Technical Seafoam or Marvel Mystery Oil horror stories

No horror stories but when I farmed we used MMO overhead oiler injectors on all our propane irrigation engines. Seemed to stop valve problems?

 

In the 70's I had a 61 Chevy small block in a 37 Chevy Coupe that would clatter every spring when I fired it up for the first time. I would start it up, pour some tranny fluid down the carb and the noise would go away until the next time when the car would sit idle for long periods. The car ran great for years and still had that engine in it when it was sold.

 

I had a friend put 2 cans of STP in a 60's Pontiac 389 one morning when it was -20 degrees out and the engine and STP was cold. He then started the engine and it broke the oil pump shaft when the cold STP locked up the oil pump.

 

I do my best to use ethanol free gasoline. HRP

 

Danny, that's not a bad idea, but the only non-ethanol available here is 90 octane and is the base for the ethanol 93 octane without the added ethanol that is poured in the delivery tanker when it leaves the terminal to deliver to gas stations, and I do like that extra 3 points of octane, especially in my roadster.
The Sta-Bil 360* has done a good job for me in both my hot rods while using 10% ethanol gas. When I was having a problem with the roadster about 1 1/2 yrs. ago, I thought it was fuel related ,but when I completely tore down the fuel system it was all clean and spotless, none of the corrosion crap you see with ethanol fuels anywhere. The problem turned out to be a coil that would short out when it warmed up.
The '40 coupe with SBF sat from last Oct. till last Sun. with 3/4 tank of 10% ethanol plus Sta-Bil360*. Hooked up the battery, turned the switch on and let the elec. fuel pump fill the carb bowls, pumped gas pedal twice, and when I hit the starter, it didn't turn a half revolution before it fired off and has run fine since.
As I said Sta-Bil 360* works for me.

 

I'd like to know how you pour STP at -20? It will barely flow at 70.

 

All of the gas in my area is ethanol free, as in no extra charge for it...

That aside, for me additives are a last choice for ghost issues. You know em, the ones that defy all logical tune/repair procedures. In my now gone Packard Super Clipper, she'd spent the majority of her life as a museum/collection car. As wonderful and advanced for the time that Packard was they had 1 ill that plagued them when given the collector car pampered life, stuck or sticky valves. Care, a loving touch, logical oiling before storage, sometimes that valve is just gonna hang until you all but bust open the head and tappet covers. Not willing to do so I decided why the hell not, and eased a wee bit of MMO through the carb with the idle speed raised up some, maybe 1500 RPM. She smoked, smelled funny, but things got better by the minute so I did a little more and shut it down til the next day. Anxious to take the maiden voyage I hopped in the next morning and fired it up. While on choke, pretty smooth, feeling good, let her warm up and kicked it down (automatic choke). FUCK! Missing again, that little limp "blup-blup-blup" that's so uncharacterisitic of a 356 Packard. Shut it down, grabbed a coffee and started thinking "...now what, dammit all to hell..." all while trying to clear memory cobwebs and recall anecdotes of the old masters. Coffee gone, looking at the lovely Darrin-inspired body lines, even spoke to her. "Hey sweety, suppose I run a little clean water down the carb? Any of those old guys ever give your innards a hot bath?" Yup, did that sparingly and monitored the steam carefully, not too much, not too little. Again, good, better, Ah-Haa! Disco. Smoothe as silk. We go for about a 10 mile spin and she was just what she was supposed to be. All the while I had concerns about the use of the water which was surely gone. Still, I had a need to counter using it so I grabbed a bottle of type F trans fluid and drizzled it in til smokey again. Let it clear a little, raised the speed and drizzled in more then shut it down. For over 2 years and at least a couple thousand miles it never happened again. When stored it got a wisp of MMO in the carb, a fully charged battery, then ignore her hibernated state. Fired up clean and smooth every year but developed another minor irritant. Hydraulic lifter clatter when the weather was extremely hot and humid. It was only a couple at best and only at idle so I took the risk of adding a pint of type F to the oil, give her a good couple mile drive, spill some MMO in with when I got back, shut it down. A couple days later I changed oil and upped the grade to 20-50. It ran better, no more lifter tick ever, and the MMO winter storage act continued til she left me earlier this year. Horror story? I guess unchecked or excess use of any of those practices could have been fatal and expensive, and the only horror of Packard is the cost of parts. Not as bad as saying "Ferarri" or "Duesenberg" but not as easy as our beloved "Ford" by a considerable margin. I have an aquaintence that has a rebuilt 356 in his Super Clipper, 9000 miles since, has had an MMO jar under the hood since, he's now plagued with 11 out of 16 gummed up valve stems. Too many ounces of prevention? Proves the folly of "If some's good more's better", no?

