Fuel additive

[Kenrick Pinard]

my friend uses a fuel additive (can't remeber the name) in his 92 Amigo and gets great mileage . Is it a good idea to use any kind of fuel additive in my 2001 ST and if anyone uses it what are the results ???

 

[TomT]

By fuel additive do you mean an octane booster or a cleaner?

 

[Kenrick Pinard]

I'm refering to an octane booster.

 

[TomT]

Then it's kind of like buying higher octane gas. You may see a slight mpg improvement but probably not enough to justify the cost.

 

[A1cntrler]

I seem to remember reading somewhere on the internet about adding Acetone to fuel to improve mileage. If it was on the internet, I believe it....

 

[Fred]

I think I read, maybe on this site recently, that you could run helium in your tires to help MPG.









:lol:

 

[Stephane Bolduc]

And if you need a tan, I'll sell you a can of Florida sun; freshly bottled!



Let me know if you want it at 82 or 91 degree f.



Seriously, don't waste your money and some fuel additive will leave deposits/residues if used all the time. And if this happens, you can then by the "cleaner" additive sold by the same company!:blink:

 

[TomT]

Someone here on this site tested the acetone about a year ago and as I remember there was no significant increase in mpg. There are engines out there which are more high performance that it could help. Like the Murrano my wife and I looked at a couple of weeks ago. They say you can run regular in it but the engine gets better performance and mpg with premium. That's one reason we went with the RAV4.

 

[Daniel Park]

drop some moth balls into your gas tank.

 

[EddieS'04]

On motorweek sunday, Pat Goss covered the issue of additives. His advice was to use the more exspensive ones moderatly. He did not give any specific milage. He said over use can cause more problems. His best advice was to use Top Tier gasoline, the additives you need for the best performance and a clean engine, are in the the top tier fuel at the right amounts...

 

[FlipTrac_511]

Some guy at work was passing out free samples of this tablet that goes in the gas tank and would supposedly increase mileage. Didn't catch the name of it but he was careful not to touch the tablet with bare hands. I refused for fear of it damaging my Trac. I wonder what it was.

 

[Andy G]

Some additives can be very hard on oxygen sensors....

 

[Roy Smith]

use Lucas fuel additive---it works in my '94 (5.0) bronco and in my '05 trac

 

[POJ Irving]

Actually I use an additive - Marvel Mystery- cost $2.99 in Wal*Mart for a 12 o.z or 18 o.z bottle. Anyway the bigger one. Cheaper than Auto store. I have used it in all my vehicles, including the three we currently have and I find that there is some difference with mpg. I don't over use it, however I use it because I never buy anything but 87 octane.

 

[Dre L]

I stand by Dura Lube fuel system cleaner every 3000 or every 6000, just before an oil change.



It has been getting harder to find, and I stopped using it for a while, to see what would happen. Even with only top tier gas, and a bottle of techron cleaner every now and then, the Trac got to a point where it was starting to lose something, mileage, performance... I had forgotten about the dura lube additive.



One day I saw it at Strauss, poured in a bottle, and everything was back to normal. It almost works instantly.



I've used it across 2 vehicles now and love it. I had tried it years ago in a blind test on a friend's car. He was complaining about hesitation and how loud and rough his engine was running, he did not believe in this sort of stuff. I convinced him to add a bottle while the engine was running, on the "give it a shot, what have you got to lose" premise. He poured it in, and we were both amazed as the engine suddenly quieted down and the rough idle smoothed out. I never had that issue, and I thought he'd need to drive a bit for it to work.



However, there is no substitute for diligent and proper maintenance. TBI cleaning should be done yearly, plugs and wires checked / replaced periodically, some form of in-tank injector cleaner should be used periodically, oil changes with oil and air filters replaced / cleaned religiously, especially in very dirty areas (NYC). My air filter is guaranteed to need a cleaning every 3-6 months.



With the warmer weather, I was pleaseantly surprised to achieve 22MPG at 65MPH across 2 fillups, on the GSP from NYC to Atlantic City. I was forced to 65 because I had a wheel out of balance (feels awful).