Sold on Seafoam

[Ca Rancher]

Curious as to if it will effect the gas/oil ratio as it is also labeled to put in your oil - not just gas. Works great though for sure.

 

[jgmo]

Hi,
I work on a lot of small outboard engines...mostly 4 stroke...and I like Sea Foam too so I'm not knocking the product. It's just that what you describe seems like a classic symptom of water being present in the fuel. If so Sea Foam, being predominantly alcohol, does make for a great "tool" for helping get it absorbed and out of the system. That's why I like using it in the marine environment. But it's probably much more effective to carefully monitor fuel quality and KEEP the water out in the first place. I sample and check gasoline regularly for water intrusion and advise my customers to do so too since most marina and filling station pump gas contains some water.

 

[mike5511]

My 2 cents: I've always got a can of SeaFoam around and think it is good. I will add some occasionally if I get sputter or hard start. It seems to work. I always use non-ethanol gas. I fill 3, 5 gallon cans and add Stabil every time in all the my 4 cycle stuff. I have several small engines including 2 generators that don't get started as often as they say you should, and can't remember the last time I had an issue. I use Opti-2 oil in all the 2 cycle stuff; chainsaws, leaf blower, weed eater. I have a neighbor who has a small engine shop. He told me 30 years ago to use the Opti-2 and I would never have any problems starting anything in the spring.(it has stabilizer in it) He's been right! I'm 67 years old and have been doing this for 30+ years now with good success. I do currently have a leaf blower that is having carb problems, but it is a 25+ year old McCullough, so I suspect in need of some carb parts. Stuff does wear out after a while.

 

[ammoaddict]

At 50-1, any leaning out of the mixture can and will cause ring and piston issues. 50-1 is the ragged edge of destruction. I'm always very careful when I mix up a jug. I use a quart measuring tumbler and carefully mix by adding the 2 stroke oil ahead of time and shake well.

If he is using the little Stihl bottles, they are 2.6oz. That equals a ratio of 49.2:1 if you add 1 oz of seafoam that equals 49.6:1. It won't hurt anything and will help keep it clean. Proper tuning is much more important than the ratio. I run 40:1 in all my 2 strokes with 1oz of seafoam per gallon.

 

[andymil]

I took a small engine repair class about 10 years ago (been repairing everything but diesels for over 50 years). They recommended Startron or K100 additive. I put the recommended amount of K100 in the gas when I buy it. When I mix my 2-stroke fuel, the gas already has the stabilizer in it before adding the Stihl Ultra.

I use a 1000 ml and a 100 ml graduated cylinder for mixing my fuel. I pour 80 ml of oil from the 100 into the 1000 and then rinse the 100 ml 3 times with gas and pouring it into the 1000 ml. Then I top off the 1000 ml and pour it into a 1+ gallon fuel container. Then I fill the 1000 ml 3 more time. This makes sure all of the oil is in the gas and gives me 4 liters of mixed fuel. The graduated cylinders are some type of plastic so I rinse them with denatured alcohol and let them dry. I left some gas in one for a couple of weeks and the cylinder started to deform.

I guess this gives me a 49:1 mix. I haven’t had any fuel related problems doing it this way, even after long storage. I’ve been thinking I need to find a source for non-ethanol gasoline.

I will keep the Seafoam in mind. The K100 is about a buck an ounce.

 

[ammoaddict]

Curious as to if it will effect the gas/oil ratio as it is also labeled to put in your oil - not just gas. Works great though for sure.

No it won't. Those little bottles are not all exactly 2.6oz anyway. They're just fairly close.

 

[ammoaddict]

Using too rich an oil mix will lead to engine deposits and shorter engine life.

50:1 will cause more carbon buildup than 40:1 will. The reason is the oil has detergents in it. So using a lesser amount of oil equals less detergents. I have seen lean oil testing at 200:1, you should see the amount of carbon buildup at that ratio. 40:1 is pretty clean depending on what oil you are using.

 

[Gdglock]

That's all I use in my small engines and backhoe. Since I started using the ethanol free stuff I have way fewer fuel related problems in my small engines. In fact, the only problem I have had in years is the Stihl chainsaw. I was surprised it started having trouble idling. I wonder if the problem was from using some store brand 2-stroke oil. I always use the good stuff but I used some of my son's gas mix and I suspect he used the cheapest stuff he could find because he is even cheaper than me.
Eric

For the past 15 years, had the best results with ethanol free 89 or 91 octane. 90-1 ratio with Opti-2. Opti-2 exceeds ISO-EG-D++. Best mix i ever used for my ice augers, and chain saws.

 

[ruko]

Using too rich an oil mix will lead to engine deposits and shorter engine life.

Also the engine will run hotter because the mixture is leaner with too much oil in the gas.

 

[TreeToad]

I have a 1987 Johnson 70 hp 2 stroke outboard with 3 carburators that have NEVER been touched in 35 years. I did the 1 can of Seafoam to 1 gallon of straight gas (oil injected) method and it has NEVER started better or run better since the day I bought it new. Would I do it again? In a heart beat.

 

[number two]

WOW!

What a hot topic!
I'm amazed to see so many infrequent posters comment on Seafoam.

 

[mike5511]

Post removed and re-posted below.........oops!