 

I try to use ethanol free in small engines. If forced to use e10 i will add 2 cycle engine oil to prevent valve issues. On my JD lawn mower it would pull the guide out of the intake occasionally if using e10 without some lubricant.

 

Back in the day, my uncle was a Hydrotex dealer and he sold this stuff called Essentialube fuel conditioner. It was used in the oil for sticky lifters and in the gas for sticky valves and carbon removal.

When we were going to store an old car or truck, we'd pour it down the carb while running, until it choked it out. Boy did it smoke! In the spring when we started it up again, it was good to go!

 

Got to be careful with the Fords that have the hex oil pump drive too. They'll buzz the hex right off in about 2 seconds if the oil is to thick and it's too cold!

I've had the rear main leak for a while on both an SBC and a BBC, if it was too thick and to cold. After it warms up it's OK again. That was back in the day when we ran 30 weight in the summer and 10 weight in the winter.

 

When I got my Buick it had been sitting for 25 years. The previous ownr had added MMO to the fuel tank and it was not gummed up or anything.

 

I had a good buddy that used to call STP and stuff like it “a quart of oil pump”. He put 3 quarts into an old Buick V6 in a Jeep field car he had and instantly had oil pressure.


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I'm working to get a Model A engine up and running. Hasn't run in twelve years but has been stored in my dry garage. I was concerned about dust ect ; inside so I pored in a little MMO in each cylinder for lubrication " It's an old can" still seems ok. I didn't even think of using the seafoam. Should I do an oil change before trying to start it? Oil looks good but is old too.

 

MMO in cylinders would be the only place I would use these products. IMO products such as these are snake oil products only. If they work, they are only covering up the problems, not fixing anything

 

Marvel's isn't going to fix anything, you're right, but it was developed to dissolve gum varnish and carbon to remedy stuck rings & lifters. It does that so has its uses in old iron.

 

Had an '81 F250 4x4 with a 460 and a 4 speed. Pulled the race car trailer is all it did. Engine was getting really tired, using oil and compression was way down. We were joking around one night and decided to try "Restore", the engine rebuild in a can. I had a line on another low mileage engine and was getting ready to pull it and swap them. We dumped the Restore in and ran it. Used almost no oil the rest of that oil change. Changed the oil and did it again. By the 3rd time, we weren't burning any oil, compression was up and mileage was up. I pulled with that truck for another 2 years before trading it off and never swapped the engine. We were shocked but in my case it actually did something. It helped a ton. Might have been a fluke but it did help a lot. Only time I've seen that stuff do anything positive.
SPark

 

Exactly! It does a fine job of doing so.

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I use Redline Diff oil in my Champ Q/C works good keeps it quieter too, Stabil works good to clear up bad old gas.

 

Once gasoline goes bad, I don't think anything can bring it back?

 

It works ok on this fake Calif. gas, you've got real gas where you are, might be different.

 

I used that Restore on a SBC before I rebuilt it. It had low compression and I thought what the heck, give it a try, it is a cheap experiment. That stuff actually worked ....for a while. I had scoring in the cylinder walls and the copper particles in the Restore filled in the scratches and temporarily raised the compression. I think its a good product for a used car lot....it gets the beaters running good enough to sell before it goes back to being worn out and the customer is long gone.

