What is sea foam?

Joined
Apr 20, 2018
Messages
272
Location
Harrisburg, PA
Bike
1991 ST1100
Mmmmm!, Yes talking of Sea Foam!!, I in my stupidity thought that it was the cure all for carb problems, think again. I Have my ST1100 parked up in a Garage in Pueblo, CO with my Daughter who live there, [i live in France and visit annually]. I come to the USA this year to ride it, drag it out of the Garage, pre start checks done, fit the fully charged Battery, wont start, then it runs on 2 cylinders, then it backfires, oh dear!!, so fault finding starts, thinking it could be ignition problems, take out the plugs, what a mess, clean them up, good sparks, so it's the carbs. I have dreaded their removal many times after hearing many tales of woo but hey ho here we go, to cut a long saga short, the job was not that bad, after removing cables ect, loosen the clamps [i find removal of the top engine mountings helps to get at the clamps and take out the fuel tank another easy job if it is empty!]with a sweeping brush handle to gently prise them off the manifold stubs they popped up. Just lift them off, place on a towel on the bench to catch fuel spillage, then remove bowls, and hey presto, remove the jets, blocked and partially blocked, blow out with compressed air, leave jets in coke cola overnight,[ ever tried a penny in that stuff?overnight?]check diaphragms for splits/holes, and re assemble. Getting the carbs back onto the stubs was "fun", i won't go into how i did it but if i have to do the job again i'm ready. And what is that rubber sheet about?, just makes the job twice as bad.So, new 91 gas, all ready to go, Ignition on, press the starter, and she starts, 2500rpm on the choke, shut that off, re set the tickover, could not believe it,back to how she should be. I bought a Synchrometer from E bay, $45, balanced the carbs [so easy] now running as good as it ever has and with 86,000 on the clock [just run in]i put another few miles on, so be careful with the Seafoam, it's good but over application can be dodgy.Now i just fill the tank with 91 gas and add fuel stabilizer to the instructions on the bottle, see how it goes next year.
I agree. Seafoam is not a cure-all for neglect.
 
Joined
Feb 25, 2016
Messages
4,759
Location
Northumberland UK
Bike
VStrom 650
Maybe so. But I'd suggest saying it is rarely warranted and usually just confrontational/rude. Hannibal Lecter and I have little in common, but our viewpoints on rudeness are pretty much in synch.
KCJones, howdy partner.
You do realise how old this thread is? You may be talking to yourself, oh and me! "Whatcha can't Read"! LO blummin L. Sorry KC, God made me say it.
But I do think that a minority on this thread feel they are above us mere mortals, we can't all be engineers, chemists, analysts, physicist's etc etc. Thankfully they are the minority and 99.9% are nice folk like us! Like you I treat all folk the same until they prove they are rude, stupid, vulgar, ignorant of just plain distasteful.
Now GET OFF THIS OLD THREAD! LO BLUMMIN L.
Upt'North.
 

Andrew Shadow

Site Supporter
Joined
Jan 28, 2012
Messages
5,069
Location
Montreal
Bike
2009 ST1300A9
In the home-brew recipe for SeaFoam presented by Jeff in post # 30 it states;
60% Stabilizer>Kerosene
Can diesel fuel be substituted for kerosene?
If so, is it at the same 60% ratio?
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.
Is it the acetone that gets added to the mixture at a lower dose level? If so, the rubbing alcohol is added at a 15% ratio. When it is substituted with acetone what ratio is the acetone added at?

or

Is it the entire mixture, when made with acetone, gets added to the fuel tank at a lower dose level than when rubbing alcohol is used?
If so, what is the revised recommended dosage?
 

Kevcules

Site Supporter
Joined
Jul 16, 2016
Messages
1,398
Age
55
Location
NB Canada
Bike
2008 ST1300
"Almost" anything in access is not good. I think seafoam is a great additive and I use it sparingly in ALL of my internal combustion engines.
 
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