Fuel Catalyst

[97GSXAWD]

Quick question related to fuel economy. Has anyone tried or heard of the Fitch Fuel Catalyst. Here is the Website http://www.fitchfuelcatalyst.com/ . With fuel cost going up and how the Pathfinder likes to chug a lot of gas, I was actually thinking of purchasing and putting it on. Has anyone tried this product yet? It’s pretty interesting. I’ve seen this item advertised on Horsepower episode and you did increase the horsepower and torque with a lower quality of fuel without sacrificing the performance. I am hoping this isn’t another bogus thing like the Throttlebody spacer which was suppose to increase Horsepower or the Tornado.

[XPLORx4]

Quick question related to fuel economy. Has anyone tried or heard of the Fitch Fuel Catalyst. Here is the Website http://www.fitchfuelcatalyst.com/ . With fuel cost going up and how the Pathfinder likes to chug a lot of gas, I was actually thinking of purchasing and putting it on. Has anyone tried this product yet? It’s pretty interesting. I’ve seen this item advertised on Horsepower episode and you did increase the horsepower and torque with a lower quality of fuel without sacrificing the performance. I am hoping this isn’t another bogus thing like the Throttlebody spacer which was suppose to increase Horsepower or the Tornado.

 

Sounds bogus to me, but you're certainly more than welcome to be a guinea pig for this!

[FUELER]

that website doesnt say what it is. is it a magnet on the fuel line? A fluid you pour in the gas tank?

[87pathy]

BS.. there is now way. they won't even tell you what or how it works.. all it says is "metalics of a proprietary...."

 

sounds like the magnets in the gas tank.. complete and utter BS

[HitTheTrails]

Sounds like BS to me...

[XPLORx4]

Do a google search for the product. Try to find reviews from unbiased web sites and user opinions, not advertising/marketing snippets distributed by the manufacturer. Still looks like snake oil to me.

[CALPATHY]

From their site:

Q. What are the major components of the Fitch® Fuel Catalyst? 
 The catalyst is a composite of a number of metals formed into an alloy by a propriety process.  

Q. How does the catalyst work? 
 Refineries cannot remove many poorly performing molecules to make a more ideal fuel. In addition, once fuel leaves the refinery or is stored it is subject to attack by oxygen, ozone, and microorganisms (bacteria, yeast, and mold) that grow in the fuel. All these processes degrade the fuel to make a poorer product that prevents engines from performing at optimum levels. The Fitch Fuel Catalyst reformulates fuel prior to combustion on board the vehicle, preventing oxygen and most diseases from attacking the fuel and reversing any degradation that may have occurred prior to the fuel being introduced to the vehicle. The Fitch Fuel Catalyst assists the combustion process by insuring that fuel is highly uniform, potent, consistent, and stable.

 

As Heinlein (and others) have said: "There is no such thing as a free lunch."

[RWC5S2]

From their site:

Q. What are the major components of the Fitch® Fuel Catalyst? 
 The catalyst is a composite of a number of metals formed into an alloy by a propriety process.  

Q. How does the catalyst work? 
 Refineries cannot remove many poorly performing molecules to make a more ideal fuel. In addition, once fuel leaves the refinery or is stored it is subject to attack by oxygen, ozone, and microorganisms (bacteria, yeast, and mold) that grow in the fuel. All these processes degrade the fuel to make a poorer product that prevents engines from performing at optimum levels. The Fitch Fuel Catalyst reformulates fuel prior to combustion on board the vehicle, preventing oxygen and most diseases from attacking the fuel and reversing any degradation that may have occurred prior to the fuel being introduced to the vehicle. The Fitch Fuel Catalyst assists the combustion process by insuring that fuel is highly uniform, potent, consistent, and stable.

 

As Heinlein (and others) have said: "There is no such thing as a free lunch."

 

Run away, run away, run away. But, that is just my humble opinion.

[CALPATHY]

Run away, run away, run away. But, that is just my humble opinion.

 

"The Fitch Fuel Catalyst assists the combustion process by insuring that fuel is highly uniform, potent, consistent, and stable."

 

But this line could be used for Viagra or Cyalis with just a small mod.

[SnowSurfLax]

I'm curious as to what kind of Yeast and Bacteria can live in gasoline or diesel. That's gotta be some crazy s***!

 

I always thought gas and diesel were just a couple of steps away from industrial cleaner.

[Eagle]

Some info on acetone and toluene:

 

I have not tried, but will soon. Make up your own mind. The posting below seems to have ample evidence.

 

http://www.lubedev.com/smartgas/faq.htm

 

http://www.realtechnews.com/posts/2598

 

I am laughing my butt off reading some of the comments here. It’s now quite evident to me that the ‘establishment’ (ie. media controlled by Big oil and ‘Big Brother’) has most of you guys totally brainwashed. I want to give you some FACTS based on personal knowledge.

 

I work in Harris County Texas (Houston). Here EPA emissions testing is strict w/ special tests done to pass inspection annually. I have used a .28 oz/gal acetone to gasoline ratio in 3 vehicles for over a year now, and emmissions readings on these vehicles have dropped 50% on average. All vehicles have shown an average increase in MPG around 10%. All have shown noticeable increase in power. The smaller 4-cyls (Toyotas) show the most improvement, but the greatest improvement was on my 140K mile ‘96 Plymouth Voyager V6. I had a ‘Service Engine’ light coming on indicating ‘Cylinder Misfire’… and it stayed on for 6 months w/o me figuring out the problem. I started using the acetone additive and it went off after 2 tanks!

