Author Topic: Sea Foam engine cleaner (Read 14684 times)

Elijah Gunn · « **on:** December 25, 2009, 02:05:40 AM »

Has anyone here used sea foam engine cleaner? Did it make much of a difference in your car? I'm talking about the whole 3 step process where you put one third of a can into the gas tank, the next third into the crankcase oil, and the last third goes into a vacuum line (usually the vacuum line at the power brake booster) so it will go through the fuel injectors, and everywhere else in the intake.
I checked out a bunch of how to videos on youtube about this, and was just wanting to know if anyone here has tried it.

cwlongshot · « **Reply #1 on:** December 25, 2009, 02:36:01 AM »

YEP!! I have done it on a couple of my old Jeeps. Sometimes it does wonders other times seemingly nothing. it all depends on the condition of the motor to begin with. If its all carboned up, it will remove allot of it and improve things. If your motor is in good shape to begin with, obviously, little will be there too repair...

IF you have a dirty motor, be prepared for BUKU SMOKE!!! One time I have a couple neighbors come over to see if everything was OK!!!

CW

beadlescomb · « **Reply #2 on:** December 25, 2009, 02:48:22 AM »

i ran it through my 250 mercury outboard and good lord your talking about some crazy smoking i use the sta-bil ethanol treatment in my hunting truck and boat

Cheesehead · « **Reply #3 on:** December 25, 2009, 03:27:48 AM »

Had an old Chrysler with a 318 carburated. It would ping during acceleration and ran better on premium gas. The local mechanic told me to pour Seafoam down the carb after the engine was warm then drive it 10 mile or so. So much smoke. Never pinged again and ran great on regular gas. I was sold on this product. I use it in the boat, Harley, lawn mower, chain saw, grass trimmer. garden tiller, power washer, 2 cars and a truck, in the gas after every oil change.

Cheese

hillbill · « **Reply #4 on:** December 25, 2009, 05:00:35 AM »

I use it all the time on small engines mostly. i have used it to fix a sticking valve on a big block chevy. anybody have any idea whats in it?

charles p · « **Reply #5 on:** December 25, 2009, 05:27:48 PM »

I've switched from Staybill to Sea Foam for preserving gasoline. I keep about 20 gallons of gasoline on hand during the year in case we have a hurricane and I need to use my generator. I use the fuel in my mower, power washer, trimmer, and tiller with no problems. Usually about November, I run the remainder in my Chevy truck or my wife's Lexus. No problems - ever. Use it in my two stroke Yamaha outboard as well.

Elijah Gunn · « **Reply #6 on:** December 26, 2009, 02:09:09 AM »

Thanks for the replies!

RWK · « **Reply #7 on:** January 23, 2010, 10:31:06 AM »

Ok! Whats this stuff you folks are talking about, ok i know were not talking. Rich

spruce · « **Reply #8 on:** January 24, 2010, 11:10:10 AM »

RWK - Sea Foam is the brand name. It's an engine cleaner sold at auto parts stores.

cwlongshot · « **Reply #9 on:** January 24, 2010, 11:24:45 AM »

Rex in OTZ · « **Reply #10 on:** January 25, 2010, 10:37:36 AM »

Seafoam works on soft deposits, it wont tackle baked on carbon as its now a solid, the only way to get stubbern carbon deposits out is to scrape it off or ream it out.

It works great removeing sludge, just look at the underside of the oil fill cap, I find that My ford ranger oil pressure sender is spot on when de-sludged, when sludged up in cold temps it takes the sender a minuet to work , this does passively keep sluge cleard out the breater lines on some equipment.

Seafoam in my 1986 Honda TRX250 keeps the oil supply line de-sludged that supplys oil from the oil pump to the head (simular to the Honda TRX300)

If I dont have seafoam I use Marvel Mystery Oil, a product that is compareable in performance

db22 · « **Reply #11 on:** January 27, 2010, 02:50:11 PM »

Got an 11-year old Dodge Intrepid late last year, 3.2l V6. Felt it missing at cruising speed. Guy at the local parts store recommended Seafoam in the gas, and sure enough, it did smooth it out pretty well. Never heard of putting it in the crankcase and vac line, though. I suppose it just dissolved the sludge in the injectors and cleaned out the whole fuel system. That's a good question -- what's in that stuff?

Doug B. · « **Reply #12 on:** January 28, 2010, 01:03:14 AM »

I buy it by the gallon. Much more economical. I have used it in all applications listed above. It works GREAT!

Elijah Gunn · « **Reply #13 on:** January 28, 2010, 11:02:09 AM »

Hey Doug, I have a 71 CT70 just like the one in your avatar. Yours is better looking than mine. Them things sure are fun.

Rex in OTZ · « **Reply #14 on:** March 11, 2010, 08:02:35 AM »

I see from the label the common ingrediant between Marvel and SeaFoam is petroleum distillate's,

Interesting note that Petroleum distillate's was used as a sole fuel in some early farm tractors (Rumley) later on some gasoline powerd tractors (1930's) had distallate tanks mounted next to the gas tank with a small drip valve that blead distallate into the gas as it was gravity fed into the carburator so when working the engine heavily during plowing or heavy engine loading this added extra power.

Next time you see a old Farmall F20 take a close look at the back end of the gas tank there is a smaller tank for distillate or tractor-fuel as my grandfather said.

