Sea Foam

beastmaster · Post by **beastmaster** » Fri May 13, 2011 8:31 am

theres a 2008 tropez on sale and He says that he has always put sea foam in his gas ,then im reading again about a guys engine was stalling tell he stared using sea foam, So what is sea foam , and do you need it / how often .. every filll up every 500 miles , thanks

Raiderfn31 · Post by **Raiderfn31** » Fri May 13, 2011 11:08 am

I had trouble with stalling BUT I think I mixed it too strong. Make sure you go by the directions and id say go for it, especially since its a 2008. Some people use it all the time BTW for preventitive care to keep the carb and stuff from gumming up. What did you pay for the bike btw?

Spannerx · Post by **Spannerx** » Fri May 13, 2011 11:09 am

It's good to put in when you are laying up your scoot for the winter, but seeing that you are in Texas, I doubt that you'd need it all that much. I put some in my KLR and P200E before putting them away this winter, and had no problems starting either up this spring, while my friends KLR was a pain in the ass. It is basically a stabilizer with some carb cleaning ability.

toycoma98 · Post by **toycoma98** » Fri May 13, 2011 11:17 am

I use it every oil change. just a little in the tank, dont put the whole 1/3 thats meant for cars with over 10 gallons.

TVB · Post by **TVB** » Fri May 13, 2011 11:20 am

Sea Foam is an additive which helps stabilize gas and clean out the fuel system. Some people use it regularly, but I've found it most useful adding it just as needed, when the engine's running poorly, to clean it out. I suspect that the seller was having problems with the engine needing a cleaning, the Sea Foam fixed it, and he didn't really need to keep adding it all the time.

BuddyLicious · Post by **BuddyLicious** » Fri May 13, 2011 11:32 am

I used Sea Foam for the first time last fall in my lawn mower,mini bike gas engine and Buddy scooter.Man O Man I was impressed how easily all 3 engines started and ran this Spring.I wouldnt use anything else.

It does wonders for engines that sit unused for weeks or months,it prevents the gasoline form going bad,it also keeps your gas lines and carb and FI from gumming up.

A little goes a long way.Sea Foam =

BuddyRaton · Post by **BuddyRaton** » Fri May 13, 2011 11:57 am

For the Buddy I throw a couple of ounces in every 2-3 months. In additionto cleaning it also helps remove water that "sticks" to ethanol.

http://www.seafoamsales.com/tech-info-gas-engines/

In my Vintage 2T scooters I put about an ounce in with every tank. Vintage seals HATE ethanol!

Spannerx · Post by **Spannerx** » Fri May 13, 2011 12:00 pm

BuddyRaton wrote:For the Buddy I throw a couple of ounces in every 2-3 months. In additionto cleaning it also helps remove water that "sticks" to ethanol.

http://www.seafoamsales.com/tech-info-gas-engines/

In my Vintage 2T scooters I put about an ounce in with every tank. Vintage seals HATE ethanol!

Hmm, that's a good point, never thought of that. They just started adding ethanol to the gas around here, at least in the lower fuels.

Silver Streak · Post by **Silver Streak** » Fri May 13, 2011 3:04 pm

I'll vouch for SeaFoam as well. I've been using it for years with great results. Don't think there's any need to put it in every tankful, but I'll use it if one of my scooters is running a little rough, or if I know one will be sitting unridden for a while. Don't put much stock in "snake oils" generally, but SeaFoam is good stuff.

Post by **ericalm** » Fri May 13, 2011 4:37 pm

Silver Streak wrote:I'll vouch for SeaFoam as well. I've been using it for years with great results. Don't think there's any need to put it in every tankful, but I'll use it if one of my scooters is running a little rough, or if I know one will be sitting unridden for a while. Don't put much stock in "snake oils" generally, but SeaFoam is good stuff.

Snake oil is totally useless! I put some in my tank and got nothing. Took me hours to extract it from the snakes, too. They're all getting returned to the store, meh.

Silver Streak · Post by **Silver Streak** » Fri May 13, 2011 4:48 pm

ericalm wrote:
Silver Streak wrote:I'll vouch for SeaFoam as well. I've been using it for years with great results. Don't think there's any need to put it in every tankful, but I'll use it if one of my scooters is running a little rough, or if I know one will be sitting unridden for a while. Don't put much stock in "snake oils" generally, but SeaFoam is good stuff.
Snake oil is totally useless! I put some in my tank and got nothing. Took me hours to extract it from the snakes, too. They're all getting returned to the store, meh.

Ya gotta use the multi-weight stuff. Garter snakes along with the pythons.

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Fri May 13, 2011 7:42 pm

ericalm wrote:
Silver Streak wrote:I'll vouch for SeaFoam as well. I've been using it for years with great results. Don't think there's any need to put it in every tankful, but I'll use it if one of my scooters is running a little rough, or if I know one will be sitting unridden for a while. Don't put much stock in "snake oils" generally, but SeaFoam is good stuff.
Snake oil is totally useless! I put some in my tank and got nothing. Took me hours to extract it from the snakes, too. They're all getting returned to the store, meh.

