XJ owners' Seafoam stories

In a previous thread, one of our forum members asked for real Seafoam stories, here are some, all by XJ owners, sorry if it's a bit long:

A good one from Ian :
"I have used Seafoam to fix a sticky float.
I forgot to winterize an SR250 (only one carb) and after the first outing it was peeing gas into the oil.
Even leaving the petcock on Prime, that had not happened with this bike before.

I drained the tank (old gas)
Drained and refilled the oil, no filter change.
Added 2 litres of gas and 1/4 can Seafoam. That is a really strong mix.
Started the bike with the choke fully on then turned the choke off and ran it for about 20 minutes just tooling around but made sure I was at full temperature and went through all the gears and used late shifts to rev the motor right up.
Came back and parked it over night.

Checked the oil level and sniffed the oil.
Fixed.
Changed oil and filter, topped up the tank and rode it all year without opening the carb.

I have used Seafoam to clear up a "bad gas" issue.
In 2005, I went to Daytona Beach for Bike Week. I don't recommend it. My GS850 (inline 4 - 4 carbs) was super sweet till day 2 right after a fill up.
Started to stumble, leaking gas out the side of the carbs.
Crud in the gas.
Wife was not amused to be spending day 2 of our 25th anniversary trip on the side of a secondary road just outside St. Augustine's.
Found a motel and discussed with the owner about needing to fix the bike. Owner rides!
Bought a gas can and drained the tank.
On recommendation of motel owner, installed a fuel filter which he gave to me. He said he saw loads of dirty gas in Florida.
Rinsed all the float bowls, removed all the floats and needles and rinsed them in gas too.
Added some fresh gas.
Still rough but not leaking.
1/2 can of Seafoam, ran her really hard for about 30 minutes then parked.
Walked down the road for nice dinner.
Next morning, smooth like butter.
Filled her up and have had no issues since.

I use Seafoam as my winter stabilizer since an NOCC when one of the gurus suggested it.
I start and go every spring as long as I remembered to store the battery right.

I have never added Seafoam to a crankcase, only used it as gas treatment."

Ian in Ottawa
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From Lisa

"my riding lawnmower was having problems running (it'd never been winterized). I did a really hard treatment on it - it was near out of gas and i poured 1/2 a can into the tank so it was getting almost pure seafoam. it up and died. next day poured in fresh gas, thing fired up and once the smoke from the varnish cleared it ran like the day it was new."

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From Dwayne

"Seafoam won't fix everything. It certainly can't correct mechanical deficiencies and if things are really plugged, it won't get to where it needs to be anyway.

That said, yes, I have seen Seafoam make a remarkable difference on things were it can work. Two quick stories:

1. My uncle hauled an outboard out of storage that hadn't been properly winterized then was left for a couple of seasons. It ran, but barely. I suggested a strong Seafoam soak overnight (ie: 1/2 can Seafoam to 1 gal gasoline, run for 10 minutes at fast idle to get it into all the passages, let sit overnight, top off tank with straight gasoline to dilute things). He left my place with the boat on the trailer after we dosed it with the Seafoam. Then he put it in the water less than 2 hours later and says it ran great.

2. Someone came to the NOCC for the first time (I think it was HAP) and we adjusted the carbs as best as we could. It was running pretty well.
After hearing about Seafoam, he dosed it and shortly thereafter the bike started running poorly (rich). He had to readjust to the freshly cleaned state of his carbs."

tafn

dv

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From Lloyd

"First off I've had to clean two sets of Carbs at the NOCC in the last few years. While researching info on my Goldwing I came across some interesting info from a Goldwing owner which applies to all bikes with carbs.

I now run Seafoam, fuel stabilizer and even carb cleaner through my bikes every second or third tank of gas that I burn. I've owned my Goldwing for six years without any carb trouble at all. My XJ750 ran like crap when I bought it but after cleaning the carbs I've used the above preventative maintenance with what I believe to be great results."

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From Dave

"I saw the best results from SEAFOAM in my boat. Sometimes I go 2 or 3 years without starting the engine. When I do try to start it, no go, no fuel. I fill the carbs with pure SEAFOAM and let it sit for a day or two. Pump the pressure up and bam, it starts. It has never failed me."

 

yea its good stuff, i use it for all kinds of things.

