Does Seafoam work? Not a question.

[FortyNiner]

The way I look at it, Seafoam and Stabil are very good products. I have used both. I use them as a "preventative" not a "cure".

I lived overseas on and off for years and stored motorcycles, cars, lawnmowers, and tractors here for 11 to 12 months at a time (without starting). I always used gasoline additives before storing the vehicles. I never had a problem starting them after storage using Stabil as a preventative measure. Seafoam has proven effective this last winter in storing motorcycles and lawnmowers. I have no reason to complain about it either.

They may not CURE your gummed up fuel system but they might just PREVENT it from getting that way.

My "tests" convince me that there is value in such products.

[Texas T]

Originally Posted by slowoldguy

On a trip out to Big Bend earlier this year, we all 3 fueled up in some little town but from different pumps...

...What was the reason for the problem? We can speculate (bad gas) but I don't have a way to prove it.

As long as you all got the same grade of gas, you all got it from the same underground tank, so if he got bad gas you all would have gotten bad gas.

[slowoldguy]

Could be, TexasT. But that part is open to speculation, isn't it? Could have had something in that hose. Maybe an old station with something worn out. Heck, I don't even know if we used the same grade. I could and maybe should have left the speculation on the etiology of the problem out. Had I, the limited point I was making would stay the same. "Bike no run. Used product. Bike run." Take it for fwiw. I know that a can of Seafoam was a heckuva lot better than a truck and trailer ride. And , if it was a coincidence, it was a dang happy one.

[BexarWolf]

What about adding Seafoam to the crankcase before an oil/filter change? I'm talking about adding a couple of ounces, let the bike warm up and then change the oil. Is there any benefit? Any chance of damage with a wet clutch?

Inquiring minds wanna know.

[Monkey Wrench Cycles]

Originally Posted by BexarWolf

What about adding Seafoam to the crankcase before an oil/filter change? I'm talking about adding a couple of ounces, let the bike warm up and then change the oil. Is there any benefit? Any chance of damage with a wet clutch?

Inquiring minds wanna know.

It has instructions on the bottle for doing it in a car. Ive had a couple customers do it to their bikes and said a bunch of sludge came out. Safe? Who knows...

[Dave.TX]

I would tend to lean towards SeaFoam and other similar products as being preventative maintenance instead of a fixit. Using Chevron fuel vs using ARCO, there is a difference in brands of gas as to quality. Of course letting any fuel sit for extended times is asking for it, especially now that fuel has ethanol added.

Thankfully in central Texas we can drive/ride our vehicles year round for the most part. Nothing really sits for very long. Same as SoCal where I grew up, not really an issue with bad gas.

[Dave.TX]

Originally Posted by Monkey Wrench Cycles

It has instructions on the bottle for doing it in a car. Ive had a couple customers do it to their bikes and said a bunch of sludge came out. Safe? Who knows...

That reminds me: I had an 84 Chevy Suburban with a Quadrajet 4bbl carb. The plastic float decided to sink. A lot of fuel seeped into the crankcase. When the carb was rebuilt that problem was solved and when the oil was changed a lot of mixed fuel came out also. I'm sure it cleaned out the internals of the engine fairly well. Just happy it didn't explode.

[bones_708]

Originally Posted by BexarWolf

What about adding Seafoam to the crankcase before an oil/filter change? I'm talking about adding a couple of ounces, let the bike warm up and then change the oil. Is there any benefit? Any chance of damage with a wet clutch?

Inquiring minds wanna know.

Just follow the directions and you will be fine. It basicly acts like a detergent (which most oil has anyway) and you might want to be carefull because you can scrub out enough crap to clog an oil filter quick. Other than that you need to put some miles on for it to work right

[Rangerscott]

Originally Posted by slowoldguy

On a trip out to Big Bend earlier this year, we all 3 fueled up in some little town but from different pumps. Ghostrider1964's bike started bucking and jumping within a few miles (less than 5). Then stopped dead. It would crank but wouldn't run anwhere near well enough to move. We tried everything we could on the side of the road (plugs, coils, anything we could think of trying). I rode back into town and bought some seafoam. Put it in the tank. It started and propelled him back homeward at about 45 mph. A hundred miles later he could go the speed limit. Another hundred and it was running at 80-90%.