Drilling Man · « **Reply #15 on:** March 11, 2010, 11:20:48 AM »

I've tried it in a few different small gas engines that had dirty carbs and have never had it do one thing for them... I won't buy it anymore as i feel like i've wasted enough money on the product.

DM

Rex in OTZ · « **Reply #16 on:** March 11, 2010, 04:32:31 PM »

Seafoam/Marvel wont remove solids but will attack varnish and oxidized oil, years ago I had bought a old rototiller at a moving sale found out that the carb was plugged up from gassing out of a rusty metal gas can and had sucked up all that contaminants and plugged the jets, I tried back flushing with compressed shop air with little progress, a buddy at work suggested imerseing the whole carb with as much disassembled as possible in a large bowl of hot water and a couple doses of denture cleaner, after 3 treatments of denture cleaner it did the trick.

Elijah Gunn · « **Reply #17 on:** April 12, 2010, 03:48:36 PM »

Well, I finally got around to doing the 3 step Seafoam treatment on my 97 Escort. It blew a ton of smoke. Now to see if it runs better. I'll let you know if I notice any big improvement in engine performance.

RON17T · « **Reply #18 on:** April 13, 2010, 02:02:33 PM »

I own an auto repair shop and my personal belief is that the only thing that belongs in the crankcase of an engine is oil. Same thing goes for the transmission-fliud only. I've seen these additives do more harm than good.

hillbill · « **Reply #19 on:** April 13, 2010, 03:12:48 PM »

im of the same opinion as RON17t. in the engine and trans it could knock sum stuff loose and plug up the lifters on some vehicles and other stuff on the trans. however as a last resort i might try it before i tore a engine down.now on fuel systems ive only used sea foam and heet with good results.

scratcherky · « **Reply #20 on:** April 19, 2010, 07:20:25 AM »

Rex in OTC referred to a small tank on the F20 tractor. That tank was used for gasoline to start the tractor. After the tractor ran a few minutes to warm up the manifolds, that small tank was shut off and the large tank containing kerosene was opened. I used one of those tractors for years farming. They also had magneto ignition.

charles p · « **Reply #21 on:** April 19, 2010, 12:24:03 PM »

I've seen an old military generator that ran on gasoline and then changed over to Diesel (I thought). Saw it work during an ice storm once. Made a lot of smoke and noise when it first went from gasoline to the primary fuel.

Bob Riebe · « **Reply #22 on:** October 23, 2020, 08:05:28 AM »

The carburettor on my '78 Olds needs a rebuild as it misses at idle, I decided to see if Sea Foam would make a difference so I ran it down to about five gallons of gasoline and put in two cans of Sea Foam.
Miss is not gone but it is a lot less now.

Car goes in for body work next week, probably should pull the carb. while it is in the shop and rebuild it.

Lloyd Smale · « **Reply #23 on:** October 24, 2020, 01:15:03 AM »

i use it in all of my small engines but more as a preventive measure then trying to clean out junk. By the time your carb is acting up the deposits are usually to hard for seafoam to brake up. What i do is when something is stored for the winter i use stabil and run the motor long enough to make sure its worked its way through the carb. They first running in the spring i run with the stabil and second filling i use seafoam. dont even know if its nessisary if a guy uses stabil but i absolutely detest hard starting 2 stroke motors. Doesnt take much to make a 2 stroke run terrible. 4 strokes are much more forgiving and usually just using stabil in the fall or in something like your generator that isnt used much is all it takes. But like said seafoam doesnt do much of anything to carbon. GM top end engine cleaner works much better at getting rid of carbon and is a better to use then seafoam if you have fuel injectors your trying to clean.

wtxbadger · « **Reply #24 on:** October 24, 2020, 02:32:10 AM »

I use sea foam in my two stroke equipment and B12 Chemtool in my vehicles and mower. My 66 F100 sat for a while and had a slight miss when it was started up. A couple of cans of B12 later and it's running good now.

ironglows · « **Reply #25 on:** October 24, 2020, 07:59:51 AM »

I use seafoam for over winter storage, and it has worked well for me. Used to use Sta-bil, but the claim is that Sta-bil prevents fuel breakdown by sealing the top surface of the fuel with Stabil, preventing oxygen from contacting the gas, while Seafoam mixes completely with the gas. I don't know how much is true about that, but I have no gripes with Seafoam.

cwlongshot · « **Reply #26 on:** August 31, 2021, 03:09:39 AM »

Ill never be without it!!

Dee · « **Reply #27 on:** August 31, 2021, 04:11:46 AM »

I poured about 1/3 of a can in my generator fuel tank the other day. It had sat without running for about 4 years.

Doug B. · « **Reply #28 on:** December 26, 2021, 11:19:55 PM »

Three ingredients in Sea Foam:

Naptha
Diesel Fuel &
Isopropyl Alcohol

I now make my own Seafoam. A gallon, prior to COVID used to cost me just under $8.00.

Lloyd Smale · « **Reply #29 on:** December 26, 2021, 11:52:42 PM »

me too. Might work as maintenance but by the time your actually having problems it usually does nothing. Most gas today has lots of detergent additives. But they like seafoam dont do much of anything to hard deposits. Start your motor 3 or 4 times a year and let it warm up to operating temps and you 99 times out of a 100 dont have problems. I do use stabil in motors that arent used often though.

Quote from: Drilling Man on March 11, 2010, 11:20:48 AM

I've tried it in a few different small gas engines that had dirty carbs and have never had it do one thing for them... I won't buy it anymore as i feel like i've wasted enough money on the product.

DM