Seafoam - Vac Lines

[drtechnology]

Did a search on this cannot find anyone who tried

My friend said to make sure carbs are clean (Think old owner had them cleaned and tuned, but gen mtce like every 6 months) He says he pours about half a can of seafoam in the Vac lines to clear out any deposits. I know outer 2 lines are used, inner 2 are not - any ideas if doing this on the Voyager will hurt anything - maybe like on one of the outer 2 lines, pouring some down? (With the bike running, turn off for 30 min) then reconnect vac line and turn on till no more white smoke)

I figure someone here had to try this and may say went great, or say don't do it not good lol. This is my full "bike" so I am a noob at this sh*t

[Van Voyager]

I'll get flamed to death but: Seafoam=Snake Oil.

[ekap1200]

Did a search on this cannot find anyone who tried

My friend said to make sure carbs are clean (Think old owner had them cleaned and tuned, but gen mtce like every 6 months) He says he pours about half a can of seafoam in the Vac lines to clear out any deposits. I know outer 2 lines are used, inner 2 are not - any ideas if doing this on the Voyager will hurt anything - maybe like on one of the outer 2 lines, pouring some down? (With the bike running, turn off for 30 min) then reconnect vac line and turn on till no more white smoke)

I figure someone here had to try this and may say went great, or say don't do it not good lol. This is my full "bike" so I am a noob at this sh*t

Your friend may have meant,, Drain the carb bowls. Carbs only need two things. clean air, and clean fuel. Extreme care must be taken when changing out the air/filter. If crap gets down in the air box from debris around the perimeter of the filter there is a good chance it will find its way in one of the carb ports. Keep the fuel tank rust free by keeping it topped off , more so in the off season/ add sea-foam when in storage. No need to pour anything into the vacuum lines
pouring half can of sea-foam ---- someone is blowing white smoke up your arse....
As several on the forum would say and I quote " don't fix it , if it ain't broke "
most carb issues are misdiagnosed and are just slightly out of sync. Having someone with the right tools can sync them without taking everything apart. The less the air inlet items are opened up the less chance there is to foul the carb.s
However if someone has had their little fingers tweeking things , then there could be other issues .....
Gene Kap.

[GrandpaDenny]

However if someone has had their little fingers tweeking things , then there could be other issues .....

Nah, we don't know anything about that now, do we? Aren't you supposed to be on the road?

[Nails]

I'll get flamed to death but: Seafoam=Snake Oil.

Yeppers, not hard to find astonishing anecdotes.

But it is hard to do an objective test. I know that after using it on the rings, my bike's mysterious stumble went away. I had chased everything I could think of for spark, fuel, and compression; and was ready to pull the pistons out. But then I tried putting the piston on the bottom of the stroke, filling the cylinder with Seafoam, and coming back a day later. I repeated through a can of the stuff.

More circumstantial evidence: I had fresh oil in it when I started, but after this aggressive Seafoam treatment, the oil suddenly became seriously nasty (especially the odor). Might've been the Seafoam, but I think it was what the Seafoam picked up.

Even more subjective, it seems to help my chainsaw and all my bikes come out of hibernation.

So count me a devotee.

Of course, if you didn't have any gunk issues, then I doubt Seafoam would do anything at all. And I doubt that you could fix nasty carbs by just chunking this in the tank -- need to disassemble carbs to clean them right.

[drtechnology]

Thanks all I'll leave it alone. I was thinking for general maintenance - the bike and carbs run fine - just the age was thinking could use a deep cleaning. lol. I do not wanna get flamed to death like a whopper :(

[Nails]

Is that vacuum lines or drain lines?

When I went through my carbs, lots of plastic stuff (T-connectors) and rubber stuff, especially in the drain lines, was religiously damaged (i.e., holey).

The drain lines don't play any part whatsoever in properly fueling the intake air. But it's still nice to have them competent.

[cushman eagle]

I'll get flamed to death but: Seafoam=Snake Oil.

I am not going to flame you but I am an avide user of Seafoam as a gas preservative in my bikes and mowers during the winter,and in our antiques which are not used enough to keep the fuel fresh.I did a test in 2017 on a couple units to see how long the gas smelled and acted fresh,and found with seafoam at 1 oz. per gallon,at 2 years,it still smelled and ran like it was fresh.

[SgtSlag]

There are some objective test videos, on YouTube, regarding SeaFoam. Look them up, if interested.

It has its uses, but it is not a miracle cure-all. When used properly, it is a very useful tool.

Some car owners run SeaFoam through vacuum lines. I do not understand the need, however. I run it through the gas tank, as it will dissolve any varnish deposits, over time, if they are small enough to allow fuel to travel through the system, to the cylinders. I also use it to mothball my small engines, for off-season storage: they start up, like they were run the day before. It will stabilize modern, alcohol-supplemented, gasoline, up to two years; after that, it will go bad.

On my bikes, I run it through the gas tank, 2-3 times, each riding season: it absorbs any water in the fuel system; it dissolves minor varnish deposits. Since I started running it regularly, I've not had a carb issue of any kind, for 8+ years. Anecdotal, but the price is low enough, that I am willing to use it. Besides, I've seen it do some great work, more than once, on several vehicles of mine. Marvel Mystery Oil is another product which has multiple uses, and seems to work, based on unbiased video tests on YouTube. I just use SeaFoam, though. YMMV. Cheers!