Does Seafoam work? Not a question.

[humanrace]

I topped up the DRZ gas tank with my left over track fuel. Then I had to drive the van to work for about a week. Drz seemed a little hard starting and I thought it could be from sitting a week, but that didn't seem logical. I've heard good things on this forum about Seafoam so I bought some and added it to the tank. No change in 3 days of riding to work and back. Topped up the tank again when I got home from work, using the rest of the bottle of track day fuel. Added a little more Seafoam. Bike sat 3 days while I rode the Mille. Ride DRZ to work. Runs leaner. Conclusion, Seafoam doesn't work.

A week later, I decide to experiment some more with the new XR 115 motor running on E85. So far, it looks like about 40% more fuel is needed using E85. Hmmm, the E85 fuel jug is empty. Track day fuel jug is full.

Conclusion: E85 will make a DRZ run lean just like it does the XR 115 and the E85 tank looks just like the race fuel tank. I'll have to wait on my diagnosis of Seafoam.

[shadow247]

I've always had good luck with Seafoam. On a M/C I use it double strength, so 2 oz per gallon. My bike sits for weeks a time sometimes, and it starts up first crank and runs flawlessly. I run it about every 3000 miles for a tank or 2.


I dumped a bottle into my 4Runner on the last road trip, and even though the motor has 341k miles, it still runs like a champ! It ran better with the seafoam in there, even on a 100+ degree day, it felt crisper and was easier to hold speed than the weekend before.

[Texas T]

I'm a Seafoam believer. After sitting forever, the carbs on my Connie gummed up and had to be taken out and cleaned. After going back together Patrick told me to use Seafoam AND Sta-Bil. The bike has been ridden very infrequently over the past two years but I have added the additives and started the bike about once a month. Took it out today for a 100 mile circuit and it ran just fine.

[TWTim]

I have to admit, I "accidentally" let the ZX-7R sit a bit too much over the winter and she started running a bit rough. I Seafoamed the fuel at double strength and she cleared up within a few miles. Was it cause and effect? Dunno. But did my bike run great immediately after the treatment? Yup.

So for the foreseeable future, I guess I'm a believer, too.

[TwinSpar]

My son's trail bike sat for ten months and varnished to the point of running like crap. I did a 50/50 mixture, let it run for 10 minutes, shut it down and let it sit for 24 hours. Filled the tank and within 10 minutes of riding it had gone back to a good running order. It is my go to routine before breaking down and diving into the carb. It has worked most of the time for bikes that have sat for a year or less. Seafoam works for me!

[El Fenix]

I've had good results also. I'll run a 4 oz in tank for maintenence every now and then.

[bones_708]

It's not magic. Let's be honest you don't know what's wrong so saying Seafoam doesn't work because it didn't fix it is absurd. Seafoam was originally created for 2 stroke carbs. it also does a decent job on slightly gummed up motorcycle carbs and can remove some water from gas and help gas "keep" for longer.

[tejasbusa]

My question is, Why would you have a can of E85 at your house? That stuff is not good for anything, especially as a motor fuel.

[DFW_Warrior]

Originally Posted by bones_708

It's not magic. Let's be honest you don't know what's wrong so saying Seafoam doesn't work because it didn't fix it is absurd. Seafoam was originally created for 2 stroke carbs. it also does a decent job on slightly gummed up motorcycle carbs and can remove some water from gas and help gas "keep" for longer.

It is also really good at removing water from crankcase oil. Don't ask me how I found that out.

[tshelfer]

Originally Posted by DFW_Warrior

It is also really good at removing water from crankcase oil. Don't ask me how I found that out.

[tshelfer]

Never heard of the stuff, so I looked it up & read the description. Sounds like a number of products, including Slick 50 gas treatment, that I've used for years in my car. A couple of my cars, including my old Altima, had a real propensity toward the injectors clogging up, mainly causing rough acceleration. Dump a can of FI treatment into a fresh tank of gas, drive it a few miles to draw the stuff up into the injectors and fuel lines and everyplace else, and then let it sit over the weekend seemed the most effective method. The difference was very noticeable very quickly, and a whole lot cheaper than paying a shop to clean your injectors.

Yeah, it's not magic - it's just a bottle of chemicals including some strong solvents. My question would be whether Seafoam is any different or any better than a number of other products available at Autozone or Walmart for about $8-10 per can.

