Fuel additive

[Cubacheski]

Anyone here use Seafoam in their fuel ? Experience ? Good or Bad ?

[Ewok]

It's good but expensive if you use it all the time. I always use marine Stabil in my tank on every fill up.

[CDAWaves]

X2 on marine stabil

[Duncan]

X2 on marine stabil

X3 Marine Stabil. I have no choice but to use gas with added ethanol.

[TeamAllen]

I use the marine stabil as well, but there was a thread on the seafoam years ago where they were going back and forth about the stuff.

[skippabcool]

I put a bottle of Seafoam in at the beginning of the year then switch to Marine Stabil

Don't know if it does anything but I got a bunch of it on sale about $5 or less a can.

[mls6722]

I put a bottle of Seafoam in at the beginning of the year then switch to Marine Stabil

Don't know if it does anything but I got a bunch of it on sale about $5 or less a can.

X5 on stabil. There are enough threads on bad fuel, I don't want to be the next.

[Kimber]

X6 on Stabil.

[IDBoating]

I use SeaFoam in every gallon of fuel that goes into my occasional-use engines - which basically means everything except our road passenger vehicles. Anything that doesn't see near-daily use is at risk for varnishing from gasoline (ethanol or not). Two-stroke engines are also prone to carbonization. SeaFoam cleans up and then helps prevent these problems.

Since I started using SeaFoam in my occasional use engines, their spark plugs have been nice and clean every time I check/regap them. Even the two-strokes, and that's saying something. Your plugs are a quick litmus test for how your cylinders and pistons are looking. Same is true for those very expensive fuel injectors... you need something keeping those guys clean.

Back when I owned a SeaDoo jetboat with its Mercury V6 two-stroke, I had problems with the final fuel filter in the high pressure fuel system getting dirty. I started using SeaFoam, and that tiny little filter was never dirty again. Shiny and spotless.

SeaFoam goes into my Tige, both jetskis, all three ATV's, lawn equipment, snowblower... almost everything. The way I handle it is to put the appropriate amount of SeaFoam into my gas cans before filling them up. Then anything that gets filled via gas can automatically gets SeaFoam. (They also get Sta-Bil during winterization, but not during normal operation.)

NAPA sells SeaFoam in gallon cans, which often go on sale about this time of year. I generally buy two gallons and usually have some left over at the end of the season. I consider it to be cheap insurance. If you had to debug and service an engine in the middle of the summer (when you'd rather be on the water), you'd gladly hand somebody a few bucks to make the problem disappear as if it had never happened. That's what SeaFoam does - keeps you having fun instead of in the driveway with a bunch of tools, cursing.

Every gallon. Period.

[loudelectronics]

I have to use Seafoam in every tank on my 24V or else I get left stranded. The vent likes to take in water when surfing and tank fills up with water. The seafoam keeps it running so no tow rides back.

Seafoam is expensive but for what it does it works.

[Stingreye]

I have to use Seafoam in every tank on my 24V or else I get left stranded. The vent likes to take in water when surfing and tank fills up with water. The seafoam keeps it running so no tow rides back.

Seafoam is expensive but for what it does it works.

Interesting... I was suspecting I was taking water on and moved my vent above the rub rail by the front tower leg and near the pop out cleat and I have a loop in the line forward looping upwards towards the bow and then up and back so even if I get a splash up there is shouldn't make it all the way through. My old vent hole is now a second bilge pump outlet.

[Ewok]

If you can get the seafoam in bulk like WABoating does it's a great product and works wonders. I used to put it in every tank until I compared the cost of seafoam per tank of gas vs the cost of marine stabil per tank of gas and the stabil is still a little bit cheaper. I still use the seafoam on the first fresh tank of gas in the spring to help clean out the fuel system but after that I use marine stabil in every tank.

I would use one or the other. In a boat you never know when you're going to hit a rock and have the boat out of the water for a month or two, and not having the fuel treated before that idle time can cause havok on the fuel systems.

[IDBoating]

To clarify a bit: Sta-Bil and SeaFoam aren't intended to do the same things and aren't replacements for each other.

Sta-Bil is a fuel stabilizer (hence the name). They do make some secondary claims as to "cleaning the engine" but it is first and foremost a fuel stabilizer. It's a good one, too, which is why I depend upon it for over-winter storage.

SeaFoam is a fuel system cleaner and lubricant. They make some secondary claims as to fuel stabilization but that's not its primary mission, and I don't rely on it for that (which is why I use Sta-Bil for long-term storage).

If your concern is long-term fuel storage and stabilization, use Sta-Bil. It's a little cheaper and stabilizes fuel very well.

If your concern is engine cleanliness/reliability/longevity, use SeaFoam. That's what it is designed to do, and it's very good at it.

As I often say, "Don't go cheap on chemicals or components when you're protecting a $10,000 engine." It doesn't take many replacement parts, or many shop hours, or many long weekends and sad family faces, to burn through WAY more than you'll "save" on poor maintenance, cheap filters, no SeaFoam, store-brand engine oil, etc.

[Cubacheski]

Thanks for all the advice. I bought a few cans of Sea Foam to try out. Thanks again.

[IDBoating]

Tip: For ongoing maintenance I run about half an ounce per gallon of fuel, or 2.5-3.0 ounces per five gallon gas can, added before I fill the can. That's for four strokes. For two stroke engines I generally add a bit extra into the fuel tank of the device because two strokes burn really dirty.

Ironically, to measure this I use an old 32 ounce Sta-Bil bottle . I keep it filled with SeaFoam, and the handy integrated measurer-dispenser works absolutely great. There's no chance of getting the SeaFoam and Sta-Bil confused, since the former is a pale yellow color while both versions of Sta-Bil are very strongly colored.