 

just a thought on starting an engine in minus temperatures. In WW2 the German Forces drained the oil from their tanks, heated the oil on open fires.
Refilled the engines with the heated oil.
Then started them up.
The Russians diluted their tanks oil with gasoline, fired them up and they were off to battle. German tankers said that would destroy the engine over time. The Russians said that the tank was probably going to be destroyed by the end of the day anyway!

 

Sta-bil directions say don't use in old gas.

 

I've had good luck with Seafoam in higher mileage EFI cars smoothing out rough idles or random sputters. I'll run it through the fuel and vacuum systems. Makes a hell of a smoke show but does the trick.
Never used additives in any engine I built apart from spraying some carb cleaner down the venturis while running. I'm kinda anal about keeping my carbs clean.

 

Neglected or abused engines. You know the type "rode hard and put away wet", one thing the frugal mechanic can do before a complete tear down is see what's what, determine if a Tune-Up is worth it.

A compression test is always performed first, because it is a key to engine health that is not dependent on ignition or carburetion. It's impossible to get good performance or smooth power out an engine if the cylinder compression is defective. This can be caused by burnt valves, or excessively worn piston rings & cylinders. If this is the case the engine needs overhaul.

BUT - defective compression can also be caused by piston rings stuck in the grooves due to excessive gum and carbon. This is very common. The trick is knowing which is more likely. Judgment is required. A solvent can really help with this, and this is where the "snake oils" have their uses.

 

I like the Lukas oil and transmission additives to help “ fix” oil burning or a noise on a tired engine you want to get a bit more use out of.

seafoam and the other engine flushes work great if you stay on top of oil changes and maintenance.

if your putting this stuff into a gummed up crap filled engine your asking for problems.

how do I know? I used a bottle of engine oil flush on a winter beater when I first got into the trade, after filling it with oil and started it, it had a knock!
Pulled the pan amd valve covers off and this thing was full of sludge, the flush moved the crap around enough to plug the pump pick up.
Cleaned everything out as best I could amd the knock went away , but I’m Leary of flushes on unknown engines due to that experience.

let’s face it, there is no “ engine rebuild in a can” but these things can help prevent wear on a well maintained engine or help you limp a tired one along for a bit longer.

that’s about it.

 

I had a 350 4-bolt (010 block) in my OT service truck that I bought from the original owner. I know it went it's first 50,000 miles without an oil change, because I worked for them at the time. This motor used a qt. of oil every day it went out on it's 100-150 mile route, so they would just add another qt. They ran Mobil Delvac 30 weight in everything.

When I got it home, the first thing I did was change oil with cheapest Pennzoil detergent oil I could find and added a qt. of kerosene. Then I let it idle for about an hour. After that, I drained the oil and pulled the valve covers. Much to my surprise I could only see half of the valve springs!

So, I quietly put the valve covers back on and filled it up with cheap oil again and drove it. I did several short oil changes and added a qt. of kerosene at the end of each cycle and let it idle again for about an hour.

Then I started running 10-40 AMSOIL, because I was a dealer at that time. After about a year or so, I pulled the valve covers again, and much to my surprise, it was clean as a whistle and got about 600 miles to a qt. !

The damage was already done before I got it, but it did run better after the kerosene trick. I drove that truck about another 20,000 miles and sold it.

So much for the snake oil stories!

 

We use MMO on our beta rods on our propellers.

 

I worked at a gas station as a teenager, and one day someone pulled up in a really beat 1970 Plymouth Valiant with a slant six, and asked me to check the oil. There wasn't a drop on the dipstick, ended up putting five quarts of the cheapest oil we had in it. Car had over 200k on it, and she had driven it from NJ to Maine like that! I remember her asking me to put some Risolone in it as that is what she often used, but we didn't carry that.