 

When I put the girl to sleep last fall, I thought i'd try stabil instead of seafoam for gas treatment. I went out this past Sunday to give her a good 20 min run (idle with revs) as it hadn't ran in 4 months.

It was the hardest thing to start since I got it. Last spring she started right up when using seafoam as treatment over the winter.

I'll never use Stabil again.

 

Seems to me gas stabilisers are as subjective a topic as good helmets! That last post is more or less exactly the same as (I think) rickcomatic said, except he tried seafoam and went back to stabil...

 

Agreed. I've use both, and have had no troubles with either product.

 

Id go with seafoam firts also, i have bikes come in all the time that had stabil in them over the winter and i just drain that crap out cause they never want to idle...

 

the foam has kept my outboard running sweet without a full winterizing needed, but I found a new UC lube and stabilizer. Posted this earlier on the forum.

I will still use the 'foam' but the STP seems to work better. Not against Sta-bil but I think it does more to stabilize than clean.

 

Nice to see someone's done some scientific research into it rather than the normal *I put brand-X in my gummed up non runner & it started right up* business you normally see

That's an interesting result you saw too, seeing as how nobody even mentioned the STP before you posted that! 8O Maybe those who DO use this kind of product should give it a try?

 

Not Rick, Bigfitz.

 

Ah, well spotted

Don't know why, but I seem to get those guys names mixed up a lot!

 

got my blessings

 

i always used Bel-Ray injector oil but last fall i tried Stabil.
this fall i'll go back to injector oil, 3oz to a tank

 

I use stabil over winter-

As for sea foam, it's kinda odd.


I started adding the rec. 2oz per gallon or whatever it is maybe one tank a month or so.

What I found:

It allows me to take the choke off quicker, but it takes considerably more cranks/revolutions before the bike will kick over.

I have no idea why, lol.

Going to clean the carbs on my maxim come spring after I finish the seca.

I think dirty carbs overall are the culprit, as I haven't cleaned them since I bought it nor have I ran a sync/tuned them, etc.

 

I hate 'mechanic in a can' type stuff. Most of it's snake oil. Rather than trust the can, I trust my mechanic. Had some sticky floats couple of weeks ago, took it in and two hours labour got the bike back running fine. Mechanice said one of the needle valves was sticking a bit from some crud build up. Next week. Same thing again, only on a different cyl. So I broke down- against my better judgement and bought a can. Put in about 1/3 of a can into what I thought was a 3/4 full tank, ran it for a few minutes and left it overnight. Engine started on 2 cyl - kinda, then down to 1 - barely then up to 2. turned the revserve switch on and it came back up to 3, so it seems my tank had way less gas than I thought and maybe it was running on 80 % seafoam and 20% gas. . Got home and pulled the rackand checked the bad one. The little spindle that the floats pivit on had come loose. Put it all back together and fired it up. No go on the bad cyl. Plug looked kinda wet, so I switched it with another plug and everyone came to life after a billow of white smoke. checked it this morning and everythings working fine. So - did Seafoam fix anything or is it wishful thinking. Who knows.

 

I dig the SeaFoam over pretty much anything else for a gas additive. I use it to clean out the crank case right before an oil change as well (add about an 1oz to the case and let run till hot). Seems to keep everything running pretty smooth for me.

 

I pulled all 4 spark plugs, poured a small quantity of seafoam into each cylinder and then rotated the engine a few times by hand. I repeated this several times a day for a week.
Now when I run a compression test they are all within 3 psi of each other

 

What was the problem at first?

 

I had nearly 20psi of variance. Doing the piston ring soak cleaned out the rings and lands though.

 

Hum, didn't know Seafoam could be helpful with this kind of problem.

 

Seafoam and any other upper cylinder lube/cleaner all work in the same basic way. They are excellent solvents which also have lubricating properties. What Special-edy experienced is exactly what they were made for, they will dissolve carbon deposits, sludge, and can also stabilize fuel because of their ability to act as a hydrocarbon emulsifier. So kind of like soap, but for gas they homogenize things and clean out the crud.

The very first of their kind were developed by the military when their high powered engines kept burning out, melting down, etc. As such they are not 'mechanic in a bottle' pseudo-remedies as some think, but they think that because when things have gone really wrong, like a fully clogged emulsion or main, no UCL is going to clear that blockage completely. They will find one opening and pass through there and leave the rest clogged, so great for maintenance not for fixing a serious lack of it.

