Pushing Seafoam to it's Limit

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USCANAM

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Joined
Jun 11, 2010
Messages
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Location
Wareham Ma
I did buy the 84 Interstate with 22,000 miles on it and what appears to be 4 blocked up idle circuits.
Previous owner about 12 months ago put it away with fuel in it, and now it runs on the road fine, but will not idle. Same thing I did years ago with my GL1000. Went the whole route, and cleaned the carbs.
This 1200 has full dress, so there is a lot to remove before you even get to the carbs, so hoping for a miracle, all old fuel was drained, fresh fuel was put in with a can of Seafoam. 3 days later, not much better. Added another can of Seafoam today to about 1/2 a tank, and will let it sit for 2 days. At this point, if no improvement, we'll do what we're dreading we'll have to do.
Even added 4 ounces of MMO the other day too.
Anybody dare to venture a guess as to what the odds are that the Seafoam will clean out the idle jets!!
Was really a nice day for riding here in the Cape Cod area, and it hurt to see all the bikes out today.
Regards
Jack
 
:salute: Welcome to the site :clapping: :clapping: You put a whole can of seafoam to just a half tank of gas? Ut Oh.. that may be too much, It could eat away at the rubber parts inside of the carbs :?
 
Welcome to the forums Jack.

It was suggested in another thread to drain the carbs and fill them with straight Seafoam then let it sit for a day.
It's worth a try considering the alternative.
 
Indeed, welcome USCANAM. I didn't have all idle circuits blocked but I know at least one "was." Lots of miles helped mine a lot, and I'm a firm believer in Seafoam. I've run so much SF in my bike I stopped worrying about the rubber parts...it simply should have failed by now but that's my experience.

~O~
 
Omega Man":2j3glfws said:
Indeed, welcome USCANAM. I didn't have all idle circuits blocked but I know at least one "was." Lots of miles helped mine a lot, and I'm a firm believer in Seafoam. I've run so much SF in my bike I stopped worrying about the rubber parts...it simply should have failed by now but that's my experience.

~O~
Click to expand...


Thats good to know... Its been awhile since ive put some seafoam in my tank, I think ill put some in the next tank, I never did put more then the recomended 5oz
 
dan filipi":1fyibep3 said:
Welcome to the forums Jack.

It was suggested in another thread to drain the carbs and fill them with straight Seafoam then let it sit for a day.
It's worth a try considering the alternative.
Click to expand...
Dan
Sounds like a good plan "B". I'll have to remove all the fairings to get to carbs anyways, and if the pure Seafoam doesn't work, I'll just keep on going to carb removal.
Thanks
Jack
 
According to the folks at SeaFoam, it will not eat rubber. they report various containers sitting around the shop with rubber parts soaking in pure seafoam for long periods and no breakdown occurs. Believe that at your risk, but I believe it.

I am unfamiliar with 1200's but on my 1100 I shut off my petcock and ran it until it quit. I restarted it several times to make sure all of the fuel was gone. Then, I pulled the fuel line off the tank and inserted it directly into the can of SeaFoam. I cranked the engine until it started (1100's have mechanical fuel pumps, not sure about the 1200). After it ran (poorly) a while, I killed it and let it soak overnight. I also reconnected the fuel line to the petcock.

The next morning, I went back out and started it with the petcock off. It will hiccup, shake, cough, pour out smoke and make you hate seafoam. Try to keep it running as best you can as it will help clear out the carbs. Then, turn the petcock on and let fuel get to the carbs. It should start gradually running better. If the idle circuits were mostly blocked, but still flowing, it should be running better. If they were completely blocked and the seafoam could not flow through, it probably did not help.

Good luck.
 
im diffenutly going to soaks and treatments to a few carb racks ive got and try them.....the 83 1100 rack is the one im considering on to go in the 1200 motor progect....

i like the way they work on my 82 1100 .....nice and smooth with good capasity...but all options are on thr table ...so im going the cheap route first....
 
Andyb":q4jnqprc said:
According to the folks at SeaFoam, it will not eat rubber. they report various containers sitting around the shop with rubber parts soaking in pure seafoam for long periods and no breakdown occurs. Believe that at your risk, but I believe it.
Click to expand...

I can believe that, But im sure they tested that with fresh, brand new rubber
I wondering if it has any affect on old dry rotted 28 year old rubber :read:
 
Well, we gave it the week-end with a high concentration of Seafoam in the fuel, and the bike still would not idle. Seriously considered Andy's method of filling carbs with straight Seafoam, but decided not to waste anymore time, and removed the carbs..
This is a full dress bike done by one of the previous owners, so there was an extra hour required to remove stuff up front before I could get the side panels off. Had the carbs out in less than 3 hours. Would be faster next time now that I see all the hoses that have to be undone.
Am not even going to remove carbs from filter box (they're on too tight to remove anyways).
Removed bottom of carbs, and unscrewed low speed jets. They were all blocked. Took a few shots of carb cleaner in a rattle can, then 100 pounds of air to clean them. Have 4 carb kits on the way, so will replace what's in kit, then re-assemble.
Actually, being a new bike to me, I did not mind getting into the bike, as I'll know it a little better. Also will give me a chance to clean some chrome that's not reachable before, while I wait for the kits to arrive.
Thanks all for you suggestions
Jack
 
hello and welcome to CGWF uscanam.
joedrum":244suqci said:
im diffenutly going to soaks and treatments to a few carb racks ive got and try them.....the 83 1100 rack is the one im considering on to go in the 1200 motor progect....

i like the way they work on my 82 1100 .....nice and smooth with good capasity...but all options are on thr table ...so im going the cheap route first....
Click to expand...
why do you want to use smaller carbs on the 1200 motor joedrum
 
its all about options ...it seems to be over welming parts issue to get all the stuff i would need to hook up the 1200 ignition system on my 1000 frame and guages ....im sure someone out there knows a way to hook up ignition simply as of yet i dont know but i might find out somthing sone maybe.....
 
Well, we now have one sweet idling 1200 Interstate.
This was achieved the old fashioned way....remove the carbs and change the low speed jets..
Because of the low mileage on the bike, I left the carbs intact, and just removed the bottom plates.. Was able to clean the old jets, but since I had ordered kits, I replaced the jets, float valve, and plate gasket.
Put everything back together, got it running and idling at 1000 rpm, hooked up the four mercury gauges, and set the throttle plates.
Bike idles just as smooth at 500 rpm as at 1000.
All set for the summer
Regards
Jack
 

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