I was reading in the mileage forum about people using acetone in the fuel tank to improve fuel economy, well, about the time I am thinking will this work in a diesel I read a post that states he didn't like the results he had in his wifes gasser libby, but when he put it in his diesel truck it improved idle, power and so on. I tried it and it seems to be helping the mileage problem!

I'm confused .. what does the poll have to do with acetone?

I have read alot about this and the only conclusion I see is that, yes the acetone might help to break down the diesel so it can be atomized better but on the other hand I have seen what acetone can do to aluminum and many parts of most engines and including ours are made from aluminum. Acetone corrodes aluminum like there is no tomorrow. Also acetone does bad stuff to rubber. Now with the ammount of acetone that most people suggest you put in your tank with the fuel it might not be bad. Most people recommend 1-2 ounces to 10 gallons for diesel, so its not that much acetone to deal with. Although as far as diesel goes im not sure how the acetone would work, since diesels burn air not fuel, the atomized spray of fuel is to aid the combustion of the air that it has compressed already. In a normaly asperated car using octaine gas I could see how lowering the surface tension of the gas would aid in the ignition of the fuel and might alot you better gas milage from burning more fuel at one time and having no waist. I dont think there is much back up info on this subject to prove that there is infact better gas milage to be had. But Id be interested in seeing what you come up with.

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'64 Warrior Rail
1600 DP
Duel Webber 34 ICT
Centerline rims 135/15 and 31x12's
"Do it in the Dirt"

It was a trap to get you to answer a poll LOL

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'64 Warrior Rail
1600 DP
Duel Webber 34 ICT
Centerline rims 135/15 and 31x12's
"Do it in the Dirt"

Uh, MudTrac my friend, I'm sorry, but most of this is total nonsense, save for your scepticism of the advantage to be gained from using acetone as a diesel additive. I'm not going to attempt a point-by-point rebuttal as the chemist and engineer I am urges me to do, but I will say that it is amazing and wonderful to see a correct conclusion drawn from purely bogus information/opinions/starting material.

Hey man I was only giving what i have heard from the past year of reading on this, I have been into racing cars with Ethanol and Alcohol and this was one of the things that I have seen come up in forums before and things I have seen at the track. I did not just pull it out of my butt... as it would seem you have blamed me with. I am no chemist but I know a little about how engines work and how fuel works in them. The things I know about acetone and aluminum are from chemistry class and just working with the stuff. I dont really want to start a flame war over something like this, so as you have stated that you are the chemist could you give some insite into the adding acetone to diesel? I am still open to a true answer, like I said I was just stating what I have been told. To the best of my knowlage I have not stated anything untrue. Please let us know what the acetone does to the diesel fuel. Thanks ~ Friend

*edit*
Acetone and aluminum I guess will not cause the alumium to change anything as far as its structure, being its is really just a organic solvent, Ive seen it discolor aluminum before and such but It will not hurt it otherwise. And like I said before you using so little of it you might not have to worry about anything else. So as far as it makeing the surface tension of the fuel weaker or whatever, and letting the fuel atomize better I guess it might? I dunno you tell me... Im now very courious too.

_________________
'64 Warrior Rail
1600 DP
Duel Webber 34 ICT
Centerline rims 135/15 and 31x12's
"Do it in the Dirt"

uh, MudTrac, I wasn't trying to flame you or start a war or anything, but what you heard and what you stated about the way engines work is simply not true.

For starters, diesel engines burn fuel in air, exactly the way gas engines (or for that matter, alcohol burners) do, although they don't light the fire in the same way.

Your conclusions about acetone not being a good idea are not what I was taking issue with.

Ok my last post on the topic just clarify some things, diesel engines do not "burn" fuel as you had stated the SAME as gas engines do, the fuel's main purpose is to make the compressed air inside the cylndar walls combust when sprayed in at extreeme high pressure maybe like 25K PSI average, in newer "common rail" types. And the diesel engines CR is more on the line of 25:1 not like 9:1 as most gas engines are, I have included some links so that you might read to understand what Im saying. I might not be a chemist but thermodynamics as far as engines go are a lot more up my ally. Any way, time for you to see some sites that might aid in clearing up anything I have said, Thanks for you time and input Friend.

PS this first one is the most basic diesel engine int he world, ane it needs no fuel just the air
http://itotd.com/articles/508/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_engines

Fin-

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'64 Warrior Rail
1600 DP
Duel Webber 34 ICT
Centerline rims 135/15 and 31x12's
"Do it in the Dirt"

That's directly from the website you linked to. Diesels burn fuel, not air. The air is heated by compression, but there is no combustion until fuel is injected into the hot air.

I don't know about acetone - I'll let somebody else try it before me.

I've been working with an engineer at Caterpillar who tells me that Cat is experimenting with diesel fuels that contain up to 25% water, because it's cheaper than fuel. The theory being that it might cost 25% less and have like 23% (don't know the exact #) fewer BTUs, thus yielding a small financial advantage.