 

I work for a major petroleum and chemcical engineering company with over 5,000 employees in Houston alone… 40,000 worldwide. After sharing my info in the Houston office, about a dozen ‘brave’ souls tried it. The results I got back I will note below following my 3 vehicles first. I drive a consistent pattern of hiway and intown traffic equaling 700 miles per week. I buy gas at the same station/same pump/same time weekly for normalization of test data, now 1 year out:

 

‘85 Toyota Camry 4-cyl = 10%+ MPG, better performance

‘97 Toyota Camry 4-cyl = 9%+ MPG, MUCH better performance

‘96 Plym GR Voyager V6 = 12%+ MPG, Corrected ‘Engine Light’

 

‘94 Chev P/U V8 = 12% MPG, more power, better emissions test

‘92 Ford Explorer V6 = 5% MPG, passed after failing emissions

‘90 Nissan 280Z V6 = 10% MPG, gets 28MPG hiway @ 75MPH

 

‘97 Jeep Cherokee = Passed emissions test after flunking

‘01 Toyota Pathfinder = (Ditto above)… 2 tanks after

‘94 Lincoln Cont’l V8 = (Ditto above); 10%+ MPG

 

All have been saying roughly 10%+ mpg, but most notably the increased performance. If you aren’t getting the mpg, you should be checking the air filters: requires more air to gain new burn efficiency.

 

As for asking oil companies… they aren’t going to tell you this is good for many reasons.

First, they CANNOT add the additive like others because it is so high end distillate that it won’t remain in storage for very long (it dissipates quickly)… and if they can’t control adding it they don’t want you to gain on their profit loss.

Second, if everyone did this and gained 10% mpg, the immediate loss of 10% market share w/o ANY profit going to Big Oil is a marketing “No-No” to them.

Third, the corporate farmers pushing ethanol have too much in the pockets of congress to let you know that something this simple works. They want you to burn ethanol (from corn) that maintains the fuel ‘inefficiency’ and keeps not only Big Oil company profits high, but adds another group to the mix in the corporate farmers of ethanol.

 

Lastly, if anything were going to damage an internal engine component, ethanol would at a ratio of 1:10 in your gasoline. Most cars built after ‘94 have compensated w/ updated neoprene, N-Buna, and nylon components to handle the ethanol mixtures. Acetone at the ratio mixes we are talking about is 1:200… so miniscule that it is basically immeasurable as to harmful effects on an engine.

 

The overall economic impact now w/ gasoline at $3.00/gal of even a 5% increase in mpg = net savings of $0.25/gal if you are purchasing acetone at $12/gal using it at a .25oz/gal ratio. Relationly, the effect is 5 cents per gallon for every percent increase you gain… and if you gained -0- mpg, you would still get a cleaner engine, prolonged engine oil life (less blow-by gas from cylinder rings into oil), and save the life of your catalytic converter… as well as CLEAN UP THE ENVIRONMENT! (Hey, if you are burning more of the same fuel, less of it is escaping into the air… “DUH!”)

 

So, you skeptics keep dumping your garbage out there. Anyone with common sense and a will to be environmentally cleaner will at least test the theory. You can see a noticeable difference in performance at the very least, and know that you are emitting much less hydrocarbons into the air.

 

What I have noticed is that Wal-Mart is now having to inventory more acetone on their shelves… just ask the mgr of the paint department. More ‘Joe Public’ is learning the truth than you skeptics!

[88pathoffroad]

Bah, they tried that on Mythbusters and it got worse mileage. I tried it and it didn't do anything.

[02silverpathy]

Acetone does work....good luck spending tank after tank figuring out what the best amount to put in your FULL tank is though! This means that you have to run it completely empty, and try try again. I had sucess with the 98 R50 and got it loaded with people, goodies, 31" tires, lift, and large box 15" subwoofer to get 21.5 MPG. It took me 5 tanks to get it right...maybe I could have gotten it even better, but I was tired of keeping data and working all the small driving details out!

 

Mythbusters just shoved some in the tank and called it....when you add too much per gallon, it does decrease gas mileage. I am not a science major or a chemist, but I am sure it has to do with Acetone's flammability! That shh will light just by thinking about it hard enough!

[Eagle]

Well, perhaps we could just list the proper amount for the 88-95, 96-02, etc.

 

I plan on trying 3oz per 10 gallons, as they suggest.

 

I have a feeling the major limitation for most people is following directions.

 

You either need a dispenser with a very long neck to get the acetone in the tank, or you need to premix with a gallon in an external, then put that in the tank.

 

21.5 in a full pathy is amazing.

 

Don't forget toluene either! Seems like a gallon of acetone and toulene would cost $15 each and last 426 gallons of gasoline at 3oz per 10gal.

 

426 gal would get me

19 hwy or 8094 miles

15 city or 6390 miles

 

If I get a 3 mph boost, it would go

22 hwy or 9372 miles

18 city or 7668 miles

 

This would save:

1278 hwy = $210 USD (at 19 per gallon, $3 per gallon)

1278 city = $255 USD (at 15 per gallon, $3 per gallon)

 

Not a bad number if even half that, while making the path run better.

Edited January 25, 2008 by Eagle