bill67 wrote on 07/08/10 at 09:13:48:


Why?  You use it, right?  I was honestly asking for information on the product.  You are one of many who believe in the stuff, right?  Am I not allowed to make an informed decision, or am I just supposed to use or not use it because someone tells me to?  
Don't get defensive.  Give me information.

I've tried it several times on bikes that have been sitting a while...
But had no success... I always ended up pulling the carbs and manually cleaning them...

It may. or may not work, in a maintenance  routine... but it's not a cure all... and gas already has cleaning agents in it...

Better than Sea foam,... pull the fuel line at the petcock, let the gas dribble out of the line, and fill the line with carb cleaner... then run the bike for a few minutes...
That's mainlining... ...
That just might help a sticky slide or float,... but clogged jets and passages still need R&R cleaning...

Seafoam works for me under the following circumstances:

1. Engines that I only run a few hours a year (like my tiller). My observation is that the same equipment that in the past I have had to clean the carbs on to get it running in the spring, I have not needed to clean the carbs or anything else in the spring in the years that I put Seafoam in the last tank of fuel before storage. (I always run the tanks empty before storage.)
2. On engines that haven't had the fuel run through them quickly. They will "straighten up" quicker if I put the recommended amount of seafoam in the tank than if I just run the fuel through and then refill.
3. If I get some "bad" fuel, sometimes a dose of Seafoam will straighten it out - not always, I've had some expensive experiences in the past.

Charon,

One thing that I would caution you on is the assumption that the fuel you get is what the pump says that it is. The additives to fuel are not always distributed evenly in the storage tanks. If you ever get a "slug" of additives instead of gasoline, you can be spending a bunch of money on catalytic converters, and other sensors etc to get your vehicle running again. I know that my observations are limited, but they do have "controls." Basically under as similar circumstances as possible, I've been able to get desired results by adding Seafoam, that did not occur without adding anything. This is based on years of observation/experience.

By the way, if you ever want to have a frustrating experience, have your vehicle quit a few miles after filling up while on vacation. Then drain the gas tank to find out that it is full of either crud or almost pure additives and then try to get the station where you bought the stuff cover your repair costs.

JOG I think some Sea foam in that kaw carb will get that accelerator pump working right.

ethanol<gasoline<diesel

Fact of chemistry you'll get better milage out of diesel than gasoline and better out of gasoline than ethanol because there is less chemical energy in them.  

Nobody has mentioned seafoaming the intake.  You can see fun videos of it online.. you drop half the can into a vaccuum tube and then turn the engine off.. wait 10 minutes and restart.. lots of toxic smoke out  your tail pipe.. cool effect.. probably pointless aside from cool effect..

Sea Foam causes no problems with wet clutches,Its not a super lube its a super cleaner with a little oil in it.I and a lot of people I know have done it.

Charon -

Tell me if I'm wrong.  My car has a computer that gives average mileage, among other parameters.

Around here, Shell is the only brand of gas that still has no ethanol.

When I buy any other brand, I get just about 10% (3.5 mpg) less mileage than Shell.

I measure this difference in open freeway driving, over the same route, same weather, temp., etc.  So, if the energy difference is only 3%, why do I get 10% worse mileage with ethanol laden fuel?  I though tthat ethanol has far less energy, over gasoline, than just 3%.  Am I in error?

Jerry, ethanol itself contains about 30% less energy than gasoline, per unit volume. Gasoline is a mixture of dozens of petroleum products, and its formulation changes from refinery to refinery and from season to season. Thus, the energy content of gasoline is variable over a range of a few percent.  I base my 3% on the idea that 10% of the gasoline has been removed (thus removing 10% of the energy) and replaced with a product containing 70% the energy of gasoline (thus replacing 7% of the energy).

None of my machinery has an instantaneous mpg computer, so I am left to figure mpg tank-by-tank. I have made an attempt to note whether I buy "100% pure gas" or E-10, and to correlate mpg with the notes. I have been unable to do so. The car I was (and am) using has averaged just over 29 mpg for nearly 90000 miles. At that mileage a 3% difference is about 1 mpg, and it seems to be swamped by different weather, A/C use, traffic, and so forth. Too, when I fill the tank with, say, E-10 there is some remaining regular gas and vice-versa.

I do not know of any Shell stations locally. But we do have quite a few stations claiming variations on the theme of no ethanol, so getting gas with or without ethanol is usually easy (if you believe the pump labels). We also have a Williams pipeline terminal and tank farm near Doniphan, NE. On almost any day one can watch fuel trucks pull into the terminal and leave with fuel. Those trucks carry pretty much any brand, both national and local. I cannot know whether they all carry away the same gas from the same tank, although common belief is that they do. It is said the only differences among gas brands is the additive package, and it is said the truck drivers are supposed to put the additive into the truck before it is filled with gas. I have no idea where the ethanol is added. I do know you can smell the difference between gas with and gas without ethanol.

I cannot explain the mpg difference displayed by your car's computer. I would try tracking the mileage the old-fashioned way and see if the data correlates. But thank you for your input - it is interesting.