Seafoam Question

[UMDSportsman]

After actually reading the whole label on the seafoam can, it says something to the effect that it stabilizes fuel. After looking at the seafoam website i found this:

"When fuel stabilization and engine fogging is needed – fuels of today become stale in less than thirty days. Therefore, stabilization and engine fogging are needed when vehicles, lawnmowers, snow blowers, outboard motors, chainsaws, motorcycles, gas in cans and engines are put into storage.

Your service technician can provide fuel stabilization and engine fogging services with SEA FOAM MOTOR TREATMENT."

I hear lots of good stuff about seafoam. any thoughts.

[RosoRiverRat]

I was told about seafoam by a good friend who runs a auto repair shop and uses it regularly. We started using it on the farm because alot of equipment sits without use for long periods of time. We don't use it so much as a stabalizer as we do to clean out the fuel system and it does a great job. I think if you looking for a stabilizer you can't beat "Sta-bil" but I can tell you that there alot of empty seafoam cans out in the shop and we have been very impressed in what in can do.

Jerry

[slotlimit]

I usually add a can to the fuel every oil change.

[UMDSportsman]

i am just curious to what you guys think of it, not particularily for a stabilizer, i just never heard before that it could be used as a stabilizer.

[delmuts]

after having the carbs cleaned on my 90 yam. the mechanic told me to run seafoam all the time in my gas. it not only is a stabilizer, but a cleaner too!since then i have run it in my boat,lawn mower, and golf cart.i'm sold! del

[gunflint]

Being a mid-size resort we run a lot of seasonal equipment. I use it as a stabilizer and have never had a problem. We are lucky enough not to have corn fuel up here though.

[luckyc]

I've lost a lot of customers because I've told them about using Seafoam, not because they are unhappy, but it works great at keeping your carb clean. I use to buy it by the case but now at 4-6 dollars a can, I only buy a couple cans at a time. When I mix my 2 cycle gas I automatically add Seafoam to the mixture. They also make a Seafoam product for transmissions that I can endorse also, my daughter had a pickup that was shifting very erractically and we added a can of Seafoam Transmission conditioner and one ten mile trip to work and back, she said it shifted perfectly. It cleaned the sticky valve body, 30m miles later and it is still working fine. Seafoam has my vote

[youngie22]

My uncle uses sea foam every time he goes to the gas station. A few ounces in everything from lawn mower to new truck, new car, daughteres car, sons beater car, boat, etc... He swears by it!

[federline]

Maybe old habits are hard to break, but even as a die-hard seafoam addict, I still use Sta-bil for fuel stabilization. For fuel sitting around in carbs, I just don't mess with what works, plus, I can smell Sta-bil in the exhaust better than I can seafoam, so I know when it has run all the way through. But I always use Seafoam to clean intake manifolds, upper cylinders and heads, fuel lines, etc. As for auto-transmissions and oil, I've been a Slick 50 user for almost 20 years now - oil treatment and transmission treatment. The three (seafoam, sta-bil, and slick 50) have treated me so well as a team for so many years, I'd be hard pressed to change.

[Jeremy airjer W]

Seafoam motor tune is a great product. I have been using it for years.

Its a moisture dispersant, Decorbanizer, fuel system cleaner, Fuel system stabalizer, and a lubricant all rolled into one.

The bennefit of stabalizing with motor tune is that when you finally use the gas your getting all the other bennefits it offers. Adding the appropriate amount to the fuel as maintentance to help clean out the carbs and keep the intake like new is not a bad idea either. I know for a fact that my merc outboard ran smoother after running motor tune through it as part of its winterization process.

it also works great for noisy hydraulic lifters. Half a can in the oil and run it till they stop ticking. change the oil and add the other half of the can.

Another product worth mentioning is seafoam deep creep, which is essantially motor tune in an aerosal can. Its an excellent penetrating lube. It works well for fogging small engines also.

[ripstick]

Use seafoam in just about everything. Using it for 8 or 9 years now. Works great.

[311Hemi]

Quote:

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Use seafoam in just about everything. Using it for 8 or 9 years now. Works great.

---

Same here, boat, motorcycle, snowmobile, auger, lawn mower, etc.

I always pour it in and run the engine to make sure the Seafoam gets into all gas lines/carbs. Then just top off the tank and it's good to go until next year.

My primary use of it is as a fuel stabilizer and it has always worked good for me.

[hanson]

I tell you what, I'm becoming a believer.

I just bought my boat last fall, and put it into storage. I ran it a couple times last fall but that was it.

This spring, I was having some problems with the engine starting smoothly. It was pretty apparent that a good carb cleaning would probably solve the problem but I wanted to run a couple tanks of Seafoam through it to see if that would work.

Well... I'm about halfway into my 2nd tank of gas for the year and my motor was starting and running great on Saturday night.

On a similar note, I also switched from regular oil on my first tank of gas to Amsoil HP Injector, which I'm premixing at 50:1 on my 2nd tank of gas.

So I'm not exactly caused sure what solved my problem, the Seafoam or the higher quality oil but I'm pretty happy right now after seeing the results from this weekend.

[Eric Wettschreck]

I absolutely do not believe in "Mechanic in a can" but Seafoam works. I use it in my engines and I have no problems. I also use the cheap oxy fuel in everything.

[BobT]

How do you get by without ethanol blended fuels? Except for high octane (91 or better?), I thought it was a law in Minnesota that all gasolines are to be a minimum 10% blend.

