Seafoam

[setty7]

Guys,
I picked up some SeaFoam at West Marine today. What is the best way to use this? Can I just add it to the gas tank and run it in the water? Thinking about going to st. marks saturday. Is it safe to run the seafoam in the river/ocean? I didnt know if this has to be ran through the motor out of the water or not? Thanks for any help!

[mpa_72001]

Just pour it in and go.

[setty7]

Do I just pour the whole can in the gas tank? I am not even sure how big my gas tank is

[blaines rod and reel]

pour it in just don't mix different gas treatments start with one and don't change ive been running seafoam for years great stuff

[setty7]

what do you mean dont mix different gas treatments? I run ethanol free all the time. Unless your talking about sta-bil?

[Steve Stinson]

Actually, there is a process to treat your outboard with Sea Foam that will help clean the carbon out of the cylinders and the build up out of the carbs or fuel injectors. It may be a thread on this site under "Tips and Tricks" or you can find it on www.thehulltruth.com

I have been using it for several years by using a separate container to mix it (not mixing it with my fuel in the boat tank). I mix a can with about a gallon or so of non-ethanol fuel. Then crank my motor on the garden hose and let it run until it gets up to operating temp. (You need to be sure the thermostats open). Once the motor is warm, I stick an extra fuel line / squeeze ball into the Sea Foam mix and pump it up to the motor, then run the motor for 10 minutes or so on the Sea Foam mix. It may start to idle at higher rpms than on regular fuel.

Then I shut it back off and let it sit for another 10 or 15 minutes. This allows the Sea Foam time to work on the carbon build up in the cylinders. When you crank it back up again (still on the Sea Foam mix) it will smoke like mad. This is all the build-up burning out of your motor. I repeat the Sea Foam mix / wait process about 3 times until the smoke at the re-start is considerably less than the first restart.

Then I start the motor one more time on the regular fuel mix in the boat tank and let it run about 10 more minutes to get most of the Sea Foam out of the system. The next time you take the boat to the ramp, don't be alarmed if you clear all the mosquitoes out of the ramp area. There will still be a little effect from the Sea Foam, which will burn the last of the carbon off your pistons. I normally replace my water separator filter when I do this process, which is about every 3 to six months depending on how my outboard sounds when I flush it after fishing. If it is not idling well or has more of a dull "thud" sound to the exhaust it is time for Sea Foam. Once you complete this process and listen to your motor is should have more of a crisp "pop" sound to it when it is flushing. I dump any left over Sea Foam mix into my boat tank when I finish.

I have been doing this to my last couple of boats which covers a period back to yr. 2000 with nothing but good results. 2000 until 2008 was a carburated Yamaha 150. 2008 to present is a carbureted Mercury 60 hp with a jet foot.

The results on of the Sea Foam in my outboards were good enough that I have also been treating my truck and my wife's car as well, but that's a different process.

Hope this helps you out.

- Steve Stinson

[Slough]

Running Seafoam regularly in your gas will help keep fuel system and combustion areas clean. If ran regularly, the yearly shock treatments are not needed. Remember, for 2 cycle, it is 2 oz's per gallon of gas.

[Steve Stinson]

Here is the Sea Foam post written by the original author - Dunk over at The Hull Truth:


This works for Carbed, EFI, Ficht, HPDI, Optimax and even 4 strokes...

