What is sea foam?

We don't have 'Sea Foam' in the UK but the issues given with the fuel system seem to point to the STuff we have here called 'RedX'. measured amount in the fuel and it will remove any glazing/carbon/gunge and Robert is your father's brother.

I'm mixed on Seafoam. I've seen the lack of results of Seafoam left to sit on a carboned up piston ring. It did nothing at all. I do throw can in my bike once a year. I'm just not sure why yet....I think the Techron stuff is better for barb jets.

And pouring Seafoam down a carb throat can't possible clean any carb jets, down the throat goes right to the intake tunnel usually so it would bypass the guts of most common carbs.

Raymond YMMV

Raymond

RaYzerman said:

Seafoam is mostly naptha and isopropanol. Naptha is a slow evaporating solvent that will dissolve gummy stuff, and changes the chemistry of gasoline such that it works as a stabilizer.

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Sea foam is 40-60% Pale oil, 25-35% Naptha, 10-20% IPA.

100% naptha = Coleman fuel
Having occasionally spilled Coleman fuel, I won't say it is slow evaporating.

I don't know if the carb throats on the 1100 have the same coating them that the 1300's throttle bodies do (I doubt it), but you definitely want to avoid exposing it to Sea Foam, which will eat it.

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st1300r said:

iirc the manual mentions something about that or I read it on here moly maybe at the butterflies?.

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I scanned through my copies of the ST1100 Owner's Manual, the ST1100 Service Manual, the Honda Common Service Manual, even my Honda EU2000i Generator Owner's Manual and EU2000i Shop Manual and can find no warnings at all against the use of Sea Foam or any other similar products nor any reference to concern that using these products might have on any throttle body coatings. Neither does the SeaFoam website say anything about Sea Foam not being safe for use in any gasoline fuel system, only offering the caution to avoid soaking the MAP sensor with this product. Obviously, some here on the forums have reason to believe products like Sea Foam should be avoided but if that were the case you'd think Mother Honda would be right on top of this issue by also warning owners against their use. Take it for what it's worth but as far as I can determine Honda hasn't.

Greyfox said:

I scanned through my copies of the ST1100 Owner's Manual, the ST1100 Service Manual, the Honda Common Service Manual, even my Honda EU2000i Generator Owner's Manual and EU2000i Shop Manual and can find no warnings at all against the use of Sea Foam or any other similar products nor any reference to concern that using these products might have on any throttle body coatings.

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Using it in the fuel system of pretty much anything gas-powered is perfectly safe. I brought up the coatings on the 1300 in case anyone who has one wants to try putting a shpritz of Sea Foam down the intake for whatever reason. The 1300's SM warns about it on page 3 of the Fuel System section:



It occurs to me that carburetors (which your 1100 and generator have) wouldn't need to be coated because they're always open just a little bit at idle. Some fuel injection systems use a bypass for air at idle, which is why there needs to be a good seal where the throttle bore and plate meet.


We now return you to your regularly-scheduled 1100 thread, already in progress.

--Mark

W0QNX said:

And pouring Seafoam down a carb throat can't possible clean any carb jets, down the throat goes right to the intake tunnel usually so it would bypass the guts of most common carbs.

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Pouring it in the throat (actually...slowly spraying or dripping it in) removes the gunk from the bore of the carb, buildup in the intake manifold, and is more potent for cleaning up pistons, rings, and combustion chambers. Using it in the fuel tank will clean up lines, jets, and injectors, but will do little or nothing for the carb (or throttle body) bore, and will have very limited results in the combustion chamber because of the small quantities used. I go with a combination- I open the can, use some in the carb (or throttle body), then put whats left in the tank. Keep in mind this is for cages...that would be too much to dump in the tank of a bike.

There is a combination of things happening when you put it in the intake- the solvent will clean deposits, and the cool liquid hitting the pistons is known to help remove carbon. This is the same theory people use when spraying a mist of water in the intake. I've seen before and after results of that, and it works surprisingly well. When I say I have "seen" the results, I'm talking dropping a scope into the cylinder to actually see before and after. It doesn't work 100%, and not for all kinds of deposits...but typical results are good on older, carboned up engines.

