Acetone Additive?

[Mbschmidt]

A friend of mine sent me this link Acetone as a Mileage Additive

He drives a big rig and says he is trying it in it right now.

Anyone had any experience using this method in a ctd?

 

[FourBarR]

I believe I read a post sometime ago,from cummins regarding addatives. said no alcohol or acetone . someone may remember the post.

 

[AndrewKing]

HI,

I added acetone to my 1989 D250 yesterday... . Added 1 oz per 10 gallons... . My truck typically smokes at idle (not sure why... . I may try turning down the fuel screw..... Not sure what the previous owner did with the truck modification wise... he said nothing but he only owned it for 6 months).



I typically tow a 18' tandem landscape trailer with lawn equipment (total towed weight approx 3300 lbs). On my usual route to Richmond and back (Mostly highway... . some city)... I typically averaged 14. 3 MPG at 60 MPH with the AC on low.



On my first trip with Acetone in the tank, I at first noticed a marked decrease in the exhaust smoke at idle when at a stop light... . I was hopeful that either the acetone cleaned up whatever was causing my truck to smoke or it was truly actually acting as a catalyst and causing he diesel to burn more completely. Anyways, the smoke free idling lasted most of the day... . The trip to Richmond was uneventful..... When we got to Richmond traffic

stopped on the Highway (big accident closed 64 for a long time)... . I idled seemingly forever and was disgusted because I knew my mileage test was now messed up)..... Anyways... After much idling and slow creeping on the highway I decided to try my luck by getting off at an exit and trying to get to my destination via regular streets (of course it was now rush hour so more slow driving but at least moving faster than the highway).



As luck would have it, I realized I was now lost and to make matters worse the truck was idling roughly and was pouring out LOTS of smoke at idle and part throttle (smoke color was hard to describe but to did lay down a smoke screen... . Hard to describe the color other than kinda dark with what I thought were wisps of white or gray)... . I pulled over and decided to let the truck sit a bit while I checked the fluids (oil) and for any leaks... . I found nothing out of the ordinary so I decided to restart and push on... . At first there was alot of smoke out the exhaust again but it cleared up within 1/4 mile... . and never came back (well at least so far... . 120 miles)... . The truck has gone back to smoking its normal smoke at idle as of the end of my trip... . 170 total miles traveled BUT with alot of slow city driving and stop and go on the highway... .

Despite all the slow going and stops... . when I filled up I was pleased to come up with 13. 9 MPG ..... I can't help but think the Acetone would have increased my mileage had the trip conditions been similar... .



I will service the Richmond properties in 2 weeks and will try the test again... . Hopefully this time no accidents to ruin the regular driving conditions... . I have to admit tho that I am a little scared because of the stint of roughness I experienced and the large amounts of smoke that happened for awhile... . Anybody have any ideas what the smoke and roughness was about?

(Maybe just the acetone cleaning stuff out?... . I think I may change the fuel filter just in case... . Just curious but could a clogged fuel filter cause smoke at idle?



Any other people have positive or negative experiences using acetone... . How many ounces per gallon do you use?



Andrew

 

[TAbbott]

The no acetone or alcohol applies to the CR engines. The CR injector pump supposedly won't tolerate much of either one.

 

[CanadianCarGuy]

Probably any solvent will do the same thing as acetone, many diesel additives are composed of mostly aliphatic and hydrocarbon solvents. I think the solvents are just to keep the powdered additive ingredients in solution and also to dilute the additive enough to make it easy to add the proper amount to the tank, plus solvents will somewhat clean the injectors. Also, I noticed ALL additives that contain solvents have additional lubricating ingredients, so maybe mixing two-stroke oil with acetone would be better than just adding acetone alone. Just my 2 cents...

 

[donnier]

I would put 2 stroke oil in the tank before I would use acetone.

Iv heard that the acetone will do more harm than good.

But that is JMHO.

 

[bmoeller]

Acetone is like adding gasoline. No lube properties. I sure as heck would use it in any truck that uses electronically controlled injectors or in the 24V VP44 equipped engines. The tolerances are much tighter than the older mechanical injectors.

2 stroke oil is fine. Other than that, I would only use normal diesel additives.

I use Howes, Lucas or FPPF Fuel Power.

FPPF

I prefer the Fuel Power in the KW. The Ram seems to like the Lucas best.

 

[snuff]

i can not remember the threads but i belive the acteone was stated as bad juju... ... .

 

[MMeier]

Acetone is like adding gasoline. I sure as heck would use it in any truck that uses electronically controlled injectors or in the 24V VP44 equipped engines.

Ummm... you did mean to say WOULDN"T in you second sentence above, correct?

 

[TomThomas]

Mother earth News had an article about using acetone in gas (which I tried with no increase in mpg's), and a link to a Vancouver (WA) company that markets some "snake oil". I tried acetone in my '93 for 2 tanks with no increase in mpg's. I really think that any additive benefit is dependent on the condition of the engine. My Navistar powerd (IDI) POS got 2mpg's better when running Stanadine's performance formula but my Cummins (turbo) saw no increase.

 

[ToolManTimTaylor]

Think just for a sec. Acetone REMOVES oils , and greases and has an ultra high evaporation rate. That is one reason they use it prior to paint work. Now if it removes oil ... what's that doing when diluted in your tank? The ONLY thing I could see is it's low flashpoint ... kinda like meth injection only "Built in" to the fuel and not as a catalyst.

 

[bmoeller]

Ummm... you did mean to say WOULDN"T in you second sentence above, correct?

LOL Yep. Typo... ... ... .