Is Gumout Good?

[boatgrunt]

94 Merc with a 5.7 4 barrel and Alpha I drive - I took my boat out for the first run of the season, and it ran rough at idle and stalled a few times. At the end of last season, I added stabilizer to the gas, changed the oil filter, fuel filter, plugs and wires.

I think that I have bad gas and/or a carb problem and was going to start by spraying some gumout into the carb. Does that stuff work and is it good for the engine and carb? I was also going to try and turn the idle up a little.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Is Gumout Good?

Spraying any product into the carb in the hopes of cleaning the carb is a waste of money and effort if the problem lies INSIDE the carb (which it normally is). All you would be cleaning is the bore of the carb. When you put stabil in the fuel last fall, did you run the engine long enough to get the treated fuel into the carb? If not, the fuel in the tank is probably ok but the fuel in the carb was not treated and therefore caused this issue (if it is indeed a carb issue). SeaFoam or similar fuel system treatments are quite effective at cleaning the fuel system provided it is not gummed up to the point where even that stuff can't get through.

 

[rocket1968]

Re: Is Gumout Good?

The good thing is it is starting. I normally drain the gas prior to the season and run it into the explorer (tow vehicle) and mix it with fresh gas. I would drain your tank, refill with fresh gas, possibly add a fuel line treatment and give it a shot. It is a low/no cost option. My boat is always more sensitive to bad gas than the car.

 

[180shabah]

Re: Is Gumout Good?

Seafoam is good, BG44K is better. The BG is expensive, so if you are going to need 2 or more bottles, you may just want to pull the carb and rebuild it.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Is Gumout Good?

Just like most of these additives BG44K is nothing special either. If you look at the MSDS it has 3 main ingredients. The first two are petroleum distilates and mineral spirits. The 3rd is alkanolamine fatty acid ester. the last more than likely is a lubricity additive.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Is Gumout Good?

Yeah....but aren't those "snake oils" pretty good at making the retailers money?

Your best bet is to ENSURE that your fuel pickup and fuel screen in the tank is clean, all fuel lines are clean and tight. Make sure you don't have a vacuum leak or other mechanical or ignition problem ....Then rebuild your carb.