additives for improved mpg?

[aerohead]

When an engine is running,it's lubrication is functioning on a hydrodynamic basis.Metals are separated by oil film,which ski on a continuous wedge of lube trapped in between.
During "jerk",chugging,and destructive detonation,loads can reach levels where the lube is completely squeezed out of the void leading to "high-point" or "asperity",where metal-to-metal contact actually occurs.
Unless you abuse a vehicle,this isn't an issue.
And if a vehicle is operated on a regular basis,"drain-back" isn't an issue either.
I have disassembled engines which have sat for years,and all internal parts were still liberally coated with oil.
Reducing viscosity is the only way I have ever heard of which can effect mpg.Switching to a full synthetic like advanced Mobil-1 would do this,as it's viscosity is like a 0W- weight oil at start-up,but certification criteria forbid the oilmaker from stating it in advertising.

[cfg83]

Chirst -

Originally Posted by Christ

Carlos -

Try 2 quarts of Kerosene... then again, you should also check to make sure there is anything in your engine making it "less than new" in it's current state. Kerosene can damage things... LOL.

I've put tranny fluid in engines when they're really coked up, run it for 100 miles on the highway and through town, then change the oil... usually comes out blacker than black holes, thick and sooty. Afterward, I check the new oil for evidence of buildup and gunk every couple hundred miles. If it's clean, we're good.

MMO is basically trans fliud without additives, and it smells sort of minty. It's gotta be good, because it smells good. It will also "burn out" of your oil within about 1000 miles, so you'll want to check your oil often.

Yeah, I've been reading about the tranny-fluid fix in my S-Series in this saturnfans thread :

FIXED OIL BURNING with ATF in engine crankcase - SaturnFans Forums

I'm tempted, but I'm also a scaredy-cat :

SaturnFans Forums - View Single Post - FIXED OIL BURNING with ATF in engine crankcaseOriginally Posted by OldNuc

+1^^^^^ATF belongs in the transmission, not the engine. High quality oil does not require any user added additives.

CarloSW2

[99LeCouch]

If you read BITOG there are lots of success stories about MMO and Auto-RX. All I know is that they both have worked for me as advertised.

[Christ]

Carlos -

I don't recommend the tranny fluid, either. I've done it, but I don't recommend it to other people. MMO works fine, and is even cheap, at ~$15 for a gallon, which should last for the life of your car, honestly.

Trans fluid acts like a solvent, which will remove coke and oil deposits from your engine. If you want to clean the engine, bite the proverbial bullet and run some diesel engine oil in it. There are detergents specifically formulated in that type of oil to remove coke and combustion contaminants, and it won't hurt your engine at all. It's still a lubricant, it's just a "specialized" lube, which has a specific formulation of solvents added to it that is designed to keep ash and coke from building up. Remember, diesel engines burn oil on purpose - gas engines do it as a design flaw.

[beaterjeep]

Originally Posted by Christ

Acetone evaporates almost as quickly as you pour it.* Acetone, like you get in hobby shops and the like, is also "wet". It doesn't have alot of capacity to be hygroscopic beyond what is already being held, in regards to water.

The octane level of pure Acetone (anhydrous) is ~150... adding 3oz to 10 gallons of 91 octane fuel may get you 92 octane. I'm not even going to do the math, it's such a small change.

The "stigma" of Acetone in fuel is that it's supposed to make the fuel "Easier to digest", by breaking the surface tension of the fuel, allowing it to mix and vaporize completely in the air stream. Of course, it's also completely false.

3MPG is a fairly hefty claim for a Jeep with Acetone. I'd like to see some of your test methods.

As always, welcome to EM!

The 3 mpg improvement was in an 01 Infiniti I30. My methods were not scientific nor accurate by any means but basically started the trip with straight gas...24ish mpg, acetone in next tank...26.5ish, straight gas next tank...24ish, acetone in next tank...27.2ish, and used acetone from then out maintaining in the 26-27 range. I was figuring mileage by the old fashioned miles / gallons to fill up (not topping off the tank). The Jeep saw a 1 mpg improvement, although there were other factors involved in that tank. Have you tried acetone yourself?

[Christ]

Originally Posted by beaterjeep

The 3 mpg improvement was in an 01 Infiniti I30. My methods were not scientific nor accurate by any means but basically started the trip with straight gas...24ish mpg, acetone in next tank...26.5ish, straight gas next tank...24ish, acetone in next tank...27.2ish, and used acetone from then out maintaining in the 26-27 range. I was figuring mileage by the old fashioned miles / gallons to fill up (not topping off the tank). The Jeep saw a 1 mpg improvement, although there were other factors involved in that tank. Have you tried acetone yourself?

I've tried about every mix of gas-replacement chemicals you can think of, honestly. I've used both Acetone and Xylene to increase octane levels of my fuel for racing purposes (so I could add more boost, increase ignition timing, etc.), and I've even attempted to setup a lawnmower to run on only Acetone. The stuff doesn't vaporize well. (Not entirely true, it vaporizes fine, but doesn't like to remain fluid when exposed to air, and had a tendency to vapor lock my Keihin carb.) I probably won't bother playing with it any more, because I haven't seen any good results thus far, and I don't really race too much anymore.

I've also used a mix of Toluene and n-Heptane (IRL trick) to maintain a track legal octane rating (per unit volume) while still having an octane advantage. n-Heptane is a filler, it has a 0 RON, MON, and RN2 octane number.

The problem with fuel additives is that most of what you find in the additive is already in the gas in some capacity. Normal pump gas can be up to 30% aromatics, including chemicals such as Toluene, Xylene, and the like. Acetone is also usually present.

I'm more interested in synthetic gasses, now.

If you saw the improvement, awesome. I still can't imagine that there was an improvement of up to 10%, as you claim, though. It just doesn't really jive well, especially when so many others have tried and had no joy with it.

Acetone will act as a water emulsifier, though, in case you have some and can't get any methanol.

Did you fill up at the same pump every time you filled the tank for the testing, or were you filling up on the way to somewhere, then filling up on the way back and adding the acetone? The mileage gains could be explained by gas from a different station or area of the US, as well. It could also be explained by the bulk of your "less efficient" driving cycles being in an area you're familiar with, or at higher "low" speeds, such as in a country area rather than a city.

[99LeCouch]

Maybe it cleaned up the fuel injectors to atomize the fuel better.

I can't say enough good about Auto-RX or MMO, however. Auto-RX really smoothed out my formerly herky-jerky transmission, and left the oil really black-looking the first time I used it in my Buick. I did notice a power increase according to the finely-calibrated butt dyno. The MMO makes my fuel pump a lot quieter. The engine knocks less on MMO-doped gas, also. It's also starting easier in the mornings. Although that may be the winter gas finally reaching down south.

Near the best additives I used for MPG were the thinnest motor oil I can stand to run in the car (using up my stash of cheap synthetic 5w-30 now, 5w-20 is next since I can stock one oil for my car and my fiancee's), and a thinner, Grp. III synthetic ATF.