Sea Foam or Sta-bil

[dognvenus]

SeaFoam and Startron

A sledding friend truned me onto SeaFoam (thanks Jason aka lofsfire). Before Seafoam, I had a burn down that nearly ruined our only trip to UP. Bad fuel the main cause. Since then I have had no fuel issues. Because our sleds may sit for a few weeks at a time, I also use Startron to avoid any of the ethonal issues. So far so good... I get my Seafoam at NAPA when its on sale for 5.95 a can. I usually get an arm full...

Last year I took my sleds into a new dealer to have the carbs cleaned and checked. The tech that did the work told he he had never seen sleds with carbs that were so clean and asked me what fuel I used. Told him wasn't the fuel but what I put in it.

I use Startron in everything else and its amazing how well small engines start in the spring.
I also use the Seafoam in my diesel truck and have noticed that I am getting quicker throttle response and a cleaner burn with no blue smoke. On hard throttle, I get a small amount of black smoke, which is normal. I also use it as a anti-gel in cold weather.

Dog

 

[woodi]

dognvenus I own 12 diesel engines in trucks & equipment. Once a year I mix Dextron 2 transmission fluid in with the diesel fuel. We've had 2 take some of these engines a part and u wouldn't believe how clean the injectors & everything were. I had a dump truck with 750,000 miles on it & never replace injectors or anything on truck. I always mixed it about 1 gal dextron 2 a 100 gal of diesel.

 

[ezra]

dont know about some of the other brands but newer cats have pop off valves in the tank dont know if it woulkd be good to let them dry out or not? and not cheep if it would mess up the seals on them just a thought

 

[xcsp]

Mill's Fleet Farm has the Sta-Bil Marine Grade stabilizer (for ethanol fuels) on sale for $12.49.

I siphon most of the fuel out of the sled, add Sta-Bil, mix it and run the sled to treat the fuel system, and prior to shutting it down, fog it.

Never have drained a tank completely empty and would think it better to have some fuel in for those with in-tank fuel pumps.

 

[dhealy8]

dognvenus I own 12 diesel engines in trucks & equipment. Once a year I mix Dextron 2 transmission fluid in with the diesel fuel. We've had 2 take some of these engines a part and u wouldn't believe how clean the injectors & everything were. I had a dump truck with 750,000 miles on it & never replace injectors or anything on truck. I always mixed it about 1 gal dextron 2 a 100 gal of diesel.

..interesting, mite try that!

 

[mjkaliszak]

Here is a pic of my fuel tank pick up line . The line & clamp rotted off the end of the fitting. It took my a while to pull the tank about 3-4 trips of runnung out of gas at the 30-40 miles . I can only attribute this to not having the line covered during storage. Kind of odd, it's an 08. I will be topping of my tanks or at least getting them mostly filled at end of season . then adding a stabilizer of course. Like them all. Since I have a bottle of blue stabil for $30 probably use that 1 this year, save the Sea Foam for sunk jet ski's this summer.

 

[AlgerCountySwitchback]

FWIW-I've always used Seafoam in the past. But with the Quickshot and Fuel Stabilizer offered by AMSOIL now, I use them exclusively. Quickshot is for short term fuel stabiliztion with it's primary benefit being Ethanol neutralization that absolutely ruins powersports engines, 2 or 4 stroke, carbed or injected. I treat every tank of fuel with appropriate ratio of Quickshot when I'm riding my sleds or ATV's.

Then for storage, I use AMSOIL Fuel Stabilizer for long term storage. Fogging is also recommended for LTS.

I've always run Interceptor 2 cycle oil with outstanding results. Power Valves much cleaner than with OEM premium synthetic.

Just my 2 cents. To each his own.

p.s.-I'll be in the Munising Area end of this week if anyone wants to try a free sample of Quickshot.

 

[hednup2]

When I drove over the road we used to run ATF in the diesel all the time kept injectors clean and was good for the mileage.

 

[woodi]

hednup2 A old mechanic told me about that about 20 yrs ago its pretty amazing how smother they run & how clean everything is.

 

[dekx]

I run most of the gas out of the tank and then add the sea foam, I believe its one ounce per gallon of gas, then I run it around the yard or lake to get everything mixed good and then I fog the motor and wash wax and grease the sled. I have not had any problems so far. I also try to suck most of the gas out and run it in the lawn mower or truck. I always start with a fresh tank of gas and after the sled has run a bit in the winter I change the plugs and go all winter, works for me

Same as i do...