First you need a separate small fuel tank. One of those 3 gal red Tempos works great or an empty gal milk jug will also work, but might be a bit messier..
I use Seafoam over the OEM stuff like OMC Engine Tuner or Merc Power Tune because in the last few years they changed the formula and you have to let them sit up 12 hours. Who's got time for that?? Seafoam you can buy from NAPA, CarQuest or other auto stores. Seafoam works in 15 mins.
You'll need 3/4 gal of gasoline and one 16oz can of seafoam for each engine. Don't forget to add 3oz of oil if you are premixing in a carbed engine. Use about 3 ft piece of fuel hose off the little tank. You connect this tank to your engine by pulling off the main tank fuel hose off the intake side of your water separating fuel filter and plug the hose off the small tank on to that fitting. Or you can separate the fuel line on the tank side primer ball, so you can still use your primer. If you have an engine that has fuel plug then you need a fuel plug on the little tanks hose.
Start the engine, let it warm up and start pulling the mix into the engine. You may have to increase the idle to keep it running once she get loaded with the Seafoam. Run the engine 15 mins in the dock or just cruising around under 2500. Then shut it down and let it sit for 15 mins. Restart the engine, the smoke you see is the carbon burning off. Do the whole thing again and let her sit again for 15 mins. If she smokes after the second time do it again, but I've never seen one still smoke after three doses. The gallon mix should be enough to do this 3 times. You don't need any wide open throttle, you don't need to change the plugs. If it's cleaning the combustion chambers it's also cleaning the plugs, but every 50-60hrs is good time to change plugs in most engines.
I cleaned a antique evinrude one time that had a 1/4" of solid carbon on the exhaust chamber walls by running a 1/2 gal of the mix through it. Seafoam has been around since the 30's and it's what they used when they were burning straight 4 stroke 40SAE oils in outboards.
You guys with the 4 strokes think you are immune from this? Those engines work 10 times as hard as any auto engine ever will and they will carbon up. I bought a Bronco two years ago that had 95,000 miles on it. When I used seafoam on it I had the neighbors hanging out of their front doors looking for where the fire was after I started it the first time there so much smoke.
Too many are under the assumption that it's totally the 2 stroke oil that causes the carbon, Wrong... it's also the additives they put in the fuels today. The carbon inhibitors in 2 stroke oil are there for this reason also. Remember when gasoline used to smell like gasoline, today it smells more like bad cologne.
For those guys that like to do the carbon treatment by spraying it down the carbs Seafoam also comes in spray can called Deep Creep. It's the same stuff under pressure. Says right on the can Oxygen Sensor Safe, for you Yam guys. After that if your engine maunf recommends a daily additive treatment then do that in the mean time, but all 2 stroke outboard need decarboned every 50-60hrs. If I owned a 4 stroke I would do it the same. Once you are set up with the tank and hose the Seafoam is only 5-6 bucks can. It to easy not to do it.




Bluewater Marine Surveying

[tallykenj]

Interesting info. Steve, how do you treat car engines?


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[Steve Stinson]

Follow the directions on the back of the can to treat automobile engines, but some of you are not going to like what they tell you to do. From memory -

1. Put one-third of a can in the oil and run it for about 15 miles before changing the oil.

2. Put one-third of a can in the gas tank and fill up the tank with fuel to clean the injectors / fueling system.

3. (This is the one that requires a little faith). Put one-third of the can into a small cup. Open the hood with the engine running and at normal operating temperature, remove the vacuum hose from the power brake booster and stick it in the cup, sucking the sea foam into the engine. As soon as your cup runs out of Sea Foam, either allow the engine to stall or have somebody else turn it off with the key. Let it sit for 20 minutes and start it back up. It will be hard to start and will smoke like crazy. Again, this is all of the garbage burning out of your motor.

I have used this successfully for about the past 10 years on Corolla 4 cyl., Jeep CJ and Cherokee 6 cyl., and Tundra / Sequoia V8 engines.

- Steve

[charlie tuna]

Over ten years ago, when Seafoam first came out, my local lawnmower repair owner told me his secret. He said about 80 percent of his two cycle repairs were carburetor problems caused by the effects of ethonal. He had a special container of fuel that had twice the recommended amount of two cycle oil(Echo) and twice the recommended amount of Seafoam mixed with gas.. Their first step when a two cycle engine came in was to replace the fuel, using this mix. IF(?) they could get the customer's two cycle engine to start they would lock the tool in a vice near the back door of the shop and let it run the entire tank dry. This would clean the carburetor without turning the first screw!! The cost of a carburetor, or rebuilding the carburetor is near half the cost of the tool. He would pass these savings on to his customers. I have been using this mixture since then, and never had a problem with any of my eight two cycle engines. And i also use it on my four stroke outboard.

[leonreno]

My only hesitation of using Seafoam in my boat is that it's approx 10% alcohol (Isopropanol). If you use it up all at one time then you are good, but if you just are adding it to a large tank and running it through with all of you gas then you have alcohol in you tank, which I try to avoid at all cost. Just my thoughts.

[Flint River Pirate]

I'm scared of Seafoam, I've heard too many horror stories. Lee tried it on his boat twice and it fouled the plugs. I use Yamaha RingFree additive in my motors and it keeps them running well. Seafoam might be great stuff, but I'm not sold on it for a four stroke.


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[chugbug]

I've used Seafoam from day one in every tank of gas and never had a problem. I change spark plugs every 6 months and they barely have carbon on them.