Does Anyone Use Sea Foam?

WyoDak

WyoDak

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Newcastle, WY, United States
I bought my 1999 TJ last summer. It does not always start as quickly as I think it should. I have to let it crank a bit, stop and do it again before it will start. Seems as if it's not getting enough fuel as it needs for a quick start. I'm thinking that Sea Foam might help. Any advice?
Engine, 4L, runs like a top once it starts.
 
A slow to start condition in the morning or after it has sat for a while is not going to be fixed with Sea Foam. My bet is your TJ has the very common leaky check valve in the fuel pump which lets the fuel in the engine's fuel rail to leak down back to the gas tank instead of staying put in the fuel rail as is required for a fast start. And once it starts to start, there's no assurance that the fuel has made it to all six of the injectors which would cause a stumble until the fuel is flowing properly.

I would replace the fuel pump assembly with a Bosch, and avoid aftermarket brands like Airtex, Spectra, or any store brands. A Spectra I installed 5-6 years ago failed at 13 months... one month past its warranty.This is the one I'd go for... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BZJDK2/?tag=wranglerorg-20 which has a superb reputation.

Not to mention that Sea Foam is so-so at a lot of jobs but not great at any of them. You can find better/cheaper products that work better at what they're for than Sea Foam.
 
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Jerry's advice is solid (as usual).

I'm not a believer in additives personally, I think they're all snake oil. I know a lot of guys swear by Sea Foam, but I chalk that up to damn good marketing, word-of-mouth, and the placebo effect.
 
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WyoDak said:
I bought my 1999 TJ last summer. It does not always start as quickly as I think it should. I have to let it crank a bit, stop and do it again before it will start. Seems as if it's not getting enough fuel as it needs for a quick start. I'm thinking that Sea Foam might help. Any advice?
Engine, 4L, runs like a top once it starts.
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I have used it, I have a friend that worked at Advance Auto, so he talked me into it, it didn't do jack for my Jeep.
 
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The best additive you can use is Mopar combustion chamber cleaner. It didn't give any great gains, but did smooth out my idle on my 97 tj. It is at 220k
 
Jeep9748 said:
The best additive you can use is Mopar combustion chamber cleaner. It didn't give any great gains, but did smooth out my idle on my 97 tj. It is at 220k
Click to expand...
Just so people know, Mopar CCC is mostly water with a bit of ammonia added as a mild detergent. If I need to clean my combustion chambers, I very slowly trickle 12-16 ounces of plain water into the TB while keeping the engine rpms up. That generates mini-shock waves inside the combustion chambers which is what breaks up the carbon that is fouling everything. That is also precisely how the Mopar CCC works. The water method I described is in constant use by mechanics who take care of high performance engines that fouled up with carbon when they're not driven aggressively enough.

That water keeps combustion chambers clean was discovered during WWII after they started adding water injection to military aircraft engines for more power that the engines were also staying sparkling clean inside. Water injection is still used to this day in some aircraft engines. :)
 
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I think Jerry is right.
I'm currently experiencing similar issues.
My theory is that my check valve in my fuel pump is bad.
(I think it is either the check valve, or my fuel injectors. I haven't had a chance to properly test my fuel injectors yet.)

I've bought a new fuel pump assembly just in case. Even if that's not the issue, my near 20yr old Jeep could probably be due for a new fuel pump anyway. I've also used that as an excuse to buy a Savvy gas skid plate, since I'll have to drop the tank in order to replace the fuel pump.
It's freezing winter where I live right now, so I will not be installing this fix until spring.

In the meantime - this is my "temporary fix" (and kind of a "test" to see if it's your fuel pump/check valve):
1. turn the ignition from off to on - but not start - just the click before "start"
2. you should hear the fuel pump go for about 2 seconds
3. turn ignition key back to off after a couple of seconds. (3-10 seconds - longer does not hurt)
4. repeat steps 1-3 about 3-4 times
The theory is that the fuel pump will prime the gas for about 2 seconds.

I start quicker this way.

Other temporary fix: park with your rear end higher in the air than the front.
That will help limit the gas from draining back into the tank.

