Seafoam(or Any Gas Additives)

[hpracing10]

Everywhere I read on the internet people are always talking about how great seafoam or other fuel additives are at cleaning injectors, fuel lines, etc. My grandpa is an old farmer and is one of those guys who swears by seafoam and insists in running it in the fuel tanks of everything he owns, be it a lawn mower, his '07 silverado, or the big 4-wheel drive tractors. Is seafoam or lucas or MMO really that great at cleaning injectors? If you think about it, gasoline by itself is already a pretty powerful solvent isn't it? I mean it can be used to clean paint brushes or paint from hands just as well as Paint thinner would, and it dissolves any oils. Are fuel additives a big ripoff or are they really more powerful at cleaning than gasoline is? I just find it hard to believe that something like seafoam is really so much more powerful at cleaning than gasoline is, that it can increase power and mileage just by running it in a tank of gas.

 

Any thoughts before I waste money on a can and try it in my truck?

[txab]

All gasolines will leave deposits eventually. Some fuels are lower quality and have more problems. As long as you don't go overboard and use the stuff too often, I figure it's a good thing. I use Chevron Techron twice a year. I use Berrymans B-12 on my older vehicles with carbs. Also add it to my last fills on my 5 gallon fuel cans at the end of the season so I can use it in my lawn equipment and tractors. Then I add Stabil to their tanks when I figure I'm done with them for a couple of months.

 

Thus IMO the only way they would be a ripoff is if you use them more than necessary

[hatfishr]

I use Seafoam about every 7000 miles or so. A local natural gas utility here in WV uses it at all their compressor stations in all the compressor engines to clean them up, too.

 

Good stuff...

[jrrod2004]

as the others, I use it once every other oil change...

[REV353]

I have cleaned carburetors that had a rubber cement type stuff in them, each one of my customer reply was. Well Ii ran seafoam in it, that was suppose to prevent this. I don't like it, I think it was good stuff back in the day, I don't think they have changed the product since all of the fuel additives have been added and ethanol too. Some company's are coming out with new products to deal with ethanol. I believe if you want to clean your injectors, get some injector cleaner, I have used Lucas for awhile and pulled my spark plugs, they were clean with a dark tan look, did it clean my injectors, don't know, trucks still running. Seafoam is like peptol bismol, a cure for everything.

[00_Extended]

I belive in spending the money for an injector cleaning at a shop with a solvent based product that they use. Seafoam and others like it too me are just snake oil. On my 67 Camaro MMO made it run like crap until I was able to get ran through the tank. After the next tank of gas I was rebuilding the carb and replacing the accelrator pump and cleaning junk from the float boolws that clogged up jets. So did it clean something? It might have but in a very old car it just caused more problems than it was worth. Have not ran it sence and have never had another problem.

[ZRX631]

I have used Sta-Bil for years in anything that is used on a seasonal basis.(Motorcycles, lawnmowers etc.) and it has always kept everything running great. I don't see the need for it in daily drivers but that just my opinion. Most motorcycle guys will try seafoam to clear up a carb problem before ripping the carbs out to clean them.

 

YRMV

[Nytemare]

I don't use Seafoam anymore....only because I cannot find a dealer where I live.....Someone told me there is now a dealer there so I have to go looking.

 

I currently use Lucas Upper Cylinder Lube with Injector Cleaner. I usually use it about every 3-4 tanks of fuel.

 

I put Seafoam in the tank once every 2 months...and did a complete top end cleaning with it every 6 months....but that was on my old Cavalier...I have not done it to my truck yet...like I said, I cannot find a Seafoam dealer in my area....Just the top end cleaning that GM offers as a service.

 

IMO...its definitely worth it.

[66nova]

I don't use Seafoam anymore....only because I cannot find a dealer where I live.....Someone told me there is now a dealer there so I have to go looking.

 

I currently use Lucas Upper Cylinder Lube with Injector Cleaner. I usually use it about every 3-4 tanks of fuel.

 

I put Seafoam in the tank once every 2 months...and did a complete top end cleaning with it every 6 months....but that was on my old Cavalier...I have not done it to my truck yet...like I said, I cannot find a Seafoam dealer in my area....Just the top end cleaning that GM offers as a service.

 

IMO...its definitely worth it.

 

 

Do you not have an O'reillys or Napa around?

 

 

I used Seafoam for the first time this weekend on my little brothers Trailblazer. It is a 2003 with 125,000 miles on it. I am impressed with the difference. I was really pessimistic, but with all of the good things I have read/heard about it I thought I would try. Too early to know about fuel mileage, but it really idles and runs a lot smoother. His mom even said something about how much better it seem to be running and she didn't know we had messed with it.

