I plan on adding Sea Foam to my gas tank. Now the fuel filter in this car is the original one with 170k miles on it. So I’m afraid to add the Sea Foam without first changing out the fuel filter because I’m thinking that the Sea Foam could dissolve all the junk in the filter allowing it to enter the injectors. Is this a possibility? Should I put a new filter in before adding the Sea Foam? The only reason I wouldn’t replace the filter first is from fear of the Sea Foam freeing up the junk in the gas tank and clogging the new filter.
They don’t mention anything about fuel filters on their website. Taking into consideration that there is 170K on your fuel filter I would replace it. I rarely use additives so why are you adding Sea Foam in the first place? I hear good things about the product from other posters on this site but I have never used it myself.
''Taking into consideration that there is 170K on your fuel filter I would replace it."
I’m definitely going to replace it. Just wanted to know if it should be done before or after the SF treatment.
"I rarely use additives so why are you adding Sea Foam in the first place?’’
I originally bought the SF to run through the intake to see if it would bring my compression down. And now I have about a third of a can left and thought that I would put it in the tank to clean the fuel injectors.
That’s a good point. I was worried about the SF freeing the junk in the filter and therefore clogging the injectors but if it’s dissolved enough to pass through the filter it’ll probably be small enough to pass through the injectors too.
“I wouldn’t replace the filter first is from fear of the Sea Foam freeing up the junk in the gas tank and clogging the new filter.”
What makes you think the inside of your fuel tank is full of “junk”??? Gasoline, especially gasoline that contains ethanol, is a POWERFUL solvent all by itself. Most fuel tanks are spotless inside…If your fuel tank was full of junk, your fuel filter would have plugged up a LONG time ago…
If are concerned about this, just change the fuel filter twice, before and after treatment…
“What makes you think the inside of your fuel tank is full of “junk”??? Gasoline, especially gasoline that contains ethanol, is a POWERFUL solvent all by itself. Most fuel tanks are spotless inside…If your fuel tank was full of junk, your fuel filter would have plugged up a LONG time ago…”
Ok, the tank probably is spotless then. I’ll just put a new filter in and then run the SF through.
Also, after I remove the old fuel filter I plan on taking it apart to see how dirty it is just out of curiosity. If it was in need of a change should it be obvious like an air filter would be?
If the fuel pump decides to go belly-up in the near future do not blame this on any additive. The real cause would be not changing the filter on a regular basis as an engine can run fine with a partially clogged filter but can shorten the pump’s lifespan.
If you attempt to blow through the filter you should drain it first and allow it to dry for an hour first. Blowing through a wet filter can give misleading results to some extent. If it’s dry and you can’t blow through it very easily then it’s clogged up to some extent.
I’ve ran Sea Foam in my gas tank before and never needed to change the fuel filter. My ‘88 Ford Escort has 518,500 miles on it and has had the fuel filter changed 1 time since new and have replace the fuel pump either one or two times (can’t recall). The time I changed the filter the car was running poorly so I put a new filter on to rule out a clogged filter and it made no difference. I could still blow through the old filter with very little resistance. If I were going to change the fuel filter, I’d wait until after running the Sea Foam, that way it would remove any contaminants the Sea Foam loosened up if there are any.
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People who line up to buy a can of “Sea Foam” would not TOUCH a can of STP…Why is that? Marvel Mystery Oil, been around FOREVER…ATF with a little Oil Of Wintergreen in it…A slow seller now…Almost all of these automotive additives are based on Kerosene…A little dye, a little aromatic sent, that will be $6.50…(or $16.50 or $26.50)…
SeaFoam, and countless other similar products, will cut gum, varnish, water, and carbon deposits but will do nothing for what actually clogs up filters; solid particulants.
I’ve never seen a gummed/varnished up gas tank or a filter with gum/varnish deposits in it; only ones full of grit.
“Why do you want to add Seafoam to your gas tank?”
I have some leftover so I figured I would try it in the tank for the benefits such as water removal, upper engine lubrication, injector cleaning and so on.
I originally bought the SF to see if it would bring the compression down because when I remove the spark plugs and shine a light down into the combustion chambers I see black crusty stuff that I can only guess is either burnt oil, carbon build up, or a combination of both. It’s so coated that I can’t see the shiny metal of the piston. I do drive like an old lady at no more than 40 mph and my trips usually are less than 15 miles round trip. So based on my driving habits and the black pistons it seems likely that the high compression is due to build up but I’m certainly not a mechanic so I’m just guessing.
A couple of days after I ran the SF through the intake I removed one of the plugs for a look and the top of the piston still looked the same as before the treatment. I sill need to check the compression so I can’t say for sure if it worked or not.
Should the tops of the pistons in a healthy engine be clean and shiny? I’m thinking about adding a couple table spoons of SF through the plug holes and then let it sit overnight but am afraid that once the junk is loosened it could get stuck in between the piston and the cylinder wall and scratch it up pretty good. Is there a good chance that this could happen?
And something else I’ve been obsessing over a little bit: SF has a good amount of oil in it, (I know because I poured some into a glass bowl so it would evaporate to see what it would leave behind) wouldn’t the oil clog the fuel filter somewhat?