Ethyl rubbing alcohol

[chevrofreak]

http://www.walgreens.com/store/product.jsp?CATID=100947&navAction=jump&navCount=1&id=prod475

that stuff

Wikipedia says:

In the United States, rubbing alcohol, U.S.P. and all preparations coming under the classification of Rubbing Alcohols must be manufactured in accordance with the requirements of the US Treasury Department, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, using Formula 23-H (8 parts by volume of acetone, 1.5 parts by volume of methyl isobutyl ketone, and 100 parts by volume of ethyl alcohol). It contains 68.5-71.5% by volume of absolute ethyl alcohol, the remainder consisting of water and the denaturants, with or without colour additives, and perfume oils. Rubbing Alcohol contains in each 100 mL not less than 355 mg of sucrose octaacetate or not less than 1.40 mg of denatonium benzoate. The preparation may be coloured with one or more colour additives. A suitable stabilizer may also be added. [1]

Is there anything in that stuff that would be harmful to engine or fuel system components? Would adding a few bottles to a mostly empty tank of gas and running it through my engine do much to clean out the carbon and varnish?

 

[Pablo]

Can't imagine sucrose octaacetate being any good in gas.

The mix is hygroscopic, so water in the gas (although miscible at lower levels), could be a problem as well.

 

[severach]

Why not use E10 or dry gas? That stuff is way too expensive at $15 per gallon. You might be using E10 already.

 

[chevrofreak]

Not many of the gas stations around here have ethanol in their gas. The ones that do have it listed on their pump, but it's something I rarely use.

If I could find E85 around here I'd just run a few gallons of that, but there are only 3 pumps in the entire state (and Montana is big).

 

[pickled]

Buy Everclear and put half of the half gallon in the car and the other half in a large puch bowl. Then call over some friends with some mixers and park the car for the evening.

 

[dwendt44]

The Wal-mart I stop at has 90% rubbing alcohol.
Gas dryer, gas line anti-freeze, etc. are mostly alcohol of some type, get a couple bottles of those.

 

[chevrofreak]

Will isopropyl alcohol work as well as ethyl alcohol to remove carbon?

 

[[RT] ProjUltraZ]

dump a bottle or Redline SI-1 or Amsoil PI in your tank and fill up. it'll clean better than a bottle of isopropyl.

Last week i had 1/3 bottle of seafoam to get rid of, so i found an empty spray bottle and put the seafoam in there with some FP+ and shot it into my throttle body after running (hot). Shot it in from various angles to get all ports and walls, waited then turned the engine over a couple times w/o starting and shot the rest in for a good soak.

Started it and made a smokescreen, ran it for a minute. Then shut down and finished by spraying the throttle body out with Throttle Body Cleaner and dumped half a bottle of Redline SI-1 into the full tank. feels better now really, smoother idle and response.

 

[chevrofreak]

I did the Seafoam thing last year, but when I changed my spark plugs shortly after, I still saw dirty pistons. I even did 2/3 of the bottle, which is more than is recommended. The smoke screen that covered my entire neighborhood literally stopped traffic in the street!

I'm running a bottle of Gumout Regane right now and will probably pull a plug to see if it's had much effect. I do know that my car runs better and has better throttle response with the Regane in the tank. I'll see about trying the Redline or Amsoil after this.

 

[gotek]

Last tank I saw a 10% mpg gain using a 5 to 1 ratio of Walmart 91% iso to 1 part MMoil.

This = 2.3 oz of this mix to each 10 gallons....3 oz to a full 13 G tank.

I use the 91 % iso because it is cheaper than Heet. When put together they will separate...so you need to shake the bottle before use.

If running an electric pump I'd change the ratio to maybe 3 oz iso to 2 oz MMoil. Or around 4 oz of this mix per each 10 gallons.

When I tested 5 oz per 10 G of this mix AND HHO...I had real good power but LOST mpg. So the amount used is probably critical.