[Nytemare]

Do you not have an O'reillys or Napa around?

No O'erillys around...and I havent found a Napa in the city...I will have to look around the island or over on the main land... Or contact Seafoam and find out if they have a dealer in my area....and if not I may become the dealer...LOL

[trucc_boi]

i ran seafoam in my old blazer whenever it started running a little rough and it would clean it right up and stabilize the fuel..

 

i would also put it in the brake line vac hose every other oil change and let it sit like it tells you to.. hard to do by yourself because you have to keep it running

[grimmysnr]

Tried it a few times in my 06 and never really noticed any different. Of course I 'felt' better afterwards because I thought I was doing something good. Ultimately, I think products like these lean more towards the placebo effect just like intakes and exhausts. You run into some guys who put in a 3 inch exhaust and say "Man my truck rips now, goes like 0-60 in like 2 seconds!". Where in reality going with a bigger exhaust means you lose a certain amount of back pressure needed for low end torque.

 

I tried seafoam in a a coworkers Dodge because it was spitting and running like shit. Put it in the gas, oil, and intake. Told him that run this shit through because everybody swears its best thing since sliced bread. Well two weeks later and two cans of seafoam later, still spit sputtered and ran like shit. His truck had new plugs, distributor, and wires. Had K&N intake and all that jazz too.

 

I am a firm believer in you get what you pay for. $4 or $5 dollar can of miracle juice at a auto store is not a cure all. You want your system cleaned right take it to somebody who has the thousand dollars solvent system and can clean everything out. This is more or less your mileage may vary but I think by the time you could benefit from Seafoam your vehicle is pretty much on its last leg anyway. This is why GM devised the 30k, 50, and 80k, service plans to do stuff like this. But they have their own formula of miracle juice.

 

Just my opinion, let the flames begin!

[Nytemare]

Tried it a few times in my 06 and never really noticed any different. Of course I 'felt' better afterwards because I thought I was doing something good. Ultimately, I think products like these lean more towards the placebo effect just like intakes and exhausts. You run into some guys who put in a 3 inch exhaust and say "Man my truck rips now, goes like 0-60 in like 2 seconds!". Where in reality going with a bigger exhaust means you lose a certain amount of back pressure needed for low end torque.

 

I tried seafoam in a a coworkers Dodge because it was spitting and running like shit. Put it in the gas, oil, and intake. Told him that run this shit through because everybody swears its best thing since sliced bread. Well two weeks later and two cans of seafoam later, still spit sputtered and ran like shit. His truck had new plugs, distributor, and wires. Had K&N intake and all that jazz too.

 

I am a firm believer in you get what you pay for. $4 or $5 dollar can of miracle juice at a auto store is not a cure all. You want your system cleaned right take it to somebody who has the thousand dollars solvent system and can clean everything out. This is more or less your mileage may vary but I think by the time you could benefit from Seafoam your vehicle is pretty much on its last leg anyway. This is why GM devised the 30k, 50, and 80k, service plans to do stuff like this. But they have their own formula of miracle juice.

 

Just my opinion, let the flames begin!

It doesn't do anything to the vehicle unless it was dirty to begin with....Most of us do this to keep things clean...

 

If you want to go for the GM version thats good too...I have spent the 120 bucks on a good intake cleaning. But in between I use injector cleaner and top end cleaners to keep everything clean.

[herc]

I belive in spending the money for an injector cleaning at a shop with a solvent based product that they use. Seafoam and others like it too me are just snake oil. On my 67 Camaro MMO made it run like crap until I was able to get ran through the tank. After the next tank of gas I was rebuilding the carb and replacing the accelrator pump and cleaning junk from the float boolws that clogged up jets. So did it clean something? It might have but in a very old car it just caused more problems than it was worth. Have not ran it sence and have never had another problem.

 

I'm no expert but it sounds like the seafoam broke up alot of the crap that was in your fuel system. Now that all the crap was loose and free to flow, it naturally went down stream and clogged your carb up. If used more routinely you probably never would have built all that crap up in the first place?

[zedbear]

I drew some Seafoam in through the brake booster hose today. I had a bumpy idle when in gear and at a stop, like at a light. It's smooth, now. Will see if I get any other benefits from it. The smoke that came out smelled like old burnt oil, like when you remove a head bolt or other internal engine bolt. Never got that with past cars when I used Seafoam. Meaningless? Maybe but I'm thinking things were pretty coked up inside.