Bob

[theoilman]

Does anyone know what Seafoam really is? Or how it works? I really would like to know.

I have a hard time following how a single product can be a gasoline additive, diesel additive, oil additive, and a direct use carburetor/fuel system/injector cleaner. I went through the seafoam website and still didn't learn anything. Their MSDS just says it contains a light oil, naptha and something called IPA - this doesn't tell me much.

[lawdog]

I don't know what the stuff is, but it just flat out works. I used to use sta-bil and then switched over to seafoam and also run it periodically through all my engines and its the most amazing stuff. Just makes stuff work like a charm.

By the way oilman, I just sent you a question about a little two stroke oil question...

[eurolarva]

IPA = Isopropyl Alcohol

[Jeremy airjer W]

Seafoam Motor Tune is a pure petroleum product. This allows it to be used in 2 and 4 stroke engines as well as oil systems and gasoline/diesel fuel systems.

There are three ingredients in Motor Tune.

The first is a naptha based solvent. This is a common product found in many popular fuel injector cleaner. Its primary function is to melt gums, varnishes and residues left behind in fuel and oil systems.

Isopropynal, not to be confused with isopropyl, is the high test base oil used to make isopropyl. Isopropynal is the drying agent of Motor Tune. It removes moisture by emulsification which breaks down water into oxygen and hydrogen and allows it to be “burned” in the combustion chamber. Although it will not remove large quantities of water from the fuel system it is the most effective way of removing the moisture.

The last is pale oil (100/100 sec – I have no idea what that means, apparently it is some kind of refinement identification) which is a highly refined oil. This is the upper cylinder lubricant and/or where it gets its lubricating properties (this is also why Deep Creep is such a good penetrating lube). Pale oil is highly heat resistant. When blended with the above it makes everything more heat resistant. This allows all of the chemicals of the product to make it further into the intake/combustion areas of the engine.

[Bob Horn]

Good Stuff. Use it year around.

[theoilman]

Thanks Airjer, I appreciate your help. I've actually been looking for this info off and on for a couple of years.

[Jeremy airjer W]

I also wanted to mention why Seafoam makes a good fuel stabilizer.

It’s the combination of the three petroleum products mixed in there specific quantities that raise the volatility of the fuel. This slows down the rate of deterioration. When mixed at 1 oz. per gallon of fuel in a properly stored container or fuel system it will preserve fuel for up to 2 years.

Not all fuel stabilizers are the same. The other method of fuel stabilization is a mix of chemicals that form a skim layer of protection on the surface of the fuel. This skim layer keeps the fuel seperated from the air. If this surface layer is disrupted at any point during its storage the preservation property is lost.

[311Hemi]

airjer, do you know which products create the skim layer of protection that you mention?

If that is the case (that they make a layer to keep the fuel and air separate) then doesn't topping off the tank do basically the same thing?

[Jeremy airjer W]

I don't know specifically which product uses this method but I have a feeling I know. I'll make some phone calls in the morning to see if I can find out.

The answer is yes if the skim layer is disrupted in any way you lose the preservation technique. If you added the stabalizer and let whatever the fuel is in sit until the skim layer is formed and then move it, it will get disrupted! From what I have gathered so far these types of stabalizers are a one shot deal. If I find out differently I'll let you know.

[G_man]

Is there any problem of mixing seafoam and gas a little heavy? I don't always measure the amount I add but I know I'm adding more than enough. Sometimes I forget if I added Seaform to some gas in a cap thats been sitting around and I'll add some to the tank I'm filling to make sure.

[delmuts]

won't hurt a thing.

[fishinalot]

For almost 15 years now I have been adding Seafoam to every gas can before I fill it. The gas is used for chainsaws, lawnmowers, 4-wheelers, outboards, weed wippers etc. I have never had a carb problem with any of these Items, never!! I always have 4-5 cans around, and at times run it in my truck as well.

[MLaker2]

I've been watching this forum and also have used Sea foam in gas for small engines/outboards for many years. I never used to believe in adding products to oil for other issues. But, my son has a Taurus that would rough idle for a couple months, then quit, then start up again, etc, etc, mechanics thought it was sticking valves, also had only 25% compression in one cylinder. Put up with this for almost 2 years. So we were going to have the engine worked on during my sons x-mas holiday from college. Around October I put 1/4 can Sea foam in the oil after an oil change and a can in the tank and gave him another can for the next tank. Within a couple weeks it quit rough idling, hasn't happened since. We took the car in for the low compression fix - mechanic said the compression was back to normal. For the last 7 months not a single rough idle or rough start.

"Mechanic in a can" I guess so.

[Hooked On a Feeling]

Another believer here, been using seafoam for outboard, pressure washer, ice auger, ATV, lawn tractor /mower, snowblower, never had a carb or gas issue ever.

Hooked

[311Hemi]

The other thing I notice when using seafoam, when I clean my carbs in my sled in the fall the carbs have always been clean. I have left my auger sit on year without adding seafoam and when I pulled the carbs apart I had some gelling.

Now...a carb with a plugged jet on a mower might not be that bad (just might not run) or that expensive to replace if the engine went bad. Get yourself a plugged jet on a snowmobile running across a lake in cold temps and you have a recipe for disaster!

I could buy at lot of seafoam for the price of a blown engine.

Note: Seafoam does not change the fact that you should still check/clean your carbs!!! It's always a good practice on sleds.