[Quintr0]

could someone tell me what sea-foam is, and how to use it? is it different from startron enzyme additive?

 

[RastaPasta]

I can't tell you what it's made of, or how it does what it does, but I can tell you it's marketed as a fuel additive/stabilizer, it seems to also work great to clear gunk from old/bad fuel, and it not meant to be drunk.

Just pour some in the gas tank and slosh it around. The bottle has a measurement based on volume of fuel youre mixing it in with, but I just pour a full can in when I put the bike away for winter to keep the gas from getting all gunky.

 

[lightcs1776]

Seafoam is a cleaner, as far as I am aware. I put it in the tank of my '82 Yamaha XJ750 every now and then. Some folks also put it in their oil to keep things cleaner. I can't say how it compares to other chemicals, since I only know it by the brand name.

Sent from my DROID Turbo using Tapatalk

 

[VN750Guy**]

IF and I say IF you put in in your oil, you MUST change out the oil in about 50 miles. This stuff will clean like a son-of-a-gun in both the fuel system (which is good) and in the oil (which is good ONLY as a real temporary thing). I've used it in my oil, too, but I was going to change the oil and filter out anyway. I basically put it in and ran around for some 20 to 30 miles and then dumped it.

So if you're machine has sat for a long, long time, or you have reason to believe there's gunk in there for whatever reason its fine to put SeaFoam in the crankcase AS A MEANS TO CLEAN IT OUT. But you don't want it in for long term.

For fuel system cleaning, just follow the directions on the can. Its money well spent.

 

[arobsum]

the seafoam tutorial on youtube states to add 1 ounce per quart of oil and to drive vehicle between 100 to 300 miles....being we are on motorcycles i would go with the above opinion and go no further than 50 miles just to be safe. it works when used with some common sense...lol good luck.

 

[VN750Guy**]

But getting back to the original question about SeaFoam and Startron enzyme additive: I've not heard of the Startron stuff before. I don't know, therefore, what the similarities or differences are. My experiences with SeaFoam are good though.

 

[Sabre-t]

According to the MSDS, Star Tron Enzyme Fuel Treatment is >95% heavy naptha with >0.5% other solvents. To me, that is just snake oil. A heavy naptha will clean carbs and injectors and probably absorb some moisture better than gasoline, but not that much better. And what is an enzyme going to do in a combustion engine? That's as ridiculous as claims that "oxygenated" bottled water has some magical properties.

Again from the MSDS, Seaform is a proprietary solvent mixture plus isopropyl alcohol. The alcohol is what makes it a good fuel stabilizer as it helps to prevent water from falling out of the gas, which is a problem any time with E10 gas, but especially when it sits for long periods with changing temps.

Both products will clean carbs and fuel injectors some, but, if you want to clean carbon and varnish from carbs and injectors with a gas additive, injector cleaning additives with PEA (polyetheramines) do a much better job. Techron, Red Line, and Royal Purple (my choice) are among the best in this category.

 

[VulcanDrifter]

It makes your wallet lighter.

 

[vulcandoc]

Sorry but int the last few days I've seen a bunch of posts about what Seafoam and other additives contain.
On here and other places.
The majority of us dont really care what's in it - sorry.

BUT if it cleans and makes you vehicles - bike or car or truck - ruin run better, cleaner, longer - and its not a billion bucks, it's money well spent!

Seafoam is one of those.

I've used it as winter storage stabilizer, and fuel tank addition for keeping the fuel system clean on the bike.
Cant complain about how it works, or the cost!

 

[btom]

I use seafoam as a gas stabilizer and put about a third cup of seafoam into my gas tank in November during bike storage and fill up the tank with gas to expel all the air so the inside of the tank doesn't rust up,

 

[GFISH]

If your not having a big issue with gunk in the tank the seafoam will help keep it clean and stabilize the fuel. What everyone said here. I use it in my bike and truck.

 

[VulcanDrifter]

Tried it several times - never did anything. People have been selling 'mechanics in a can' since automobiles were invented.

 

[Hot Cruiser]

I have never used Seafoam in my motorcycles in more than 50 years of riding and have had only one fuel - related problem and that on a carburetor equipped bike which was unused for several years. Cleaned the carbs in paint thinner and used the bike for commuting about 5 more years. Very occasionally use fuel injector cleaner in our gas tanks in our cars. Appears that life without Seafoam is possible . . .

 

[vulcandoc]

Hot cruiser - I agree.

I have not had any of those ethanol horrors that are suppose to be happening.
Since this part of the country has to be non riders for 5-6 months out of the year, I use a fuel stabilizer.
YET in my early biking years I used nothing and had no problems! That was in the days before E10, but still had no problems.
Again its a few bucks and MAYBE it helps.
I'm sure this weekend when I fire up the old bike again, after the long winter's nap, it will fire up and run fine.

BUT I wont use E15 no matter the amount of ads that tell me how GOOD it is!!!
Be it my carbed bike or my injected car that should be able to use it!!

 

[VN750Guy**]

There was a time, three years long, where the only time I even touched the bike was to roll it from one part of the garage to another. When I got back to where I could ride it again I put in a new battery (the current one) and gave it a shot at starting it. The gas in the tank (about half full) was three years old and had no stabilizer of any kind in it. Doing nothing other than changing out the battery, it did start up. Barely.

At full choke it would idle but even after letting it run several minutes, if you so much as blipped the throttle it would die. It would also die if you took it out of full choke. SeaFoam to the rescue. I did not actually measure what I put in the tank other than three good healthy "eye and ear-calibrated" "glug, glug, glugs's" worth.

I walked away to do other stuff for about five minutes. When I tried again it again it cranked right up and would run just fine! On the road it ran fine at normal, around town speeds. But once I went over 4K rpms it stepped on its own … uh... self. Bogged down like sin.

Around 4k is when the main jets kick in and until you actually run it a bit at that rpm range then the SeaFoam couldn't even attempt to clean the mains. So I removed them and soaked them in SeaFoam for a good 30 minutes to an hour. After a bit of brushing with an old toothbrush I put them back in and it was raped ape time!

So I continued to run that mixture of SeaFoam/gas just to use up that gas and then filled up with fresh go juice. I then measured out what is supposed to go in the tank for general maintenance purposes and have never had an issue since.

SeaFoam probably won't give you a noticeable improvement if your system is decent to begin with. But mine wasn't decent then so its use at that time very noticeably woke the fuel system back up. I just use it as a stabilizer during the off-riding season and measure some in about every three or four tanks just for giggles.

 

[arobsum]

i use seafoam in the oil for a while right before oil change to keep everything clean and keep the "ticking" at bay. so far so good.

 

[Hot Cruiser]

vulcandoc - Agree as well especially about ethanol-laced fuel. Unless we pay megabucks for no-ethanol 91 here with very limited availability we are stuck with having to use gasoline with 10% ethanol, all grades. Thankfully no E-15 is available here so far, despite the lobbying by the corn growers' lobby. I would not want to be compelled to use it, either.

 

[Quintr0]

Once again a wealth of umm- great knowledge. Thanks fellows. Loving life for an old geezer.🤡

 

[2007Vulcan]

I realize the topic is SeaFoam but with the negative effects of Ethanol an gunk being mentioned I use STA-BIL 360 Marine since I own a boat with an outboard. When buying gas at the pump, I used the recommended amount of STA-BIL in my boat tanks and gas cans for small engines including my generator which might sit for 6 months to a year without being used and have no ethanol related problems. I empty the carbs on my outboard and generator each time they are used. This helps immensely with avoiding ethanol related carb problems. This product works great for me in avoiding ethanol related gas tank and carb problems. I hope this information helps.