I was never a believer of snake oils, but now I am. The cub cadet rider was surging real bad so I decided to change the oil and all the filters and give it a tune up while I was there. Got all done and fired it up, still surging. As I was sitting there aggravated I remembered I bought a can of sea foam awhile back because I seen some of you guys talk highly about it. So put some in the oil and some in the gas and fire it back up. After about 10 minutes of sitting there still surging it started getting better, then with in 20 minutes its running like a top. WOW! the stuff works. Thanks guys.
- Thread starter the mick
- Start date
Switchflicker
Member
Let the games begin!!
Dan Richardson
Member
No games here. If you're into antique farming you know Sea Foam is a must for old tractors.
Liquid_wrench
Member
- Location
- Ohio
My 1966 MF-135 cont z-145 had a miss and would not idle...after adding seafoam to a tank of 93 octane fuel (it doesn't like 87 octane) it now runs and idles very well. We bought the tractor new and the motor has never been apart.I use seafoam in all my gasoline equipment,1-oz per gallon.....works for me!
Keith
Keith
Stephen Newell
Well-known Member
Not methanol, rubbing alcohol. It also contains naphtha.
jon f mn
Well-known Member
I use sea foam and find it a usefull product. But that doesn't mean it did anything for you. First you would need to know why your engine was surging. I don't see anything about that. Then you would need to know what the sea foam did to cure the problem. I don't see anything about that either. It's entirely possible the sea foam cleaned some gunk out of your carb and cleared up your problem. It's also possible that something was messing with your governor and sitting there working back and forth from the surging worked it free and cured the problem also. In my experience there are no magic fixes.
bradley martin
Well-known Member
Methanol is rubbing alcohol!
TomH in PA
Well-known Member
Did you just add fresh gas? Surging is often caused by stale gas (ethanol makes it go bad in about 3 months). Put fresh gas in the tank and run it long enough to use what was in the carb and fuel lines, then fresh gas hits the motor and it runs much better.
The actual ingredients are pale oil naphtha and IPA (heet) if interested here's a home brew recipe I make it all the time and use it.
http://hildstrom.com/projects/seafoam/index.html
http://hildstrom.com/projects/seafoam/index.html
Stephen Newell
Well-known Member
No, methanol is denatured alcohol. Rubbing alcohol is isopropyl alcohol.
rustyfarmall
Well-known Member
Really? I guess maybe a 1940 Farmall M, a 1940 Farmall H, and a 1950 Farmall H are not antiques? All 3 start easy and run just fine. Plenty of power. Never been a single drop of sea-foam or any other snake oil added to any of them. I've never even picked up a can of sea-foam, let alone buy one.
bradley martin
Well-known Member
I am sorry, but you are mistaken. Methanol is also known as methyl alcohol, wood Alcohol,wood naptha, methyl hydrate and wood aspirates. Rubbing alcohol,or isopropyl alcohol,is frequently made from denatured ethanol( verify on wikipedia)!
Part Time Pete
Well-known Member
- Location
- Leatherstocking Region NY
Uh-oh... you opened a can of worms - er - fuel additive
Tell that to the man who had two welders that had sat for several years without being ran. He couldn't even get them to start, and wanted to tear into them and either rebuild the carbs, or buy two new ones. I told him to give me a few dollars and let me run across the street and get a can of Sea Foam.
It took a but of doing, but I got them both where they were running, but just barely. I then put the Sea Foam in the gas. I had to let them run for several hours with the choke on completely. As the day went on I gradually eased off the choke. By the end of the day they would start, and run as smooth as silk.
I had a forklift given to me that hadn't been run in nearly 8 years. It still had a bit of liquid left in the tank, but it was DEAD (this was before the new ethanol based crap). I added a can of Sea Foam, and about a gallon or so of new gas, and finally got her fired up. It stank to high heavens, and I had to run it with the choke on for a good while, but eventually it cleared up and has been running now for close to 13 years without ever rebuilding the carb.
Call it snake oil if you want, I have seen it work for myself, and others, many times.....
It took a but of doing, but I got them both where they were running, but just barely. I then put the Sea Foam in the gas. I had to let them run for several hours with the choke on completely. As the day went on I gradually eased off the choke. By the end of the day they would start, and run as smooth as silk.
I had a forklift given to me that hadn't been run in nearly 8 years. It still had a bit of liquid left in the tank, but it was DEAD (this was before the new ethanol based crap). I added a can of Sea Foam, and about a gallon or so of new gas, and finally got her fired up. It stank to high heavens, and I had to run it with the choke on for a good while, but eventually it cleared up and has been running now for close to 13 years without ever rebuilding the carb.
Call it snake oil if you want, I have seen it work for myself, and others, many times.....
Just like it's almost impossible to convince people to run additive in their diesels. I work on the things for a living, and run it in my truck, BECAUSE IT WORKS. Because it works, it makes me far more money than it costs me due to the increase in fuel mileage.
But some people can't be convinced of anything. Heck, I've been messing with a guy on another site that still thinks the Earth is flat.....and will do anything he can to convince everyone he's right, and we're all under the spell of some huge conspiracy because we think it's spherical.
But some people can't be convinced of anything. Heck, I've been messing with a guy on another site that still thinks the Earth is flat.....and will do anything he can to convince everyone he's right, and we're all under the spell of some huge conspiracy because we think it's spherical.
MarkB_MI
Well-known Member
- Location
- Motown USA
What we will never know is whether it would have straightened out by itself if you hadn't added the Sea Foam.
I've tried it once, on a a Yamaha Virago with gummed-up carbs. It had no effect and I ended up dismantling the carbs. My assumption is that snake-oil remedies like Sea Foam do occasionally work when a carburetor isn't plugged up too badly. But it the passages are seriously plugged, there's no way for any cleaner to make its way into the blocked passages.
I find it amusing that some of the same folks who fret about ethanol in gas won't hesitate to dump powerful solvents like Sea Foam into their gas tanks.
I've tried it once, on a a Yamaha Virago with gummed-up carbs. It had no effect and I ended up dismantling the carbs. My assumption is that snake-oil remedies like Sea Foam do occasionally work when a carburetor isn't plugged up too badly. But it the passages are seriously plugged, there's no way for any cleaner to make its way into the blocked passages.
I find it amusing that some of the same folks who fret about ethanol in gas won't hesitate to dump powerful solvents like Sea Foam into their gas tanks.
NCWayne:
" Heck, I've been messing with a guy on another site that still thinks the Earth is flat.....and will do anything he can to convince everyone he's right, . . . "
Since Australia is on the "underside" - ask him where "The Edge" is and tell him to prove it. lol
No matter how hard you try, you just can't cure STUPID .
:>(
" Heck, I've been messing with a guy on another site that still thinks the Earth is flat.....and will do anything he can to convince everyone he's right, . . . "
Since Australia is on the "underside" - ask him where "The Edge" is and tell him to prove it. lol
No matter how hard you try, you just can't cure STUPID .
:>(
buickanddeere
Well-known Member
No it ain't . Methanol is particularly toxic. Rubbing alcohol is IPA.
Methanol is "wood" alcohol CH3OH
Ethanol is the alcohol you drink CH3CH2OH
Rubbing alcohol is isopropanol CH3CHOHCH3
Denatured alcohol is usually ethanol that has an additive such as benzene or methanol making it unfit to drink.
Methanol, can make you blind if you drink it and was originally made by distilling wood.
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