Seafoam Test....
I have a little 98cc Toro snowblower that likes to gum up all the time even with Stabil and running her empty. In the past all I've ever done was remove the nut under the float bowl, clean out the ho...
Forum Discussion
spoon059 wrote:westend wrote:
How would inserting Seafoam in an intake manifold line (brake booster) cure any clogged internal oil ports? How do these drain ports become clogged with carbon? Maybe I'm just not understanding this right.
I have no idea. I don't understand how stuff like that works. The oil consumption is pretty common on those GM 3.2 engines. That was a suggestion found on multiple forums. Here is one, just as an example.
http://forum.planetisuzoo.com/viewtopic.php?t=2305
Again, no clue how it works... but darned if it didn't work!
Well, the link to the Isuzu Forum cleared up nothing for me. Pretty much the inexperienced trying to help each other.
I would say that introducing it into the crankcase or an excessive amount into the valve train may clean and lube the piston rings, the blowby of such, being the major cause of oil consumption.
Before we get too much further, let's explore what Sea Foam is and how it can help or hurt our endeavors.
First, the MSDS: Sea Foam MSDS
From this data sheet we can see that Sea Foam is 50% light mineral oil, 30% Naphtha, and 20% Isopropyl Alcohol.
The two most reactive ingredients as it effects fuel systems and engines are the Naphtha, a petroleum solvent, and the Alcohol which will dissolve some crud and keep water in suspension. The light mineral oil is basically a carrier and probably used for it's low production expense but it serves to lubricate surfaces if used in the crankcase or inside cylinders as a fogger/rust preventer.
In the context of this thread, is Sea Foam an adequate fuel system/carburetor cleaner and is it better than servicing the carb in a professional manner? I have plaques on the wall that say I'm entitled to an opinion and I'd say no, especially not in certain Asian carbs.
My experience tells me that Mikuno and other Asian carb mfgs use a main jet that has a series of very small holes. These are easily clogged by minute pieces of gas shellac or other detritus. Using just a solvent may dislodge the crud but it also may lodge in that main jet.
I ran into just this problem one year while servicing equipment for Winter storage. At Spring startup, 115 engines ran perfectly when treated with fuel line stabilizer but 7 Kawasaki engines with that same Mikuno main jet all stalled from main jet clogging. YMMV.