What was the reason for the problem? We can speculate (bad gas) but I don't have a way to prove it. But take the story fwiw, 'cuz that's the way it happened. I'll use it again.

Had that happen to me after filling up at a walmart on my vfr. Talk about a bucking ride home. Had to drain the whole tank, get the 5 gal can and go get gas at a more reputable place. Never have put walmart gas in my bikes since then.

[Monkey Wrench Cycles]

Originally Posted by Rangerscott

Had that happen to me after filling up at a walmart on my vfr. Talk about a bucking ride home. Had to drain the whole tank, get the 5 gal can and go get gas at a more reputable place. Never have put walmart gas in my bikes since then.

Walmart gas seems to be the worst. I remember a couple years ago the Walmart in Azle had a bad batch of gas that had water in it, i believe. They ended up having to pay ALOT of money to repair shops for the cars that filled up before they caught the problem. It was on the news and everything.

[tobimaru]

I've always used SeaFoam as more of a cleaner than anything. In every car I've owned I've run it in the crankcase shortly before changing the oil to help clean out the engine and break down the oil. I've also used it on several cars to clean out carbon deposits from the cylinders, valves, etc. It really works good for both of those purposes, and the results can both be seen and felt.

Adding it to the gas tank is what I always did with whatever was leftover in the can from the previous two services. It never CAUSED any problems for me across multiple vehicles; but pouring it in the gas tank never improved the car in such a way as the other methods I described.

I poured some in my bike when I first got it just for kicks, but the bike was running flawlessly at the time and continues to do so.

[DFW_Warrior]

Originally Posted by Monkey Wrench Cycles

It has instructions on the bottle for doing it in a car. Ive had a couple customers do it to their bikes and said a bunch of sludge came out. Safe? Who knows...

I did it after I submerged the WR in river water. After 6 oil changes it was still coming out very milky so I gave it a shot. One oil change with Seafoam in it and all the water was pulled out of the motor. I can't say if it pulled out any sludge, but it did pull out any bit of moisture. And I can't report any ill effects on the clutch or transmission.

[KenH]

Seafoam is ~50% pale (naphthenic mineral) oil, ~30% naptha (mineral spirits), and ~20% isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol. You can easily mix your own if you can find the ingredients.

The alcohol will absorb water in the fuel system and carry it on through the engine in a somewhat flammable mixture rather than putting the fire out as straight water is prone to do when it enters the combustion chamber. The naptha and alcohol will both soften various types of engine deposits. The pale oil is pretty much a carrier fluid for the other two and does not much of anything.

Seafoam is primarily a preventative, and will work, eventually, unless a fuel passage is completely stopped up and no fuel flows through it. The heavier the deposits, the longer it takes. If a passage is completely stopped up, the chemicals cannot reach the stoppage so they don't work. There is also the problem of heavy deposits loosening and stopping up passages.

Ethanol and methanol are excellent fuels in engines that provide high dynamic combustion chamber pressures (via high compression ratios and/or intake pressurization) and advanced timing, as long as the fuel delivery system can flow enough volume to keep up with the oxygen content of the air. Unfortunately, both alcohols tend to degrade various plastic and rubber materials and combine with water to form mixtures that readily oxidize many metals. Mixing either with gasoline is kind of like a peanut butter and salsa sandwich--both components have their places, but they don't work well together.

One of the real unknown about gasohols is the actual ethanol content. "Up to 10%" can mean anything from none to 10%, with the occasional accidental double dose to 20%. A 5% variance is easily a jet size or two on some engines.

The second unknown is how much water the ethanol has absorbed prior being pumped in your tank, up to 3.8 teaspoons of water to a gallon of E10 at 60*F, enough to require another jet size. At higher temps, the alcohol will absorb more water, which you will pay for at a rate over $3/gallon.

The final unknown is the additive called a "miscibility agent" which allows water, ethanol, and gasoline to mix. Many of these chemicals simple have no fuel value, some even inhibit the propagation of the flame front through the combustion chamber. The higher the miscibility agent content, the lower the actual fuel content in a gallon of gasohol. Different fuel formulations use different miscibility agents, causing another potential fluctuatin in jet size.

Beginning to see how gasohol can make tuning a motorcycle difficult?

It is unwise to depend on any preservative when storing gasoline contaminated with ethanol. Better to drain the system and use a fogging oil on the tank and engine.