To Seafoam or Not to Seafoam

@Gen2 Man - The claims are self serving.

“Dailymag is the only legal manufacturer that owns the 'Magiko' brand and produces genuine 'Magiko' Magnetic fuel saver, magnetic fuel conditioner and magnetic water softner”

Independent science reviews are lacking. The EPA has tested similar products and no such gas saving devices are endorsed by any government agency, or auto manufacturer.

“Fuel Line Devices (magnets). These magnetic devices, clamped to the outside of the fuel line or installed in the fuel line, claim to change the molecular structure of gasoline.
The EPA has evaluated: PETRO-MIZER; POLARION-X; Super-Mag Fuel Extender; Wickliff Polarizer [fuel line magnet/intake air magnet].”
https://web.archive.org/web/2014102...-petrol.co.uk/gas-saving-products-archive.php

 

The sad thing is that our system is bass ackwards. People can pretty much make any claim they want and sell stuff. And keep selling it even after testing shows it is worthless. And real $ has to be spent testing this crap. IMO NOTHING like this should be legal to sell unless and until it is proven to work. But of course, it can't be, because it is bogus.

See also food supplements. And go take some magic compound derived from jellyfish to fix your brain. LOL.

 

Much better products to use with PEA that Seafoam doesn't have. Seafoam probably works for an oil 2-cycle boat motor. I use Gumout multi-system cleaner in all my small engines and once in awhile in my vehicles.

 

it is absolutely NOT snake oil. it %100 is a mild cleaning agent. and it %100 works.

good for you that you've never needed to use it in anything. good for you!!! but you are wrong and seafoam works.

 

I started using Seafoam in the mid 1980s to decarb my 2 stroke outboard engines. I would put 3/4 gallon of gasoline in a empty 2 gallon tank, add a little more than the correct amount of 2 stroke oil, like 40 to 1 instead of the normal 50 to 1 ratio and 2 cans of sea foam. Take end off of fuel line and drop in into the mix.. Put flusher onto outboard and turn water on..Start outboard and run it around 1000 rpm once it started smoking I would turn engine off for a couple minutes and restart engine...repeat about a dozen times...lots of smoke would come out when restarted..then bump throttle up and down up to 2500 RPMs or a little more until most of the mix is gone, put the remaining cup or 2 of the mix into the regular fuel tank.. Take boat to lake and run it from idle to wide open throttle for at least 10 minutes..change spark plugs and I would be done. I would run a can thru car and truck once a year. I used to fish 2 times a week year round so my boats were ran every week. I never had and issues with my 2 strokes. Got a used Honda 4 stroke outboard 3 years ago and have not used Seafoam just Techron. I have a poorly designed 5.4 three valve engine in my 2005 F150 4x4, thats the Ford engine that the plugs broke off during maintenance due to carbon build up. I had my plugs changed 3 times and never broke one..a The Ford dealership mechanic asked me what I did so he could pass the info to other customers..For the Ford, First I used 3 cans of seafoam when tank was below 1/4 full..dive normal back and forth to work.. When almost empty add 5 gallons of gas and 2 quarts of the Lucas then drive normal until almost empty, fill with gas and I am done.. I got 221000 miles on the truck before the Cam sensors started making noise, this is a very common problem with the 5.4 V8..my buddy the Ford mechanic of 26 years said he had done over 300 of the 5.4 spark plug changes and had broke plugs on most of them. No plug has broken on my 5.4..but they do make one piece plugs now ... When the Cam phases got real bad I put a long block in instead of new cam phasers. Had trans rebuilt at same time. So for me the seafoam worked for 2 strokes, small engines and my 2005 Ford. I have a Rav4 Adventure and have not used any additive products in it. I only fill up at Gas stations that have extra fuel additives added to their gas like Shell, Marathon, etc.. So far no issues..

 

Another seafoam thread. Well, I still use it in both my 49 w/ a sbc and the 08 tacoma. THe 350 was having some serious issues (2 different carbs) w/ the ethanol fuel gunking up the bowls. On the 3rd carb, I swapped to higher grade fuel and a bottle of seafoam and it's been running flawlessly ever since. Let's not talk about the cost per gallon that it's running me though. Especially since it gets like 9mpg lol.

 

I have used it as a gas additive in the past, just as I have Techron. Given the choice? I'd run Techron... but have no data to back up my opinion.
What I do instead is only buy Tier 1 gas. Costco is close and has a good price. I won't put budget gas in any of my rigs.

https://www.toptiergas.com/licensed-brands/

 

I feel like everyone is a tier1 brand nowadays

 

I think a lot of fuel is rated Top Tier, but not all. I never thought about Auto gas additives much till I got the Rav4 in 2019. At that time I researched what local gas stations had Top Tier fuel. At that time the closest gas station to me was not rated TT and the cheapest place in town Walmart was not Top Tier rated but Marathon was.. so 90% of the time I fill up at Marathon. I use Ethanol free gas in my 90 hp outboard engine and all small engines like lawn mower, chain saw, generator, etc

 

As usual humor on the interwebs is always misunderstood and the meaning is lost. It’s Friday and I was making a joke at the expense of this ridiculous thread to begin with. There are many snake oil products and sea foam is just one more

 

These have been around since the late 70s early 80s in some form.

 

It’s all in the delivery …

 

A few times a year Ill run half a can, maybe full can, in a vacuum line. Then if I have leftovers, ill throw in the gas tank. 192k, bought at 119k, no issues with my truck so far.
Some say snake oil, but eh Its a peace of mind thing in a way haha

 

automakers are often given new, strict requirements by the EPA to make their cars "more efficient" (by making them less reliable and more expensive to repair) causing them to add things to meet those goals, such as:
-more cam variability
-adblue
-cylinder deactivation
-thinner oil for less friction loss
-start/stop
and so on

if these worked, automotive manufacturers would have installed them from factory.

 

Ions are great! I use them to get rid of the smell of cat pee (along with ozone)!

 

Got to be careful man, some ions are dangerous! Too much sodium ion will give you heart disease!

 

Good Read and Study Done from AMSOIL in Regards to using fuel additives. AMSOIL recommends using their fuel system cleaner every 4K miles. They also offer an upper cylinder lubricate that has shown to out perform Seafoam in terms of wear. AMSOIL recommends using the Upper Cylinder Lubricate with every tank. For vehicles with direct port injection it helps out the most.
https://amsoilcontent.com/ams/lit/G2543.pdf
https://www.amsoil.com/p/p-i-performance-improver-gasoline-additive-api/