Sea Foam didn't do much for me. Got sand inside my shoes gathering it then all it did was gum-up my carburator with salt and bits of seaweed.

CWO4GUNNER · Post by **CWO4GUNNER** » Fri May 13, 2011 8:14 pm

A proportional amount of any off the counter generic fuel system cleaner for cars works great. one $2 bottle can do 30 gallons like a cap full each fill-up. But if you really want your scooter to wok after winterizing, install a marine grade generic fuel shut off valve about $5. Simple to install just install it inline like a fuel filter. When you are ready to winterize take the scoot for one last ride and get it all warmed up and about 1/4 mile from your driveway reach down and shut the full valve to off and run all the remaining fuel out of the engine/carb by trying to foot crack start it after it runs out of gas. The remaining heat from the engine will evaporate any reaming fuel in the engine and carb and next year it will start up where it left off provided use gas saver in the remaining fuel tank. I like to have an almost empty tank so that I can add fresh fuel after layup.

beastmaster · Post by **beastmaster** » Sat May 14, 2011 8:34 am

well i live in south Texas (corpus christi) r winters last about 4 weeks and meybe dip into the 30s or 40s . So i dont see a real time that i couldnt start it up for quick ride around the block. But its prob a good idea to drop a cap full in every now and then. thx for the advise . the picture is the first snow in 87 years lasted 3 days, thats north beach , the gulf of mexico

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Sat May 14, 2011 3:23 pm

Wow! That must have freaked everybody out!

The city workers were probably running around trying to find snow plows.

That is an amazing sight though.

Beamster · Post by **Beamster** » Sat May 14, 2011 11:23 pm

Seafoam has straightened out not only our Buddy but also a couple motorcycles. All would miss and stall after winter layup. The Honda was acting very lean until ridden about 10 miles. A Triumph had a stumble as did the Buddy.
All were destined for carb teardown but one treatment of Seafoam cured all.
And this happened on more than one Spring. Cured every time.
It won't refresh gas once gone bad, but it will treat buildup in the carb that results from the turned gas. Just change the fuel with fresh and the appropriate amount of treatment.
Great stuff and 9 bucks is worth trying for yourself.

Raiderfn31 · Post by **Raiderfn31** » Sun May 15, 2011 5:56 pm

ericalm wrote:
Silver Streak wrote:I'll vouch for SeaFoam as well. I've been using it for years with great results. Don't think there's any need to put it in every tankful, but I'll use it if one of my scooters is running a little rough, or if I know one will be sitting unridden for a while. Don't put much stock in "snake oils" generally, but SeaFoam is good stuff.
Snake oil is totally useless! I put some in my tank and got nothing. Took me hours to extract it from the snakes, too. They're all getting returned to the store, meh.

What a CLOWN Very clever though

Stormswift · Post by **Stormswift** » Sun May 15, 2011 10:09 pm

It just fixed problem with my bike. I posted previously that my Buddy all of sudden started stalling. The best guess from folks on this forum was either bad batch of gasoline or vapor lock. I kind of did not think it was vapor lock because in going on 2 years of OK, not very intense riding up until this spring I had no problems. I figured bad gas and put Seafoam into the fuel. My bike stalled for couple of days more then all of sudden it started to clear. I still give it extra time to warm up, then vent the gas tank before riding. Today it was back to it's old self. So I can certainly vouch for Seafoam's effectiveness.
Oops, got to run out and cover my baby. It is about to start raining

Beamster · Post by **Beamster** » Sun May 22, 2011 7:52 pm

OK, current real time experience.
Pulled the Buddy out of storage yesterday.
Put fresh fuel in the previously drained tank and it would not idle, even after coaxing it down the road long enough to warm up.
Added 1 oz of Seafoam to the tank, ran it 5 minutes and put it to sleep overnight.
Today it's cured.

I am of the belief that it can dissolve minor carb deposits.

I seem to go through this every Spring and it has not failed yet.

PeteH · Post by **PeteH** » Sun May 22, 2011 11:48 pm

Why not store it with some SeaFoam and some fuel stabilizer (StarTron or Sta-Bil) in the tank?

Beamster · Post by **Beamster** » Mon May 23, 2011 12:22 am

PeteH wrote:Why not store it with some SeaFoam and some fuel stabilizer (StarTron or Sta-Bil) in the tank?

All of our vehicles and equipment are always stored with stabilizer, but in our state the fall and winter fuel is loaded with carb unfriendly additives. It takes it's toll on all the power equipment and older technology (carbbed) vehicles. There is only so much one can do to combat fuel deposits in long term storage.

The post was to say that the stuff worked again to clean out the Spring stumbles.

PeteH · Post by **PeteH** » Mon May 23, 2011 12:28 am

Oh, no argument intended. StarTron is theoretically supposed to do a good job keeping additives, particularly ethanol, under control, but I don't have enough knowledge of our MO additive situation to have a good track record. That, and the formulations seem to change every year.

I've just heard the risks of a full winter drain-out include condensation coupled with corrosion which may require spring fix-ups similar to your experience. No telling which strategy is better.