As for SeaFoam - I've used it once. I think for the exact same issue.
I "feel better" having used it, like I cleaned something. (20yr old vehicle)
But it did nothing to fix my leaking check valve in my fuel pump.
 
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Chris said:
Jerry's advice is solid (as usual).

I'm not a believer in additives personally, I think they're all snake oil. I know a lot of guys swear by Sea Foam, but I chalk that up to damn good marketing, word-of-mouth, and the placebo effect.
Click to expand...
I'm not a huge additive person either, but I believe "some" of the very very many serve a purpose.
With that being said, I can confirm that seafoam does work. I restored an old ('72)85 HP Mercury outboard motor a few years ago. I could not get the thing to run worth a shit, even after rebuilding carbs and performing the Link n' sync procedure. No one in the Marine world would even look at it because of its age. Finally I poured a whole bottle of seafoam into 1 gal of gas and started it up. It smoked like hell, bucked moaned and groaned, but it slowly started to smooth out and that thing ran flawlessly for several years until I sold it.
Coincidence? I don't know, but it seemed to do the trick.
 
egclassic said:
I'm not a huge additive person either, but I believe "some" of the very very many serve a purpose.
With that being said, I can confirm that seafoam does work. I restored an old ('72)85 HP Mercury outboard motor a few years ago. I could not get the thing to run worth a shit, even after rebuilding carbs and performing the Link n' sync procedure. No one in the Marine world would even look at it because of its age. Finally I poured a whole bottle of seafoam into 1 gal of gas and started it up. It smoked like hell, bucked moaned and groaned, but it slowly started to smooth out and that thing ran flawlessly for several years until I sold it.
Coincidence? I don't know, but it seemed to do the trick.
Click to expand...
You simply had a gummed (varnished) up fuel system. For 1/3 of the cost of Sea Foam, you could have just added Gumout or Berryman which are far more effective at that job. Sea Foam is like a watered down version pf Gumout. When gasoline is allowed to stay in an engine for years at a time, it turns into a gummy varnish that is hard to clean out. Gumout and Berryman have been around far longer than Sea Foam and either will do a better and more thorough job with that problem than Sea Foam will. As said above, Sea Foam is "so-so" at a lot of jobs but it's not the best product for any of them. They're just better at marketing.
 
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Jerry Bransford said:
You simply had a gummed (varnished) up fuel system. For 1/3 of the cost of Sea Foam, you could have just added Gumout or Berryman which are far more effective at that job. Sea Foam is like a watered down version pf Gumout. When gasoline is allowed to stay in an engine for years at a time, it turns into a gummy varnish that is hard to clean out. Gumout and Berryman have been around far longer than Sea Foam and either will do a better and more thorough job with that problem than Sea Foam will. As said above, Sea Foam is "so-so" at a lot of jobs but it's not the best product for any of them. They're just better at marketing.
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I know seafoam varies greatly in price depending on where you shop, but it was only $6 for the can. I think I had more of a carbon deposit issue as I had soaked all the carb parts in cleaner for 2 days before rebuilding them.
 
MMO is primarily kerosene and it dilutes the oil so it should only be added to the oil just before it is changed. Hopefully you didn't leave it in there until the next change. :)
 
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Jerry Bransford said:
Just so people know, Mopar CCC is mostly water with a bit of ammonia added as a mild detergent. If I need to clean my combustion chambers, I very slowly trickle 12-16 ounces of plain water into the TB while keeping the engine rpms up. That generates mini-shock waves inside the combustion chambers which is what breaks up the carbon that is fouling everything. That is also precisely how the Mopar CCC works. The water method I described is in constant use by mechanics who take care of high performance engines that fouled up with carbon when they're not driven aggressively enough.

That water keeps combustion chambers clean was discovered during WWII after they started adding water injection to military aircraft engines for more power that the engines were also staying sparkling clean inside. Water injection is still used to this day in some aircraft engines. :)
Click to expand...

F-in great information here. I will now start driving my TJ like I stole it so it's not fouled up with carbon! (I know it's not a high performance engine but just pretend for my enjoyment).
 
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