Seafoam Test....

[longislandcampe]

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 holes and I was good to go. Last week I did that but she still sputtered a bit choked and died instantly at half choke. This was the first time I ever put store bought 50:1 fuel in her.

I know nothing about engines so everything I now know has been through tons of youtube videos and chat board threads in the past few days. My research leads me to believe that I need to remove the float on the carb, clean the needle and hit the tiny carb holes with carb cleaner and compressed air. Seafoam has also been a common suggestion so I finally got the liquid form and the aerosol form.

My snowblower only has about a cup or two of fuel so I put in about a cup of Seafoam in the gas tank. She started right up but died a few seconds after mid choke which is progress because she used to die immediately at half choke. I started her up again and as soon as I got to half choke I hit the air intake with the aerosol Seafoam and she sputtered a bit but didn't shut off. I would stop spraying when she sputtered with a ton of white smoke and would spray again once she got back to normal. I did this a few times and then went wide open and continued the same process for about 20 seconds. I eventually continued to spray until she shut down completely and then I put her in the shed.

In a few hours I plan to start her up again to get a fresh batch of fuel/seafoam in the lines. My initial report is that it works because it allowed me to take the choke off. I still have not cleaned the needle and other ports on the carb yet because I wanted to test out the Seafoam first.

On the camping related side, our 2 Honda 2000 genny's have been suffering from the same condition with not running except when choked. In the next few weeks I'll look at cleaning out those carbs and adding some Seafoam to them too.

So far, so good.

[John_Joey]

larry barnhart wrote:

kroghville wrote:
I use 87 octane non ethanol from a local farm co-op in chain saw, snow blower, lawn mower, and my 1949 Farmall "C". I leave gas in them all off season and have never used any additives of any kind. There may be a little smoke upon starting in the spring but no problems doing this.BTW I'm 70 years old and started driving tractors at age 5. That is true.

non ethanol is the key to your story. 76 coming up young feller
chevman

Yup, that stuff can go 6 or more months. Much over a year and you better throw something in with it though.

[westend]

kroghville,
You may wish to throw in a couple of ounces of lead substitute in the tank of the Farmall. Most of these older tractors have enough wear so that valve train issues aren't that typical but a few pennies of that substitute may keep everything turning well.

[larry_barnhart]

kroghville wrote:
I use 87 octane non ethanol from a local farm co-op in chain saw, snow blower, lawn mower, and my 1949 Farmall "C". I leave gas in them all off season and have never used any additives of any kind. There may be a little smoke upon starting in the spring but no problems doing this.BTW I'm 70 years old and started driving tractors at age 5. That is true.

non ethanol is the key to your story. 76 coming up young feller
chevman

[kroghville]

I use 87 octane non ethanol from a local farm co-op in chain saw, snow blower, lawn mower, and my 1949 Farmall "C". I leave gas in them all off season and have never used any additives of any kind. There may be a little smoke upon starting in the spring but no problems doing this.BTW I'm 70 years old and started driving tractors at age 5. That is true.

[Sam_Spade]

allen8106 wrote:
Just don't put Seafoam in for long term storage. I've heard somewhere that it's only meant as a cleaner, not a storage product

That is exactly wrong.
SeaFoam was originally designed as a marine fuel stabilizer.
Using it, or another stabilizer, during storage will help prevent problems from developing in the first place.

[larry_barnhart]

because I read the instructions on the seafoam I buy 2 gallons of non ethanol gas using one oz per gallon. Run the snow blower out of gas in the summer and fill with this mixture. Same deal for my Honda 100i. Never use the Honda but keep the gas fresh incase it is needed. Works great for me doing this method. Dumping seafoam in the tank was how I used to do it.

chevman

[Fisherman]

westend wrote:

allen8106 wrote:
Just don't put Seafoam in for long term storage. I've heard somewhere that it's only meant as a cleaner, not a storage product and will actually do more damage if used as a storage product. I have no actual experience with this just what I was told by someone else.

What does it damage?

It damages the small engine mechanics wallet, lack of income because all the small engines are running.

[Jerrybo66]

I've used Seafoam before and find it over priced and over rated.
For carb/injector cleaner I use Chevron Techron.. The problem with a motor that isn't brought up to max heat periodically isn't just carb gum but deposits on the valves and stems. If the valves aren't working freely, it's not going to start and if it does it's not going to run smooth. The gas is always blamed. It's not always the gas. My 1986 Jeep, 50,000 miles taught me this problem. It didn't want to start, backfired, missed, etc. I used Marvel Mystery Oil in the oil and gas and it now runs smooth.. I know, it sounds like snake oil but it's been around for at least, my knowledge, 60 years. It frees lifters and valve steams of oil sludge and carbon.. It takes maybe a tank of gas with the crank case oil added but it works, at least for me. No, I don't sell the stuff... In my experience....

[ericsmith32]

Need to do a Seafoam treatment on the Onan 4000. Not sure on the mixture though.. 50/50 Seafoam and gas. Not going to be fun rigging up a fuel line.

[westend]

Mowermech,

I like the ingenuity of Hildstrom and his home brewing. The guy actually used his noggin when experimenting. Thanks for posting that.

Your experience with your 2 cycle gas and mine are the same. It kind of tells me that there is much myth about E10 gas and a lot of rumours get passed along the way about what gas and oil can do. BTW, I'm a Stabil user too.

[mowermech]

Save money, do this:

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

I have never used anything but Sta-Bil. No problems with any engine for a long time. For 2 cycle engines, I use either Opti-2 or Stihl 2 cycle oil in the mix, with the recommended amount of Sta-Bil. Since the only 2 cycles I have now are a mini-tiller and a chain saw, a 2 gallon can of fuel will last me a long time. The can of fuel I have now is about 3 years old (87 octane E10). It shows no sign of deterioration.
I, too, have certificates that I could hang on the wall. The B&S factory certification and the Tecumseh/Peerless certification have expired, but the Kohler has no expiration date.
I agree, a "chemical overhaul" just does not work on some carburetors!

[westend]

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.

[spoon059]

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!

[fitznj]

At the beginning of Every season my 90HP outboard runs rough the first time out. I put a can on seafoam in the tank and do a few full throttle runs. Engine then
settles down and runs perfectly. Been doing this for decades.

I always use Stabil and drain the floats prior to storage, but Seafoam really helps. I use it in most toys with cylinders.