NO! Putting Acetone in your gas tank is NOT a good idea

June 10, 2009 – 8:32 am – No Comment

Acetone may be a good option for taking that awful lime green fingernail polish off, but no, it isn’t a good option for putting in your gas tank.

A question posed to MSNBC was this:

“I’ve heard of an unconventional way to increase gas mileage by up to 25 percent – adding 1 to 3 ounces of acetone to every 10 gallons of gas. Is this true?”

Well, no…it is simply not true. As a matter of fact, putting acetone in your gas tank is dangerous and will damage your engine.

Acetone is corrosive. It is used as a paint thinner and nail polish remover. This is the same stuff that if you get it on your wooden table it will take the lacquer finish right off the table.

So what does the acetone do in your gas tank after you put it in there? Well, it eats at all the little rubber parts in your engine. After all, this is the same stuff that will eat a fake fingernail right off your finger. You will end up getting a much larger bill for the parts that were eaten away in your car than the 25% increase in gas mileage that you may or may not have gotten by putting the acetone in your gas tank.

Not only can this stuff eat at the rubber on your engine, it can also remove the paint from your car. It will eat right through the clear coat and through the paint on the car. This would result in hundreds of dollars worth of damage.

In my opinion, if you’re looking for a fuel additive to try to get better mileage, mosey over to the automotive department at your local store and check out the fuel additive section. When you’re there you will find everything from simple fuel additive to fuel injection cleaner. Most of them claim to increase your gas mileage.

I find that putting 89 octane gasoline in your car may do the same trick as adding some of the fuel additive that can cost up to $8 for a bottle (which also tells you to add a bottle every single time that you fill up your gas tank). Honestly, if you’re putting a bottle of $7 additive in your car every time that you’re filling up, you’re not really saving any money…It seems like you are actually wasting more money.