MrB said:

I'm 47 and, amazingly, have never had carburetor problems so I've never had a chance to work on them. I've seen them disassembled and have a basic understanding of how they work, just no hands-on.
I'm going to assume that the posters in the linked thread were applying this homemade version in an attempt to clean deposits, so I have to ask: does Seafoam dissolve these deposits instantly or near-instantly when applied at full strength through the carburetor? Spray carb cleaner is cheaper and seems optimized for the job. Was all this so they wouldn't have to pull the carbs and clean them properly?
Also, is Seafoam a "magical" product that sounds good on paper but really doesn't do anything?
I ask because I bought into the idea of using it as a gas additive to prevent buildup from happening in the first place. Wishful thinking?

Funny how we treat our motorcycles, I have an '89 S10 truck with 250k on it that I dump any old fuel in, leave it sit for months, change the oil sometimes, it runs like a champ and I intend to replace in a decade or so.
I find out that the ST1300 calls for premium gas after running a tank of regular through it: "probably ruined...." subdued LOL.

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Great questions - here's my data points for seefoam when i purchased my 94ST.

1. Used in gasoline mix - at instrucdtion concentration - run into carb let sit for several days. No change. Carb synch fixed the problem.

2. Soaked spark plug (carbon depoisites) in seafoam, just an experiment. 3 days soak - didn't phase it a bit.

3. Pulled carb bowls from 94ST, first removal of bowls - very clean but a little varnish in the bottom - soaked one day at full strength - didn't do a thing.


Well i've never been a believer in liquid wrench, and less of one now. What would happen at the dillution retios per Seafoam instructions. Unles it reacts with gasoline to form a solvent - at instruction rations it would be very dilluted compared to full strength. I'd like to know of other's experiments for seafoam as a solvent with visual inspection for results. Can somebody show something that has been desolved.

Thanks,

Paul

the 2003 Yamaha RX-1 snowmobiles, which use an engine loosely based on an R-1 bike engine, were known to have ring sealing problems resulting in high oil usage only in certain parts of the country. This was blamed mainly on fuel additives that some locations used. The rings would stick due to deposits. Yamaha's official solution was to run seafoam through a couple tanks of gas. This cured nearly every complaint of this problem except a few isolated cases that needed to have new rings installed.

My father in law's antique John Deere tractor was having carb issues after sitting for a while. Before pulling it apart I suggested Seaform to clean out what was most likely residue left by ethanol. He dumped a half a bottle into the fuel tank and ran it. 2 hours of running it on plain gas hadn't done anything, but within 10 minutes of adding the seafoam it was purring...well, chugging, as well as an antique 2-cyl. John Deere could chug.

I'm not one to believe in "mechanic in a bottle" solutions, and I don't claim that Seafoam is the cure for every issue, but I have seen it work a few times, enough that I'm not afraid to try it before taking further, and much more expensive, action.

I had a Yamaha 350xt which was a bear to start which might have contributed to it sitting for a year.
It was even harder to start after that(!) as in: it wouldn't start no matter how often or hard you kicked.

I disconnected the fuel line, below the fuel petcock, and ran straight Seafoam through the carbs until the Seafoam coming out the bottom of the carb was clear.
I then closed the drain and let the Seafoam sit in the carb over night and the next morning I poured more Seafoam through the carb. The fluid stayed clear.

The bike started on the 1st kick after I was done and I didn't have to pull the carb.

I'll keep using it.

Home made Seafoam... borrowed form a Magna site I think.
It's very cheap and easy to make at home

25% Cleaner>Naphtha
60% Stabilizer>Kerosene
15% Oxygenate> Isopropyl Alcohol (common Rubbing Alcohol)

Other Commercial Brands such as Chevron Techron Concentrate are 100% Cleaner.
Majority is Naphtha,,,along with Stoddard Solvent,Benzene,Xylene,etc.

