Sea-foam

SWharton · April 6, 2018

We have a gas MH that we always add Stabil to when parked for a while, usually at the last fill up before pulling in. We run the Stabil enhanced gas through the generator also.

Wondering if there is any benefit to putting in Sea-foam for a tank as we go down the road. We have an 80 gal tank so that is a lot of bottles at 1 oz/gallon.

We are not having any problems with either engine.

Your thoughts please.

Jim & Alice · April 6, 2018

I have no experience or answer... but I have seriously pondered the same question - and like you say, at 1 oz / gal... it is a few bucks.

I will be queuing up on your good question.

Kirk W · April 6, 2018

5 hours ago, SWharton said:

We have a gas MH that we always add Stabil to when parked for a while, usually at the last fill up before pulling in. We run the Stabil enhanced gas through the generator also.

Wondering if there is any benefit to putting in Sea-foam for a tank as we go down the road.

I used Stabil each time that we stopped for more than 1 month but never used it or any other additive at other times. We owned our Ford V-10 for 14 years and we drove it for about 80,000 miles in that time, towing a vehicle nearly all of those miles. The only repairs we had to our engine was that I replaced the radiator overflow coolant tank after 10 years as it looked to be starting to crack but was not leaking. I also had an oil analysis annually and all still looked very good when we sold the RV in 2012.(Bought new in May 1998). Two years ago I heard from the folks who owned it after us and they were very happy with it and had nearly 120K miles.

DuffMan · April 6, 2018

Homebrew Seafoam (from Seafoam's MSDS)

http://hildstrom.com/projects/seafoam/

noteven · April 7, 2018

I started a GL1200 Gold Wing motorcycle that had been put up in storage and stayed there for 18 months due to unforseen circumstances. Stabil had been added to the last tank of ethanol free gas. Carbs had been drained, and the engine fired once more with the enricheners open ("choke") to burn that bit of gas.

It started and ran, but developed the dreaded spit and fart condition.

It would pull well enough to get down the road, but spit and sputter and carry on...

Fuel light came on = last gallon of gas.

I added a pint of Seafoam to that gallon, and went to a quiet road and rode up and down a stretch...

After about 10 miles of this the engine had smoothed right out and fuelled properly on the old gas / Seafoam mix.

Yesssssss.....

Rode back into town and filled it with fresh non ethanol Shell V-Power - and it ran like a champ....

If anyone has ever pulled the carbs from a GL1200 and disassembled and cleaned same you understand "that was close..."

So yes, Seafoam worked that time...

FL-JOE · April 7, 2018

My last gas MH was a slightly used 2014 when I purchased it. The generator had not been run much by original owner and seemed sluggish. I let my tank get down to 1/4 and then added the "heavy dose" of Sea Foam that is listed on the bottles. Ran it through the generator and it made a huge difference.

Had a portable 3500 generator I was keeping at the old sticknbrick which was getting hard to start. Ran a dose of Sea Foam through it for about 30 minutes and it ran great until the day I sold it.

SWharton · April 7, 2018

My take on the comments is continue using the Stabil and if there are some problems then go the Sea-Foam route to see if the problems will clear up. Thanks everyone.

Ridgekid · April 7, 2018

My .02. Stabil is for long term storage. Sea foam for cleaning out the fuel system. (Fuel tank, emissions).

DuffMan · April 7, 2018

4 hours ago, Ridgekid said:

My .02. Stabil is for long term storage. Sea foam for cleaning out the fuel system. (Fuel tank, emissions).

Considering Seafoam is primarily naphtha, (the primary disolver of the engine varnish), why not just run a quick slug of pure naphtha in the gas tank. Far cheaper than $7/can Seafoam. (The other 2 ingredients: Diesel Fuel and Isopropol alcohol (water remover) are just fillers)

beemergary · April 14, 2018

I have old cars (60's) that sit a min of 6 months and more. I have never added anything and never a problem. Lots of old snowmobiles that sit for years. Only a couple times had needle stick in carb. I did have my snowblowwer this year be ornery. Just blew in gas tank and now usually starts on first pull. I do use premium high octane fuel which will dissisipate moisture better than low octane. Lots of small gas engines now have a safety fuel shutoff in carb float bowl that will stick after sitting.

FidelHamilton · April 18, 2018

Hey, that is a really good solution for the problem Beemergary, I will surely try out this technique.

jpcoll01 · April 18, 2018

On 4/7/2018 at 7:56 AM, FL-JOE said:

I let my tank get down to 1/4 and then added the "heavy dose" of Sea Foam that is listed on the bottles.

+1 to this approach, no need to treat a full tank, let it get low (but not low enough that Gen won't start) then treat and drive it a while, also start the generator and turn on the AC and let it run above idle for a while.

Kirk W · April 18, 2018

I also use Stabil in my lawn mower fuel that sometimes takes all year to use up. I run the mower and my Honda generator dry before I store them long term. I have run Seafoam through engines to clean the injectors and such.