[trainman]

Seafoam will not clean your carburetor, but in some cases could cause your bike to run a little better, but I would say 95% of the time, NO. I have found that Sta-Bil is the best preventive out there for bikes that are not ridden at least once a month and new gas added then. I do use Seafoam in my new bikes that are all fuel injected, personally I will not buy anymore carbureted bikes in the future just for these reasons. Going GREEN is one thing, but costing my GREEN $$$$$$$'s is another thing, at this rate I'm paying $5.00 per gallon just to keep all my bikes, HUV's, mowers, etc., running.
John

[LostinTexas]

Hmmmmm, I read it 3 times and still can't figure out what you are expecting the SeaFoam to do. If you have varnish or gunk ing your carbs or stopped up poor performing fuel injecters, it does a fine job of cleaning them. Techron works well too.
Running E85 in What? E85 is to be run in specially made/tuned engines and not for regular gasoline engines. Stop that you'll ruin your motor.

[humanrace]

Originally Posted by tejasbusa

My question is, Why would you have a can of E85 at your house? That stuff is not good for anything, especially as a motor fuel.

It theoretically makes 12% more horsepower than E10 (pump unleaded). The Texas A&M formula car made 11% more as measured on an eddy current dyno. They use E85 and they have won the formula and hybrid car competition more than any other team and this is an international competition. Last year they came in second to the Italians.

[TLRam1]

A few weeks back I ran a semi test to see what Sea Foam and others to see what their effect on water would be.

Copied from another forum I post on, I will try to edit this a bit.

I have several bikes inoperative, on one when I drained the carburetor this is what came out so I took the opportunity to see what Star Tron and Sea Foam would do with what looks to be moisture in the gas.

Prior to MOOT Mag #10

Overnight with a dose of Star Tron, as you can see, nothing changed. This is what it looked like before and after.





Added Sea Foam prior to MOOT Mag 10 and this is what it looked like after I came
back. Water is still in the gas.

I was expecting the water to dissipate, how is this helping moisture in the fuel system.

On Sea Foam it states, removes moisture from Fuel Tanks, that statement makes you think if you poured Sea Foam in your fuel tank the water would dissipate.

[TLRam1]

So we go further into this after a discussion with a supplier.

One of the suppliers came by and I showed this to him, his take is this could be a gel and not have the properties of water. I will start with fresh gas, add water than add the additives to see what happens.

[humanrace]

Originally Posted by LostinTexas

Hmmmmm, I read it 3 times and still can't figure out what you are expecting the SeaFoam to do. If you have varnish or gunk ing your carbs or stopped up poor performing fuel injecters, it does a fine job of cleaning them. Techron works well too.
Running E85 in What? E85 is to be run in specially made/tuned engines and not for regular gasoline engines. Stop that you'll ruin your motor.

All I was saying is I have wanted to test Seafoam for years. I thought I finally had a bike sit up long enough to have clogged carb symtoms. Actually, I inadvertantly put my test can of E85 in the tank instead of my 91 octane track fuel (both cans look the same), which made the bike run like it had clogged jets. E85 will make a carbureted bike, and probably an injected bike, run extremely lean. My carb was never lean, it just had E85 added to the tank by my lean running brain.

So far, I have gained 3 MPH using E85 rather than E10 in a 115cc engine. Thats a lot. About ruining my motor. See my above post. The A&M team is advised by about 40 top experts from around the state. This years formula team came in 5th using E85 in a YZF 450 engine. Nearly all the rest of the competition (over 100 entries) were using 4 cylinder 600cc engines. the competition includes a drag race, endurance race, fuel economy, G force skid pad, and others.

[Monkey Wrench Cycles]

Seafoam doesnt work. Probly 75% of the customers who bring a bike in with carb issues has tried seafoam or one of the other fuel cleaner alternatives in their tank beforehand. It will actually make it worse sometimes as it will break down pieces to large to go through the filters and then they go through and clog the carb up worse. For gummed up carb, ive never seen seafoam or any other alternative work. Another downside is that the seafoam will actually cause the engine to run leaner. Thats why if you put a can in your car it will get better gas mileage for that tank. My .02c is do it right or dont do it at all...

[TLRam1]

Here we go.

Started a New Batch with new gas and fresh water, the water is hard to detect with fresh gas but is right in the middle of the gas.

Up first I will add Star Tron.

Nothing changed with Star Tron, and again nothing changed when Sea Foam was added. As someone mention I also added alcohol, all I had was Isopropyl (Rubbing) and again no changes.

I purchased Berryman's and gave it a try over the weekend with the same results, so anything to do with moisture claims are out the window.

The amount gas & water used was not unlike what you would have in your carburetors, what I added of the additives was more than the water which is far more than you would otherwise.

Right now the only way I see to get water out of your carbs is by removal or draining.

[TLRam1]

I had already cleaned the gunk in the carb bowl or I would have checked to see if the cleaners dissolved that. I have never had a cleaner work in carbs, I always have to do a proper tear down and clean. I have heard many stories but is that really the cleaner or the running of fresh fuel through the carbs that cleans them up enough for the bike to run.