Using Seafoam

[ryonker]

I have heard from a couple people (not on this forum) that they occassionaly put sea foam in their gas tank and in the oil before they change it. What are your thoughts about this? I know I use sea-foam in just about every other gas powered motor I have.

Rick
79 GS750L

[bonanzadave]

I know I use sea-foam in just about every other gas powered motor I have.

Yep. Dont think youll hear any bad reports here. It could possibly loosen some debris in your carbs and cause an issue but that may be a forecast for a carb cleaning.

[Dogma]

Yep. Dont think youll hear any bad reports here. It could possibly loosen some debris in your carbs and cause an issue but that may be a forecast for a carb cleaning.

Yeah. The general idea is to loosen some debris in the carbs to prevent a carb cleaning. As in, maintenance done after the carbs are known to be clean by preventing gunky buildup.

[Nessism]

I’m onboard with using this kind of product in the fuel system if the bike is sitting a lot, but I don’t see any value in using it in the crankcase.

[BassCliff]

It's a floor wax AND a desert topping!

Hi Mr. ryonker,

Sea Foam is great! It will grow hair, make you taller, longer, help you lose weight, and make you more attractive to the opposite sex. I'll put a can in my tank about three times a year just for maintenance. I even put it in my Raisin Bran for breakfast. :-D

But I've never used it in my crankcase. Don't ride for very long if you do. Change the oil quickly. Hope that it doesn't clean out something that's stopping a leak.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[jpaul]

Adding something like SeaFoam or kerosene to the crankcase before an oil change is an idea that goes back to the days before oil with detergent additives. You would put some in, run the engine for 10-15 seconds max to loosen up built-up crud, and then flush it out with the old oil. With modern oils, if you have that kind of built-up crud in your engine, you aren't changing your oil half as often as you need to.

As for the gas tank, I highly recomend using Sea Foam a couple of times a year. I also will use a concentrated mixture of Sea Foam & gas to try to clean out carbs which are partially blocked instead of disassembling them for cleaning. It won't work on carbs that are completely blocked, but it can work on ones that are partially blocked.

[hikermikem]

I used Seafoam in my oil once, ran it for a couple of weeks, then changed it out. The engine had sat for several years & i thought I was doing it a favor by "cleaning" it out.

Kinda a big mistake...

The bike smoked heavily (through the exhausts, not like, with a Marlbough) at start up & for about 2 months afterwards. I thought I needed valve seals - then it stopped.

Well, i won't do that again!

However, it works wonders in the fuel system - seems to smooth things out.

[PAULYBOY]

I used Seafoam in my oil once, ran it for a couple of weeks, then changed it out. The engine had sat for several years & i thought I was doing it a favor by "cleaning" it out.

Kinda a big mistake...

The bike smoked heavily (through the exhausts, not like, with a Marlbough) at start up & for about 2 months afterwards. I thought I needed valve seals - then it stopped.

Well, i won't do that again!

However, it works wonders in the fuel system - seems to smooth things out.

Hmmmmm. maybe thats where my smoke was coming from a week ago after getting my bike reassembled. It finally quit. Oh, and BTW, if your petcock goes bad, and your crankcase fills with a gas/oil mixture, it does a wonderful job of internally cleaning your engine! Don't ask. Trust me.

[doctorgonzo]

I used Seafoam in my oil once, ran it for a couple of weeks, then changed it out. The engine had sat for several years & i thought I was doing it a favor by "cleaning" it out.

Kinda a big mistake...

The bike smoked heavily (through the exhausts, not like, with a Marlbough) at start up & for about 2 months afterwards. I thought I needed valve seals - then it stopped.

Well, i won't do that again!

However, it works wonders in the fuel system - seems to smooth things out.

I use it in my oil, in a fairly low concentration, for maybe 25 miles, then dump and change.

[ryonker]

Thanks!

Wow....thanks for all the great responses! I am especially excited about putting some Sea Foam on my Raisin Bran!