 

Trying to compare sta-bil to seafoam is kinda like comparing apples to oranges. Yes. They are both fuel treatments, but for different purposes.

Sta-bil is a fuel stabilizer intended to keep the fuel from breaking down, and causing the varnish, and gum build up.

Seafoam on the other hand is intended as a cleaner for use after the breakdown, and build up have already happened. To loosen, and dissolve the build up through regular use.

One thing to understand about the fuel additive cleaners (STP, Gumout, Seafoam, etc...) is that they are not a once, and done cure all for dirty, varnished, and gummed up carbs. Only a full, and complete rebuild can get the carbs totally clean in one shot.

I have had good results from using seafoam on the CB650 after having the carbs soaked, and cleaned. The bike ran decent, but had an inconsistant idle. Regular use of seafoam at the recommended 1oz/1 gal helped clear up the idle issue over the summer with no futher tinkering with the carbs.

The real surprise was when the blocked passages left after the soaking opened up. It made the bike feel like it had a fresh new engine with the increased power. Fuel mileage went from low 40's before. To mid 50's in a very short period after getting adjusted to the new power band of the engine.

The bike has been left setting for the last year on dry carbs. When the weather breaks, and I can get back to wrenching again. I will see how it runs with a new tank/petcock, and fresh gas.

Ghost

 

I'll take a pic of my green carbs before I clean them this spring, from "Sta-Bil"

My petcock has a VERY slow leak (like 2 drops a month)

Enough I can see varnishy green crap covering my carbs...

Not a happy camper.

 

i use seafoam on my trucks when (right before)i do a full tune up ( plugs wires cap, rotor, fuel filter, air filter) now Ill be egar to try some on the bike before the safety.

 

If you notice I didn't include Sta-bil in my test. It hasn't worked well for me in the past so I just pass it by. Plus Sea-Foam, MMOil, and STP are gas stabilizers and upper cylinder lubes. They are designed to do both.

 

Was it the Sta-Bil for ethanol blends? If you have green fuel it's likely from a microbial bloom in the ethanol; regular (red) Sta-Bil won't prevent that.

 

Seafoam in the gas isnt a bad idea

But if you haven't poured it directly into the oil, cylinders or vacuum system(with the engine running) then you arent utilizing it to its fullest potential. I even have a badass tool that screws onto seafoam can. It has a gate valve on it to control flow, a little straw that sucks off the bottom of the can and a nipple to run a vacuum hose to the intake.

On ours you could just stick a vacuum hose to the intake boot nipple and stick the other end into the seafoam can. The vacuum from the engine running will suck seafoam in, but you need to be sure to limit the flow; you CANNOT let it flow in as fast as it would freely because it could hydrolock the engine. Just pinch the hose at first and then slowly unkink it until the engine starts misfiring a little. Its going to create enormous clouds of white smoke so dont worry. The white smoke is normal but it will scare you everytime. Let it run in for a while after you do each cylinder, and go for a drive until it stops puffing white smoke. The seafoam will clean the intake port, valves, combustion chamber and supposedly the exhaust system
Intake method > Gas treatment


The piston ring soak was as I described above. Remove the spark plug and fill the cylinder with an ounce or two of Seafoam or Marvel Mystery Oil. Turn the engine over and refill it a couple times. The cleaner will slowly leak down through the rings but and go to work on the piston rings and the ring lands on the piston. Now that the seafoam or MMO has leaked down into the oil, you have a treatment worth of cleaner in your oil. So you can either follow the Crankcase Oil Treatment procedure on the can or you need to change the oil to remove it from your engine.

They have instructions on their website

 

It was the red Sta-Bil, didn't know there was an ethanol stabil.

 

Then again, I only use Shell gas, no ethanol in it. So it shouldn't be that.

 

i use seafoam in everything.... especially all my small engine equipment (mowers, trimmers, chainsaws, etc). have had fantastic results. I've used other similar products (stabil, stp, lucasoil cleaner), without as much good results.

 

You might want to check with your station's manager or Shell about that. They sell E10 in both lower grades at almost all Shell stations around here and some have it in their premium as well. Better safe than sorry.

According to pure-gas you do have some E free stations near you, and the one in Woodstock is listed as a Shell franchise-the rest are ESSO's or unbranded.

http://pure-gas.org/extensions/map.html