Seafoam vs Gumout

[danfrompgh]

I'm working on my 2000 Bayliner 2150 w the GM 5.0 2bbl carb. Even after weekly seperator changes,having the tank flushed,carb pulled and cleaned I am still getting some small pieces of dirt in the float bowl that are causing a stall from idle won't restart situation. Fuel pump seems to be working,I can get the motor to fire off the fuel dumped from the seperator ( I carry spares as per mech advise) and the flow from the pump is good. Of course after I rowwed it back to the trailer & towed it home it started right back up in the driveway. Does Seafoam in the fuel tank do the same thing as Gumout in the carb and/or is it safe to do the spray into a marine engine in the driveway w the muffs or is Gumout a no-no? And is this new gas with the Ethanol as bad as I've heard? I am in the process of ordering a Raycor in-line fuel filter. TY!

 

[tie_one_on]

Re: Seafoam vs Gumout

Hi danfrompgh. I guess I couldn't say if Seafoam is better or worse than Gumount, but I would think both would help with a high carbon situation if it were to exsist.
I'll throw out a couple other suggestions though.
Have you checked your overflow vent for an obstruction? Sometimes spiders, bees or hornets will make nests there.
Second, have you checked the anti siphon valve at your tank? It may be stuck partially closed not allowing enough fuel to flow.
Finally, try running the boat off a small remote gas tank to eliminate the on board fuel system.
I wouldn't believe you would hurt anything using Gumout or Seafoam in your driveway as long as you had water hooked up to the engine and didn't rev it over 1,000 - 1,200 rpms for long periods of time.
Good luck and report back.

 

[bds85466]

Re: Seafoam vs Gumout

I had a problem with carb build up (the engine would only go to high throttle after a 10-15 minute warming period) and I did the following "Sea Foaming" -- the stuff works like a charm -- according to tashasdaddy's advice:

this is what i do. i have an auxiliary tank, borrow one. i mix 3/4 bottle of seafoam in with 1 gallon of gas. the 1/4 left i put in a spray bottle. i remove the air silencer from the carbs. start engine and let it warm up. kill engine, remove the plugs and spray into each cylinder, put plugs back in. let sit for 15 minutes, then restart, and spray seafoam into each carb until the engine almost stalls. it going to smoke as it's burning up the old carbon. repeat the carb spray until it quits smoking. burn up the rest of the gas in the tank. afterwards replace the spark plugs. when you fill the regular tank, add the recommend amount of liquid seafoam, as a fuel stabilizer. if you carbs are dirty it will not clean them. it will only keep clean carbs clean.

Mine smoked like a chimney, but with more smoke. It looked like 420 at Berkley...and it also cured the problem. I now run with the recommended amount of Sea Foam in every tank and haven't had a problem since.

 

[bds85466]

Re: Seafoam vs Gumout

Also, about the ethanol, I wouldn't worry. They've had it in MN since 97 and I haven't heard of any problems, though there are skeptics. I guess I never even thought about it, but I usually fill my tank with mid-grade gasoline (10% C2H5OH) just to try and be "kinder" to my motor. It's a 72 125hp Johnson. I haven't had any issues...yet. I wouldn't think that adding ethanol would change the amount of moisture in your tank, and if anything it would actually keep the moisture regulated. Like most alcohols, ethanol absorbs more than it's own weight in water (that's why we get headaches from drinking...we're dehydrated from the alcohol stealing our moisture away and absorbing it!). The water/ethanol & gasoline/2 stroke oil mixture (or in your case w/ out the oil) is safely burned through a combustion engine. It's like when you add HEET to your car in the winter when it's going to be really cold.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Seafoam vs Gumout

Like most alcohols, ethanol absorbs more than it's own weight in water.

Unfortunately, ethanol reacts differently that the alcohol that is in gas driers. Once ethanol absorbs a certain amount of water it phase separates which is why there are so many problems with ethanol in a marine environment.

As far as the difference between Gumout and Seafoam, the main ingredient in Gumout gas treatment is kerosene where the main ingredients in Seafoam is naptha and isopropyl alcohol.

Personally, I believe the solvent in the Chevron Techron is way better than either of these other ones.

 

[erikgreen]

Re: Seafoam vs Gumout

Also, about the ethanol, I wouldn't worry. They've had it in MN since 97 and I haven't heard of any problems, though there are skeptics.

I'm in MN, and the biggest thing we noticed was that it tended to "clean" out older fuel systems, causing all sorts of gunk to migrate to the motor. Also caused issues with steel fuel tanks - all the dive boats I travel on have poly tanks now.

Oh, and we try to store boats with the tanks totally empty or totally full to avoid separation/condensation problems.

Erik

 

[Fishermark]

Re: Seafoam vs Gumout

I am still getting some small pieces of dirt in the float bowl

Seafoam, Gumout, whatever - that's not going to get rid of small pieces of dirt. Filter? Yep.
Chemicals? No.