Seafoam

 
grumpy
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Post by grumpy » Tue. Aug. 14, 2018 9:29 pm

Is it as good as they say? Put my old van on the road after seven years, having some problems, thinking of adding some Seafoam or Techron to the fuel, do these products work ?


 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Tue. Aug. 14, 2018 9:34 pm

Techron is a good fuel injector cleaner, and is good for a general cleanup of the fuel system.

Seafoam certainly works for removing carbon from the combustion chamber - I used it on a car I bought from an old lady that was plugged up with carbon and pinged terribly. Smoked out half the neighborhood.

What problems are you trying to correct?

 
grumpy
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Post by grumpy » Tue. Aug. 14, 2018 9:53 pm

Put the 1998 GMC Safari on the road after it sat for seven years,, it ran fine for 220 miles, then it started to sputter right before I got home, next day went out and it was worse so I went right to the shop, next morning they looked at it, it started and ran fine, could not find anything wrong.

So I took it home, drove 8 miles and it died, would not start again. Had it towed back to the shop thinking well its broke now so they should find the problem.

The next morning it started right up, they looked and looked and found nothing.. suggested at my choice to replace the distributor ECM cap rotor ect..

I said why not, it 20 years old and I plan to drive this for awhile so replace it and I know its new and good to go into the future..

Picked it up and it ran fine for the 15 miles I drove it that day. It sat for one day, the next I took it out and it sputtered just a little for a few seconds, went 3 miles and it did it again but even less for two seconds..

After that it has been fine for the last 40 miles, I still don't know whats going on but am thinking this could have been bad fuel..

Not sure because there could be an intermittent problem of many things as my research has told me..

 
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Post by coaledsweat » Tue. Aug. 14, 2018 10:07 pm

I did a Seafoam fog on my F350 5.4. I was pretty worried about doing the plugs with all the horror stories. Did the running fog, waited until it was cold and they came out looking like new. Barely needed a wrench.

 
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Post by warminmn » Tue. Aug. 14, 2018 10:30 pm

I like seafoam.

Im sure it could be 100 things but i'd be changing the fuel filter first as that is one of the ways they can act up. A big chunk of crap plugs the line. it quits or runs poorly. It sits and the chunk moves and then it runs again for a while. It should probably be changed anyway even if not the cause. You can imagine the crap in the tank after sitting that long.

 
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Post by Rob R. » Wed. Aug. 15, 2018 5:32 am

Sounds like it is starving for fuel. If the fuel was 7 years old, the pickup screen in the tank may be getting plugged. When you shut the engine off, the crap settles to the bottom of the tank again.

If you can, I would drain whatever fuel is in the tank. Replace the fuel filter, and refill with fresh fuel and a hot dose of Seafoam.

 
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Post by freetown fred » Wed. Aug. 15, 2018 6:08 am

Personally I'd get 2 jugs of Marvel Mystery Oil & put 1 in gas tank & one in oil along with a couple jugs of dry gas & run it for a while before I panicked--although I know ya do love that panicking mode!!! LOL


 
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Post by samhill » Wed. Aug. 15, 2018 6:55 am

Old timer told me to put a quart of kerosene in the oil & a cup in the gas when I was a youngster (56 ford with a 312). I started it up & it did everything but shake off the lug nuts but it was hard to see for all the smoke. It settled down so I shut her down & changed to oil & fuel filter & never had another problem with it.

 
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Post by freetown fred » Wed. Aug. 15, 2018 7:01 am

You're showin your age SH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Tried & true though!!! :)

 
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Post by coalnewbie » Wed. Aug. 15, 2018 7:17 am

On principle I don't like to agree with FF but he has dialed me into MMO for the farm equipment and it is working great. Forget drygas, I use ..

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005DNQX3C/ref= ... UTF8&psc=1

That is much cheaper and keep it in the house in a dry place as it will pick up water. Use it regularly on older cars like I do as I have no garage and water will collect in the tank. Look out, it is not rubbing alcohol and if you use it for that dilute it to 70%.

Howes diesel for the CAT 955 and the 7.3 .. great stuff.

I was given a bottle of ceretec ($23) and dumped it in the Dixie Chopper mower Yanmar diesel and as the summer wears on the mower is absolutely running cooler and is generally better. I will use it again.

BTW, I do use Seafoam in the cars. One bottle every 10 fill ups.

end of lecture....

 
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Post by Duengeon master » Sun. Aug. 19, 2018 8:32 am

I used the spray Seafoam on my 2005 Tacoma with 210,000 mi. on it. After the treatment, I shut it down for 15 min to allow it to hot soak. After that I took it for a ride with hard acceleration and saw a smoke show like a steam locomotive. In a few miles the smoke disappeared. I almost IMMEDIATELY noticed better low end power and torque. This stuff really works!! I strongly recommend it to anyone!!!

 
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Post by coaledsweat » Sun. Aug. 19, 2018 11:19 am

Yeah, they smoke pretty good after for a bit. No denying the stuff works as advertised though!

 
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Post by McGiever » Sun. Aug. 19, 2018 12:33 pm

Classic symptoms of suspended crud in fuel tank being caught up in a fuel filter...remedies well covered above. :clap:
grumpy wrote:
Tue. Aug. 14, 2018 9:53 pm
Put the 1998 GMC Safari on the road after it sat for seven years,, it ran fine for 220 miles, then it started to sputter right before I got home, next day went out and it was worse so I went right to the shop, next morning they looked at it, it started and ran fine, could not find anything wrong.

So I took it home, drove 8 miles and it died, would not start again. Had it towed back to the shop thinking well its broke now so they should find the problem.

The next morning it started right up, they looked and looked and found nothing.. suggested at my choice to replace the distributor ECM cap rotor ect..

I said why not, it 20 years old and I plan to drive this for awhile so replace it and I know its new and good to go into the future..

Picked it up and it ran fine for the 15 miles I drove it that day. It sat for one day, the next I took it out and it sputtered just a little for a few seconds, went 3 miles and it did it again but even less for two seconds..

After that it has been fine for the last 40 miles, I still don't know whats going on but am thinking this could have been bad fuel..

Not sure because there could be an intermittent problem of many things as my research has told me..

 
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Post by coalnewbie » Sun. Aug. 19, 2018 1:59 pm

Avoid the MAF (MAP?) sensor with that Seafoam spray, there is an aerosol for that although I don't use it. Mostly spray to miss the sensor.

 
grumpy
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Post by grumpy » Tue. Aug. 21, 2018 3:35 pm

McGiever wrote:
Sun. Aug. 19, 2018 12:33 pm
Classic symptoms of suspended crud in fuel tank being caught up in a fuel filter...remedies well covered above. :clap:
It did it again after 180 miles, I put gas in for the first time since, than headed home and it started to rain hard, four minuets later it died. Just like last time. So was adding gas and mixing up the tank the problem, or was it the rain shorting something out.

This time I gave it ten minutes and it started, ran a little rough and then cleared up. Smitty where are you...


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