 

[G]

I use Seafoam in everything. Had a bad experience with StaBil years ago. I do think it is important to run the vehicle a little bit after you ad the Seafoam to get it into the injectors or carbs. I used to try to run my sleds absolutely dry but it is really hard to get the last little bit out of the tank. I found that that last little inch of gas can really turn into some tiger crap over the summer and will plug things up in a hurry. So I store my stuff with about 1/2 tank laced with Seafoam. Works for me. Also tried some Fitch fuel catalysts once. They seemed to work but are expensive. But then again so are burned down engines.

 

[xcsp]

Anyone try that "Start Your Engines" from Gold Eagel, makers of Sta-bil?

Says it can revitalize old gas??

Here's a link to their site: http://www.goldeagle.com/brands/start_your_engines/default.aspx

 

[mxz500rider]

I drain the tank. Then add bout 2 gal of 110 octane race fuel in. Then start sled. Let run till you can smell the fuel from exhaust. Turn gas off. Let it die. Did it last spring. This fall I pulled carbs off and they looked brand new. Mechanic at Polaris dealer told me bout this. I still pull carbs just for the piece of mind.

 

[cpaum]

Main things is to run GOOD non-Oxy gas or at least make sure you run it in your last tank. NO corn!! Then use Sea-foam. Leave about 1/4 tank of fuel and make sure to start it once a month to a few secs. I get so tired of cleaning peoples carbs because they run corn because it saves them .20 a tank. Come on people.

Snow Blowers lawn mowers you name it. 91 non oxy. Sea-Foam

 

[Hoosier]

I was told the best thing to do is to fill the tank, use sea-foam, and then drain the tank in the Fall and put fresh gas in it. Does that make sense? Isn't it a bad idea to store it with an empty tank?

My sled is stored in the off-season where I can't easily get to it just to start it up and let it run.

I was also told that stabil is no good for gas with ethanol in it.

Hard to tell what is true and what is myth!

 

[indy_500]

Hard to tell what is true and what is myth!

Yup, this topic comes up every year and everybody has a different opinion about it.

 

[dschultz]

I was told the best thing to do is to fill the tank, use sea-foam, and then drain the tank in the Fall and put fresh gas in it. Does that make sense? !

To me that doesnt make any sense, why waste your money by filling the tank letting it sit all summer then draining it in the fall to put fresh in. Whats been working for me is to run sea foam through it and drain the tank to 1/4 or less and forgeting about it. Fill it up the next year and your good to go, and cleaning the carbs durring the preseason maitenece.

 

[xcsp]

I was told the best thing to do is to fill the tank, use sea-foam, and then drain the tank in the Fall and put fresh gas in it. Does that make sense? Isn't it a bad idea to store it with an empty tank?

My sled is stored in the off-season where I can't easily get to it just to start it up and let it run.

I was also told that stabil is no good for gas with ethanol in it.

Hard to tell what is true and what is myth!

Not so bad to store with an empty tank, assuming it's not a vintage sled with a metal tank, but if it has a fuel pump inside the tank, I'd think having some fuel in the tank to keep the pump "wet" would be better. (I leave approx. 1/4 to 1/2 a tank of fuel with fuel stabilizer mixed in the sled during summer storage.)

Better to fog the engine prior to summer storage and leave it until the next riding season, don't know of any manufacturer that recommends starting it occasionally through the summer, only induces condensation if you don't get it good and hot, and then you would still want to fog the engine as there would be engine internals that wouldn't be protected from corrosion. I "fog it and forget it" and haven't had any problems thus far.

Sta-bil has products for use in ethanol-blended fuels, even their regular Sta-bil (if I recall correctly) states it stabilizes ethanol fuels, their marine-grade does it as well, just uses 1/2 as much product to protect the same amount of fuel.

Here's a link to their site:

http://www.goldeagle.com/brands/stabil/products.aspx

 

[srt20]

When I drove over the road we used to run ATF in the diesel all the time kept injectors clean and was good for the mileage.

This was acceptable years ago. But with the additives in ATF and the much higher tech injectors of today, ATF is harmful to diesel injection system. Ironically, 2-stroke oil, or biodiesel is very helpful in newer diesels. (pre-07.5 non-dpf engines anyway) Also ironically, the cheap Wally world 2-stroke oil seems to be the best.

 

[srt20]

Back on topic, Im draining my sleds bone dry. Then gonna start them until they die. My 08 had to have the in-tank fuel lines replaced because they rotted away. Blame was placed on ethanol. I have 7200 miles on it and have only run about 5 tanks of gas with E-10 in it. So Im not trusting any fuel in them anymore.

If I HAD to leave some fuel in something, I would use seafoam.