates into MPG.
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Do other people notice it makes the exhaust smell?
When I reverse or a breeze carries it forwards when stood at lights, I notice a small like the exhaust from cars did in the 1970s, sort of chemically and smokey. Well, I assume it's this.
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"Do other people notice it makes the exhaust smell?"
Sole reason for doing it! :-)
Well, it is since I ran out of Castrol R...
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Seems to be giving good results in the bike. I don't let it run out as the fuel pump on these is weak spot, so I go by the amount put in each time.
160 miles and it only took £14 of Optimax. I've run it onto reserve in 150 miles before.
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Thread revival.
Last week Mythbusters on Discovery Channel tried common "fuel savers" in both carburator and fuel injection cars running in budget lab environment on rolling road. Except magnets and such they also tested adding acetone. The effect? Nada. Carburator car used more fuel with acetone, fuel injection car mpg was the same as during clean run.
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[Nissan 2.2 dCi are NOT Renault engines. Grrr...]
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Thread revival. Last week Mythbusters on Discovery Channel tried common "fuel savers" in both carburator and fuel injection cars running in budget lab environment on rolling road. Except magnets and such they also tested adding acetone. The effect? Nada. Carburator car used more fuel with acetone, fuel injection car mpg was the same as during clean run.
As per my earlier post, I didn't find much difference in our petrol Focus, but on my diesel there was a significant difference. Mythbusters being an American show would of course not acknowledge the existence of diesel engined cars !
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> Mythbusters being an American show would of course not
> acknowledge the existence of diesel engined cars !
Actually I was shocked to see them pulling out in an old Mercedes Diesel with a flask of used chippy oil taped to the A pillar. They were more than impressed too.
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[Nissan 2.2 dCi are NOT Renault engines. Grrr...]
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"Well, it is since I ran out of Castrol R..."
A drop of castor oil (under a teaspoon in a full car tank) apparently does the trick, though I'm not going to be the one to try it.
V
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"Well, it is since I ran out of Castrol R..." A drop of castor oil (under a teaspoon in a full car tank) apparently does the trick, though I'm not going to be the one to try it. V
What trick, Vin? Making yr car smell like Shelsley Walsh paddock when the ERAs are spinning their back wheels to warm up the tyres? You wouldn't get it from the driving seat and the passers-by in general wouldn't get it either. And what about the fragile catalyser?
I have tried a small slug of acetone in the last few tanks in my Escort Zetec 1600. Unfortunately I have lost track of the amount of fuel I've put in so can't yet measure consumption accurately. It isn't any worse than normal and may be very slightly better. The car runs the same, perhaps a shade hotter. Its main fault, too-fast idling when warm for up to 10 seconds before reverting to correct idle speed, persists.
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