You can Substitute Seafoam's 15% IPA for Toluene and get better results,,,most paint stores have it.
ALL the Products are merely a variety of Blends of generic,,bulk commodity petrochemicals.
They are simply bought by the barrel,,,,mixed together in various ratios,,,,Bottled>Labeled>Sold

SeaFoam for example,,
It's sells for about $8 USD for 16oz.

$64 USD per gallon

"Naphtha",,,2 Bottles @ $1 ea = 1/2 gallon
"Kerosene" 3 Bottles@ $1 ea =3/4 gal
"IPA" 2 bottles for 1$ = 1/4 gal

$6 for 1.5 gals
For "GENERIC ,Homemade Seafoam" versus the $64 USD per gallon for actual,,name brand Sea Foam

It's not so much the point that it's only 1/10 the Cost,,, it's that homemade blend allows for ,,,not just Enhancement but even Exaggeration of the Beneficial Properties of the Additive Mix.

For example :
Skip the Rubbing Alcohol,replace it with Acetone,,,Same Price.
Makes engine Start much better in Cold Weather,,,SOMETIMES improves fuel mileage,,,is Less Corrosive,,,and acts like a Cleaner Itself.
And,,it gets added in at much,much lower doses.

Or,,,add a $5 pint of Toluene in lieu of a quart of Kerosene

Or ,,1$ Quart of Auto Trans Fluid,to make Mega Stabilizer.

Or,to add to Crankcase---it sometimes Smokes a bit.
But I just FEEL better Cleaning internals with a premium LUBRICANT as the engine runs,,,rather than all Solvents.

Or if You would rather buy a Commercial Product and can Not find Seafoam
Chevron Techron is much,much More Powerful Cleaner by volume.
It will work at minimum,,,,better and faster and on a wider range of Fuel Deposits .
But ya should really only use it in fuel,,not in Crankcase.
It's too aggressive a cleaner and not made for such use.

Beyond Those particular products,,
Anything labeled "FUEL INJECTION" cleaner is typically going to be Higher Concentration of appropriate CLEANERS,,, than products labeled as "Carb Cleaner" or "Gas/Fuel Treatment"

The Later 2 products Have been enriched during last Decade or so,,
So the Differences in all the Variety are Not as Great as they were 15~20 years ago

If Sea Foam is Not available,,
Chose Anything labeled as FUEL INJECTION cleaner and it will do about as good a job as Sea Foam in your Tank, injectors, varnish, carbon etc in Intake tract, Valves and combustion chamber.

All more/less same stuff.
CLEANERS,,,have More Cleaner and Less Stabilizer than SeaFoam.
You are currently going through Fresh Petrol,,,so Ya do not Need the hi-dosage Stabilizers at this point.
Especially when trying to CLEAN the fuel system.
You need the higher dose Cleaner. -

Dang Jeff ! Good write up !

Fortunet 1 said:

Dang Jeff ! Good write up !

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Sea Foam is on sale at NAPA for $6.79. :clap2:

Guess I'll have to stop by and buy a few more cans of it!

Bought a used 2001 last Fall. Only got 35 mpg no mater how I rode the bike. Fuel light always came on around 220 miles. Changed the plugs, air filter, and fuel filter. Gained very little fuel mileage. Just about to go in and get the carbs worked on and thought I would try the Seafoam. After two tanks of Seafoam treatment, the fuel light now comes on at 280 miles. Nearly 10 miles to the gallon better. I couldn't believe it, but it worked. Bike idles and runs much smoother.

Do most of you use the 1oz per gallon ratio in the tank?

1oz per gal is what I have used.
Uncle Phil used a stronger ratio and the bike wouldn't run... I do not know how strong a ratio he used though... YMMV!

I've used Seafoam in cars with no change in anything. I keep my rigs maintained so maybe that's why.

I've seen a youtube vid where a guy squirted water into his cylinders and got better results than he did with Seafoam.

My conclusion was "don't waste your time or money" on Seafom or anything else. Just keep your machine tuned.

qman said:

I've used Seafoam in cars with no change in anything. I keep my rigs maintained so maybe that's why.

I've seen a youtube vid where a guy squirted water into his cylinders and got better results than he did with Seafoam.

