Family Handyman Approved: Sea Foam Motor Treatment

Family Handyman Approved: Sea Foam Motor Treatment

If you own gasoline-powered vehicles or tools — a lawnmower, snowblower or even a fleet of limousines — Sea Foam is a fuel stabilizer and oil additive you absolutely need to keep all your motors running smoothly.

What is Sea Foam Motor Treatment?

Sea Foam is a petroleum-based cleaner and lubricator that’s safe in all types of two- and four-stroke gasoline and diesel engines. It’s good for your cars and trucks, snow blowers, inboard and outboard motors, motorcycles, snowmobiles and tractors, as well as small engines like lawnmowers, chainsaws, weed whips and leaf blowers.

Sea Foam cleans injectors and carburetor jets, stabilizes and controls moisture in fuels, quiets noisy lifters and lubricates upper cylinders. This product is EPA registered.

How We Tested It

Every winter I had trouble starting my snowblower. Even when it started it still ran rough, sputtering, stalling and bogging down. So I began adding Sea Foam to the two-cycle gas and oil mixture. Now it starts on the first pull.

In fuel

• Pour Sea Foam directly into your fuel tank. Just one ounce per gallon of gas for regular fuel system maintenance.
• Use Sea Foam as a fuel stabilizer when storing your lawnmower for the winter and snowblower in the summer.

Add to oil

• Pour Sea Foam directly into the crankcase of your car about 300 miles before your next oil change. This acts as an engine flush, removing harmful oil residues and deposits that can restrict oil flow. You will need to know the oil capacity of your car’s engine. Add one ounce of Sea Foam per quart of oil.

Performance Review

Just to give you an idea of how well this product performs, awhile back I had a check engine light come on in my daughter’s Mini Cooper. I connected my diagnostic tester to download the engine code. The code turned out to be a generic one that could have been several issues, but one of the possibilities was contaminated oil.

I poured Sea Foam directly into the crankcase. I drove the car around for about fifteen minutes, and the check engine light went off. Now this was certainly a lot easier and less expensive than taking the car to a mechanic. I saved myself time and money. And yes, I changed the oil after 300 miles.

Why you should buy this

Sea Foam is not a fix-all for every issue your gasoline engine may throw at you. But it certainly can help avoid many problems that arise within the fuel system, especially if it’s an engine you don’t use often, or sits for months at a time.

Sea Foam is preventive medicine for your lawnmower. Like it says on the can, “Start easier. Run smoother. Last longer.” Sea Foam is definitely Family Handyman Approved.

Where to buy Sea Foam

Sea Foam is readily available at any auto parts store or home center, or your local hardware store. You can also find it at Walmart, Amazon and most major online retailers.