1864 fouling a plug

[jerkin]

When I tore my engine down for new seals and a cleaning a few weeks ago I noticed the right side plug was pretty fouled. Seemed to run pretty good and I really didn't have time to tear it down and check the heads so I decided to just run a can of seafoam through it and see if it would clean it up. I've had pretty good luck with it on boat engines over the years so I figured it couldn't hurt, dumped the whole bottle in the gas tank and ran it for an hour or so when I cut. Going to need to keep an eye on it throughout the year but pretty impressed so far. Have a set of NGK's to put in but think I will leave these Champion plugs in it a bit longer just to see how they look. Before and after pics, I didn't clean the plugs, they looked just like they did in the pic to the left before I ran the Seafoam through the engine.

[taylorjm]

Oh man, how could you put those plugs back in the machine without at least cleaning them up? I would lose sleep over that!

[J-Mech]

Yep. That will likely fix it!
There's a special magical additive in Sea Foam that seals up blown head gaskets, repairs broken piston rings and somehow (and I'm not sure how it works) it restores ignition components! Should be good to go now!

[olds45512]

Originally Posted by J-Mech

Yep. That will likely fix it!
There's a special magical additive in Sea Foam that seals up blown head gaskets, repairs broken piston rings and somehow (and I'm not sure how it works) it restores ignition components! Should be good to go now!

[ol'George]

Wee flo, is far superior,
it is a generic that is made by the respectable Amway/Madoff company.
One of their other great products is Meckanick in the can.
Just a couple of ounces ingested into the carburetor of a diesel engine,and it
will make the ignition system operate trouble free for the life of the equipment and rendering a catlick reverter unneeded

[DeltaCub]

Originally Posted by ol'George

Wee flo, is far superior,
it is a generic that is made by the respectable Amway/Madoff company.
One of their other great products is Meckanick in the can.
Just a couple of ounces ingested into the carburetor of a diesel engine,and it
will make the ignition system operate trouble free for the life of the equipment and rendering a catlick reverter unneeded

[zippy1]

If something is marketed just right, there will be believers. Dump this or that in the fuel, or oil, and you'll be good to go. NO need for getting your hands dirty any longer.
It'll sell.

[jerkin]

I've used seafoam many times to decarbonize engines, mostly on boats, it works well. I'm hoping my problem was just a dirty intake valve which this product is perfect for. If not I'll have to tear it down in the fall. Sort of amusing how posters on here tend to belittle people when they choose to try the simple fixes first. Not every single problem requires a teardown/rebuild but I suppose if I was a small minded man that thought I was superior to others I might think so as well so it is understandable.

[cooperino]

Originally Posted by jerkin

I've used seafoam many times to decarbonize engines, mostly on boats, it works well. I'm hoping my problem was just a dirty intake valve which this product is perfect for. If not I'll have to tear it down in the fall. Sort of amusing how posters on here tend to belittle people when they choose to try the simple fixes first. Not every single problem requires a teardown/rebuild but I suppose if I was a small minded man that thought I was superior to others I might think so as well so it is understandable.

Jerkin,
Seems unless your a Grand member here your posts might be ridiculed. I myself have used sea foam for certain things. Yes it works great for cleaning out gummed carbs on an outboard after its been sitting all winter. I have used it on throttle bodies on older TBI chevys with some success. I think what you might find is that for the issue you described having this may only be a temporary solution. Of course there are several reasons why plugs are fouling. A dirty or poorly adjusted carb can do this but in many cases it is caused but worn internals of your engine. I say if the sea foam is doing the trick for now use a little bit in the tank on each fill up until you have time to rebuild, say after the mowing season. We don't all have multiple machines to get the weekly chores done around the yard. I would suggest a couple of things before you rebuild. 1 do a compression check wet and dry. 2 Check to see if you turn your mixture screw on carb while running does it change idle of engine. Looks like "from the pictures" your plugs are carbine fouled. This usually means 1 of 2 things. 1 rich condition 2 poor/weak spark. Check your wires leading to the plugs. Are they brittle or cracking? In any event if you check compression and its low then you know what you need to do but I would still check these other things first.

Good luck

[Sam Mac]

I've used Sea Foam with good results. Mostly if a carb is a little crappy.