My conclusion was "don't waste your time or money" on Seafom or anything else. Just keep your machine tuned.

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A VERY small amount of water in a hot cylinder will remove build up of carbon (been doing that for years), but water will not remove varnish from your throttlebody or carbs, Seafoam will!

For years I was using Chevron's Techron to keep my carbs cleaner. I wish I would have known about Seafoam back then!

I put a little Seafoam in my gas can for my lawnmower and haven't ever had issues with it starting, even after sitting for months.

I use it in my cages and bikes every now to help keep my fuel systems to keep things a bit cleaner and again I get good results from my bikes, even when they sit for a while!

I don't care how good you maintain your rigs, build up of gunk will happen! Running Seafoam through your fuel system will help keep major issues like clogged fuel injectors to a minimum. In fact, I never had to clean the fuel injectors on my '05 ST1300 with 174.3K , ever, and the bike is still running great with my son.

Go ahead, save your money, you'll need it to pay for the major maintenance you'll be needing later!

SupraSabre said:

I don't care how good you maintain your rigs, build up of gunk will happen! Running Seafoam through your fuel system will help keep major issues like clogged fuel injectors to a minimum. In fact, I never had to clean the fuel injectors on my '05 ST1300 with 174.3K , ever, and the bike is still running great with my son.

Go ahead, save your money, you'll need it to pay for the major maintenance you'll be needing later!

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I do care how well I maintain my rigs. It keeps me from having to buy stuff like Seafoam. I've never had a clogged anything due to varnish. I've rebuilt a handful of carbs (4 last summer on my 1983 Honda Magna alone) over the years and have never even seen varnish.

I bought a lawn mower brand new from Home Depot back in 1988. Sold it to a friend 8 years ago and it still starts first pull even after sitting outside all winter with nothing added to the gas. I never add a thing to my mower's gas and it sits from Oct - April/May. Oil gets changed every 8 hrs like the book says to do. I have a 1972 Ford pickup that gets driven about once a month and it fires up first key crank. My Magna has been sitting since October and fired up with 3-4 pulses of the start switch the other bright and sunny day. Again, nothing added to the gas. Actually bought a container of Stabil about 15 years ago and have never used it. Another waste of cash.

IMO, buying stuff like Seafoam is a waste and I am definitely saving my money. The cool thing is, I also don't have to pay for anything major maintenance wise due to not purchasing it. Maybe it is you who should quit buying Seafoam and use the cash to maintain your rigs.

BTW, don't see how a varnish clogged injector would be major. That would be like a 3 minute fix.

qman said:

I do care how well I maintain my rigs. It keeps me from having to buy stuff like Seafoam. I've never had a clogged anything due to varnish. I've rebuilt a handful of carbs (4 last summer on my 1983 Honda Magna alone) over the years and have never even seen varnish.

I bought a lawn mower brand new from Home Depot back in 1988. Sold it to a friend 8 years ago and it still starts first pull even after sitting outside all winter with nothing added to the gas. I never add a thing to my mower's gas and it sits from Oct - April/May. Oil gets changed every 8 hrs like the book says to do. I have a 1972 Ford pickup that gets driven about once a month and it fires up first key crank. My Magna has been sitting since October and fired up with 3-4 pulses of the start switch the other day. Again, nothing added to the gas. Actually bought a container of Stabil about 15 years ago and have never used it. Another waste of cash.

IMO, buying stuff like Seafoam is a waste and I am definitely saving my money. The cool thing is, I also don't have to pay for anything major maintenance wise due to not purchasing it. Maybe it is you who should quit buying Seafoam and use the cash to maintain your rigs.

....

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Suit (shoot) yourself!

I've dealt with cages and bikes that have had gas sit in them for periods of time, big pia to clean!

Please, by all means, save your money!

qman said:

....
BTW, don't see how a varnish clogged injector would be major. That would be like a 3 minute fix.

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When was the last time you pulled off a ST1300 injector? Go have a shop take care of it for you (not everyone here knows how to work on their own bikes), you'll find where it becomes major...in your pocket book!

BTW, welcome to the form!