 

[Williy]

On my 2003 Dodge 2500 5.9L I add a cap
full of seafoam to the oil

willy

 

[mx842]

EVERY MOTORCYCLE AND MARINE ENGINE MECHANIC I HAVE EVER TALKED TO HAS STATED IT IS IMPERATIVE TO USE ETHANOL FREE FUEL TO AVOID EXPENSIVE FREQUENT CARB CLEANING/REBUILD. ETHANOL ALSO DETERIORATES THE RUBBER FUEL LINES AND SEALS OVER TIME. I ALSO USE SEAFOAM PERIODICALLY AS A TUNEUP ON 4 STROKE 4 WHEELERS, 2 STROKE OUTBOARDS, ALL 3 4WD VEHICLES (H3, XJ CHEROKEE, 2000 SILVERADO)

Well not all of them. I was a boat machanic for 30 years and ran a boat dealership with Mercury, Yamaha, and Force engines. I never once had a factory engineer or dealer rep state that you should run non ethanol gas in their engines. Now I have been out of the business for 12 years and maybe something has changed. I know that Mercury Marine took the fuel companies to court about it but they lost the case. The fuel industry basically told them this is how it's going to be so build your engines to run on what we supply. Yes it would turn fuel pump diaphragms carb gaskets and fuel lines to mush when it first came out. After a few years they finally came up with a rubber product that ethanol wouldn't bother and after that there were very few if any problems that could be related to ethonal.
There is no reason that either Mercury nor Yamaha should not run 10 years without fuel related issues and by then it is past time for a fuel system cleanup anyway. The biggest problem with all marine engines is water in the fuel and folks that don't run Mercury Premium Plus 2 cycle oil, or their 4 stroke oil for Mercursier. Some of the higher preformance Mercruiser engines might like a little higher octane than the suggested Regular but they will run fine on unleaded ethanol. When you get to the race engines they don't use gas anyway they use mostly race fuel.
I too run a fuel treatment but I don't use Seafoam I use that blue stuff, Startron enzyme concentrate fuel system cleaner. Seafoam is a good cleaner for fuel or engine cleaner but it don't hold a candle to that blue stuff.

 

[SteveBenson]

My Stihl chainsaw started having trouble idling. Then it wouldn't idle at all. And it would be hard to start when the engine died if I let the RPM drop. If I let the saw sit for 10 or 15 minutes it would start fairly easily again but I would need to get the RPM up right away or it would die. I was gonna take the carb off and clean it out but instead decided to try using some Seafoam first to see if it would solve the problem. I poured a little into the gas tank and shook it up. The saw was cold and started right up as usual. Then it started to die as usual so I got on the throttle and ran the saw at a higher RPM so it wouldn't die. After about 30 seconds I released the throttle and the saw idled fine. The next day I used the saw and not only does it idle fine it revs higher and starts on the first pull, which it used to do but hadn't for a while. Now I need to put some Seafoam in the gas can too. I really didn't expect the stuff to work and especially didn't expect it to work so quickly. The stuff is really impressive.
Eric

My Stihl saw was exhibiting the same symptoms after years of flawless operation. It would drive me crazy trying to keep it going. Long story short, it was a cracked fuel pickup tube in the tank that was causing the intermittent issue. It wasn't easy to replace with my big fingers, but it went back to running like champ after that.

 

[Z71]

50:1 will cause more carbon buildup than 40:1 will.

No, poor quality oil is the reason for carbon.

 

[ammoaddict]

No, poor quality oil is the reason for carbon.

I used to run saber. Now I run dominator, it's even cleaner. The cleanest oil I have ever seen is echo red armor. It will even clean the deposits left by that ultra crap. It just got so expensive.

 

[TDNelin]

My Stihl chainsaw started having trouble idling. Then it wouldn't idle at all. And it would be hard to start when the engine died if I let the RPM drop. If I let the saw sit for 10 or 15 minutes it would start fairly easily again but I would need to get the RPM up right away or it would die. I was gonna take the carb off and clean it out but instead decided to try using some Seafoam first to see if it would solve the problem. I poured a little into the gas tank and shook it up. The saw was cold and started right up as usual. Then it started to die as usual so I got on the throttle and ran the saw at a higher RPM so it wouldn't die. After about 30 seconds I released the throttle and the saw idled fine. The next day I used the saw and not only does it idle fine it revs higher and starts on the first pull, which it used to do but hadn't for a while. Now I need to put some Seafoam in the gas can too. I really didn't expect the stuff to work and especially didn't expect it to work so quickly. The stuff is really impressive.
Eric

I drive a duramax that started to smoke. Was advised to add a can of Seafoam to a full tank twice. Smoking problem cured, was due to dirty injectors. The Dealer advised me to get the injectors changed , about $5000. Can of Seafoam? $9.00! I now add it about every 6 months. I'm sold on it, and I don't work for Seafoam.

 

[two_bit_score]

On my 2003 Dodge 2500 5.9L I add a cap
full of seafoam to the oil

willy

Ok, I gotta ask. How much is a “cap full”?

 

[ammoaddict]

Is that a positive comment, or a negative comment? Or just an observation?

It is an incomplete and inaccurate statement. How much oil is too much? Proper tuning of the carb provides the correct air/fuel mixture regardless of the oil/fuel ratio